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1.2.4 Core Assessments (including Section 47 Enquiries)

RELATED READING

This chapter should be read in conjunction with the Initial and Core Assessment Practice Guidance.

Where a Section 47 Enquiry is carried out, this chapter should be read in conjunction with Chapter 7, Child Protection Enquiries, London Child Protection Procedures.

See also Levels of Need and Thresholds for Access to Children's Social Care Services in Hillingdon and Protocol of Arrangements for Child Protection Medicals (including Medical Form for Child Protection)

AMENDMENTS

This chapter was amended in May 2010 to reflect the new Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010. The changes, which are in Section 7, 8, 9 and 10, are shown in italics.


Contents

  1. Definition
  2. Timescale
  3. Starting a Core Assessment
  4. Communication
  5. Categories of Cases for Core Assessment
  6. Planning and Conducting all Core Assessments
  7. Conducting Section 47 Enquiries/Core Assessments
  8. Recording Core Assessments
  9. Conclusions and Outcomes of Core Assessments
  10. Outcomes of a Section 47 Enquiry


1.  Definition

1.1 A Core Assessment is an in-depth assessment which addresses the central or most important aspects of the needs of a child and the capacity of his or her parents or cares to respond appropriately to these needs within the wider family and community context.
1.2 While the Core Assessment is led by Children and Families, it will invariably involve other agencies or independent professionals, who will provide information they hold about the child or parents, contribute specialist knowledge and/or give advice/undertake specialist assessments.
1.3 Core Assessments should be undertaken with the consent of and in partnership with the child and his or her parents and carers.


2. Timescale

2.1 The decision to undertake a Core Assessment should be made by the responsible team manager on the completion of an Initial Assessment or when any Strategy Discussion/Meeting concludes that a Section 47 Enquiry is required.
2.2 Core Assessments should be completed within 35 working days of the conclusion of the Initial Assessment or, in relation to an open case, of the decision to carry out the Core Assessment.
2.3 In some cases Core Assessments may be started but the parents or child may decide to withdraw their cooperation or move away before all the information had been gathered or because the cause for concern has resolved. In such cases, subject to paragraph 2.4, the team manager may consider the Core Assessment to be completed. In such circumstances, the team manager must record this decision, together with the reasons and ensure that the decision is shared with the parent and child (depending on his or her understanding) and other agencies involved.  Services provided following the Initial Assessment may still be provided or arranged.
2.4

Where a Section 47 Enquiry is being conducted as part of the Core Assessment and the parents or child withdraw their cooperation or move away, the Core Assessment cannot be considered to have been completed unless the team manager is satisfied that arrangements are in place to safeguard the child concerned. The response may include:


3. Starting a Core Assessment

3.1

Core Assessments will be allocated to an appropriately skilled and experienced social worker.
3.2 The date of the start of the Core Assessment will be recorded electronically - it will be the same as the date the Initial Assessment was completed or the date that it was decided to undertake a Core Assessment on an open case.


4. Communication

4.1 In planning the Core Assessment and in providing the parent and child with feedback, the social worker will need to consider and address any communication issues, for example language or impairment.
4.2 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.
4.3 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 an impairment, it may be particularly useful to involve a person who knows the child well and is familiar with the child’s communication methods. Where the child has had a communication assessment, its conclusions and recommendations should be observed.


5. Categories of Cases for Core Assessment

5.1

Core Assessments will be competed where the threshold set out in the Levels of Need and Thresholds for Access to Children's Social Care Services in Hillingdon are met. Core Assessments will always be completed in the following circumstances:

  • Where a Section 47 Enquiry is undertaken - see Section 7, Conducting Section 47 Enquiries/Core Assessments;
  • Where a child becomes or is at risk of becoming Accommodated or there is a request to accommodate a child and a Core Assessment has not been completed prior to the episode commencing;
  • Where there are pre-birth child protection concerns;
  • Where the child is the subject of Care Proceedings or Care Proceedings are being considered;
  • Where the child has complex needs and family support services are likely to be required for longer than 3 months

See also Initial and Core Assessment Practice Guidance
5.2 These are minimum thresholds.  Core Assessments should be completed in all cases where the Initial Assessment concludes that a Core Assessment is needed or where professional judgement is that one would be helpful. This will include some cases where a Strategy Discussion/Meeting concludes that a Section 47 Enquiry is not required.
5.3 A separate Core Assessment must be recorded in respect of each child.
5.4

Core Assessments, or a review and updating of a previous Core Assessment, will also be required at specific stages in the life of a child in care to inform planning and to ensure all needs have been identified and are being met. Such stages include:


6. Planning and Conducting all Core Assessments

6.1 The social worker should convene a Core Assessment Planning Meeting within 5 working days of the start of the Core Assessment. The Assessment Framework provides detailed advice about key questions to be considered in the planning process.
6.2

The planning meeting should consider the following:

  • The timescale for the various elements of the assessment, enabling it to be completed within the required 35 working days
  • Has the issue of consent been discussed and obtained?
  • The areas to be focused upon within the assessment
  • Who will undertake the assessment and what resources will be needed?
  • Who else will contribute to the assessment?
  • Who in the family will be included and how will they be involved?
  • In what groupings will the child and family members be seen and in what order?
  • Are there communication issues, if so, how will these be met?
  • What methods of collecting information will be used?
  • Where will particular assessment tasks take place?
  • How will information be recorded?
6.3 The need for any specialist assessments should be considered. These will include those undertaken by the Intensive Family Support Service, as well as those provided by or commissioned from other agencies - see Access to Family Support Procedure.
6.4 Participants at the Planning Meeting should include agencies or individuals who will contribute to the assessment, including the family and child, where appropriate.

It may be possible to include this assessment planning in another meeting concerning the child, for example a Child in Need Planning Meeting (see Child's Plans and Reviews Procedure) or Placement Planning Meeting.

Otherwise, an Initial Plan should set out how the Core Assessment is to be carried out.
6.5 The planning process provides an opportunity to define the parameters of the assessment, by agreeing the central or most important aspects of the needs of a child. It may not be relevant for detailed information to be gathered in respect of every dimension of each domain.
6.6 The Core Assessment should be undertaken in partnership with the child and family. The allocated worker should make every effort actively to engage the child and his/her family in the process. When arranging meetings/appointments consideration should be given to the time, venue, and any support that the family may require in respect of childcare or finance for transport costs. See also Section 4, Communication
6.7

Children from overseas

Where information comes to light during the course of the assessment that the child has previously lived overseas information should be obtained from the parent/carer as to where they lived. Subsequently enquiries should be made via the Foreign Office or the relevant Embassy or Consulate and/or Children and Families Across Borders (formally known as International Social Services).

6.8

Children not in school

Where information comes to light during the course of the assessment that a child of school age is not registered with a school, or is not attending, the education service should be informed.


7. Conducting Section 47 Enquiries/Core Assessments

This should be read in conjunction with Chapter 7, Child Protection Enquiries, London Child Protection Procedures.

7.1 The Core Assessment is the means by which a Section 47 Enquiry is carried out. The objective of the Section 47 Enquiry is to determine whether action is required to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. The decision to initiate a Section 47 Enquiry will be taken by the team manager and where such a decision is made the enquiry must be completed within 15 working days.
7.2 The social worker, when conducting a Section 47 Enquiry, must assess the potential needs and safety of any other child in the household of the child in question. In addition, Section 47 Enquiries may be required concerning any children in other households with whom the alleged abuser may have contact.
7.3 In determining who should be involved in a Section 47 Enquiry, consideration should include with whom the family is most likely to cooperate, and whether there are any risks. In all cases where there is a known propensity to violence within the family household, consideration should be given to the strategy to be adopted, with police advice/assistance if appropriate, about how to reduce the risks before any visits take place.
7.4

Consideration should be given by the date of the Initial Child Protection Conference where one is convened whether the Core Assessment has been completed or what further work is required before it is completed.

Seeing and Interviewing the Child
7.5 The child must always be seen and communicated with alone by the Lead Social Worker in the course of a Section 47 Enquiry, unless it is contrary to his or her interests to do so. The Strategy Discussion/Meeting will plan any interview with the child. The Record of Section 47 Enquiry and Reports to Child Protection Conferences should include the date(s) when the child was seen alone, or if not seen alone, who was present and the reasons for their presence.
7.6 The social worker leading the Section 47 Enquiry must have specialist training and experience in interviewing children.
7.7 All discussions with the child should be conducted in a way that minimises any distress caused to them, and maximises the likelihood that s/he will provide accurate and complete information. Leading or suggestive questions to the child should always be avoided and the Achieving Best Evidence guidance must be followed.
7.8 Before a child is seen or interviewed parental permission must be gained unless there are exceptional circumstances that demonstrate that it would not be in the child’s interests and to do so may jeopardise the child's safety and welfare.
7.9

Relevant exceptional circumstances would include:

  • The possibility that a child would be threatened or otherwise coerced into silence;
  • A strong likelihood that important evidence would be destroyed; or
  • That the child in question did not wish the parent to be involved at that stage, and is competent to take that decision.
7.10

In such circumstances, the social worker must take legal advice about how to proceed and whether legal action may be required, for example through an application for an Emergency Protection Order or a Child Assessment Order.
7.11 For further details see Chapter 7, Child Protection Enquiries, London Child Protection Procedures.

Seeing the Parent
7.12 In the majority of cases it will be appropriate to involve the parents/carers from the outset. The powers, duties and roles of the agencies involved should be explained, as should the parents’ own legal rights. The social worker should answer questions openly and honestly.
7.13 The social worker should discuss any allegation with the parent and note the explanation/s given. The parent should be given the opportunity to refute or disprove any allegation.

Medical Assessments
7.14 Where a medical assessment is required as part of the Section 47 Enquiry, see Chapter 7, Child Protection Enquiries, London Child Protection Procedures for the detailed procedure to be followed.


8. Recording Core Assessments

8.1 The social worker should record the Core Assessment on a Core Assessment Record.
8.2 The completed Core Assessment should be signed by the social worker and passed to the team manager for approval and agreement. The team manager should record his or her decision on the recommendations and sign the record to approve it as of a satisfactory standard. The date of the team manager signing the record is the date of the completion of the Core Assessment and should be recorded as such. The child (depending on age and understanding) and parent should be given a copy of the record within 14 days of its completion.
8.3 Where a Section 47 Enquiry is conducted alongside the Core Assessment, the social worker should record their actions/information gathered during the course of the enquiry and its outcomes on a Record of Section 47 Enquiries. The Record of Section 47 Enquiry and Reports to Child Protection Conferences should include the date(s) when the child was seen alone, or if not seen alone, who was present and the reasons for their presence.The Record should be signed by the social worker and team manager.
8.4 In all cases where a Core Assessment has been completed, the Chronology on ICS must be updated.


9. Outcomes of Core Assessments

9.1

Core Assessments should result in:

  • An analysis of the needs of the child and the parenting capacity to respond appropriately to those needs within the family context;
  • Identification of whether and, if so, where intervention will be required to secure the wellbeing of the child;
  • A realistic plan of action (including services to be provided) detailing who has responsibility for action, a timetable and a process for review.
9.2

The outcomes of Core Assessments may include:
9.3 Note that Section 17 services may be put in place or commissioned before the Core Assessment is completed.
9.4

The responsible team manager should agree the outcome and ensure that the necessary documentation is complete. The Core Assessment is deemed to be completed once the assessment has been discussed with the child and family and authorised by the manager.
9.5 Where the outcome of a Section 47 Enquiry is that the child has not suffered and is not likely to suffer Significant Harm, the Core Assessment should still be completed, unless the parents and/or child indicate that they do not wish any further assessment to be undertaken - see Section 10, Outcomes of Section 47 Enquiry. However, in these circumstances, where the assessment continues, there is no need to complete all of the sections about the child's developmental needs, the parenting capacity or the family and environmental sections in great detail.


10. Outcomes of a Section 47 Enquiry

The outcome of a Section 47 Enquiry must be endorsed by the team manager.

A Section 47 Enquiry may conclude that concerns were unsubstantiated, concerns were substantiated but the child is not judged to be at continuing risk of Significant Harm, or the concerns are substantiated and the child is judged to be at continuing risk of Significant Harm.

10.1

Concerns not substantiated
  1. No Further Action

    Enquiries have revealed that there are no causes for concern. The child may be a Child in Need but the family do not wish for services to be provided, in which case the case will be closed.

  2. Family Support to be provided

    Enquiries have revealed that there are no causes for concern but that there are needs that could be met by the short term provision of services under section 17 of the Children Act 1989. The family are willing for a package of support to be provided, or continue to be provided.

    The social worker/team manager should convene a Child in Need Planning Meeting within 7 working days to agree a Child's Plan – see Child's Plans and Reviews Procedure.
10.2

Concerns substantiated but no continuing risk
  1. Enquiries have confirmed that the child suffered Significant Harm, but it has been agreed between the agencies most involved and the child and their family that a plan for safeguarding the child’s future safety and welfare can be developed and implemented without having an Initial Child Protection Conference or a Child Protection Plan. This decision must be endorsed by a suitably experienced and qualified social worker manager.
  2. The social worker/team manager must convene a Child in Need Planning Meeting to be held within 7 working days to agree a Child's Plan see Child's Plans and Reviews Procedure.
10.3

Child at continuing risk of significant harm
  1. Enquiries have revealed that the child may continue to suffer or to be at risk of suffering Significant Harm.
  2. An Initial Child Protection Conference must be convened within 15 working days of the Strategy Discussion/Meeting where the decision to initiate a Section 47 Enquiry was made. The request to convene the conference must be supported by a team manager. For the detailed procedure, see Chapter 8, Child Protection Conferences, London Child Protection Procedures.
  3. Where immediate legal action is required, the advice of Legal Services should be sought.
  4. Where any other safeguarding action is required on an interim basis pending the holding of the Child Protection Conference, this should be recorded in an Initial Plan or a Child's Plan
  5. The Core Assessment should be completed within 35 working days of the commencement of the Section 47 Enquiry. Consideration should be given by the date of the Initial Child Protection Conference where one is convened to whether the Core Assessment has been completed or what further work is required before it is completed.

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