Assessments

1. Introduction

Under the Children Act 1989, local authorities undertake assessments of the needs of individual children to determine what services to provide and 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 unaccompanied asylum seeking 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 assessment should be led by a qualified social worker regularly supervised by a highly experienced and qualified social work manager.
• 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.
• At any stage in the assessment, it may become apparent that the child or family would benefit from specific services. These should be put in place and not wait until the assessment is completed.
• If, at any stage during an assessment, there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is at risk of significant harm, the social worker should immediately inform her/his manager. The manager must convene a Strategy Meeting. This will determine whether Section 47 CP enquiries are required. Timescales for convening strategy meetings/discussions are outlined in the London Safeguarding Children Procedures, Child Protection s47 Enquiries.
• The need to assess can also include pre-birth situations when a mother's or father’s 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'. See also Pre-birth assessments and One minute guide - Pre-Birth assessments;
• Where potential risks to unborn babies of Looked after Children or Care Leavers are identified, the unborn baby must be referred to the MASH. MASH will evaluate the referral information, and if the criterion for assessment is met, will assign the Unborn baby to the Referral and Assessment Service or Family Support and Safeguarding for a pre-birth assessment.

As an overriding principle, there must be liaison, effective communication and information sharing between the allocated social worker or personal assistant for the Looked After Child or Care Leaver, and the allocated social worker for the unborn baby, which should include involvement in the pre-birth assessment at the earliest stage.

The young person's worker should be invited to all meetings regarding the unborn baby, such as Child Protection Conferences, Child In Need review meetings, Legal Gateway/Planning Meetings etc. The needs of the unborn baby should be paramount for both services, while also maintaining sensitive and appropriate support for the unborn child’s parent/s.

2. The Purpose of Assessment

Whatever legislation or framework 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;
• 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.

The agreed framework in Lewisham is Signs of Safety and all assessments should be compliant using the Signs of Safety guidance.

3. The Process of Assessments

The assessment should be led by a qualified social worker regularly supervised by an experienced social work manager. Principal social workers should support social workers, the local authority and partners to develop their assessment practice and decision making skills, and the practice methodology that underpins this.

The date of the commencement of the assessment will be recorded in the electronic database.

The qualified social worker should carefully plan that the following are carried out:

• See/interview the child;
• Interview the parents and any other relevant family members;
• Consider whether to see the child with their parents;
• The child should be seen by the lead social worker without their caregivers when appropriate and this should be recorded in the Assessment;
• Determine what the parents should be told of any concerns – under normal circumstances this should be a full and frank discussion and information only withheld where this poses a risk to either the child or another person;
• Consult with and consider the 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.

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.

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.

4. Communication with Parents, Carers and Children

In planning the assessment and in providing the parent and child with feedback, the social worker, such as those who are unaccompanied children, and those children who are victims of modern slavery and/or trafficking, will need to consider and address any communication issues, for example language or complex needs.

Assessments should be child centred, jargon free, respectful of parents and carers and their circumstances and completed in a timely manner.

Where a child or parent speaks a language other than that spoken by the social worker, an interpreter should be provided. Any decision not to use an interpreter in such circumstances must be approved by the Team Manager and recorded.

The use of technology to aid communication should be considered wherever possible and appropriate e.g., where it is not possible to have a face-to-face meeting, for young people who prefer to communicate electronically or where important family members live abroad.

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 complex 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.

Note: Where the parents have learning disabilities, it may be necessary to adapt communications to meet their needs – for further information, see the Good practice guidance on working with parents with a learning disability (2007) from the Working Together with Parents Network.

5. Child Centred Assessments

Children should 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.

Assessment, 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. Services should not be delayed to the end of the assessment if there is an immediate need.

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. For babies, pre-verbal children and non-verbal children, assessments should be based on observations and interactions with the parents/carer. In these cases, advocacy should also be considered as an independent means of gathering the child’s views.

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.

6. Planning the Assessment

Assessments should be planned and coordinated by a social worker using Lewisham’s agreed framework (signs of Safety) and the purpose of the assessment should be transparent, understood and agreed by all participants. The Signs of Safety risk analysis provided by MASH should be used in cases where this is available.

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 between the manager and the social worker should identify the different elements of the assessment including setting timescales and who should be involved.

Questions to be considered in planning assessments include:

• Who will undertake the assessment and what resources will be needed?
• Who is in the family (genogram), who 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?
• Use of chronology - see the One Minute Guide.

See also: One Minute Guide - Use of chronology.

7. What to Include in an Assessment

See also: Section 14, Principles for a Good Assessment.

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.

All assessments should include the following:

1. The Child (include separation sections for each child).
   
   The assessment should tell the child's story and include:
   • The child’s, wishes and feelings, including non-verbal communication. Their understanding of the reason for social work involvement and their views on their own situation;
   • Evidence of social workers direct observations / contact and information from other professionals;
   • Information about the child’s development;
   • Their health – growth, development, physical/mental wellbeing, suitable health care and advice by parent/carer including dental/eye care, sexual health;
   • Emotional and behavioural development – reactions and responses to change/stress, motivations, self-control/responsibility, personality;
   • Education –Current and historical, attendance, home school relationships and achievements;
   • Resilience factors – hobbies, interests, skills, trusted adults and/or peers;
   • Identity – view of self/abilities, context of ethnicity, religion, first language; how does the child “fit” in the household/family or community, how do others describe them?
   • Family & Social Relationships - including attachments (who to/nature), loss of significant figures i.e. bereavement, divorce, peer relationships, friends; understanding of own family; view of day to day life;
   • Emotional warmth and interaction;
   • Social presentation, including suitable dress for age, hygiene, support from parents to develop suitable self-care and independence skills;
   • Parents view of the child, who they think is important for the child and relationships between those people.

Family History and Understanding of Family Relationships

These factors should be considered as part of the assessment:

• Using a genogram and chronology of significant events (developed with the family where possible), identify themes and patterns including previous social work involvement;
• What works well in this family? i.e. parental and extended family strengths?
• All Parent/carers views of the assessments wishes and feelings;
• Overview of each parent/carer’s own history, childhood, experience of being parented;
• Health / patterns in the family e.g. illness, disability; where do they fit in their family, impact of diversity issues for parent and on parenting;
• Parent/carer current and historical relationships, how long together, how did they meet, strengths, conflict, Drug and alcohol misuse, offending, anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse and views on these.

Summary of parents'/Carers' day to day life including current education/ work/training of parents and significant figures

• Own opinion/understanding of how they are parenting including providing basic care/safety, guidance and boundaries; capacity to change. Historical issues that influence their current capacity to parent;
• Who is seen as part of the family/support network, information about their siblings/extended family/friendships/ relationships with neighbours?
• Views of previous involvement with social care and other professionals;
• Domestic violence and abuse, what are each involved person's views and understanding of the violence / abuse and control factors.

Previous and current involvement of social work, other professionals and services

Check with the family which other agencies may have worked with them:

• What support and by whom?
• What changed or stayed the same?
• Provide a brief summary of interventions provided by other professionals /agencies.

Needs and risks

This is an analysis of the information provided in the assessment.

• What does all of the information gathered tell you (and the family) about the child's situation and what needs to change?
• Identify the child's needs and how these can be better met and by whom, including family, wider networks and other professionals;
• Where there are risks, what needs to change to minimise these risks. Identify any specific risks to or from either parent and explain how they relate to the safety of the child(ren).

Family Strengths and Protective Factors

If a Family Group Conference or Family Network Meeting has taken place, detail any identified strengths or protective factors from this meeting?

• What does the family do well and should continue to do?
• What services can support this?
• What part do wider family and support networks play to support the family?
• How does this support impact upon parenting capacity?

Analysis and Professional Judgment

Use specific evidence from the assessment to support your analysis and professional judgment.

• Explore concerns identified within the referral and how these are being addressed;
• Parent/carer strengths;
• Ability and willingness to change;
• Identify areas of unmet need;
• Risks - what must change and why, what is non- negotiable.

Grey Areas – identify any areas that are unclear or may be of potential concern for the child(ren) but need further time, clarity, or assessment.

Recommendation including outline plan

Has a Family Group Conference, family support meeting, ICPC or other meeting resulted in a safe plan for the child or is one of these necessary now?

• Outline the specific actions that family members and other agencies need to undertake to address the needs and risks identified for each child. These should be clearly linked to what you are worried about;
• Each person, professional or family member should know what they are responsible for and when the plan will be reviewed;
• The plan should be realistic, have measurable outcomes with clear timescales (SMART targets);
• The child and family must be told what may happen if they fail to co-operate or are unable to achieve the agreed objectives within the agreed timescales.

Plans should not use jargon and should be written in plain language

• Where the parents have learning disabilities, it may be necessary to adapt communications to meet their needs;
• If children are suspected to be victims of modern slavery see - GOV.UK, Digital Referral System: Report Modern Slavery.

Whilst Children's Social Care retains the responsibility to complete an assessment it is a duty of any agency that knows the child or family to contribute and be involved in planning, review and analysis. This will also include agencies (e.g., adult services) that are working with a parent e.g., mental health or substance use agencies.

8. Developing a Clear Analysis

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.

The role of managers in assessments

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 supervisor/manager  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.

9. Guidance on Including the Contribution 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.

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.

Parents/carers

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 improve the outcomes 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 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.

10. 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.

11. Timescales

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. In exceptional circumstances where this is not possible and the assessment exceeds this timescale, the Manager will agree an extension, in discussion with a child and their family and other professionals. The Manager involved should record the reasons for exceeding the time limit. Child protection cases are reviewed and updated within statutory guidance. Children who are subject to Child in Need plans for a period of nine months should have their assessments updated at this point.

12. Regular Review During the Assessment

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.

• 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 have 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 when reviewing progress and that a high quality assessment is one in which evidence is built and:

• Is revised throughout the process;
• 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.

13. 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.

14. Principles for a Good Assessment

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.

Assessment Framework Triangle

15. 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.

16. 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. Children and Families Across Borders (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.

17. Contextual Safeguarding/Assessment of Risk Outside the Home

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; teenage relationship abuse (including controlling or coercive behaviour: sexual exploitation and the influences of extremism leading to radicalisation.

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.

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.

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 may have little influence over the context 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;
• 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.

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.