- Local area assessment protocol for children in need of help and support
Local area assessment protocol for children in need of help and support
Contents
Introduction
Working Together 2023 sets out that local authorities, with their partners, should develop and publish local protocols for assessment. Devon’s local protocol sets out clear arrangements for children when a Request for Support is received through the Children’s Front Door. This protocol is a ‘handbook’ that describes what the local authority will do and how the child will move through the journey of assessment and planning.
The local protocol aims to secure cooperative working across agencies, and with parents / carers, children and young people that places the child at the centre of decision making both in Early Help and when a child requires a statutory social work assessment.
The local protocol provides a framework for agencies to work together in the best interests of children, so they are supported, safe and enabled to reach their full potential.
- A child is defined as pre-birth (unborn) and anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. ‘Children’ therefore means ‘children and young people’.
- The term ‘practitioners’ is used throughout the guidance to refer to individuals who work with children and their families in any capacity.
What is an assessment?
When a child comes into contact with services, practitioners need to understand what life is like for them so they can ensure the right support is put in place. An assessment gathers information from children, the caring and key adults and the agencies that support them, such as schools and health services. The most effective assessments are completed in partnership with parents, as they usually know what is best for their children and it is their responsibility to raise their children. All children’s needs are unique, some children have more needs than others, such as those arising from a disability and all family systems and circumstances are different. When an assessment is completed, it aims to help professionals formulate a support plan that will address the assessed needs at the right level and at the right time.
Contact and referral pathways
Most children and young people living in Devon will have needs that are met well by their parents, wider family, support networks and universal services. All families can face difficulties from time to time, and some children need additional help to achieve their potential.
Devon’s Level of Need guidance provides a framework for practitioners who are working with children and families and aims to help identify when a child requires additional levels of support to achieve their full potential. It provides information on the levels of need and gives examples of indicators that can help identify and support a child’s needs.
Applying a Level of Need:
Level 1 – Universal
Children within the Universal level of need will have no additional needs; all their health and developmental needs will be met by universal services (GP’s, Midwives, Health Visitors, School Nurses, childminders, schools, Housing and Community, Faith, Voluntary, Social Enterprise Sector services). These are children who consistently receive child-focused caregiving from their parents or carers. The majority of children living in Devon require support from universal services alone.
Agencies delivering services at Level 1 aim to reduce the risk of needs escalating
Level 2 – Early help
Early Help is not a single service but a network of multi-agency services and professionals who work separately and together to provide support when children and their families need it. Children with special educational needs and disabilities may need additional support to help them thrive and achieve. The partnership across Devon aims to ensure that help is provided early, in the right places and at the right time. Early intervention means identifying and providing effective early support to children and young people who are at risk of poor outcomes. Effective early intervention works to prevent problems from occurring, or to tackle them head-on when they do before problems get worse. It also helps to foster a whole set of personal strengths and skills that prepare a child for adult life.
Children within the Early Help level of need are likely to have additional support needs that require a co-ordinated assessment and plan of support for example speech & language, occupational therapy, parenting programmes, child & adolescent mental health services or behaviour support.
Children within the Early Help level of need may be vulnerable and showing early signs of abuse and / or neglect; their needs are not clear, not known or not being met. These children may be subject to adult-focused caregiving and require, alongside Universal Services, two or more agencies to meet their needs. A multi-agency Early Help Assessment undertaken by a lead professional brings a plan of support together to meet the identified need.
There is no requirement to contact the Front Door in order to access Early Help support, Early Help support can be accessed via locality teams and directly by parents and young people.
Agencies delivering Level 2 – Early Help aim to resolve emerging difficulties and develop strategies in partnership with children, young people and families to prevent difficulties resurfacing / progressing or becoming entrenched.
Level 3 – Targeted Help
Children within the Targeted Help level of need are likely to require targeted or specialist intervention to achieve or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development or to prevent significant impairment of their health and development and / or who are disabled. For most children Targeted Help is task focused and time bound. Children with lifelong disabilities may require longer term intervention from specialist services which does not require movement to a Level 4 service.
Agencies delivering services at Level 3 work in partnership with children, young people, families, and their professional networks with the aim of assessing and intervening to reduce risk and provide services that promote their welfare and improve their outcomes.
Services and support are delivered in a targeted way often alongside Level 1 and Level 2 services.
Level 4 – Specialist
Children within the Specialist Help level of need are suffering or are likely to suffer significant harm. These children are likely to have already experienced adverse experiences and without specialist support will suffer from poor outcomes. Children’s whose needs are determined to require specialist support will be assessed by a Social Work team under S.17, S.20, S.47 or S.31 of the Children Act This includes children remanded into custody and in statutory youth offending services.
Agencies delivering services at Level 4 work in partnership with children, young people, families, and their professional networks, although may use statutory powers to assess or intervene. Children may be subject to child protection, family proceedings and / or need to live away from home in hospital, custody, or foster care / residential care settings to ensure their safety and protection or reduce risk of harm.
Children, young people and their parents / carers can access Level 1 (Universal) and Level 2 (Early Help) by referring directly to the services they want to access. Professionals can refer children and families to Level 1 and Level 2 services with their consent. If a professional has a concern about a child or is not sure which service a child should be referred to, they can contact the Front Door consultation line.
RAG rating
Upon receipt of a Request for Support (professional) or member of public Contact the Front Door reviews the information and applies a RAG rating.
Red RAG rated:
- Red RAG rated Contacts are treated with an immediate response.
- A Red RAG rated Contact is likely to require a Strategy Meeting organised by the Front Door and chaired by the Assessment and Intervention Service.
- Consent should still be gained where it is safe to do so – however, concerns for a child will be progressed to ensure effective safeguarding with consent being overridden if required.
- Red RAG rated Contacts are actioned within a 4-hour timescale.
Amber RAG rated:
- Amber RAG rated Contacts require information gathering before a level of need can be determined.
- Through our MASH process multi-agency information will be requested.
- The Front Door allocated social worker will seek to contact the child’s main care giver – including parents who are separated and other significant adults – where it is determined safe and appropriate to do so.
- In discussion with the person(s) who hold parental responsibility for the child the Front Door Social Worker will seek their consent to undertake multi-agency information gathering.
- In discussion with the person(s) who hold parental responsibility for the child the Front Door Social Worker would seek their consent to an Assessment of need if the information gathered determines this the most appropriate outcome for the child(ren).
- During the information gathering period the RAG rating may change and be escalated to a RED or reduced to a Green. If the RAG rating is changed the timescale for achieving an outcome decision changes too in-line with the new RAG rating.
- Amber RAG rated Contacts are actioned within 24 hours / 1 working day.
Green RAG rated:
- Green RAG rated Contacts are managed by our Early Help Coordinators who will review the needs identified and offer support, this could be to a professional or to the family directly.
- Green RAG rated contacts are actioned within 72 hours / 3 working days.
Assessment principles
The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (Department of Health et al., 2000) provides conceptual scaffolding for social work assessments of children in need and their families. The Assessment Triangle sets out three domains for assessment:
- the developmental needs of children.
- the capacities of parents or caregivers to respond appropriately to those needs.
- the impact of wider family and environmental factors on parenting capacity on children.
Child development: an understanding of child development at different ages and stages, attachment theory, children’s identity and of self-esteem and the factors that can impact on a child’s development and outcomes.
Parenting capacity: an understanding of parenting capacity, styles, and approaches as they relate to individual children in family systems, basic care, discipline, parenting difficulties including learning disabilities, mental health alcohol and substance misuse, domestic abuse, offending and the impact this has on children’s safety, socialization and development, and whether a parent has capacity to change in the child’s timescales.
Family and environmental factors: an understanding of socio-economic, housing, immigration and cultural/religious influences and access to community-based support and wider family systems.
In using the ‘assessment triangle’ practitioners must draw on a wide range of knowledge and skills to understand a child’s unique circumstances and consider the interconnected risk and protective factors to make professional judgements based on careful analysis as to the level of support and protection children need.
In Devon, assessment activity is underpinned by restorative practice which recognises that whilst people may face adversities, they also find ways to thrive.
We agree that most children and families have existing strengths, resources, and support systems that they are draw on to reduce the effects of adversity and have developed our practice approach based on seven Pillars of Practice.
Practitioners will aim to identify family strengths and protective factors in an assessment as well as identify areas of difficulty or concern.
It is our common expectation that all assessments should:
- be timely, transparent and proportionate to the needs of individual children and their families.
- be concise and written in plain English.
- identify areas that build upon family resilience by recognising what they do well, engaging their support systems and identifying their successful coping strategies.
- put the child at the centre and examine the child’s lived experience within the family.
- clearly set out any worries or concerns as directly expressed by the children and young people in the household.
- explore and understand a family’s Social GRACES and consider these in relation to parenting capacity and a child’s needs.
- include the whole family, including non-resident fathers.
- be undertaken in partnership with families.
- be informed by the views of other professionals involved with child and adults in the family.
- gather and analyse information from a wide range of sources including previous local authorities, schools, health providers, youth offending teams, adult services, early help and community faith and voluntary sector providers.
- include the assessing social workers analysis of risk and need.
- set out what needs to change to improve outcomes for the child(ren) and when this needs to happen.
- be shared with parents, and children where appropriate.
Universal and Early Help assessments – levels 1 and 2
Universal services are available to all children, they usually do not need to be referred to them but may need to be registered to receive them i.e. Childcare support packages such as Free Education for two and three-year-olds, Early Years Vulnerable Families early years, health visiting, midwifery, GP’s, and schools. A broad range of Early Help Services are delivered across Devon.
Targeted help assessments – level 3
Understanding families’ strengths and needs, happens by bringing together all the information which has been gathered in our assessment and working with individuals and the whole family to identify patterns, priorities and where change is needed. It is important to be led by the family and child/young person initially to consider their priorities first.
Using the framework of the Outcome Star or Graded Care Profile 2 to complete our assessments, helps the FIT worker and family to understand aspects of their life that are going well in addition to areas of difficulty. Regular review shows distance travelled, and in a continuous way document the time we are working together with families. The tools can also help understand how each priority area may be impacting on another, for example how a parent’s mental health is affecting the ability to provide boundaries for their child.
We will complete an Early Help Assessment (EHA) within 45 days of allocation. We will use the Outcome Star/GCP2 as part of this, to create a family agreed goal-based plan. Outside of holiday breaks, we aim to hold a TAF meeting within 28 days of meeting the family. The voice of the family is central to an effective TAF. It will be included in the EHA and the ongoing TAF experiences.
The EHA and plan will be discussed in supervision.
Working with families through five stages:
- Relational – Making relationships, understanding a family’s journey to now – Information gathering.
- Respect – Understanding family strengths and needs – Assessment.
- Responsibility – Goal setting with family – Planning.
- Resilience – Finding what works – Interventions.
- Reflective – Reflecting on distance travelled – Review.
These stages form part of a continuous loop of activity. A family experience is never static, and change will occur on a regular basis. It’s important to record progress and include new needs if they emerge.
Building relationships and working together with the family and the TAF on agreed goals, progress could be seen within the shortest timeframe to enable sustained change. It should be clearly recorded by the Team Manager why the work is extended over this time. It should be exceptional for a family to be open to FIT for more than 12 months. Families to be open over 12 months will have had a reflective session with the worker, the team manager, and the service manager. A Management Oversight record by the Service Manager will be included on the family record and the personal supervision of the allocated worker. Families will not be kept open to FIT longer than they need.
On allocation to FIT, many families will have an existing assessment which will require reviewing. Families on step down from social work teams, will have, a social work assessment, risk assessment and closing summary, which will form part of the information to be considered within the FIT work on Eclipse.
Children and family assessment – level 4
When a child is referred to Children’s Social Care Services for a statutory assessment of need, they will have an Assessment in accordance with Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023.
All assessments are undertaken by qualified social worker under the supervision of a social work Team Manager.
Assessments will involve a visit(s) to the child’s home and where appropriate, the child’s nursery, school or college. During the assessment period, the social worker will gather information from the child, his/her parents/careers, siblings, wider family and support systems and professionals involved in the child or family’s life. Children may be seen alone and together with their parent(s) and siblings.
At the point of allocation, the Social Worker will consider the following as part of the planning process for an Assessment:
- reason for the referral and any alleged or suspected concerns
- information that will be shared with the child’s parents/carers and key agencies.
- obtaining consent, where appropriate for agency checks to be undertaken.
- the child and family’s linguistic, cultural and communication needs
- access to the child and how the child’s views will be obtained.
- engaging non-resident parents
- which professional agencies will be required to contribute to the assessment?
- effective communication with parents with learning disabilities Adult/Child Mental Health and/or Alcohol or Substance Misuse
- specific needs of unborn children
- contingency arrangements for emerging information, changing or new circumstances that increase risk to the child.
- social and environmental factors affecting risk i.e. Group Offending/ Criminal & Sexual Exploitation
- non-resident children of adults in the household
- obtaining the family history and involvement with services
- services that are required to immediately alleviate need, this may include interventions provided by the Children and Family Early Help Service.
The assessment should take no longer than 45 working days to complete unless there are justified reasons for the assessment to take longer, which must be recorded on the child’s record by the Team Manager.
Completed assessments will determine:
- if the child is in need of services provided under s17 Children Act 1989
- if the child is need of accommodation under s20 Children Act 1989
- what actions, if any, are required to safeguard the child in the immediate or longer term
- the type and level of services that are required to improve the child’s outcomes which includes a step-down plan for Level 3, 2 or 1 support.
The Assessment will be used to understand the child’s needs and to formulate the child’s Plan.
Pre-birth assessments
The National Maternity Review: Better Births 2016 recognises the need for an individual approach to every woman, pregnancy, baby, and family. Young babies are particularly vulnerable to abuse, and work carried out in the antenatal period can help minimise the potential for harm through early assessment, intervention and support.
The success of pre-birth work lies in the quality of multi-agency involvement and partnership working and meaningful engagement and involvement with families. The family GP, midwife, health visitor are all critical roles in relation to vulnerable expectant mothers, alongside other statutory agencies and organisations working with family members.
In most situations during a pregnancy, there will be no safeguarding concerns. However, in some cases it will be clear that a coordinated response is required by agencies to ensure that the appropriate support is in place during the pregnancy to best support and protect the baby before and following birth. It may also be necessary to consider the need for particular arrangements to be in place during and immediately following the baby’s birth.
The Pre-birth Assessment
A pre-birth assessment should always be undertaken where prospective parents may need support services to care for their baby in addition to those available through early help services or where the unborn baby may have suffered, or be likely to suffer, significant harm. The pre-birth assessment should usually commence as soon as possible after a viable pregnancy has been confirmed and the mother has registered for midwifery care, but no later than 16 weeks into the pregnancy. If the initial identification of the pregnancy is delayed or concealed, it should commence as soon as the pregnancy has been identified. The assessment should identify:
- Parental and family history, lifestyle and support networks and their likely impact on the child’s welfare.
- Risk factors.
- Parental needs.
- Strengths in the family environment.
- Factors that will not change and why, including timescales.
It is important that social workers do not conduct assessments in isolation. Working closely with relevant professionals such as midwives and health visitors is essential. Liaising with relevant substance misuse, mental health and learning disability professionals is also crucial.
When completing a pre-birth assessment, the assessment should consider the risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) and how professionals are addressing these risks with the parent(s).
It is crucial to seek information about fathers / partners whilst conducting assessments and involve them in the process. It should not be assumed that a male partner is necessarily the father of the unborn child.
Background police and other checks should be made at an early stage in relevant cases to ascertain any potential risk factors and necessary risk assessments undertaken. This can include mental health or substance misuse, for example.
The assessment should be completed within 45 days and must make recommendations regarding the need for a child in need planning meeting, a Pre-Birth Child Protection Conferences, or a legal planning meeting to consider initiating Public Law Outline prior to birth and / or initiating proceedings at birth.
Section 47 enquiries
Enquires under Section 47 are untaken when there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm i.e. the child has made a serious allegation of abuse, has incurred an unexplained or non-accidental injury or is suffering neglect.
In accordance with Working Together to Safeguard Children Section 47 enquires will:
- be planned through an initial (or review) Strategy Meeting.
- be undertaken either jointly with the Police or solely by Children’s Social Care Services (single agency)
- be informed by MASH checks / information.
- identify what needs to happen to ensure the child is safe for the duration of the investigation i.e. safety planning or temporary living arrangements away from the source of risk or harm with a relative, family friend or foster carer.
- initiate a Single Assessment, in which the child will be met with alone.
- obtain the child’s evidence by undertaking an achieving best evidence interview when it is believed a crime has been committed.
- where necessary, include a physical examination of the child by a paediatrician.
- determine whether an Initial Child Protection Conference is required to develop a multi-agency safeguarding plan (Child Protection Plan) for the child(ren) and where an ICPC is needed, for it to be convened within 15 working days of the initial strategy discussion.
Public Law Outline
The revised Public Law Outline (PLO) January 2023, provides a framework for the local authority to work with parents to avoid the need to enter into proceedings by undertaking pre-proceedings assessments, providing support and setting clear goals for families aimed at helping them to demonstrate the change needed for children to remain in their care. If change cannot be achieved within agreed timescales, the local authority may issue Care Proceedings to consider alternative care arrangements for children. Pre-proceedings assessments can help to reduce the time spent in Family Court Proceedings so children can achieve timely outcomes; the usual length of Care Proceedings to conclude is 26 weeks.
PLO Requirements
With exceptions to emergency situations, the court expectation is for the local authority to complete the requirements of the Pre-proceedings. The Letter Before Proceedings is the formal written notification that proceedings are likely. It should set out:
- A summary in simple language of the local authority’s concerns.
- A summary of what support has already been provided to the parents.
- What the parents need to do and what support will be provided for them, to avoid proceedings, including timescales.
- Information on how to obtain legal advice and advocacy, making clear how important it is for the parent to seek legal representation.
The letter should invite the parents / others with Parental Responsibility to a pre-proceeding meeting and an up-to-date list of relevant solicitors in the local area who are specialists in childcare cases should be sent with the pre-proceedings letter.
The aim of the pre-proceedings meeting is to:
- Ensure the parents have understood the PLO letter and the reason for the meeting.
- Ascertain the parents’ understanding of the concerns the local authority holds about their children.
- Review the current plan – Child in Need / Child Protection – to see if there are points on the plan that the parents agree will provide the most immediate change / safety for their children.
- Describe what support the local authority will provide to the parents while they focus on the immediate change work.
- Discuss and agree any additional assessment work and the timetable for this work.
Setting clear expectations and timescales for improvement will reduce the potential for delay. The stipulated length of usual care proceedings limits time during court proceedings to undertake specialist assessments, so the expectation is for social workers to undertake or arrange for assessments to be conducted within the PLO and / or set out the services the family should engage with to enable them to achieve positive change.
Court Assessments
In circumstances when the assessed risk cannot be safely managed via pre proceedings / child protection planning the Local Authority will seek to initiate Care Proceedings. Prior to any application being made a Legal Planning Meeting will be held to determine if the threshold is met to issue Care Proceedings.
In planned applications the recommendations of the Legal Planning Meeting will be heard at Legal Gateway Panel for ratification or redirection.
In emergency / short notice applications the decision to enter into Care Proceedings is agreed by the relevant Head of Service and then ratified at the next Legal Gateway Panel. In all applications the social worker and local authority solicitor will prepare the documents that are required to be produced for Court.
The court application will include any assessment completed in respect of the family including.
- The social work Chronology.
- The social work statement and Genogram – including any early identification of Connected Carers.
- Any current Assessment relating to the child and / or the family and friends of the child to which the social work statement refers and on which the local authority.
- The Care Plan
All local authorities should use the Social Work Evidence Template (SWET). The SWET includes the social work statement, Chronology and Genogram. The Social Work Evidence Template, abridged Statement, is for short-notice applications.
Assessing and planning for permanence
Assessing and planning for permanence starts from the earliest point in a child’s journey.
Assessments of a child’s needs in relation to his or her Permanence Plan must:
- focus on outcomes
- consider stability issues, including the child’s and family’s needs for long-term support and the child’s needs for links, including contact, with his or her parents, siblings, and wider family network.
Social workers must ensure the child’s Permanence Plan is clearly linked to previous assessments of the child’s needs in full consultation with family and community networks to establish the child’s attachments, support networks and the child’s wishes and feelings. The assessment process must ask how stability for this child will be achieved.
By the time of the second Looked After Review, the child’s Permanence Plan must be completed.
The Permanence Plan sets out the overall aim for the child in achieving:
- reunification with birth or extended family
- adoption
- Special Guardianship Order / Child Arrangements Order
- long term fostering
Disabled Children’s Service
Disabled Children’s Service is a specialist service which provides a range of support and services to disabled children, young people and their families across Devon. The targeted support offered for disabled children is provided in addition to, or in partnership with, early help and include number of services which are accessible without the need to make a request for assessment.
The type of support families could receive depends on the individual needs of the child and family and may include:
- Consultation and advice – this can be accessed by families and professionals through a helpline offering advice and support to promote the outcomes of disabled children and families in Devon.
- Advice and practical help – this can be accessed through an early help plan and lead practitioner seeking additional services and support through early help ‘triage’. The Disabled Children Service will work with a lead practitioner to identify how to best support a plan and outcomes.
- Additional targeted help – this can be accessed through an early help plan and lead practitioner seeking additional services and support through early help ‘triage’. The child’s needs will be considered in partnership with our community early help network to consider if additional targeted early help planning is required and the outcomes necessary to achieve for the family. The targeted support teams undertake early help assessments with children, young people and families to consider, based on a pathway evaluation, that DCS is the right service for them.
- Social work support – DCS social work teams undertake single assessments with children, young people and families where this is considered necessary by the Local Authority. Children, young people and families supported at this level will have an allocated social worker who will coordinate a multi-agency support plan. Social work support will be required where a child or young person has experienced serious forms of abuse or neglect (or both) or is likely to experience serious forms of abuse or neglect (or both) without support, which means they need protecting.
Families assessed as needing specialist support are likely to have a child or young person who has complex needs and will require ongoing support through to their 18th birthday and beyond.
Education, health, and care needs assessments
Schools, as well as Parents / carers or young people – aged 16- 25 – can ask for an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment.
An EHC Needs Assessment can be requested by independently by a young person if they are aged between 16 and 25 (and have left year 11 at school) or their parents or carers. Educational settings can also submit a request. In most cases, a setting will have obtained consent from the parents, carers or young person before submitting a request but where this has not happened, the Local Authority must obtain consent before making a decision to assess.
Other people who know them such as a doctor or health visitor can raise concerns with us and suggest that an assessment may be necessary but cannot submit the request themselves.
If possible, a request for an EHC needs assessment should be made by the educational setting. Educational settings often hold the most comprehensive records of a child or young person’s needs and the support and provision that has already been put in place.
Upon receipt of a request to assess the Special Education Needs (SEN) Team will review the evidence provided and determine if it intends to undertake an EHC Needs Assessment. The request and supporting evidence submitted must show that the child requires support to learn and achieve that is greater than what is ordinarily available in a mainstream education setting. If an EHC Needs Assessment is agreed, the SEN team will gather further information from the parent / carer, child / young person and a range of other professionals.
EHC Needs Assessment pathway:
Once the EHC Needs Assessment is completed the Local Authority will consider if an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan is required. If an EHC plan is issued it must be finalised 20 weeks from the initial request. An EHC plan is a legal document that describes a child’s or young person’s special educational, health and social care needs, provision, and education placement they will attend.
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice is designed to help children and young people to work towards their aspirations by focusing on outcomes. Outcomes underpin the detail of EHC plans and describe what parents hope their child can achieve, or what children want to achieve for themselves, especially as they move towards adulthood.
The outcomes in an EHC Plan will usually come from discussion with the child / young person, their family, the education setting, and other professionals involved with the child/young person. The overarching aim is that EHC Plans are co-produced and support choice and control.
Young carers
A young carer is defined as a child or young person (under 18 years old), who gives regular care and emotional support to a parent, brother, or sister, or someone else in the family who is ill, has a disability or mental illness or is affected by substance abuse (including alcohol) or other debilitating illness.
The Care Act 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014 together provide a framework to ensure inappropriate caring by young people is prevented or reduced and whole family needs are met. The Acts give young carers similar rights to assessment and support as other carers have under the Care Act.
When the need for a young carer’s assessment has been identified, a decision will be made about the most appropriate person to lead the assessment. If the family is not currently receiving support from Devon County Council a Request for Support should be made to the Front Door who will consider with other professionals involved with the family who will lead the assessment.
Devon County Council commissions Devon Carers to assess and support the needs of young carers aged up to 18 years old in Devon.
A young carer, or their family, can ask Devon Carers for help directly, or where consent has been given another professional or practitioner can make a referral to the service on behalf of a young person and their family.
Devon Carers will then undertake an assessment of the young carer’s needs and the support available to meet their needs.
The support offered aims to help young carers to have the same life opportunities as their peers, feel supported at school or college, have good physical and emotional health, access and achieve their potential in education and training, have their voices heard and be prepared for adulthood and independence.
The assessment will consider whether it is appropriate for the child / young person to provide on-going care by considering their age and the impact of the caring responsibilities on their social and educational development, the assessment will also consider the child / young person’s wishes. The assessment will include the young person, their parent / carer and any other person the young person identifies as significant.
Many young people are proud to be carers for their family members and support is available to them through the Devon Carers Young Carers Support Service and is delivered by four locality teams, North Devon, Exeter, South and West Devon, Mid and East Devon. There are lead practitioners and support workers for each area and a central “hub” of specialist friendly, helpful workers who are there to offer support and advice to any young carers in Devon.
Children and young people involved in the criminal justice system
Young people who have committed an offence will receive support to help make positive changes in their lives, so they do not re-offend or cause further harm to the community.
In order to understand the type and level of support required to address offending behaviour an assessment will be undertaken by a member of the Youth Offending Service (YOS), which is a multi-agency Team comprising of Youth Offending Team workers, some of whom may be, social workers, probation officers, police, psychologists and restorative justice / victim workers. The team is also supported by professionals with expertise in education, speech, language and communication, child and adolescent mental health and substance misuse. The team works closely with community volunteers, Housing, Community Safety, Family Services including Children’s Social Care, and the local community and voluntary sector.
The team work together and support holistic assessment, and interventions using the AssetPlus tool. The assessment will determine current and previous offending or anti-social behaviour and the current or future risk of harm, serious risk of harm and risk to the young person. The assessment is informed by personal, family and social factors such as living arrangements, parenting, family and relationship, learning, education, training and employment, patterns and attitude, resilience, goals and attitudes, opportunities, engagement and participation and factors affecting desistance.
The assessment will consider potential future behaviour, its likelihood and impact, determine the likelihood of reoffending rating and Risk of Serious Harm, making a professional judgement about the likelihood and impact of adverse outcomes in relation to the young person’s safety and well-being.
The assessment can be used to inform court at the sentencing stage and to develop a plan to reduce further offending by considering the nature of the offending, the young person’s personal circumstances and their attitudes and beliefs.
Youth Offending Service also:
- help young people at the police station if they’re arrested.
- help young people and their families at court.
- supervise young people serving a community sentence.
- stay in touch with a young person if they’re sentenced to custody and help them to prepare for when they are released.
- arrange for young people to make amends for their behaviour.
- provide support for parents of young people who are in trouble.
- encourage young people to lead a positive and healthy lifestyle which involves going to school, college or finding work.
- support young people to deal with substance misuse, their emotional well-being or mental health.
Young asylum seekers and age assessments
Devon County Council may need to undertake an age assessment if there is uncertainty about the age of a person seeking asylum as an unaccompanied or trafficked child. Often, the Home Office will request the local authority to undertake this, when there is significant doubt regarding their presenting age, however a social worker can also recommend an age assessment is undertaken if there is significant reason to doubt that the person is a child.
Age assessments are not a routine part of Devon’s assessment of unaccompanied or trafficked children but are used to ensure age-appropriate services are offered.
In undertaking assessments of children from abroad, our social workers will consider if the child has been trafficked, their emotional, physical, educational, and mental health needs, their life and family in their country of origin and their journey to the UK, their immigration status and accommodation needs.
Children who may have been trafficked to the UK will be referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), some may require a s47 enquiry and the development of a robust safety plan.
All unaccompanied children will be accommodated under s20 Children Act 1989 for the duration of the age assessment, in parallel a child in need assessment will be undertaken to assess their full range of needs.
Private fostering
The law states that if a child under the age of 16 (18 if they have a disability) goes to live with someone who is not a close relative, and where this lasts or is planned to last for 28 days or more this is known as ‘private fostering’. This is a private agreement between a parent and the private foster carer who may be from the extended family such as a cousin or great aunt, a friend of the family, the parent of a friend of the child or someone previously unknown to the child’s family. It is not private fostering when a child is living with a close relative such as a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, or aunt (whether blood related or through marriage) or stepparent. Some children may be living with adults who are not classified as close relatives but will not be privately fostered children. These include children who are subject to court orders such as Special Guardianship, Child Arrangement, or Care Orders.
The Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulation 2005 sets out the role of the local authority, the parent and private foster carer and related professionals as well as the National Minimum Standards for Private Fostering 2017.
Examples of Private Fostering include:
- Children whose parents are unable to care for them due to illness, abuse, separation or imprisonment but who are not living with a ‘close relative’.
- Children/young people living with their boyfriend or girlfriend’s family.
- Single parents who are hospitalised for four weeks or more and who arrange care for their child with people who are not classified as close relatives.
- Children and young people at boarding schools who do not return home during the holidays and stay with a host family in the UK.
- Children who are not living with close relatives due to parental – adolescent conflict.
- Children who arrive in the UK seeking asylum with adults who are not close relatives.
- Children or young people who come to the UK from abroad without their parents for medical or educational purposes.
Assessment of a Private Fostering arrangement
The assessment will ascertain whether prospective carers and parents have made appropriate arrangements to meet the needs of the child.
All checks will need to be completed and as such the assessment should consider:
- The suitability of the private foster carer and all family members: this should include evidence of their ability to parent competently ensuring that the health and well-being needs of the child are being met. The child should feel part of the family and should be fully integrated in the community. The child’s identity is promoted, and they are supported within education. The child can maintain links with people who are important to them.
- The property should be able to accommodate the child. There should be no health and safety concerns, the property should feel like a home and the child is able to have their own space and the availability to complete homework.
- The child’s wishes and feelings should be explored. This should include discussions around what life is like with their Private Foster carer, exploration of where they see their future and what is positive as well as challenging. Explore what changes could be made to make their life better.
- If there are other children living in the household, it is important to explore what the impact is for both the child that is Privately Fostered as well as for the children who live in the household. Do the dynamics work and is everyone happy with the arrangements.
- It will also be necessary to speak to the parents to ensure they have consented to this arrangement and obtain this consent in writing, or the previous carer about what family time they have with the child and how they are involved in the arrangements and decisions that are being made, including any financial support.
- The assessment needs to ascertain whether there is any additional support required for the child. If there are concerns around financial support, then discussions can take place with managers around completing a financial assessment. This would be undertaken through Child in Need Procedures.
- To make sure that the placement is supported by everyone involved, contact should be made with health, education and any other identified services.
Post Assessment
Once a Private Fostering Arrangement is agreed the social worker will continue to visit at least every 6 weeks in the first year of the arrangement and then at least 12 weekly thereafter.
These visits should be recorded and should detail the child’s views and the impact on them of living in a Private Fostering household. The visits should also capture an overview of how the Private Foster carer is meeting the needs of the child. This should include education, health, family time, identity, finances, and that any relevant services are being accessed to meet the needs of the child.
Discussions should also take place regarding the length of the placement to ensure that this is the right arrangement for the child and that a transition plan is in place if returning to parents or previous carers; it maybe that further discussions are needed with the team manager if the placement continues long term. Changes in the household should be assessed for their impact on the child with new assessments / checks completed if new members join.
All agreements in place between the Private Foster Carer and the parent should be being adhered to. The views of the parent should be sought. All home visits, observations and communication with the child, private foster carer/s and those with parental responsibility will assist in determining the ongoing suitability of the private fostering arrangement.
A review of Private Foster Carers will need to be undertaken once every year. The meeting needs to be chaired by the team manager and will review the arrangements as well as any plan in place to support the placement. This will require updating relevant checks, information and assessment. Given Private Fostering Agreements are made by the person with parental responsibility, they should also be integral to the review process.
Special Guardianship
Special Guardianship offers an option for children needing permanent care outside their birth family. It can offer greater security without absolute severance from the birth family as in adoption. It can meet the needs of a significant group of children, who need a sense of stability and security but who do not wish to make the absolute legal break with their birth family that is associated with adoption. It also provides an alternative for achieving permanence in families where adoption, for cultural or religious reasons, is not an option.
A Special Guardianship Order offers greater stability and legal security to a placement than a Child Arrangements Order. Special Guardians have Parental Responsibility for the child and, whilst this is shared with the child’s parents, the Special Guardian has the ability to exercise this responsibility without seeking permission from the parents.
The Court may make a Special Guardianship Order in any family proceedings concerning the welfare of the child and following an assessment by the local authority. This applies even where no application has been made and includes adoption proceedings.
Any person making an application for a Special Guardianship Order must give 3 months’ written notice to their local authority of their intention to apply. In relation to a Looked After Child, the notice will go to the local authority looking after the child. In all other cases, the notice will be sent to the local authority for the area where the applicant resides. The local authority receiving the notice will then have a duty to provide a report to the Court.
Assessment for Special Guardianship
In assessing the appropriateness of any potential applicants, the local authority must assess whether any option would not be consistent with the child’s welfare or would not be reasonably practicable.
Assessments should be robust, evidence-based, and child-focused. Before the assessment, the prospective carers should be provided with full information about:
- What the assessment will involve
- The time and commitment needed from them.
- A letter should be sent explaining the expectations of the carers and what they should think about during the process.
The assessment should carefully balance the strengths families may have: consider any existing relationships they have with the child; explore their parenting experience; the significance for the child of remaining within their family and network, against the carers’ capacity to meet the assessed needs and the challenges that a particular child may bring on a long-term basis (including any additional needs as a result of significant harm or neglect they may have experienced), and until their 18th birthday.
In recognising that each situation will be looked at on a child-by-child basis, an interim placement with the proposed special guardians may be appropriately considered to both establish relationships between the child and special guardians and confirm the applicants’ ability to carry out their parenting responsibilities, meet the needs of the child and promote their welfare and best interests.
Final recommendations should not be made until the essential tasks and activities for a full Special Guardianship Order assessment are completed.
Channel and Prevent
The following definitions, for the purposes of this strategy, have been adopted.
- Radicalisation is defined as the process by which an individual or a group comes to adopt increasingly radical views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo.
- Extremism is vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and respect and tolerance of different faith systems.
- Terrorism is the use or threat of action, both in and outside of the United Kingdom, designed to influence or to intimidate for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.
- Prevent is a statutory requirement for Devon County Council to safeguard and support those vulnerable to radicalisation and influences towards extreme ideologies, this is referred to as the Prevent Duty.
The Prevent Duty, under the Counterterrorism and Security Act 2015, requires all specified authorities to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. Devon County Council, and our partners, have a core role to play in countering terrorism at a local level and helping to protect vulnerable individuals from those that may want them to harm others or themselves.
What does Prevent Do?
At the heart of Prevent is safeguarding adults and children by providing early intervention to protect and divert people away from being drawn into terrorist activity.
Prevent addresses all forms of terrorism but continues to ensure resources and effort are allocated based on threats to our national security.
Prevent operates in a pre-criminal space, providing support and re-direction to vulnerable individuals at risk of being radicalised and drawn into terrorist activities before any crimes are committed. Radicalisation is comparable to other forms of manipulation, harm and abuse and is considered a safeguarding and protection process.
To be successful in eliminating the threat from violent extremism we will build trust with our communities and work in partnership with them. Our communities already do much to challenge and reduce the influence of extremists. Our role will be to continue to support and complement this role empowering those at risk to make positive life choices.
Safeguarding children at risk of abuse through female genital mutilation (FGM)
Definition:
“The World Health Organisation (WHO, 1996) defines female genital mutilation as: all procedures (not operations) which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons”.
Under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 it is an offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for anyone (regardless of their nationality and residence status) to:
- perform FGM in the UK
- assist the carrying out of FGM in or outside of the UK.
- assist a girl to carry out FGM on herself in or outside of the UK.
- assist FGM on a UK national or permanent resident by a either a UK or non-UK person – this would cover taking a girl abroad to be subjected to FGM. Even in countries where the practice is not a criminal offence.
The Serious Crime Act 2015 introduced a legal duty for specific professional groups to report to the police any girl who has had FGM. This duty applies when a girl informs the professional that FGM has been carried out on her and / or the professional observes physical signs on the girl appearing to show that FGM has been carried out. The duty applies to all teachers and all regulated health and social care professionals in England and Wales.
If FGM is suspected or identified by any professional or member of the public a referral to the Front Door must be made, this includes health professionals who identify an expectant mother who has experienced FGM. A decision will be made as to whether a referral for a statutory social work assessment is required to assess risk, prevent a crime from taking place or investigate a crime that has already taken place (FGM Act 2003).
If a child is at risk or has been exposed to harm, Children’s Social Care will hold a Strategy Meeting to agree a joint investigation with the Police under s47 Children Act 1989. This may occur on the same day depending on risk levels. Consideration will be given to all female children in the household including unborn female children.
If immediate protection is required the local authority will consider alternative care arrangements, in agreement with parents or under police protection powers or by an application for an emergency protection order.
A child protection conference or long-term alternative care arrangements will only be considered necessary if there are unresolved child protection issues once the initial investigation and assessment have been completed.
In accordance with Department of Health guidance for health professionals on FGM, there is a requirement for health professionals to refer directly to both the police and the Front Door if they identify a child under the age of 18 years who has had FGM performed or who is perceived to be at significant risk of having the procedure.
Women over the age of 18 years identified as having had FGM, in particular pregnant women, are risk assessed by health professionals. Only if a pregnant woman or a woman with female children requires assessment or support from Children’s Social Care will a referral be made. All women will be informed of the illegality of the procedure and their GP notified of their FGM status.
Tackling violence and exploitation
Compared to early childhood, young people are increasingly exposed to extra familial harm which can occur in various contexts including high streets, public spaces, transport hubs and outside of the home. As a young person develops their autonomy extra familial links outside of the home strengthen. This also means that there is increasing risk that they can experience extra familial harm within friendship groups, relationships both online and within the community, this can be both in the context of peers and or adults who can exercise coercion and control over them. Often these peers and adults can remain somewhat hidden to the family/professionals and can often result in the young person becoming increasingly isolated from previous trusted relationships they may have had.
According to Firmin and Knowles 2020, when developing a Contextual Safeguarding response to extra-familial harm, the following domains should be considered as part of a Contextual Safeguarding Framework (Firmin, et al. 2016; Firmin, 2020) to create systems which:
- Target the contexts (and social conditions) associated with abuse (Domain 1)
- Uses a child protection / welfare legislative framework (of which community safety approaches may be a part) to develop responses to extra-familial harm (Domain 2)
- Feature partnerships between children’s services and young people, parents, wider communities along with the range of agencies who have a reach into the places and spaces where extra-familial harm occurs (Domain 3)
- Measures the contextual outcomes of its work – and the change it creates in public, education and peer settings, as well as for individual children and families (Domain 4)
Young People need age specific interventions to encourage their engagement, without their engagement it is hard to effect behavioral changes and risk management, and this can leave professionals feeling powerless and unclear as how to best manage this risk. The following principles should underpin approaches to engagement, assessment, and intervention.
- Collaborative: achieved through collaboration between professionals, children and young people, families and communities
- Ecological: considers the links between the spaces where young people experience harm and how these spaces are shaped by inequalities
- Rights-based: rooted in, and seek to protect, children’s rights and human rights.
- Strengths-based: builds on the strengths of individuals and communities to achieve change.
- Evidence-informed: grounded in the reality of how life happens. Proposes solutions that are informed by the lived experiences of young people, families, communities and practitioners.
- To analyse key areas of needs for specific cohorts of young people,
Multi-Agency Child Exploitation Meeting (MACE)
MACE has the primary purpose of ensuring effective governance arrangements of services provided for children and adolescents at risk of exploitation and extra-familial harm.
MACE will act as the vehicle through which Devon’s multi-agency safeguarding partners will:
- Provide leadership and oversight of multi-agency services to children and adolescents at risk of extra-familial harm.
- Set out a clear local vision and collaborate effectively to develop a local strategy for adolescents at risk of extra-familial harm.
- Develop strategic and collaborative links with a wider range of statutory and non-statutory agencies.
- Provide effective and collaborative planning, actions, and review in response to identified and emerging risks.
- Monitor, challenge and support the performance of multi-agency services through scrutiny of data and practice, tackling practice challenges and encouraging practice excellence and innovation.
- Ensure the voices of those affected by extra-familial harm are enabled to have a say in how services are developed and provided.
- Tackle racism and structural inequalities that further disadvantage children and adolescents from racially minoritised and/or socially, economically disadvantaged communities who may be at an increased risk of extra-familial harm and exploitation.
- Ensure the multi-agency workforce is equipped with the skills and knowledge to practice effectively supported by clear and agreed policies and operating protocols.
- Facilitate effective transitional safeguarding arrangements for adolescents at risk of extra-familial harm and exploitation.
- Share learning across the council and sector.
Children who return home from care
When a child is in care and the decision is made for him / her to return home, a Care Plan must be drawn up to support the child once they return home with the primary aim of reducing the likelihood of the child returning to the care system in the future. The Care Plan should be agreed between the child, the child’s family, and any involved professionals at a planning meeting.
Planned Return
The social worker will complete an assessment when the question of possible rehabilitation is identified, and this will need to address the level of support that would be required should the child return home. Such an assessment must be authorised by the social workers team manager, Service Manager and Head of Service.
If the outcome of the assessment is positive – it identifies that the child can return home – the change in the plan for the child will need be agreed at the next Looked After Children Review which may need to be re-arranged so as to take place sooner than planned.
If the child is the subject of a Section 31 Care Order, a ‘placement at home agreement’ will need to be prepared and authorized by the Deputy Director, CSC. This will take the form of a child and family assessment with a covering confirmation sheet. A rehabilitation plan will be agreed at the next Looked After Child Review, including increased overnight stays at home as a precursor to a full return. However, if the child is the subject of a Care Order, any overnight stays must not take place until the Deputy Director has signed the ‘placement at home agreement’.
If the child is the subject of a Care Order, the Looked After Child Review following the return home, and all subsequent Looked After Child Review, must consider the revocation of the Order.
Homeless 16 and 17 year olds
When a 16- or 17-year-old is seeking support because they are homeless or threatened with homelessness housing services and children social care will pro-actively work with young people and their families with the aim of identifying and resolving the risk of homelessness.
For some young people, this type of stability and security may not be available to them within their own families, and when this is the case, we will assess their needs thoroughly in order to decide the type and level of accommodation and support that will need to be provided to them.
All young people placed in emergency accommodation under s20 Children Act 1989, and those at risk of imminent homelessness who remain living at home or with a safe family member/friend, will have a full assessment of their needs undertaken by a social worker.
It is in the best interests of young people and their families for a full assessment to be undertaken in order to make timely decisions about what happens next; as such, single assessments will be completed within 45 days, from the point of referral, unless there are very good reasons to extend the length of the assessment. Manager agreement must be sought by the social worker and the reasons for extending the time period recorded by their manager to extend an assessment beyond 45 days.
The assessment will explore the young person’s life at home, in school and in the community; it will explore relationships with family and friends to understand what life is like for the young person. It will focus on individual and family strengths as well as any risks that the young person poses to others or may be facing.
A Family Group Conference will be convened to explore alternatives to care arrangements and to mobilise the support family members, family friends and other trusted adults including neighbours, community groups and churches may be able to offer support to a young person who is living away from home.
All assessments must be undertaken jointly with the Housing team who will assess what duties are owed to the young person under Part VII, Housing Act 1996. The joint assessment will identify the needs of the young person and how best to respond to these needs. The principals and learning from the Southwark judgement must be applied throughout.