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Contents

1. Assessment, Planning and Review Flowchart
2. Principles of Assessment
3. Dimensions of the Assessment Framework
4. The Assessment Process
5. Referrals
6. Initial Assessments
7. Core Assessments

1. Assessment, Planning and Review Flowchart

Click here to view Flowchart.

2. Principles of Assessment

The needs and circumstances of children and families are not static.

Assessments and plans cannot meet need if they are not constantly updated and reviewed

The overall approach to the assessment and provision of services for children in need is that it should be

1. Child centred;
2. Rooted in child development;
3. Ecological in its approach;
4. Achieved in a way which ensure equality of opportunity;
5. Undertaken with children and families;
6. Built on strengths as well as identifying weaknesses;
7. Undertaken in collaboration with other agencies
8. Part of a continuing process, not a single event;
9. Carried out in parallel with other action and providing services;
10. Grounded in evidence-based practice.

Each of these principles, together with those set out in Children’s Policy, Values and Principles are vital to delivering effective assessment services, which are designed to identify not only a child’s needs, but also what changes are desired, and the possible outcomes of service.

All visits which are made as part of an assessment should be recorded on ICS, including detailed information about the home conditions, the child, who was seen and whether the child was seen alone and if not, who was present.

Any assessment reports must then incorporate information and evidence from these records of visits.

3. Dimensions of the Assessment Framework

The Assessment Framework for gathering and analysing information about all children and their families has three dimensions:

• The developmental needs of the child;
• The capacities of parents or carers to respond to those needs;
• The impact of wider family and environmental factors on parenting capacity and children.

This Framework, summarised below, requires practitioners to explore the interaction between, or the influence of these three dimensions on each other in a child’s life and allows professionals to discriminate effectively between different types, and different levels of need.

The Assessment Triangle

4. The Assessment Process

The Assessment Process is summarised as follows:

• Planning the assessment
• Gathering relevant information across all dimensions of the Assessment Triangle (above)
• Analysing the information and reaching professional judgements
• Making decisions and planning interventions
• Intervening, service delivery and/or further assessment
• Evaluating and reviewing progress

This process is ongoing, or cyclical, as demonstrated on the next page:

• This cycle of activity continues throughout involvement with a child and family.
• Judgements are continually being made and revised in the light of further analysis of the child’s needs.
• What action is planned on day one may be very different to that on subsequent days.
• The professional constantly reviews what progress is being made and analyses this to inform ongoing intervention.
• The cycle also forms the basis of the formal reviewing systems for Looked After Children and children on the Child Protection Register.

This Assessment process is translated into the following. To access relevant guidance procedures, click on the Chapter titles below:

Initial Enquiries and Referrals Procedure

Initial Assessments Procedure

Core Assessments Procedure

5. Referrals

Referrals may be made by or on behalf of children or their families or through other people/agencies on the child’s behalf.

This may include enquiries where there is no obligation to provide a service. They are summarised in Level 4 of the Prioritisation Criteria for Children In Need and would result in the following:

• Redirection or signposting to another agency and no further action
• Provision of general advice or information and no further action

On the receipt of more information, which suggests that a child is a Child in Need with more complex need, at Level 2 or 3, an Initial Assessment must be initiated.

Referrals must be processed within a maximum of one working day.

If it appears that the child is suffering or likely to suffer Significant Harm, an Initial Assessment must be started but does not have to take more time than is necessary to proceed to a Strategy Discussion. It can take up to seven working days but the urgency of the situation will dictate the timescale, which may be very short.

In summary, the outcome of a Referral may be:

• Re-direction to another office/agency and no further action
• Provision of information, advice and short term intervention
• The starting of an Initial Assessment

6. Initial Assessments

An Initial Assessment must be undertaken when information is received which indicates a child meets the Prioritisation Criteria for Children In Need at Level 2 or 3. This includes information that suggests a child is suffering or likely to suffer Significant Harm. In these circumstances, the London Child Protection Procedures must also be followed.

Managers may also authorise an Initial Assessment upon a child who appears to meet the Prioritisation Criteria for a Child in Need at Level 1, where the circumstances require it.

The Initial Assessment must take no longer than ten working days from the point of the first significant contact with the family (either by telephone or face-to-face).

Unless there are exceptional reasons to prevent it, the child should be seen by the social worker carrying out the assessment, as should the child's family.

The child should be seen by the assessing social worker without his or her caregivers when appropriate and this should be recorded in the Initial Assessment Record.

During the Initial Assessment, agencies that have been involved with the child should be contacted and asked to provide relevant information about their involvement.

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 and criminal behaviour/convictions) should be taken into account.

In some circumstances, where all necessary information is immediately available, the Initial Assessment can be concluded very quickly, on the same day as the Referral, for example, where it is immediately clear that a child may be suffering or likely to suffer Significant Harm; necessitating a Strategy Discussion.

Also, the family must receive all relevant information and publicity about relevant, available services.

If at any time during the Initial Assessment process it becomes clear that a Core Assessment is required, the Initial Assessment stage may be shorter.

The Initial Assessment will follow the Dimensions of the Assessment Framework and may include all or some of the following:

• Interviews with the child and family members. If the child has very complex needs, interviewing may involve a third party who knows the child’s communication methods well.
• Observations of the child
• Information gathering from other agencies
• Information on the child’s needs in terms of ethnicity, language, culture and religion.

All Initial Assessments will involve:

1. Consultation with the manager
2. Recording initial analysis on an Initial Assessment Record
3. Recording decisions
4. Informing other agencies of decisions where relevant
5. Writing to the child/family about decisions made and what arrangements need to be made to progress to the planning and/or core assessment stage.
6. Or, writing to the child/family explaining the outcome of the assessment and the reasons for not providing a service/taking ‘no further action’.

The Initial Assessment will lead to the following outcomes:

1. A decision about whether the child is ‘in need’
2. The identification of the key issues/focus of concern – and recording ‘need’
3. The identification of the strengths and needs of the family
4. An initial indication of the parent’s capacity to meet the child’s needs, within the wider family context.
5. An initial decision about whether services should be provided to the child and family and if so, whether a Children's Plan is required.
6. A decision about whether a more detailed Core Assessment is required, and if so what the parameters of this need to be

If there is any delay in obtaining information from another agency, a decision will have to be made about whether there is sufficient information to make judgements and decisions about the child’s needs.

If, exceptionally, a decision cannot be made, the assessment may exceed the seven-day timescale. Reasons for delays should always be clearly recorded and authorised by a manager.

If the Initial Assessment concludes that a child’s needs can be met through a time limited, task focused Children's Plan; the worker should agree this with the child, family and other professionals/agencies.

The Children’s Plan should address what needs to change and agree a planned end date for the work to be completed. The social worker and his or her manager will review the Plan regularly, and if the necessary change is not being achieved through the provision of services under the Plan, further decisions about whether a Core Assessment is needed should be taken.

If at any time during the delivery of services the child’s needs change, the worker must consult his or her manager and a decision will be made about whether to close the case or to begin a Core Assessment.

7. Core Assessments

A Core Assessment must be undertaken by a qualified social worker and will be required when:

1. A child is at risk of Significant Harm. In this situation the Core Assessment will inform, and be informed by, the child protection process.
2. A child has high level needs, or medium level but complex needs at Level 2 or of the Prioritisation Criteria for Children In Need where the manager considers that the circumstances require further information to determine how these needs should be met.
3. The absence of a Core Assessment is likely to lead to a re-referral
4. Parents’ inability to meet the child’s needs, despite input (where extensive packages of family support have not worked), including where parents have learning disabilities.
5. Multiple needs of child, which cannot be met by the parent; this may incorporate a carer’s assessment.
6. Where a Core Assessment would lead to transitional planning
7. The family circumstances are complex, or the child’s parents are facing significant problems, which affect their parenting, and fuller assessment is required to identify the extent of the impact on the child’s welfare and development.
8. There has been a significant change in the family, which requires a new assessment of the child’s welfare.
9. There are recurrent child protection concerns where the parents are difficult to engage.
10. The child is likely to be excluded from home.
11. There are persistent risk factors in the home, for example domestic violence, mental health, drug/alcohol misuse.
12. ‘Drift’ is of concern in an allocated case, and a time limited reassessment is required to decide if the child’s needs are being met sufficiently, and if not, how the intervention plan should be altered.
13. A child has become Looked After for the first time and no Core Assessment has been done.

Core Assessments must be concluded within a maximum of 35 days. However, it may be possible to conclude a Core Assessment sooner depending on the complexity and the urgency of the case.

1. Core Assessments without a Child Protection Enquiry: Where a Core Assessment does not incorporate a Child Protection Enquiry, it should be undertaken within a maximum of 35 days but, depending on the complexity and the urgency of the case, may be concluded sooner.
2. Core Assessments with a Child Protection Enquiry: Where a Core Assessment incorporates a Child Protection Enquiry, it may be possible to obtain sufficient information to conclude the Core Assessment at or shortly after the Initial Child Protection Conference, which is normally convened within 15 days of the Strategy Meeting, or if not, the Core Assessment should be completed by the date of the first Core Group meeting, which should be held within 10 working days of the Conference.

At the start of the Core Assessment, the social worker must plan the assessment work, and decide what services are necessary.

CHILD PROTECTION ENQUIRIES This guidance summarises what should be achieved as part of all Core Assessments, but specific guidance on the conducting of Child Protection Enquiries is not provided. If the Core Assessment being undertaken incorporates a Child Protection Enquiry, it will be necessary to refer to the London Child Protection Procedures; which provide procedures on joint working with the Police, the arrangements for Video Recorded or other interviews, medical assessments and other matters.

Core Assessments address the central or most important aspects of the needs of a child in depth, and looks at the capacity of the family to respond appropriately to these needs, within the wider family/community context.

At the beginning of a Core Assessment the specific parameters of the assessment work will be clarified, incorporated in a written plan and, wherever possible, agreed with the family through a written agreement. The plan will include the roles, responsibilities and time-scales for all those contributing.

The Initial Assessment will inform workers about what combination of the following methods of communication will be most effective:

1. Individual interviews and/or play sessions with children
2. Individual interviews with parents /carers
3. Observations of children – at school and/or at home/placement setting
4. The use of Assessment tools – questionnaires
5. Family interviews
6. Family Group Conferences
7. Interviews/discussions with other professionals
8. Obtaining written reports from other agencies
9. Seeking ‘Expert’ opinions
10. Discussions involving other professionals.
11. Involvement of child/family in therapeutic groups

The child should be at the centre of this work. Opportunities to work directly with the child should be built into assessment work at every stage. The child should always be seen and communicated with alone by the Lead Social Worker unless it is inappropriate to do so and this is agreed by the manager and recorded.

The social worker may need to work closely with a number of different professionals and agencies that know the child. What information held by other agencies is needed for the assessment should be agreed at the start of the Core Assessment.

Any existing assessments on children should be incorporated into the Core Assessment to ensure a complete picture is built up and to prevent duplication for the family e.g. an existing assessment about a Disabled Child. This can be achieved either by using the information to complete the relevant section of the Record; or by attaching the complete document to the Core Assessment Record.

At any point during a Core Assessment it may be necessary to commission additional specialist assessments.

It may also be necessary to refer the child for assessment and/or services from providers within or outside the authority. This may include the placement of a child in the Looked After Service.

It may not be possible to make final decisions about how best to meet a child’s needs by the end of the required timescales. What is important is that the information known at this point is pulled together, and analysed, to inform the direction of the relevant plan/service delivery. However, any decision to extend the timescales must be authorised by a manager.

At the conclusion of the Core Assessment, the information gathered should be brought together and a decision reached about what actions will be necessary for the future.

Where the Core Assessment incorporates a Child Protection Enquiry, and a decision is made to place the child’s name on the Child Protection Register, it will be necessary to formulate a Child Protection Plan. The Core Group will then monitor the implementation of the Plan.

Where the child is Looked After, the outcomes will be incorporated in the child’s Care Plan and Placement Information Record, as appropriate.

Otherwise, a Planning Meeting will be convened at the conclusion of the Core Assessment to discuss the outcomes of the assessment and to put in place the required interventions to meet the child’s needs and to draw up a Children's Plan.

The social worker undertaking the Core Assessment will arrange the relevant meeting, and ensure that the objectives, outcomes and plans of the Core Assessment Record have been completed.

The parents and carers would then receive a full copy of this record, and professionals from other agencies involved in providing services to the family and child should also receive a copy.

See also Children in Need Plans and Reviews Procedure.

Professionals responsible for drawing up the Children’s Plan should bear in mind that:

• Objectives should be reasonable, and timescales realistic, not too short or unachievable
• Plans should not be dependent on resources, which are known to be scarce or unavailable.

The social worker is responsible for ensuring that services are provided, and specific pieces of work undertaken with the child and family, which are likely to produce the outcomes, specified in the plan.

Once the plan is in place, it will be monitored regularly by the social worker during regular visits to the child and family, and with their manager.

It may be necessary to make minor adjustments to the plan and services provided. Any changes to the plan must be made in consultation with the parents and the child (where appropriate) and key professionals from other agencies. If there are significant changes in the family circumstances, a formal review should take place.

End