CHAPTER 7: Referral and Assessment

The Assessment Framework captures and analyses information by means of:

• An initial consideration (or screening) of a referral
• An Initial Assessment and
• A Core Assessment

These assessment stages involve gathering and analysing information about the 3 domains of the Assessment Framework:

• Children's developmental needs
• Parents' or caregivers' capacity
• Impact of the wider family and environmental factors

Link With Section 47 Enquiries

Staff in LSCB member agencies and contracted service providers must make a referral to Children's Social Care if there are signs that a child under the age of 18 years or an unborn baby:

• Is suffering or has suffered abuse and / or neglect (see Recognition and Response Procedure)
• Is likely to suffer abuse and / or neglect or
• (With agreement of a person with Parental Responsibility) would be likely to benefit from family support services

When taking a referral, staff must establish as much of the following information as possible:

• Cause for concern including details of any allegations, their sources, timing and location
• Child's current location and emotional and physical condition
• Whether the child needs immediate protection
• Full names, date of birth and gender of child/ren
• Family address (current and previous)
• Identity of those with Parental Responsibility
• Names and date of birth of all household members and any known regular visitors to the household
• Details of child's extended family or community who are significant for the child
• Ethnicity, 1st language and religion of children and parents / carers
• Any need for an interpreter, signer or other communication aid
• Any special needs of child/ren and other household members
• Any significant / important recent or historical events / incidents in child or family's life, including previous concerns
• Details of any alleged perpetrators (if relevant)
• Background information relevant to referral e.g. positive aspects of parental care, previous concerns, pertinent parental issues e.g. mental health, domestic violence, drug or alcohol abuse, threats and violence towards professionals
• Referrer's relationship and knowledge of child and parents / carers
• Known current or previous involvement of other agencies / professionals e.g. schools, GPs
• Information about parental knowledge of / agreement to referral

Referrers should be asked specifically if they hold any information about difficulties being experienced by the family/household due to domestic abuse, mental illness, substance misuse, criminal behaviour/convictions and/or learning difficulties.

This screening process should establish:

• The nature of the concern
• How and why it has arisen
• What the child's needs appear to be
• Whether the concern involves abuse or neglect and
• Whether there is any need for any urgent action to protect the child / any other children

This above process will involve:

• Discussion with referrers
• Consideration of any existing records for the child and for any other members of the household (including if children are or have ever been the subject of child protection plans)
• Involving other agencies as appropriate (including the police if any offence has been or is suspected to have been committed)

Parents' permission should be sought before discussing a referral about them with other agencies unless this may:

• Place the child at risk of significant harm e.g. by the behavioural response it prompts or by leading to an unreasonable delay
• Lead to the risk of loss of evidential material

The immediate response to referrals may be:

• No further action at this stage
• An initial assessment of needs (which may be very brief if the criteria for initiating Section 47 enquiries are met)
• (Potentially in parallel with an initial assessment) provision of immediate services
• A core assessment, if indications exist that the case is particularly complex or several initial assessments have been previously completed
• Emergency action to protect a child
• A Section 47 initial strategy discussion (where child and / or family are well known or the facts clearly indicate that this is required)

No Further Action

Evidence of Significant Harm: this is the only criteria under which Referral and Assessment will undertake a Core Assessment, which includes domestic violence and a child at risk of sexual exploitation or trafficking. Other teams will trigger a Core Assessment when a Section 47 Enquiry identifies evidence of Significant Harm.

LAC history - Child / Parent: this is not significant without additional evidence that it is an issue affecting the parenting of the child and needs to be viewed in conjunction with other evidence. It is not a stand-alone category for a Core Assessment to be undertaken.

Children with severe disabilities who require complex packages of support: some children have such complex needs they receive specialist services from a number of agencies where it would be beneficial to use a Core Assessment to provide clarity. There could be key stages or transitions in a child's life that may trigger a Core Assessment.

The Initial Assessment is a brief assessment of each child referred to Children's Social Care where it is considered necessary to determine whether s/he is in need, the nature of any services required and whether a further, more detailed Core Assessment should be undertaken.

Timescale

An Initial Assessment must be completed within a maximum of 10 working days of the date of the referral to Children's Social Care and may be very brief if the criteria for initiating a Section 47 Enquiry are met.

The Assessment Process

The Initial Assessment should be led by a qualified social worker supervised by a highly experienced and qualified social work manager. The social worker should carefully plan:

• Interview/s with the child/ren within a timescale appropriate to the nature of concerns expressed, ensuring that the child/ren's wishes and feelings are appropriately ascertained
• When the child should be seen by the Lead Social Worker without his or her caregivers (unless it is not appropriate to do so)
• Interview/s with parents / carers / other relevant family members
• To address any need for interpreters / communication aids (see Interpreters, Signers & Others With Special Communication Skills Procedure)
• What the child and parents should be told of any concerns
• The information to be obtained, including historical and, if applicable, from agencies abroad (contact information can be obtained via the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Tel: 0207 008 1500), the relevant Embassy or Consulate (see the London Diplomatic List, ISBN 0 11 591772 1 from the Stationery Office on 0870 600 5522 or the FCO website)
• What contributions from other agencies are required

All relevant information (including information about the history and functioning of the family both currently and in the past, and adult problems such as domestic violence, substance misuse, mental illness, learning difficulties and criminal behaviour/convictions) should be taken into account.

Parents' permission must be sought before discussing a referral about them with other agencies (see Information Sharing and Confidentiality Procedure) unless this may:

• Place the child at risk of Significant Harm e.g. by the behavioural response it prompts or by leading to an unreasonable delay
• Lead to the risk of loss of evidential material

Outcome of Initial Assessment

An Initial Assessment is deemed completed once the assessment has been discussed with the child and family and authorised by the manager.

Before signing and approving the Initial Assessment, the manager must ensure the:

• Child/ren have been seen or there has been a recorded management decision that this is not appropriate e.g. a Section 47 Enquiry initiated which will plan method of contact with child
• Needs of all children in the household have been considered
• Analysis is completed
• Initial plan is completed for cases which are provided with a service, but not progressed to Section 47 Enquiry and / or Core Assessment
• Initiation or updating of a chronology

The Initial Assessment Record should include the date when the child was seen by the Lead Social Worker.

Following an Initial Assessment, the next course of action should be decided, following discussion with the family, unless such a discussion may place a child at risk of Significant Harm. The possible outcomes of the initial assessment are:

• Immediate / emergency action to protect a child
• Instigation of a Strategy Discussion, Section 47 Enquiry and Core Assessment (and possible parallel police investigation
• Instigation of a Core Assessment if the child's needs are complex or a more in depth assessment is required to decide on the need for appropriate services
• Immediate provision of child in need services (using the initial plan on the ICS initial assessment)

Core assessments commence:

• At the conclusion of an Initial Assessment which recommends that such a further assessment is required and/or
• When a Strategy Discussion/Meeting initiates a Section 47 Enquiry and/or
• When new information obtained on an open case indicates a Core Assessment should be undertaken

A manager must sign and approve the outcomes of a Core Assessment and ensure that:

• There has been direct communication with the child - and the child has been seen alone by the Lead Social Worker unless inappropriate to do so - and her/his views, wishes and feelings have been recorded and taken into account
• All the children in the household have been seen and their needs considered
• The parent / carer has been seen and her/his views and wishes have been recorded and taken into account
• Views of significant family members have been sought as appropriate
• The analysis has been completed
• The chronology at the front of the file is up-to-date

When a Core Assessment has been undertaken under s.17 Children Act 1989 i.e. without a Section 47 Enquiry, the outcomes will be:

• No further Children's Social Care support / intervention is required (although there may need to be referral to other agencies) or
• Child is In Need and suspected actual / likely Significant Harm - the Referral and Assessment Procedures apply or
• Child in need but no suspected actual / likely Significant Harm - further Children's Social Care / multi-agency support will be required through the use of an ICS child's plan or Team Around the Child