2.4 Chronology Guidance

An up to date chronology is crucial in safeguarding because it:

• Gives relevant information about previous history which may be an important indicator of risk;
• Provides continuity so we can see immediately what has happened;
• Presents clear accurate information;
• Helps focus on key events so we can understand what is happening in the life of a child or young person;
• Allows professionals to put the pieces of a jigsaw together;
• Highlights risks and vulnerabilities, but also strengths and resilience;
• Patterns in social history and behaviour can be detected, events can appear insignificant in isolation but together can be identified as warning signs;
• Highlights people in the child's life already known by agencies, the nature of current relationships between families and their wider social networks. This gives important information about who in the family/network may be protective and which family members may pose a risk to the child/young person;
• Highlights gaps, missing details and inconsistencies that require further assessment and identification;
• Lists what interventions have been tried/what has worked and what hasn't which avoids duplicating and repeating work and gives information about capacity to change;
• Use as a reflective tool-for multi-agency working together-in supervision and for key decision making.

Lord Laming noted the importance of a chronology in child protection in both the inquiries into the deaths of Victoria Climbié (2004):

'I regard the inclusion in any case file of a clear, comprehensive and up-to-date chronology as absolutely essential…As the agency best placed to co-ordinate the collection of the relevant information, I regard it as the responsibility of social services to maintain the chronology, seeking the input of other agencies as appropriate.' Recommendation 58 Laming Report: a properly maintained chronology" must be kept on every file"

The importance of a chronology also featured in the case of Peter Connolly (2008):

'What is lost is any holistic sense of the wider picture - the real experience of the child, the real risks which he faces. Thus, for example, in the case of Baby P any meaningful overview by way even of a simple chronology would surely have alerted social work professionals to his predicament' Family Justice Council.

A Chronology is:

• An ordered, dated record of significant events in the child's life. It can identify patterns of events, concerns, positives, strengths and unmet needs;
• Chronology provides a clear account of all significant events in a child’s life to date, based on knowledge and information held by the agencies involved with the child and family;
• The chronology reflects the best knowledge a department has about a child’s history at a point in time;
• This guidance is aimed at producing a general chronology that is kept on case files, there may be a need to produce a more specific chronology in certain situations e.g. court chronologies.

A chronology should:

• Inform case discussion and key decision making by making it evidence based e.g. current decision making by managers may prioritise verbal presentation of information that could have gaps;
• Not be an assessment – but be part of assessment e.g can reveal patterns so that  events aren’t seen as isolated incidents;
• Not be an end in itself – it is a working tool which promotes engagement with people who use services and promotes multi-agency involvement.

To compile a chronology the practitioner must:

• Identifying the key events to be recorded;
• Identifying the sources of information to be used;
• Making sure what is recorded is accurate and in date order;
• Considering the significance of the events for the child and family in question.

The following details should be included:

• Date of birth of child;
• Family history e.g. parents’ childhood, their significant life events;
• Start/end dates of SW involvement;
• Changes of Social worker;
• Strategy Meetings and S47 investigations;
• Assessments;
• Child’s words, views, feelings and behaviour;
• Significant other incidents e.g significant observation during home visits;
• Concerns about specific behaviours in the family including sexual behaviour, substance misuse, domestic abuse not reported to the police, housing issues;
• CP plans / deregistration;
• Changes in GP/Health professionals;
• Medical history including accidents/incidents requiring treatment;
• Serious illness;
• Hospital admissions;
• Diagnosis of specific condition;
• Being Looked After;
• Changes in placement;
• Change in legal status;
• Change of name;
• Change in birth family household/relationships;
• Change in birth family address;
• Significant family events e.g. pregnancy, miscarriage, deaths;
• Change in school/college;
• School exclusions/incidents;
• Absence from school;
• Educational assessments including additional needs/support plans;
• Educational performance and results;
• Employment;
• Police logs about family/household;
• Criminal proceedings and offences;
• Transition Plan;
• Permanence Plan;
• Pathway Plan.

Significant points in a case when a chronology must be completed will include:

• Any stage where a case is being closed;
• Referral to Assessment;
• Assessment > CIN or CP;
• Strategy Meeting/Section 47;
• Child Protection Conference;
• Core Group - used as ongoing review;
• Child Protection Review;
• Moving In CP Conference;
• Legal Gateway Meetings including PLO, Issuing proceedings and Permanency Planning Meetings and Final Care Planning Meeting;
• Court directs S7 /S37 reports;
• Accommodation of a child or young person (as soon as is possible if unplanned);
• Statutory LAC Review;
• Transfer to Leaving Care Team.