1.6.1 Children and Families - Allocation of Work/Transfer Protocol |
Contents
1. Allocation and Workflow/Transfer Principles
In order to determine the correct size of each part of the service, transfers and the location of workload in the system at any one time have to be determined.
It is difficult to have a Workflow Protocol which “legislates” for all case scenarios. Many of the principles which need to be embedded in a workflow protocol are:
- The service provided by the Children’s Division is a single service
- The child’s needs should be in the centre of any process
- Minimising the number of social work changes for the child is essential in order to best meet the needs of children and their families
- Looked After children should be placed in CIC teams wherever possible
- Family support work needs to have its own identity for children in need
- A flexible approach to service transfer processes
- Processes should be simple and solution focussed
- Teams need to be appropriately resourced.
- Any cross service process is reliant on trust and is not a contract.
- Delay in transfer should be minimised
In addition to the above, the following critical factors were identified and which need to be taken account of when planning service delivery –
- Staff recruitment and retention
- Performance Indicators – quality of work
- Transfer points / thresholds
- Function of each team(s)
- Timescales / Quality
- Consistent social workers (particularly for Looked After Children)
- Court Proceedings / Judicial protocol
- Volume of work
- Direct work with children
- Neglect work – long term cases
- Other Local Authorities experience
- Airport work
- Health and education – multi agency
- Social workers have different expertise
All new referrals are received by the Referral and Assessment Service and will continue to do so. The following are proposals of when work should transfer out of the RAT service, where it should transfer to and the timescales. The proposals being made are on the basis of the most likely long-term outcome for the piece of casework. Long term is defined as where the case is likely to be in one year’s time.
It is imperative that work transfers appropriately in the correct time frame to the correct Team. This will be irrespective of whether the recipient Team has an allocated worker ready or not. All teams will need to prioritise their own workload and manage their own unallocated work.
2. Process for Transfer
A Transfer Panel will meet on a weekly basis to consider the transfer of cases between Teams. The purpose of this panel will be to approve transfer plans and to ensure work leaves the Referral and Assessment Service at the correct time. The panel will use as a guide, the transfer principles adopted within this document with the over riding principle being what is in the best interest of the child/service user.
The following tables illustrate when cases would be transferred between teams.
| EVENT/TASK/CASE | TIME FRAME | TEAM TRANSFERRING TO | NOTES |
| CPR Case – (1) | Immediately following Initial Case Conference and with Child Protection Plan in place and completion of Core Assessment | CIN Team | If judged to need ongoing community support, but not at level of legal proceedings. A Core Assessment is now defined as the Case Conference report. |
| CPR Case –(3) | 1st Child Protection Review Conference | CICTeam (if proceedings began) | If judged highly likely that Care Proceedings are going to be required during first period of the Child Protection Plan Core Assessment completed. |
| 1st Child Protection Review Conference | CIN Team – if, in the end no proceedings required | ||
| CPR Case – (2) | Following Initial Case Conference and in conjunction with Legal Proceedings timescales | CICTeam | Emergency Legal Proceedings have begun before Initial Child Protection Conference. |
| EVENT/TASK/CASE | TIME FRAME | TEAM TRANSFERRING TO | NOTES |
| CIN Cases (1) | 6 weeks | CIN Team | Highly likely to need ongoing community support. Initial Child in Need Plan has been set up and reviewed. Further Child in Need Plan is required. |
| CIN Cases (2) | 1 week | CIN Team | Initial Assessment indicates that a Core Assessment is required. Chronology must be completed before transfer. |
CIN Cases of young people who became 16.
|
Earliest Transfer Point is 15 years 9 months. | 16+ | Case would need to meet high need eligibility criteria – see Levels of Need and Thresholds for Access to Children's Social Care Services in Hillingdon. |
| EVENT/TASK/CASE | TIME FRAME | TEAM TRANSFERRING TO | NOTES |
| LAC – Section 20 Cases (Children who are Accommodated) | Max. 6 weeks – after initial LAC Episode | CICTeam |
|
CIC – S 20 cases (Children who are Accommodated)
|
At 15 yrs, 9 months | 16+ Team | Possibility of earlier co-working with 16+ Team. |
3. Specific Transfer Cases Scenarios
3.1 Heathrow children
The Intake Team will deal with new referrals from Heathrow. They will hold cases for a maximum of two weeks or until they have completed re-uniting work with parents in the UK. Where the Care Plan is to return to country of origin then these cases will be transferred to the CIC Teams.
3.2 Relinquished ‘Baby’ Cases
It is felt that with all the amount of work under the Adoption and Children Act, these need to be in the CIC Team as soon as possible.
This could be prior to birth if the initial referral is received early enough and following the completion of an Initial Assessment.
If the referral is very late (i.e. at birth of baby), then the case will be transferred to the CIC team at the first review.
3.3 Transfers from CIC to 16+
Shortly after the 16th birthday and it is also dependant on other matters going on for the young person, e.g. completion of school exams. However, the needs led assessments do need to start around 15½ years old with co-working from the 16+ Team.
3.4 Court Proceedings needing to begin on CPR/CIN cases in the CIN Team
The suggestion is that this should then transfer to CIC teams in line with the same timeframe of such cases transferring from RAT.
This should only be happening rarely, if we are judging the destination of cases appropriately.
3.5 Unborn children where there is existing work with the family taking place – this could be currently either in the CIN team or the CIC service (including Pre Birth Assessments).
The principle that will be adopted for these cases will be:
- If the case is open to the CIN/CPR Team then the allocated worker will complete the assessment.
- If Care Proceedings are ongoing, the assessment of the unborn child will be undertaken by the allocated worker.
- If the case is open within CIC/Court Team or on route to adoption, then the allocated worker will undertake the assessment.
- If older siblings have previously been adopted then the issue of who conducts the pre-birth assessment will be decided by the Transfer Panel. Their decision will be based on the best interests of the service user.
3.6 Cases where sibling groups are both LAC and Child in Need
This will need to be decided at the Transfer Panel on the most effective solution and where work needs to be focussed. Sibling groups need to be kept together in one part of the service wherever possible and the LAC status is the dominant factor.
3.7 Transfer of cases from CIC team to CIN, when LAC child has returned home
This should only occur when the child has been home successfully for 6 months and if ongoing work is needed under a Child in Need Plan.
In order to assist the workflow between teams, it is suggested that at least in the early months, we have a regular panel to agree and process work transferring from one team to another. Such a panel will need clear and specific terms of reference, to have relevant managers involved and to meet at appropriate times.
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