Summary
1. There must be a written report on each child in the family 2. The report should be recorded on the Initial Child Protection Conference Social Workers Report record. 3. The report must be submitted at least 1 working day before the Conference. 4. The report must be shared with the child (if of sufficient age and understanding) and the family at least one working day before the conference, |
Children’s Social Care must provide a written report to the Conference that summarises and analyses the information obtained:
- in the initial assessment
- in the Section 47 Enquiry/core assessment
- from existing and historical records in respect of the child and family.
Care must be taken to distinguish between fact, observation, allegation and opinion.
Where decisions are being made about more than one child in a family, there should be a written report prepared on each child.
The report should be recorded on the Initial Child Protection Conference Social Workers Report record. It should include:
- The initial assessment and information from the work that has been done on the core assessment so far. Areas where more information is needed should be highlighted.
- A chronology of significant events and agency and professional contact with the child and family, including a list in date order of the events which brought the case to the child protection conference.
- Information about the child and family’s history and current and past family functioning and what the implications of this are for the parent’s capacity to meet the child’s needs
- Significant aspects of the child’s current and past state of health and development and how best to meet their developmental needs
- Report of the Section 47 enquiry and brief description of events
- Information on the capacity of the parents and other family members to ensure the child’s safety from harm, and to promote the child’s health and development
- The expressed views wishes and feelings of the child, parents and other family members
- Assessment of risk and any child protection action taken
- An analysis of the implications of the information obtained for the child’s future safety, health and development and whether they are suffering or are likely to suffer significant harm
- Recommendations for future work with the child and family.
The social worker’s report must be submitted to the Conference Chair at least two working days before the conference to allow the Conference Chair sufficient time to prepare the conference. Any particularly sensitive or confidential information should be drawn to the attention of the Conference Chair.
The social worker must arrange to explain and discuss the report with the child (if of sufficient age and understanding) and the family at least one working day before the conference, except where to do so would jeopardise the safety of the child or any criminal investigation/proceedings.
Sufficient copies of the report must be available to the conference meeting.
Ref:
Working Together 2010 Chapter 5 Para 5.91 – 5.96
GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE:-
The analysis in the Social Worker’s Report should address:
- How the child’s strengths and difficulties are impacting on the child’s development
- How the parenting strengths and difficulties are affecting their ability to protect and care for the child in terms of resilience and protective factors and vulnerability and risk factors
- How the family and environmental factors are affecting parenting capacity and/or the child directly
- Assess the relative strength of the risk and protective factors in the child’s world. Are protective factors outweighed by risk factors? If so, how? To what extent?
- Estimate the level of risk present for the child and the probability of future harm.
- Assess the likely outcomes of future harm for the child – consider their safety, health and development.
- Assess the acceptability of the estimated risk given the likely outcomes for the child of future harm.
- Use the analysis to specify those actions, resources and services needed to boost the strength and range of identified protective factors.
- Use the analysis to specify what needs to change if the child is to be kept safe and experience good outcomes.
- Consider shifts in the balance and interaction of risk and protective factors, and the pace and extent of necessary change.
- Assess the consequences/outcomes for the child of such shifts, including possible future harm.
- Assess the consequences/outcomes for the child if necessary change is not being achieved.
