My Social Worker Says Things I Don’t Understand… Social Services Initial Intervention
Family Law Solicitor, Jo Taylor discusses common terms that are used during the Social Services Initial Intervention…
Child in Need
Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 imposes a general duty on every Local Authority
- to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need; and
- so far as is reasonably consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children by their families, by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs.
Child In Need Assessment
A ‘child in need’ assessment under section 17 will identify the needs of the child and ensure that the family are given the appropriate support in enabling them to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare.
A child in need assessment may be requested by a GP, health visitor or other professional, or by a parent or a child.
Child In Need Meeting
A Child in Need Planning Meeting may take place when an assessment has identified that a package of family support is required to meet the child’s needs. The meeting will be chaired by Social Services. The parents/carers will be invited along with representatives from nursery/school, health and other relevant professionals
Child In Need Plan
A child in need plan will be prepared following the meeting. It will contain details of the support which is being provided to a child and/or family by Children’s Services.
Strategy Discussions & Meetings
When there are concerns that a child may be at risk of significant harm, Social Services will talk to partner agencies about the child. The Social Worker together with the Police Child Abuse Investigation team will decide if the threshold for a child protection investigation (Section 47- see below) has been met. If it has, they will also decide who should carry out the investigation – Social Services and the police (joint agency) or the police alone (single agency).
Section 47 Investigations
A Section 47 enquiry means that Social Services must carry out an investigation when they have ‘reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives, or is found, in their area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm’. The enquiry will involve an assessment of the child’s needs and the ability of those caring for the child to meet them. The aim is to decide whether any action should be taken to safeguard the child. The child’s parents/carers will be interviewed, as well as the child (depending on age and understanding). The assessment will also include information from the child’s school, doctor and other professionals.
Initial Child Protection Conference
Social Services may decide to hold an initial child protection conference if the Section 47 investigation decides that the child ‘has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm’. This is a multi-agency meeting chaired by an independent, qualified and experienced social worker.
The purpose of the conference is to:
- share information
- assess if the child is likely to suffer significant harm, which category of harm, and whether the harm is due to the care they are receiving
- decide if the child needs a child protection plan
- devise an outline multi-agency protection plan
- identify an allocated social worker and a core group of professionals from other agencies to work with the family to make detailed plans and to implement the plan.
The child’s parents will always be invited to attend, unless there is real risk of harm to those attending the conference. The child or young person may be invited if appropriate.
Health, school, police and other professionals involved will prepare a verbal and written report on their involvement. This report should focus on the child, and identify the family’s strengths, difficulties and the areas of concern. They will be asked for their views on the need for a protection plan.
Core Group
A core group is a ‘virtual team’ of key professionals and family members. They are responsible for developing the day-to-day details of the care plan produced by the conference, putting the plan into practice, allocating tasks as appropriate and reporting back to the next conference on progress made. They must meet within 10 days of the initial conference and at least every eight weeks after that. Core group meetings usually take place in the family home, children’s centre or the school, and all present should receive a record of the meeting. The meetings may include professionals from adult/other services, family members and the child if they have sufficient understanding.
Review Child Protection Conference
Review child protection case conferences assess progress on the protection plan and may decide that there has been enough progress and a protection plan is no longer needed. The first review is held within three months of the initial conference and at least every six months after that.
Local Safeguarding Children Boards
Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) are organisations that bring together senior representatives from health, education, social care, police, probation and the voluntary sector. They meet regularly to ensure that agencies are working together to safeguard children and promote their welfare. Adult health and social care services are vital partners in LSCBs.
Early Help Assessment
The Early Help Assessment is a low level of Social Services involvement with families. It enables professionals to efficiently identify the emerging needs of children and young people at risk of poor outcomes. It replaces the earlier Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
Team Around The Child
The Team Around the Child and their Family is a model of service provision where a range of different practitioners come together to help and support a child or young person. Essentially it is a ‘virtual’ team of involved professionals brought together – with the family’s consent – to devise a plan of action to support the child and their family.
If you have any questions on the above common terms or need advice from one of our team, why not contact us on freephone 0800 011 6666.
May 2023