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North TynesideChildren's Services Procedures Manual

Assessments

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

Assessments must be based on good analysis, timeliness and transparency and be proportionate to the needs of the child and their family.

Each child who has been referred into local authority children's social care should have an individual assessment to identify their needs and to understand the impact of any parental behaviour on them as an individual. Local authorities 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.

RELEVANT GUIDANCE AND LEGISLATION

Working Together to Safeguard Children - Assessment

Social work post-qualifying standards: knowledge and skills statements (DfE)

AMENDMENT

This chapter was amended in February 2022 to add a new Section 16, 16 and 17 Year Olds who May be Homeless and/or Require Accommodation and reflects the issue of homelessness and the vulnerability of young people identified in Working Together to Safeguard Children.

Contents

  1. Assessments under the Children Act 1989
  2. North Tyneside's Chosen Model of Practice
  3. The Purpose of a Single Assessment
  4. Process of our Single Assessment
  5. Pre-birth Assessment
  6. Timeliness
  7. Communication
  8. Contribution and Focus of the Child and Family
  9. Planning
  10. Developing a Clear Analysis
  11. Contribution of Agencies Involved with the Child and Family
  12. Actions and Outcomes
  13. Regular Review
  14. Recording
  15. Principles for a Good Assessment
  16. 16 and 17 Year Olds who May be Homeless and/or Require Accommodation
  17. Assessing Family Abroad
  18. Assessment of Risk Outside the Home

1. Assessments under the Children Act 1989

Under the Children Act 1989, local authorities undertake assessments of the needs of individual children to determine what services to provide and what action to take:

  • A Child in Need is defined under the Children Act 1989 as a child who is unlikely to achieve or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health and development will be significantly impaired, without the provision of services; or a child who is disabled. In these cases, Assessments by a social worker are carried out under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989. Children in Need may be assessed under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, in relation to their Special Educational Needs, disabilities, or as a carer, or because they have committed a crime. The process for assessment should also be used for children whose parents are in prison and for unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery. When assessing Children in Need and providing services, specialist assessments may be required and, where possible, should be coordinated so that the child and family experience a coherent process and a single plan of action.

The need to assess can also include pre-birth situations when a mother's own circumstances would give cause for concern that the pre-birth, and then born, child would come within the definition of being a 'child in need'.

  • Worries about maltreatment may be the reason for a Referral to local authority children's social care or worries may arise during the course of providing services to the child and family. In these circumstances, local authority children's social care must initiate enquiries to find out what is happening to the child and whether protective action is required. Local authorities, with the help of other organisations as appropriate, also have a duty to make enquiries under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 if they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm, to enable them to decide whether they should take any action to safeguard and promote the child's welfare. Such enquiries, supported by other organisations and agencies as appropriate, should be initiated where there are worries about all forms of abuse and neglect. This includes female genital mutilation and other honour-based violence, and extra-familial threats including radicalisation and sexual or criminal exploitation;
  • There may be a need for immediate protection whilst the Assessment is carried out;
  • Some Children in Need may require accommodation because there is no one who has Parental Responsibility for them, or because they are alone or abandoned. Under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989, the local authority has a duty to accommodate such children in need in their area. Following an application under Section 31A, where a child is the subject of a Care Order, the local authority, as a corporate parent, must assess the child's needs and draw up a Care Plan which sets out the services which will be provided to meet the child's identified needs.

2. North Tyneside's Chosen Model of Practice

Signs of Safety is an evidence-based, questioning approach, that keeps the child at the centre of the work we do with them and their family.

The Signs of Safety model helps to identify what is working well for the family as a starting point for support and planning. It allows us to learn what the family wants and how they think changes can be made.

In North Tyneside, this approach will be embedded in practice and all assessments from Early Help, through to Child Protection cases.

3. The Purpose of a Single Assessment

Whatever legislation the child is assessed under, the purpose of the assessment is always:

  • To gather important information about a child and family;
  • To analyse their needs and/or 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 See - GOV.UK Digital Referral System: Report Modern Slavery;

  • To decide whether the child is a Child in Need (Section 17) and/or is suffering or likely to suffer Significant Harm (Section 47); and
  • To provide support to address those needs to improve the child's outcomes and welfare and, where necessary, to make them safe;
  • Assessments for some children will require particular care. This is especially so for young carers; children with special educational needs (including to inform and be informed by Education, Health and Care Plans); unborn children where there are concerns regarding the parent(s); children in hospital; children with specific communication needs; unaccompanied migrant children; children considered at risk of gang activity and association with organised crime groups; children at risk of female genital mutilation; children who are in the youth justice system and children returning home following a period of Accommodation;
  • Every assessment must be informed by the views of the child as well as the family, and a child's wishes and feelings must be sought regarding the provision of services to be delivered.

4. Process of our Single Assessment

Before a Referral is discussed with other agencies, the parent's consent should usually be sought, unless to do so may place the child at risk of Significant 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.

The assessment should be led by a qualified and experienced social worker who has access to regular supervision by their manager.

North Tyneside's model of practice is Signs of Safety with the fundamental approach to practice of 'what is working well', 'what we are worried about' and 'what needs to happen next' in order to support families.

4.1 Prerequisites for Assessment Work in North Tyneside

4.1.1 An honest and respectful approach

Assessments like all work with children and families in whatever setting relies on the quality of the relationships that can be established and built upon. Practitioners should conduct their business with respect and courtesy with families. An honest and respectful approach is more likely to be able to build relationships and collaborative work than a cold formal approach. However, professional boundaries should still be maintained.

In order to work honestly and respectfully, there are three core principles of Signs of Safety.

  1. Maintaining working relationships;
  2. Thinking critically and maintaining a stance of critical inquiry;
  3. Being Grounded in everyday experience.

It is also important that professionals retain a questioning and objective mindset and a willingness to think the unthinkable.

4.1.2 An informed perspective of the child's experiences

Assessments should be conducted in such a way that enables an exploration of the child's view of their situation, how it makes them feel and how it affects them. To gather a meaningful rather than a superficial or reported understanding of this the practitioner should spend time with the child and use appropriate approaches and tools to help the child communicate. This might include information and/or observations provided by other professionals.

4.1.3 Information sources

The primary source of information in assessment will come from those who know the child best. In most cases this will be the parents or carers. Extended family members or the support network may also have relevant information or views about the child's circumstances. Equally important are other professionals' information such as schools, early years workers, health professionals, the police and colleagues in adult care. The significance of known family history cannot be over stated and a thorough examination of any agency's historic involvement with the family must be undertaken. A growing source of potential information is from social media sites such as 'Facebook' where public access is available. Note, however, that such surveillance should not be undertaken without seeking prior legal advice.

4.1.4 Initial Interventions

The qualified social worker should carefully plan their initial intervention with the family, considering what questions they would wish to ask, what tools would support them in speaking with the child and the network as well as how an understanding can quickly be gained as to who is in the child's whole network to form a genogram. The following should be carried out as part of the initial intervention:

  • See and speak to the child and consider, if appropriate, for the child to be seen without their caregivers;
  • See and speak the parents and anybody else within the family network;
  • Consider whether to see the child with the parents;
  • Determine what the parents should be told of any concerns;
  • Consult with and consider contributions from all relevant agencies, including agencies covering previous addresses in the UK and abroad.

If it is determined that a child should not be seen as part of the Assessment, this should be recorded by the manager with reasons.

Note

If during the course of the Assessment, it is discovered that a school age child is not attending an educational establishment, the social worker should contact the local education service to establish a reason for this.

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.

5. Pre-birth Assessment

In a High Court judgment (Nottingham City Council v LW & Ors [2016] EWHC 11(Fam) (19 February 2016)) Keehan J set out five points of basic and fundamental good practice steps with respect to public law proceedings regarding pre-birth and newly born children and particularly where Children's Services are aware at a relatively early stage of the pregnancy.

In respect of Assessment, these good practice steps were:

  • A risk assessment of the parent(s) should 'commence immediately upon the social workers being made aware of the mother's pregnancy';
  • Any Assessment should be completed at least 4 weeks before the mother's expected delivery date;
  • The Assessment should be updated to take into account relevant events pre - and post-delivery where these events could affect an initial conclusion in respect of risk and care planning of the child;
  • The Assessment should be disclosed upon initial completion to the parents and, if instructed, to their solicitor to give them the opportunity to challenge the Care Plan and risk assessment.

(See Care and Supervision Proceedings and the Public Law Outline Procedure, Pre-Birth, Newborns and Infants).

6. Timeliness

Within the assessment timescale for a statutory assessment of 45 working days the following check points should be observed to ensure the circumstances in which the child is living are understood and acted upon in a timely way.

Within 1 working day of receiving the referral children's services must make a decision about what needs to happen – the decision should be made by the Social Worker and their line manager.

Where an assessment is deemed appropriate under Section 17 a decision regarding timeliness must be agreed between the Social Worker and their line manager. The presenting circumstances of the referral will provide an indication of urgency and issues of immediate risk for the child and, where necessary, should be evaluated within a strategy meeting or discussion with other agencies who know the child or family.

Check point 1. Within 10 working days following the decision to undertake the assessment.

Check point 2. Within 25 working days following the decision to undertake the assessment.

Check point 3. Within 40 working days following the decision to undertake the assessment.

At each of these checkpoints the Social Worker and line manager must:

  • Consider the information that has been gathered and how other agencies have or should contribute - this should include consideration of agencies or services that are currently involved in providing services to the child or family and whose involvement will need to feature in the planning for the child. This is particularly relevant where there are or have been specialist assessments for example assessments undertaken within youth justice or Children and Young People's Mental Health Services;
  • Consider from the perspective of the child(ren) the current circumstances;
  • Consider and evaluate the level of parental engagement in the process;
  • Identify information that is not yet known and how this will be gathered;
  • Discuss, on the basis of known information, if services should be provided immediately to improve the outcomes for the child;
  • Consider if a different course of action is needed;
  • Discuss emerging hypotheses and how these will be tested;
  • Discuss and begin to formulate a proposed plan for the child;
  • Consider the need to hold a multi-agency meeting to discuss progress and coordinate involved specialists in the formulation of a single plan;
  • Agree the anticipated timescale for completion;
  • Record the discussion and agreed actions on ICS.

Where an assessment under Section 47 is agreed as appropriate the timescale for the completion is 15 working days from the point the decision was made. The assessment should be in sufficient depth so as to identify the immediate safeguarding needs of the child. Where further assessment work is required following the Section 47 this should be completed within the timescale identified above.

Factors to be routinely considered as part of the process for planning the assessment include:

  • Whether there is a need for consent from the family to undertake this assessment?
  • Who has PR for the child and are they aware that the assessment process is underway?
  • The need to establish who lives within the household and ensure they are considered as part of the assessment process;
  • The need to read all of the information that is already held by Children and Families Social Care about the child and their family;
  • Whether there is already a Chronology that can be added to or whether a Chronology needs to be started for the child?
  • The need to access any other assessment information that has been gathered by other agencies to avoid duplication and to avoid the 'start again' syndrome;
  • What are you looking for when you go out and assess a child and their family? How will you capture the landscape that the child lives in and how it affects them? Have you seen where the child sleeps?
  • Who will be involved? How will you ensure you identify and speak to all those who are significant to the child and family including other wider family and other professionals who are already working with or supporting the family?
  • How will you engage and involve the parents, the child and others who are significant?
  • What strategies will you use to enable child and family participation in the assessment process? How will you obtain the child's perspective on what is happening regardless of age? How will you support the parent to tell their story?
  • When do you need to have the assessment completed by? Are you working with timeliness for the child in mind?
  • How will you share the information with the child, parent and other relevant people?
  • How will you ensure that the family are receiving help and support during the assessment process?
  • What are the specific communication needs of the family? Do they need an interpreter; loop hearing systems:
    • How will the assessment take into account the particular issues faced by black and minority ethnic children and their families, and disabled children and their families?
    • What tools will you use to assist in collecting information? (see Home Conditions Checklist - to follow).

The assessment process can be summarised as follows:

  • Gathering relevant information;
  • Analysing the information and reaching professional judgments;
  • Making decisions and planning interventions;
  • Intervening, service delivery and/or further assessment;
  • Evaluating and reviewing progress.

Assessment should be a dynamic process, which analyses and responds to the changing nature and level of need and/or risk faced by the child from within and outside their family. A good assessment will monitor and record the impact of any services delivered to the child and family and review the help being delivered. Whilst services may be delivered to a parent or carer, the assessment should be focused on the needs of the child and on the impact any services are having on the child. Referrals may include siblings or a single child within a sibling group. Where the initial focus for a referral is on one child, other children in the household or family should be equally considered, and the individual circumstances of each assessed and evaluated separately.

7. Communication

In planning the Assessment and in providing the parent and child with feedback, the social worker will need to consider and address any communication needs, for example language. An interpreter should be provided. Any decision not to use an interpreter must be agreed with the manager and recorded clearly in a case note for the family. Where any documents are provided to a family during the course of assessment, consideration must be given as to whether there is a need to have them translated.

Where a child or parent with disabilities has communication difficulties it may be necessary to use alternatives to speech. In communicating with a child with such communication needs, it may be particularly useful to involve a person who knows the child well and is familiar with the child's communication methods. However, caution should be given in using family members to facilitate communication. Where the child has had a communication assessment, its conclusions and recommendations should be observed.

8. Contribution and Focus of the Child and Family

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 social 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 agreed local assessment framework should make a range of age appropriate tools available to professionals to assist them in this work. Social workers can use a range of tools to obtain the Child's Voice (see North Tyneside Council website, Signs of Safety).

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 centered. 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.

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 community as well as their behaviour and developmental stage. 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.

Assessments, service provision and decision making should regularly review the impact of the assessment process and the services provided on the child 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 welfare of the child.

The social worker must continue to 'reflect', using the following questions:

  • Can you describe the child well?
  • Can you describe what life is like for the child living within their family?
  • Is your knowledge current?
  • Do you understand the impact your services are having on their life?
  • Does the child understand what is happening to them and why?

The Parents

The parents' 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 change in order to create safety for the child(ren). 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 obstacles to progress. All parents or care givers should be involved equally in the Assessment and should be supported to participate whilst the welfare of the child must not be overshadowed by parental needs. There may be exceptions to the involvement in cases of Sexual Abuse or Domestic Violence and Abuse for example, where the plan for the Assessment must consider the safety of an adult as well as that of the child. Social workers can use a range of tools to engage with the parents and obtain their views and understanding (see North Tyneside Council website, Signs of Safety).

9. Planning

All Assessments should be planned and coordinated by a social worker 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.

Referrals may include siblings or a single child within a sibling group. Where the initial focus for a referral is on one child, other children in the household or family should be equally considered, and the individual circumstances of each assessed and evaluated separately.

Planning should identify the different elements of the assessment including who should be involved. It is good practice to hold a planning meeting to clarify roles and timescales as well as services to be provided during the assessment where there are a number of family members and agencies likely to play a part in the process.

Questions to be considered in planning assessments include:

  • Who will undertake the Assessment and what resources will be needed?
  • Who in the family 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?
  • What services are to be provided during the assessment?
  • Are there communication needs? If so, what are the specific needs and how they will be met?
  • How will the Assessment take into account the particular issues faced by black and minority ethnic children and their families, and disabled children and their families?
  • What method of collecting information will be used? Are there any tools / questionnaires available?
  • What information is already available?
  • What other sources of knowledge about the child and family are available and how will other agencies and professionals who know the family be informed and involved?
  • How will the consent of family members be obtained?
  • What will be the timescales?
  • How will the information be recorded?
  • How will it be analysed and who will be involved?
  • When will the outcomes be discussed and service planning take place.

The Assessment process can be summarised as follows:

  • Gathering relevant information;
  • Analysing the information and reaching professional judgments;
  • Making decisions and planning interventions;
  • Intervening, service delivery and/or further assessment;
  • Evaluating and reviewing progress.

Assessment should be a dynamic process, which analyses and responds to the changing nature and level of need and/or risk faced by the child from within and outside their family. A good assessment will monitor and record the impact of any services delivered to the child and family and review the help being delivered. Whilst services may be delivered to a parent or carer, the Assessment should be focused on the needs of the child and on the impact any services are having on the child.

10. 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 three domains; set out in the Assessment Framework Triangle.

Environmental Factors

Children may be vulnerable to neglect and abuse or exploitation from within their family but increasingly also from individuals they come across in their day-to-day lives. These threats can take a variety of different forms, including: sexual, physical and emotional abuse; neglect; exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups; trafficking; online abuse; sexual exploitation and the influences of extremism leading to radicalisation.

The interaction of these domains requires careful investigation during the Assessment. The aim is to reach a judgement about the nature and level of needs and/or risks that the child may be facing within their family and/or community. Importantly the assessment, in looking at the domains, should also consider where the strengths are in a child's circumstances and in what way they may assist in reducing the risk.

An Assessment should establish:

  • The nature of the worry and the impact this has had on the child;
  • An analysis of their needs and/or the nature and level of any risk and harm being suffered by the child;
  • How and why the worries 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 worry involves abuse or neglect; and what impact and influence the wider family and any other adults living in the household have on this, as well as community and environmental circumstances;
  • Whether there is any need for any urgent action to protect the child, or any other children in the household or wider community;
  • Whether there are any factors that may indicate that the child is being or has been criminally or sexually exploited or trafficked.

    Note: if there is a concern with regards to trafficking, a referral into the National Referral Mechanism should be made. See -GOV.UK Digital Referral System: Report Modern Slavery.

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 an Early Help Assessment has already been completed this information should be used to inform the assessment. The child and family's history should be understood.

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 social worker should analyse all the information gathered from the enquiry stage of the assessment to decide the nature and level of the child's needs and the level of risk, if any, they may be facing. Social workers should have access to high quality supervision from a Practice Supervisor who will help challenge their assumptions as part of this process. Critical reflection through supervision should strengthen the analysis in each assessment. An informed decision should be taken on the nature of any action required and which services should be provided. Social workers, their managers and other professionals should be mindful of the requirement to understand the level of need and risk 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. Where there is a conflict of interest, decisions should be made in the child's best interests, be rooted in child development, be age-appropriate, and be informed by evidence.

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 serious case and practice reviews.

11. 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 local arrangements for resolving professional disagreements 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.

The social worker's supervisor will have a key role in supporting the practitioner to ensure all relevant agencies are involved.

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.

12. Actions and Outcomes

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

  • 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 of the assessment should be decided on by the social worker and their line manager, who should agree a plan of action setting out the services to be delivered how and by whom in discussion with the child and family and the professionals involved.

The outcomes may be as follows:

  • No further action;
  • Additional support which can be provided through universal services and single service provision; or the early help process;
  • The development of a multi-agency child in need plan for the provision of child in need services to promote the child's health and development;
  • 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.

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 jeopardise an enquiry or Police investigation;
  • Taking account of confidentiality, provided to professional referrers;
  • Given in writing to agencies involved in providing services to the child with the action points, review dates and intended outcomes for the child stated.

13. Regular Review

The Assessment 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. Where delays or obstacles occur these must be acted on and the assessment plan must be reviewed if any circumstances change for the child.

The social worker's line manager must review the assessment plan regularly with the social 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 taken into account when providing services;
  • All the children in the household have been seen and their needs considered;
  • The child's home address has been visited and the child's bedroom has been seen;
  • The parents have been seen and their views and wishes have been recorded and taken into account;
  • 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.

Working Together to Safeguard Children reminds all professionals of the importance of reviewing progress and that 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 social worker may arrive at a judgement 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 social 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.

14. Recording

Recording by all professionals should include information on the child's development so that progress can be monitored to ensure their outcomes are improving. 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 patterns of concerns.

Assessment plans and action points arising from plans and meetings should be circulated to the participants including the child, if appropriate, and the parents.

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.

15. Principles for a Good Assessment

All assessments whether Early Help assessments or statutory assessment will hold to the following principles:

  1. The child is at the heart of the assessment;
  2. The child's known or perceived experiences will form the corner stone of plans which will be designed to improve the outcomes for the child;
  3. A working agreement will be agreed with the family that clearly states:
    • Why an assessment is needed;
    • Who will undertake the assessment;
    • How the assessment will be conducted and who needs to be involved;
    • The anticipated timescale;
    • What is expected and what can be expected from whom, including the parents.
  4. Assessments will be concluded within a timescale that ensures the needs of the child are understood and are addressed in accordance with identified need;
  5. Assessments will be conducted openly and honestly with children and their families and will actively involve them in the assessment and planning process;
  6. Assessments will take due consideration of the context within which the child lives, the views and wishes of the child and their carers, and be conducted in such a way so as to facilitate their involvement and engagement;
  7. Assessments will identify strengths as well as areas of concern;
  8. Assessments will be evidence based and where appropriate reference current research in support of the conclusions reached;
  9. Assessments will include information from other professionals as appropriate and be integrated in approach;
  10. Where there is more than one child the assessment process will specifically consider each child individually;
  11. Areas of disagreement will be taken seriously and considered with the family. The child and family will have information that informs them how to make a complaint;
  12. Assessments will result in a single plan designed to coordinate professional intervention;
  13. Plans will be reviewed with the family and their effectiveness monitored.

The assessment triangle in Working Together to Safeguard Children provides a model, which should be used to examine how the different aspects of the child's life and context interact and impact on the child. It notes that it is important that:

'Assessment should be a dynamic process, which analyses and responds to the changing nature and level of need and/or risk 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'.


Assessment Framework Triangle

Assessment Triangle

16. 16 and 17 Year Olds who may be Homeless and/or Require Accommodation

Where a 16 or 17 year old seeks help from local authority children's services, or is referred to children's services by some other person or agency as appearing to be homeless or threatened with homelessness, children's services must carry out an assessment of what duties, if any, are owed to them. This includes 17 year olds who are approaching their 18th birthday, and young people who are pregnant or have children in their care.

If there is an imminent threat of homelessness, or if the young person is actually homeless, a child in need assessment must be carried out and the child accommodated under section 20 Children Act 1989, (although this can be refused by the child). (See Prevention of Homelessness and Provision of Accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds who may be Homeless and/or require Accommodation; and Duty to Refer Procedure).

Intentional Homelessness: See Homelessness Guidance for local authorities.

17. Assessing Family Abroad

An increasing number of cases involve families from abroad, necessitating assessments of family members in other countries. However, the Court of Appeal has pointed out that it might not be professional, permissible or lawful for a social worker to undertake an assessment in another jurisdiction. CFAB advise that enquiries should be made as to whether the assessment can be undertaken by the authorities in the overseas jurisdiction. UK social workers should not routinely travel overseas to undertake assessments in countries where they have no knowledge of legislative frameworks, cultural expectations or resources available to a child placed there.

See also: Cross-border child protection cases: the 1996 Hague Convention (DfE) and The International Child Abduction and Contact Unit.

18. Assessment of Risk Outside the Home

As well as threats to the welfare of children from within their families, children may be vulnerable to abuse or exploitation from outside their families. These extra-familial threats might arise at school and other educational establishments, from within peer groups, or more widely from within the wider community and/or online.

These threats can take a variety of different forms and children can be vulnerable to multiple threats, including: exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups such as county lines; trafficking, online abuse; teenage relationship abuse (including controlling or coercive behaviour); sexual exploitation and the influences of extremism leading to radicalisation.

Assessments of children in such cases should consider whether wider environmental factors are undermining effective intervention being undertaken to reduce risk with the child and family. Parents and carers have little influence over the contexts in which the abuse takes place and the young person's experiences of this extra-familial abuse can undermine parent-child relationships.

Where this is the case, the social worker should:

  • Refer the child's circumstances to relevant Multi-Agency work which addresses the concerns and risks in the neighbourhood or local authority;
  • Identify the issues with their line-manager with a view to the local authority establishing a multi-agency intervention programme to meet community needs; or
  • In specific circumstances, through their line-manager, seek to convene a Child in Need strategy/planning meeting with relevant partner agencies (e.g. school, police, relevant voluntary bodies, etc.) to explore specific interventions to address the safeguarding issues.

Within this context, children who may be alleged perpetrators should also be assessed to understand the impact of contextual issues on their safety and welfare.

Assessments of children in such cases should consider the individual needs and vulnerabilities of each child. They should look at the parental capacity to support the child, including helping the parents and carers to understand any risks and support them to keep children safe and assess potential risk to the child.

These interventions should focus on addressing both child and family and these wider environmental factors, which are likely to be a threat to the safety and welfare of a number of different children who may or may not be known to local authority Children's Social Care. Effective information sharing and intelligence gathering is crucial in developing effective coordinated multi-agency responses.