Assessment

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Assessment

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

Durham local authority with their partner agencies have developed and published a local framework for assessment based on good analysis, timeliness and transparency and proportionate to the needs of the child and their family.

Each child who has been referred into Durham children's Early Help and Social Care should have a Child & Family assessment to identify their needs, worries, strengths and safety to understand the impact upon the child. Durham children's Early Help and Social Care have to give due regard to a child's age and understanding when determining what (if any) services to provide under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, and before making decisions about action to be taken to protect individual children under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989.

AMENDMENT

In August 2022, this chapter was updated throughout in line with local practice.

Focus on the Child
Planning
Developing a Clear Analysis
Contribution of the Child, Family and their Network
Contribution of Agencies Involved with the Child and Family
Actions and Outcomes
Regular Review
Recording
Principles for a Good Assessment
Further Information
Local Documents

1. Focus on the Child

Children should to be seen and listened to and included throughout the assessment process. Their ways of communicating should be understood in the context of their family and wider network as well as their behaviour and developmental stage.

Assessments, service provision and decision making should regularly review the impact on the child of the assessment process and the services provided, so that the best outcomes for the child can be achieved. Any services provided should be based on a clear analysis of the child's needs, and the changes that are required to improve the outcomes for the child.

Children should be actively involved in all parts of the process based upon their age, developmental stage and identity. Direct work with the child and family should include observations of the interactions between the child and the parents/care-givers.

All agencies involved with the child, the parents and the wider family have a duty to collaborate and share information to safeguard and promote the wellbeing of the child.

2. Planning

All assessments should be planned and coordinated by a lead practitioner and the purpose of the assessment should be transparent, understood and agreed by all participants. There should be an agreed statement setting out the aims of the assessment process.

Planning should identify the different elements of the assessment including who should be involved. It is good practice to identify the family network and include them in the plan.

Questions to be considered in planning assessments include:

Who will undertake the assessment and what resources will be needed?
Who in the family and their network will be included and how will they be involved (including absent or wider family and others significant to the child)?
In what grouping will the child and family members be seen and in what order and where? All children and family members will have the opportunity to share their views and experiences within the assessment. This will include others that may not live with the child;
What are the family network able to do and what, if any, additional services are required? Where additional support is identified this should be implemented during the assessment process rather than waiting for the completion of the assessment;
Are there communication needs? If so, what are the specific needs and how they will be met? Consider how best to communicate with the child and family, and what support maybe needed;
How will the assessment take into account the particular issues faced by cultural and health needs of the children and their families?
What method of collecting information will be used, e.g. practice toolkit, voice of the child, harm matrix?
What do we know and what do we need to find out?
Consideration needs to be given around what information is required from others and how the family will consent to the assessment, information sharing and support being offered;
What will be the timescales?
How will the information be recorded?
How will the impact on the child be considered and who will be involved, including family network and support services where necessary?
When will the outcomes be discussed and planning take place.

The assessment process can be summarised as follows:

Gathering relevant information;
Analysing the information and making a decision around what needs to happen;
Who needs to be involved and what is it that they need to do?
Evaluating and reviewing progress.

Assessment should be a dynamic process, which analyses and responds to the worries, strengths and safety experienced by the child. A good assessment will monitor and record the impact of the plan for the child and family. Whilst support may be delivered to a parent or carer, the assessment should be focused on the needs of the child and on the impact any support is having on the child.

All assessments should be undertaken with care and consideration for the child and families experiences, however particular care and attention should be taken when undertaking assessments of:

Young carers;
Children with special education needs (including to inform and be informed by EHCPs);
Unborn children where there are concerns;
Children with specific communication needs;
Children in hospital, children in mental health inpatient settings;
Asylum seeking children;
Children considered at risk of gang activity and association with organized crime groups;
Children at risk of FGM;
Children in the Youth Justice system;
Children returning home.

3. Developing a Clear Analysis

Research has demonstrated that taking a systematic approach to assessments using a conceptual model is the best way to deliver a comprehensive analysis. A good assessment is one which investigates the four domains; set out in the Assessment Framework Diamond. The interaction of these domains requires careful investigation during the assessment. The aim is to reach a judgement about the nature and needs and/or risks that the child may be facing within their family.

An assessment should establish:

The nature of the concern and the impact this has had on the child;
An analysis of their needs;
How and why the concerns have arisen;
What the child's and the family's needs appear to be and whether the child is a Child in Need;
Whether the concern involves abuse or Neglect;
Whether there is any need for any urgent action to protect the child, or any other children in the household or community;
Any factors that may indicate that the child is or has been trafficked, or is a victim of compulsory labour, servitude and slavery;
Any factors that may indicate that the child has been exposed to some form of radicalisation or extremism;
The nature and level of any risk and harm being suffered by the child.

Note: if there is a concern with regards to exploitation or trafficking, a referral into the National Referral Mechanism should be made.[1]

The assessment will involve drawing together and analysing available information from a range of sources, including existing records, and involving and obtaining relevant information from professionals in relevant agencies and others in contact with the child and family. Where a Child & Assessment has already been completed this information should be used to inform the assessment. The child and family's history should be understood.

It may be appropriate to arrange a Medical Assessment to assist in the assessment process.

Where a child is involved in other assessment processes, it is important that these are coordinated so that the child does not become lost between the different agencies involved and their different procedures. All plans for the child developed by the various agencies and individual professionals should be joined up so that the child and family experience a single assessment and planning process, which shares a focus on the outcomes for the child.

The Lead Worker should analyse all the information gathered from the enquiry stage of the assessment to decide the nature and the child's needs and of risk, if any, they may be facing. The Team Manager should provide regular supervision and management checkpoints in order to challenge the Lead Worker's assumptions as part of this process. An informed decision should be taken on the nature of any action required and which services should be provided. Lead Workers, their managers and other professionals should be mindful of the requirement to understand the needs and risks in a family from the child's perspective and ensure action or commission services which will have maximum positive impact on the child's life.

When new information comes to light or circumstances change the child's needs, any previous conclusions should be updated and critically reviewed to ensure that the child is not overlooked as noted in many lessons from Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews.

[1] GOV.UK Human trafficking/modern slavery victims: referral and assessment forms

4. Contribution of the Child, Family and their Network

The Child

The child should participate and contribute directly to the assessment process based upon their age, understanding and identity. They should be seen alone and if this is not possible or in their best interest, the reason should be recorded. The Lead Worker should work directly with the child in order to understand their views and wishes, including the way in which they behave both with their care givers and in other settings. The Child & Family Practice Toolkit has a range of tools available to assist practitioners in this work. If the child is of a young age or has complex needs or disability and is not able to contribute verbally, they should be observed in a range of environments and in the care of their parents. There should be discussions with those who know the child best.

The pace of the assessment needs to acknowledge the pace at which the child can contribute. However, this should not be a reason for delay in taking protective action. It is important to understand the resilience of the individual child in their family and community context when planning appropriate services.

Every assessment should be child centred. Where there is a conflict between the needs of the child and their parents/carers, decisions should be made in the child's best interests. The parents should be involved at the earliest opportunity unless to do so would prejudice the safety of the child.

The Parents and the Family Network

The parents and family network involvement in the assessment will be central to its success. At the outset they need to understand how they can contribute to the process and what needs to happen to make life better for the child. The assessment process must be open and transparent with the parents. However, the process should also challenge parents' statements and behaviour where it is evidenced that there are inconsistencies, questions or complicating factors that are getting in the way. All parents including Dads/Male Carers regardless of parental separation (where safe to do so) should be involved equally in the assessment and should be supported to participate but the safety and wellbeing of the child must not be overshadowed by parental needs. There may be exceptions to the involvement of parents or care givers in cases of Sexual Abuse or domestic abuse for example, where the plan for the assessment must consider the safety of an adult as well as that of the child.

In cases where agreement to an early help assessment cannot be obtained, practitioners should consider how the needs of the child might be met, ensuring that any processes are clearly explained to children and families. Children and families should be informed of how their data will be recorded and shared.

5. Contribution of Agencies Involved with the Child and Family

All agencies and professionals involved with the child, and the family, have a responsibility to contribute to the assessment process. This might take the form of providing information in a timely manner and direct or joint work. Differences of opinion between professionals should be resolved speedily but where this is not possible, the Managing Professional Differences Policy should be implemented.

It is possible that professionals have different experiences of the child and family and understanding these differences will actively contribute to the understanding of the child / family.

The professionals should be involved from the outset and through the agreed, regular process of review.

Agencies providing services to adults, who are parents, carers or who have regular contact with children must consider the impact on the child of the particular needs of the adult in question.

Landlords can hold vital information regarding their tenants. Where the property the child resides is rented from a social housing provider, a representative should be contacted for any relevant information they may hold in relation to the tenancy and, where applicable, invited to any multi-agency safeguarding meetings.

Where the property is a private rented tenancy, checks can be made with the Durham County Council’s Private Landlords’ Team for any relevant information. This team can also carry out checks with Environmental Health and the Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team, Neighbourhood Wardens for any relevant information. A check is also recommended to the Durham County Council Housing Solutions Housing Advice Team for whether the household have recently made contact for advice regarding homelessness or threats of homelessness.

6. Actions and Outcomes

Every assessment should be focused on outcomes, deciding which services and support to provide to deliver improved wellbeing for the child and reflect the child's best interests. In the course of the assessment the Lead Worker and their line manager should determine:

Is this a child in need of Early Help?
Is this a Child in Need? (Section 17 Children Act 1989);
Is there reasonable cause to suspect that this child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm? (Section 47 Children Act 1989);
Is this a child in need of accommodation? (Section 20 or Section 31A Children Act 1989).

The possible outcomes and next steps of the assessment should be discussed and agreed by the family, lead practitioner and their line manager.

The outcomes may be as follows:

No further action;
The development of a family plan to promote the child's health, wellbeing and development;
Request for (additional) Early Help;
Specialist assessment for a more in-depth understanding of the child's needs and circumstances;
Undertaking a Strategy Discussion/Meeting, a Section 47 child protection enquiry;
Emergency action to protect a child;
Referral to Adult Services if appropriate;
Step down to Early Help and/or universal services.

The outcome of the assessment should be:

Discussed with the child and family and provided to them in written form. Exceptions to this are where this might place a child at risk of harm or a parent/carer at risk of harm or jeopardise a safeguarding or Police enquiry;
Taking account of confidentiality;
Family Plan to be provided to agencies involved in providing services to the child with the action points, review dates and intended outcomes for the child stated.

The maximum time frame for the assessment to conclude, such that it is possible to reach a decision on next steps, should be no longer than 45 working days from the point of referral. If, in discussion with a child and their family and other professionals, an assessment exceeds 45 working days the Lead Worker and professionals involved should record the reasons for exceeding the time limit.

7. Regular Review

The Family Plan must set out timescales for the actions to be met and stages of the assessment to progress, which should include regular points to review the assessment. The work with the child and family should ensure that the agreed points are achieved through regular reviews (4-6 weekly). Where delays or obstacles occur these must be acted on and the Family Plan must be reviewed if any circumstances change for the child.

The Line Manager must review the Family Plan regularly with the Lead Worker and ensure that actions such as those below have been met:

There has been direct communication with the child alone and their views and wishes have been recorded and considered when providing services;
All the children in the household have been seen and their needs considered;
Completion of the Home Environment Assessment Tool;
Both parents have been seen and equally contributed to the plan and their views and wishes have been recorded and considered;
The analysis and evaluation has been completed;
The assessment provides clear evidence for decisions on what types of services are needed to provide good outcomes for the child and family.

A useful comment from 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' to bear in mind for all professionals when reviewing progress:

'A high quality assessment is one in which evidence is built and revised throughout the process and takes account of family history and the child's experience of cumulative abuse.

A Lead Worker may arrive at a judgment early in the case but this may need to be revised as the case progresses and further information comes to light. It is a characteristic of skilled practice that Lead Workers revisit their assumptions in the light of new evidence and take action to revise their decisions in the best interests of the individual child. Decision points and review points involving the child and family and relevant practitioners should be used to keep the assessment on track. This is to ensure that help is given in a timely and appropriate way and that the impact of this help is analysed and evaluated in terms of the improved outcomes and welfare of the child'.

8. Recording

Recording by all professionals should include information on the child's safety and wellbeing so that progress can be monitored to ensure that life is improving for them. This is particularly significant in circumstances where neglect is an issue.

Records should be kept of the progress of the assessment on the individual child's record and in their Chronology to monitor any significant events, strengths, safety and any patterns in terms of worries.

Family Plans should be shared with the child, parents/carers, family network and professionals.

The recording should be such that a child, requesting to access their records, could easily understand the process taking place and the reasons for decisions and actions taken.

Supervision records should reflect the reasoning for decisions and actions taken, and each entry should be signed and dated.

9. Principles for a Good Assessment

Assessment should be a dynamic process, which analyses and responds to the changing nature and level of the needs and/or risks faced by the child from within and outside their family. It is important that the impact of what is happening to a child is clearly identified and that information is gathered, recorded and checked systematically, and discussed with the child and their parents/carers where appropriate.