1.2.2 Initial Contacts and Referrals

RELEVANT PROCEDURES AND GUIDANCE

This Chapter should be read in conjunction with:

Children's Social Care Services Threshold Criteria for Children in Need

Universal Assessments Procedures/Guidance

AMENDMENTS

This chapter was amended in June 2010.

Initial Contacts
Referrals
Timescales
Screening Process
Initial Disposal of Referrals
Recording of Referrals

1. Initial Contacts

An Initial Contact is made where the Children Social Care Services is contacted about a child, who may be a Child in Need, and where there is a request for general advice, information or a service. All Initial Contacts go to the Contact Centre where all calls are received and passed on to the relevant team.The teams are two Referral and Assessment teams, depending on the area where the child is resident, the Hospital team, the Housing and Unaccompanied Minors team and the Children with Disabilities team.

At any time, an Initial Contact may become a Referral if it appears that services may be required for a Child in Need.

Any significant information received about a child who is an open case should be regarded as an Initial Contact, passed to the child's allocated social worker and recorded on ICS.

In all other cases, at the point when an Initial Contact is made, the duty worker should establish whether the enquiry can be dealt with by the provision of information and advice or re-direction to other agencies or services.

The duty worker should also check ICS records to see if the child or family is known and, if known, retrieve information on them. Any such information should be passed to the allocated social worker if there is one, and otherwise to the duty social worker.

2. Referrals

An Initial Contact will be progressed to a Referral where the social worker or manager considers an assessment and/or services may be required for a Child in Need.

The duty social worker will arrange to visit or contact the referrer and obtain as much of the following information as possible:

Full names, dates of birth and gender of children
Family address and, where relevant, school/nursery attended
Identity of those with Parental Responsibility
Names and dates of birth of all members of the household
Ethnicity, first language and religion of children and parents
Any special needs of the children
Any significant recent or past events
Cause for concern including details of allegations, their sources, timing and location
The child's current location and emotional and physical condition
Whether the child needs immediate protection
Details of any alleged perpetrator
Referrer's relationship with and knowledge of the child and his or her family
Known involvement of other agencies
Information regarding parents' knowledge and agreement to referral

3. Timescales

Once received, all referrals must be written up and a decision made about their disposal within one working day.

4. Screening Process

The following process applies to new cases of children previously unknown to the authority, and to closed cases.

The process of Referrals must include screening against the Threshold Criteria for Children in Need and must include internal (ICS) and agency checks to establish whether the family is previously known, and whether there is a Child Protection Plan in relation to the child and/or whether the child is Looked After.

The screening process should establish:

The nature of the concern
How and why it has arisen
What the child's needs appear to be
Whether the concern involves Significant Harm
Whether there is any need for urgent action to protect the child or any children in the household

This process will involve:

Discussion with the referrer
Consideration of any existing records, including whether the child is the subject of a Child Protection Plan
Involving other agencies as necessary

If there are indications that a child may be at risk of Significant Harm, the manager may authorise whatever actions are necessary to protect the child or others in the household from Significant Harm, which may result in the immediate provision of services.

If there is suspicion that a crime may have been committed including sexual or physical assault or neglect of the child, the Police must be notified immediately.

Personal information about non-professional referrers should not be disclosed to the parents or other agencies without the referrer's consent.

The parent's consent should usually be sought before discussing a referral with other agencies unless this may place the child at risk of Significant Harm, in which case the manager should authorise the discussion of the referral with other agencies without parental knowledge or consent. The authorisation should be recorded with reasons.

5. Initial Disposal of Referrals

The initial disposal of a Referral, which must be authorised by the manager, may be:

a.	That the child does not appear to be a Child In Need, which will result in one of the following: the provision of information, advice, sign-posting to another agency including SAFE and/or no further action. Any referral to SAFE will be recorded on Frameworki (FWi) as a contact.
b.	That the child appears to be a Child in Need with a moderate level of need, in which case, the manager may authorise an Initial Assessment.
c.	That the child appears to be a Child in Need with a high level of need, which must result in an Initial Assessment
d.	That it is suspected that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer from Significant Harm, which will result in an Initial Assessment, with a view to conducting a Strategy Discussion, prior to a Section 47 Enquiry and Core Assessment commencing.

Professional referrers should be advised of the disposal of the referral.

Feedback on the outcome of the Referral should also be provided to non-professional referrers in a manner consistent with respecting the confidentiality of the child.

6. Recording of Referrals

All Initial Contacts and Referrals should be recorded on ICS - see Section 1 of the Universal Assessments Procedures/Guidance.

See also also Frameworki Training Guide.

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