D

Appendix

Using Assessments in Family Proceedings: Practice Issues

1. There are a number of practice issues to which attention should be given in order to ensure that any information derived from assessment that is to be used in court proceedings conforms with court practice. These are set out below. Addressing these issues will assist legal practitioners, including the judiciary, and other professionals who may be involved in the case in giving proper weight to the conclusions reached during assessment.

2. When preparing a report summarising evidence from the assessment, each page should be typed/word processed on one side of A4. The first page should be headed Front Sheet and include the following information:

• full name of child;
• date of birth;
• court case number;
• name of court hearing application;
• date of the court hearing;
• type of hearing (ie. directions, interim or final hearing);
• name of local authority;
• date of the report summarising the assessment.

Subsequent pages should also be singled sided. Headings and paragraph numbers will aid communication in court.

3. It should be noted that the document submitted to court will usually be a summary of the key assessment issues rather than the full record concerning the assessment, as the latter will not usually be in a format or language suitable for court.

4. Where during proceedings several assessments have been produced, the report to the court should identify each by a separate number to avoid confusion.

5. Initial assessments, although incomplete, may sometimes be needed at an interim stage in the care proceedings. Reports to court on these initial assessments will not necessarily represent the local authority's comprehensive view that will be brought to the final hearing. It is therefore important that the front page of such an initial report, under type of hearing, should clearly distinguish between those for interim court hearings and the report of the complete or core assessment prepared for the final hearing.

6. The last and separate page of the report of the assessment should include the following information:

• full name and professional position of the person who has prepared the report;
• this should normally be the social worker allocated to the case, although a range of other people within the authority and from other agencies may have contributed to aspects of the assessment;
• signature;
• date;
• work address and telephone number;
• by
• local authority making the application;
• signature(s);
• date (s);
• work address(es) and telephone number(s).

7. The endorsement of the report of the assessment by the local authority raises similar issues to the approach commended in paragraphs 20-22 of LAC 99(29) Care Plans and Care Proceedings Under the Children Act 1989. The key point is that the report of the assessment is a statement by the local authority which is likely to be a crucial part of the authority's evidence in the care proceedings. However, it does not itself imply the commitment of resources across the local authority in the way care plans may do and, for this reason, endorsement at the level of a team manager may well be sufficient.

Prepared 29 March 2000