Initial Checks

On receipt of a referral where there is an indication that a child has suffered or may suffer significant harm, the Duty Officer will notify the Duty/Team Manager of the referral within one hour, identifying it as a child protection referral, and will complete the following checks: 

The electronic social care record to establish if:

• The child/ren or adults are known to Children’s Social Care. If the subject of the referral is a child already known to Children’s Social Care, the allocated social worker should be informed immediately and given all details of the concerns. 
• The child/ren are or have been subject to a Child Protection Plan
• There have been any previous referrals in respect of the child/ren or adults
• There is an adult known to pose a risk of harm to children in the household
• The child/ren or adults are connected to other families known to the Directorate
• Any of the adults work with children.
• Other agencies – including police, education welfare, schools, health, probation and adult services – to establish their involvement and known information
• Previous local authority areas where the child has lived to establish known information

 If there are existing records on the child and family the Duty Officer will scrutinise existing records to establish relevant historical information. 

 The Duty/Team Manager, in consultation with the referrer and other agencies as necessary, will then make a decision about the immediate safety of the child/ren and decide on the action to be taken in response to the referral. This decision must be made and recorded and the referrer informed within one working day of receipt of the referral. 

Ref: 

Working Together Chapter 5 Para 5.34 

Good Practice Guidance:-

The actions which may be taken in response to referral information are:

Initial Contacts that do not meet the threshold for Children’s Social Care involvement:

• Information recorded as an Initial Contact only
• No further action is taken – Children’s Social Care will feed back this decision to the referrer in writing, with the reasons
• Provision of information and advice;
• Referral or signposting to other agencies – families will be referred on by Children’s Social Care with their agreement (if the family do not then engage with the referred agency, that agency will refer them back to Children’s Social Care who may reassess the family)

Initial Contacts that meet the threshold for Children’s Social Care involvement:

• Information is recorded as a referral
• Initial assessment.