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Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Cycle of Assessment, Planning, Intervention and Review
3. Defining Permanence
4. Children without a Plan of Permanence
5. Children with a Plan of Permanence
6. Quality Assurance

1. Introduction

Volume 2 of the Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations provides guidance to Local Authorities around the cycle of assessing, planning, intervening and reviewing. Work with children in care and their carers / families is built on a comprehensive, multi-agency assessment process. Robust assessment underpins the effectiveness of all subsequent decisions, plans and interventions. It is essential to ensuring improved outcomes for children.

This practice guidance provides a mechanism for social workers to continually assess children who are in care, thus providing a foundation that will feed into the planning process.

2. The Cycle of Assessment, Planning, Intervention and Review

Most children who become looked after are already known to children’s social care services. Many will therefore already have an up to date core assessment, or Child and Family Assessment. Where a child has not been assessed before becoming looked after, a Child and Family Assessment will be required in order to inform the care plan.

The Child and Family Assessment (C&F Assessment) provides a structure for the assessment of need and should be completed when updating an assessment of need. The assessment should inform the plans, especially in relation to multi-agency working and signposting for the child and placement.

Proactive permanence planning is essential and should begin before a child starts to be cared for, to reduce instances of decisions and placement having to be made in an emergency. The key planning documents for a child in care – the Care Plan, Personal Education Plan, Health Plan and Placement Plan – should all be informed by an up-to-date assessment. This is especially important for children not in a permanent placement, or with a plan for permanence.

The interventions agreed within the aforementioned plans should be robustly monitored and accounted for through the multi-agency care planning process. By definition, this should be a multi-agency approach and hold the various partners accountable for tasks identified and work necessary to be undertaken.

The Statutory Looked After Children Review process will provide independent oversight, by an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO), of the child’s Care Plan. The review process must be used to confirm / agree any proposed changes as a result of the multi-agency care planning process. The IRO will record such arrangements as recommendations. The IRO will also make recommendations where there are identified gaps in the Care Plan. Where the IRO doesn’t agree with the proposed changes they will record this as a formal dispute and follow the relevant process. It is important to recognise that the review process is the ‘check point’ within the cycle of assessment, planning, implementation and review in order to monitor the effectiveness of the plan in place and ensure those plans are informed on up to date assessments.

3. Defining Permanence

Permanence is a framework of emotional, physical and legal conditions that gives a child a sense of security, continuity, commitment and identity.

Permanence for children has three particular aspects:

• Legal, e.g. staying with birth parents who have Parental Responsibility. Also, Adoption or other Court Orders such as a Child Arrangements Order or Special Guardianship Order;
• Psychological – when a child feels attached to an adult who provides a stable, loving and secure relationship;
• Physical or environmental – a stable home environment within a familiar neighbourhood and community where the child’s identity needs are met.

A plan of permanence must be finalised and agreed through the Statutory Looked After Children Review process and other statutory processes supporting this, e.g. matching panel, complex needs panel or external placement panel.

4. Children without a Plan of Permanence

It is recognised that children that are subject to ongoing proceedings will be subject to an up-to-date assessment. Therefore, this practice guidance is primarily for those children where a long-term plan has been agreed, either through the Court process or from previous assessment (for example, Section 20 cases).

Social Workers should complete a Child and Family Assessment every twelve months when a child does not have a plan of permanence.

The trigger points for these assessments should be agreed and aligned with the Statutory Looked After Children Reviewing process. The decision to undertake an assessment should be tracked through the multi-agency care planning process, and agreed as an action with timescales and required participants.

Trigger points include:

• When up to twelve months have passed since the previous assessment and there remains no plan for permanence;
• When a match for a long-term placement has been identified; Included in this should be an assessment of the frequency of statutory visits following confirmation of the permanence plan. This should be based on individual needs with the focus always on the safeguarding function that such visits provide;
• When there is a plan to return the child home to their parent(s).

It is recognised that occasions will arise when a ‘focussed’ assessment is required, e.g. a stand-alone risk assessment, a reassessment of contact, or Pathway Plan Part One, at the request of the child, parent, carer or IRO, amongst others. In this eventuality, the ‘focussed’ assessment should include an update of the child’s needs, and the twelve-monthly cycle should be altered accordingly.

5. Children with a Plan of Permanence

Children with a confirmed plan of permanence do not require an updated Child and Family Assessment every twelve months. However, there are trigger points when a reassessment of need should take place:

• When a Strategy Discussion has been held and a Section 47; investigation has been confirmed as a subsequent course of action;
• When a planned or unplanned placement change has occurred;
• When notice is received on the placement;
• When there is a plan to cease the child being cared for;
• When there is a change in the child’s circumstances, e.g. change of School – including the transition from primary to secondary school and from secondary school to the post-16 destination;
• When there has been a change of the care plan, e.g. an adoption breakdown;
• When a significantly high SDQ score has been received within the child’s health plan;
• When it is actioned from a multi-agency care planning meeting;
• Upon recommendation from a Statutory Looked After Children Review made by the child’s IRO;
• Following recommendation from a case file audit;
• Upon request from any other person(s), e.g. the child themselves, a parent / carer or a multi-agency partner.

There will be occasions when a ‘focussed’ assessment is required. This assessment should include an update of the child’s needs.

6. Quality Assurance

Monitoring in the frequency, consistency and quality of the assessments will take place in the following formats:

• Supervision;
• Multi-Agency Care Planning meetings;
• Statutory Looked After Children Reviews;
• Management information data through the Integrated Computer System;
• Case file audits.

End