Contacts

1. Contacts

An Initial ‘Contact’ is recorded where Children’s Social Care is contacted about a child, who may be a Child in Need/Vulnerable Child, and where there is a request for general advice, information or a service.

All contacts need to be considered alongside thresholds for Children in Need and/or the CAF criteria and a decision made within 24 hours regarding the level of response required.

The Children’s Advice and Duty Service (ChAD) Consultant Social Worker should clarify with the referrer the nature of the issues/concerns and how and why they have arisen. The ChAD will obtain as much of the following information as possible:

• Full names, dates of birth and gender of children;
• Family address and, where relevant, school/nursery attended;
• Identity of those with Parental Responsibility;
• Names and dates of birth of all members of the household;
• Ethnicity, first language and religion of children and parents;
• Any special needs of the children including the means in which they communicate;
• Any significant recent or past events.

An Initial Contact will become a Social Care Referral if it appears at the point of the 24-Hour Decision that a Child and Family Assessment is required to consider whether services may be needed for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children or young people.

At any time, an Initial Contact may become a Referral if it appears that services may be required.

Any significant information received about a child who is currently open to a Social Care Team should be passed to the child's allocated worker and recorded on the MOSAIC database.

In all other cases, at the point when an Initial Contact is made, the ChAD should establish whether the enquiry can be dealt with by the provision of information and advice or re-direction to other agencies or services.

2. Referrals

A Referral is a request for a service, relevant to Social Care's responsibilities. This is confirmed at the 24-Hour Decision when it will usually be agreed that an Assessment will be undertaken.

Referrers should have the opportunity to discuss the issues/concerns with a qualified social worker within the ChAD.

3.Timescales

All Referrals must be written up and a decision made about their disposal within one working day of the initial contact. (Note: This should be as soon as possible where it is evident the child is seen as requiring immediate protection/urgent action.) The case will transfer from the ChAD to the appropriate Social Care Team immediately following the 24 Hour Decision being made, or if there is reasonable cause to suspect that the child is suffering, or likely to suffer, Significant Harm, and whether enquires must be made and the child assessed under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989; following the Strategy Meeting held in the ChAD.

4. Screening Process

The following process applies to new cases of children previously unknown to the authority, and to closed cases.

The process of Referrals must include screening against the Threshold Criteria for Children in Need and must include internal electronic database and agency checks to establish whether the family is previously known, and whether there is a Child Protection Plan in relation to the child and/or whether the child is Looked After.

The 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 actual or risk of Significant Harm;
• Whether there is any need for urgent action to protect the child or any children in the household.

This process will involve:

• Discussion with the referrer;
• Consideration of any existing records, including whether the child is the subject of a Child Protection Plan;
• Involving other agencies as appropriate and in accordance with Information sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners;
  • Consent from the parent or carer should normally be sought;
  • However, the Data Protection Act should never be a barrier to ‘sharing information where the failure to do so would result in a child or vulnerable adult being placed at risk of harm’ or indeed on those occasions where seeking consent might increase the risk of harm;
  • Information sharing should always be ‘necessary and proportionate’.

If there are indications that a child may be at risk of Significant Harm, the manager may authorise whatever actions are necessary to protect the child or others in the household from Significant Harm, which may result in the immediate provision of services. (See Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership (SCP) Policies and Procedures Manual, Multi Agency Information Checks Procedure, The Section 47 Enquiry).

If there is suspicion that a crime may have been committed including sexual or physical assault or neglect of the child, the Police must be notified immediately.

Personal information about non-professional referrers should not be disclosed to the parents or other agencies without the referrer's consent.

The parent's consent should usually be sought before discussing a referral with other agencies unless this may place the child at increased risk of Harm, in which case the manager should authorise the discussion of the referral with other agencies without parental knowledge or consent. The authorisation should be recorded with reasons. 

5. Initial Disposal of Referrals

The initial disposal of a Referral, which must be authorised by the manager, may be:

1. That the child does not appear to be a Child In Need, which will result in one of the following: the provision of information, advice on providing early help support, sign-posting to another agency and/or no further action;
2. That the child appears to be a Child in Need with a moderate level of need, in which case, the manager will authorise an Assessment;
3. That it is suspected that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer from Significant Harm, which will result in conducting a Strategy Discussion, prior to a Section 47 Enquiry commencing if the threshold is reached.

If there are indications that a child may be at risk of Significant Harm, the manager may authorise whatever actions are necessary to protect the child or others in the household from Significant Harm, which may result in the immediate provision of services.

Professional referrers should be advised of the disposal of the referral within 24 hours.

Feedback on the outcome of the Referral should also be provided to non-professional referrers in a manner consistent with respecting the confidentiality of the child. 

The child and family must be informed of the action to be taken.

The child should be seen as soon as possible if the decision is taken that the Referral requires an assessment.

6. Recording of Referrals

All Initial Contacts and Referrals should be recorded on the electronic database.