Assessment of Care Needs

Before deciding what sort of help and support a child or their family may get, Social Services has to assess every child.  This means we need to find out more about the child and their family.

We need to collect information, discuss this with the child, young person or their family, and agree what might be done and what services we can offer.

The sort of help and support that Social Services may be able to provide could include protection of children, practical help for parents or carers, practical help for children and young people, support, advice or information for parents or carers and support for children or young people, such as counselling, befriending or youth activities.

Sometimes it will be decided that no help or support is needed.  However, if it is decided that help might be needed, then a first assessment, called an initial assessment, will be undertaken.  We aim to complete this within seven days of a referral being made.

If there are concerns about a child's safety then this assessment will be completed quickly and a second assessment, called a "core" assessment, will be started.  A core assessment will also be undertaken where the initial assessment suggests the situation is very complex.

A core assessment looks more closely at what is happening to the child or young person and whether any action is needed to make them safe.  Where this is the case, the family will be told and kept in touch with what is happening. We aim to complete the core assessment within 35 days of the end of the initial assessment.

If it is decided that a core assessment is needed, help and support can be offered straight away if necessary.

The purpose of an assessment is to draw up a plan of action to address the needs of the child, or children, and to decide how the family might need help to respond to these.  A copy of the plan will be given to the family.

Information will be gathered and written down during the assessment.  Although social workers and other professionals usually take the lead in completing the assessment, it should always be done in a way which helps the child and their family have a say and encourages them to take part.

Any information given to the social worker will usually be held in confidence within Social Services.  If there is a need to discuss the information with anyone else, the social worker will normally ask permission from the child, if they are old enough, or their parents.

The only exception may be if information comes to light which, in the social worker's opinion, may indicate a serious threat to the welfare of the child.  If this is the case, the child and the parents will be told what their rights are in the situation.

When children are old enough to take part in the assessment, the social worker will encourage and help them to do so.  The assessment will take into account the ethnic and cultural background of the child and their family.  If required, help can be provided so that everyone can speak their first language during the assessment.

If other agencies, such as health visitors or schools, are already helping the family, then the social worker will probably talk to them too.  The social worker will discuss this with the family before doing so.

If the child or their parents do not agree with what the social worker says in the assessment, they will be given the opportunity for them to record their point of view on the assessment record.

The family can be helped best if social workers are told about what the family does well and what the difficulties are. The social worker will keep everybody informed about what is happening.

Making sure the child is safe will be the social worker's first concern.  Please ask the social worker to explain this if you don't understand.  Everyone has a right to know what is happening when they are being assessed.