Preface

Securing the wellbeing of children by protecting them from all forms of harm and ensuring their developmental needs are responded to appropriately are primary aims of Government policy. Local authority social services departments working with other local authority departments and health authorities have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their area who are in need and to promote the upbringing of such children, wherever possible by their families, through providing an appropriate range of services. A critical task is to ascertain with the family whether a child is in need and how that child and family might best be helped. The effectiveness with which a child's needs are assessed will be key to the effectiveness of subsequent actions and services and, ultimately, to the outcomes for the child.

A Framework for Assessing Children in Need

A framework has been developed which provides a systematic way of analysing, understanding and recording what is happening to children and young people within their families and the wider context of the community in which they live. From such an understanding of what are inevitably complex issues and inter-relationships, clear professional judgements can be made. These judgements include whether the child being assessed is in need, whether the child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, what actions must be taken and which services would best meet the needs of this particular child and family. The evidence based knowledge which has informed the development of the framework has been drawn from a wide range of research studies and theories across a number of disciplines and from the accumulated experience of policy and practice.

The Guidance describes the Assessment Framework and the Government's expectations of how it will be used. It refiects the principles contained within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the UK Government in 1991 and the Human Rights Act 1998. In addition, it takes account of relevant legislation at the time of publication, but is particularly informed by the requirements of the Children Act 1989, which provides a comprehensive framework for the care and protection of children.

This document is issued under section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, which requires local authorities in their social services functions to act under the general guidance of the Secretary of State. As such this document does not have the full force of statute, but should be complied with unless local circumstances indicate exceptional reasons which justify a variation.

The Guidance is a key element of the Department of Health's work to support local authorities in implementing Quality Protects, the Government's programme for transforming the management and delivery of children's social services. Quality Protects aims to deliver better life chances for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, and good assessment lies at the heart of this work. The Government's consolidated set of objectives for children's social services published in September 1999 makes clear the importance of assessment in the work of local authority departments and health authorities. The framework has been incorporated into the Government Guidance on protecting children from harm, Working Together to Safeguard Children (Department of Health et al, 1999) and should be read in conjunction with it when there are concerns that a child may be or is suffering significant harm.

The Guidance is not a practice manual. It does not set out step-by-step procedures to be followed: rather it sets out a framework which should be adapted and used to suit individual circumstances. A range of additional publications has been produced to inform practitioners and their managers about the most up-to-date knowledge from research and practice. Practice guidance (Department of Health, 2000a) and a training pack consisting of a training video, guide and reader (NSPCC and University of Sheffield, 2000) have also been developed to accompany the Guidance and to assist the introduction and implementation of the new framework. The Department of Health will be working closely with local authorities, health services and other agencies through the Quality Protects Programme to help them put the framework into practice in the most cost effective way.

Who is the Guidance for?

The Guidance has been produced primarily for the use of professionals and other staff who will be involved in undertaking assessments of children in need and their families under the Children Act 1989. Social services departments have lead responsibility for assessments of children in need including those children who may be or are suffering significant harm but, under section 27 of the Children Act 1989, other local authority services and health authorities have a duty to assist social services in carrying out this function. These other agencies should be aware of the Assessment Framework and understand what it might mean for them.

Many agencies have contact with and responsibility for children and young people under a range of legislation. The Guidance is, therefore, also relevant to assessments concerned with the welfare of children in a number of contexts.

Health, education and youth justice services, in particular, may have already had considerable involvement with some children and families prior to referral to social services departments. They will have an important contribution to make to the assessment and, where appropriate, to the provision of services to those families. Their awareness of the Assessment Framework when contributing to assessments of children in need will facilitate communication between agencies and with children and families. It will also assist the process of referral from one agency to another and increase the likelihood of acceptance of the contents of previous assessments, thereby reducing unnecessary duplication of assessment and increasing local confidence in inter-agency work. Knowledge of the Assessment Framework can inform contributions by all agencies and disciplines when assessing children about whom there are child safety concerns (Paragraphs 5.13 and 5.33 in Working Together to Safeguard Children, 1999).

Effective collaborative work between staff of different disciplines and agencies asses-sing children in need and their families requires a common language to understand the needs of children, shared values about what is in children's best interests and a joint commitment to improving the outcomes for children. The framework for assessment provides that common language based on explicit values about children, knowledge about what children need to ensure their successful development, and the factors in their lives which may positively or negatively infiuence their upbringing. This increases the likelihood of parents and children experiencing consistency between professionals and themselves about what will be important for children's wellbeing and healthy development.

Government Guidance on promoting independence in adult social services, Achieving Fairer Access to Adult Social Care Services (Department of Health, forthcoming, a) will address how to respond to social services referrals regarding adults. With any adult referral, social services should check whether the person has parenting responsibilities for a child under 18. If so, the initial assessment should explore any parenting and child related issues in accordance with the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families Guidance and provide services as appropriate. The needs of the adult should be assessed in accordance with Achieving Fair Access to Adult Social Care Services.

The Policy Context

The Government is committed to ending child poverty, tackling social exclusion and promoting the welfare of all children - so that they can thrive and have the opportunity to fulfil their potential as citizens throughout their lives. There are a number of programmes such as Sure Start, Connexions and Quality Protects and a range of policies to support families, promote educational attainment, reduce truancy and school exclusion and secure a future for all young people in education, employment or training. They all aim to ensure that children and families most at risk of social exclusion have every opportunity to build successful, independent lives.

At the same time, the Government is committed to improving the quality and management of those services responsible for supporting children and families particularly through the modernisation of social services, through the promotion of co-operation between all statutory agencies and through building effective partnerships with voluntary and private agencies.

Promoting the wellbeing of children to ensure optimal outcomes requires integration at both national and local levels: joined up government - in respect both of policy making and of service delivery - is central to the current extensive policy agenda. A Ministerial Group on the Family, supported by the Family Policy Unit in the Home Office, encourages this approach at Government level. Its aim is to provide a new emphasis on looking more widely at the needs of all children and families in the community and to develop a programme of measures which will strengthen family life.

Early intervention is essential to support children and families before problems, either from within the family or as a result of external factors, which have an impact on parenting capacity and family life escalate into crisis or abuse. Government departments, statutory and voluntary agencies, academics and practitioners contribute to this work. Good joint working practices and understanding at a local level are vital to the success of the early intervention agenda. Local agencies, including schools and education support services, social services departments, youth offending teams, primary and more specialist health care services and voluntary and private agencies should work together to establish agreed referral protocols which will help to ensure that early indications of a child being at risk of social exclusion receive appropriate attention.

The development of a framework for assessing children in need and their families will contribute to integrated working. The new framework was announced by the Secretary of State for Health in September 1998. Its primary purpose is to improve outcomes for children in need. It is also designed to assist local authority departments and health authorities meet one of the Government's objectives for children's social services (Department of Health, 1999e) - to ensure that referral and assessment processes discriminate effectively between different types and levels of need, and produce a timely service response.

The Contents of the Guidance

The Guidance starts by outlining the legislation, responsibilities and principles which underpin the work of local authority departments and health authorities in promoting and safeguarding children's welfare and assessing children's needs. It then describes the framework and the assessment process in more detail in Chapters 2, 3 and 4. There is reference to the needs of children in general and to children who may have specific needs and impairments throughout the Guidance. Roles and responsibilities in inter-agency assessment are described in Chapter 5. The Guidance concludes by considering the organisational arrangements which should be in place to support effective assessment of children in need.

Relationship to Previous Guidance on Assessment

This Guidance builds on and supersedes earlier Department of Health guidance on assessing children, Protecting Children: A Guide for Social Workers undertaking a Comprehensive Assessment (1988). That publication (often referred to as the 'Orange Book') has been widely used by social work practitioners as a guide to comprehensive assessment for long term planning in child protection cases. Its purpose was to assist social work practitioners, in consultation with other agencies, to understand the child and family's situation more fully once concerns about significant harm had been established following initial enquiries and assessment. Much of its thinking about children's development and parents' capacity to respond to children's needs has been incorporated into the Assessment Framework.

However, over the years concerns have arisen about the use made of Protecting Children. Inspections and research have shown that the guide was sometimes followed mechanistically and used as a check list, without any differentiation according to the child's or family's circumstances. Assessment was regarded as an event rather than as a process and services were withheld awaiting the completion of an assessment. In some authorities, an all or nothing approach was found; either very detailed comprehensive assessments were carried out or there was no record of any analysis of the child and the family's circumstances. The framework for assessing children in need and their families contained in this volume is underpinned by a set of principles which seek to remedy any misunderstandings about the task of working with children and families in order to understand what is happening to them and how they might best be helped.

Effective Implementation

A range of organisational arrangements need to be in place to ensure sound practice in using the framework for assessing children in need and their families. The effectiveness of assessment processes will be measurable over time by evidence of improving outcomes for children and families known to social services departments. The Department of Health will be working closely with all those involved in providing services to children to develop appropriate arrangements at national and local level, to learn from the experiences of children and families and to evaluate the impact this approach to assessment is having on outcomes for children in need.

Prepared 29 March 2000