1.2.4 Core Assessments (Including Section 47 Enquiries)

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This procedure should be read in conjunction with the Universal Assessments Guidance.

Where a Section 47 Enquiry is carried out, it should also be read in conjunction with the Ealing Safeguarding Children Board, and the London Safeguarding Children Board Procedures.

Definition
Timescale
Starting a Core Assessment
Communication
Categories of Cases for Core Assessment
Planning and Conducting all Core Assessments
Conclusions and Outcomes of Core Assessments
Conducting Section 47 Enquiries / Core Assessments
Outcomes of a Section 47 Enquiry
Recording Core Assessments and Section 47 Enquiries

1. Definition

1.1	A Core Assessment is an in-depth assessment which addresses the central or most important aspects of the needs of a child and the capacity of his or her parents or cares to respond appropriately to these needs within the wider family and community context.
1.2	While the Core Assessment is led by Children’s Services, it will invariably involve other agencies or independent professionals, who will provide information they hold about the child or parents, contribute specialist knowledge and/or give advice/undertake specialist assessments.
1.3	Core Assessments should be undertaken with the consent of and in partnership with the child and his or her parents and carers. The only exception is where a Section 47 Enquiry is conducted as part of a Core Assessment – see Section 8, Conducting Section 47 Enquiries/Core Assessments.

2. Timescale

2.1	The decision to undertake a Core Assessment should be made by the responsible team manager on the completion of an Initial Assessment or when any Strategy Discussion/Meeting concludes that a Section 47 Enquiry is required or, in certain circumstances, on an open case – see Section 5, Categories of Cases for Core Assessment.
2.2	Core Assessments should be completed within 35 working days of the conclusion of the Initial Assessment or, in relation to an open case, of the decision to carry out the Core Assessment.
2.3	Where a Section 47 Enquiry is conducted as part of a Core Assessment, the Section 47 Enquiry must be completed within working 15 days – see Section 8, Conducting Section 47 Enquiries/Core Assessments.
2.4	In some cases Core Assessments may be started but the parents or child may decide to withdraw their cooperation or move away before all the information had been gathered. In such cases, subject to 2.5, the team manager may consider the Core Assessment to be completed. In such circumstances, the team manager must record this decision, together with the reasons and ensure that the decision is shared with the parent and child (depending on his or her understanding) and other agencies involved. Services provided following the Initial Assessment may still be provided or arranged.
2.5	Where a Section 47 Enquiry is being conducted as part of the Core Assessment and the parents or child withdraw their cooperation or move away, the Core Assessment cannot be considered to have been completed unless the team manager is satisfied that arrangements are in place to safeguard the child concerned. The response may include: A further Strategy Discussion/Meeting; Seeking legal advice about the need for an Emergency Protection Order or Child Assessment Order; Negotiation with the local authority into whose area the family has moved.

3. Starting a Core Assessment

3.1	Core Assessments will be allocated to a qualified and experienced social worker.
3.2	The date of the start of the Core Assessment will be recorded on ICS - it will be the same as the date the Initial Assessment was completed or the date that it was decided to undertake a Core Assessment on an open case.

4. Communication

4.1	In planning the Core Assessment and in providing the parent and child with feedback, the social worker will need to consider and address any communication issues, for example language or impairment.
4.2	Where a child or parent speaks a language other than that spoken by the social worker, an interpreter should be provided. Any decision not to use an interpreter in such circumstances must be approved by the Team Manager and recorded.
4.3	Where a child or parent with disabilities has communication difficulties it may be necessary to use alternatives to speech. In communicating with a child with such an impairment, it may be particularly useful to involve a person who knows the child well and is familiar with the child’s communication methods. Where the child has had a communication assessment, its conclusions and recommendations should be observed.

5. Categories of Cases for Core Assessment

5.1	Core Assessments will always be completed in the following circumstances: Where a Section 47 Enquiry is undertaken - see Section 8, Conducting Section 47 Enquiries/Core Assessments; Where a child becomes or is at risk of becoming Accommodated; Where the child is the subject of Care Proceedings; Where the child has complex needs and family support services are likely to be required for longer than 3 months
5.2	These are minimum thresholds. Core Assessments should be completed in all cases where the Initial Assessment concludes that a Core Assessment is needed or where professional judgment is that one would be helpful. This will include some cases where a Strategy Discussion/Meeting concludes that a Section 47 Enquiry is not required.
5.3	A separate Core Assessment must be recorded in respect of each child.
5.4	Core Assessments, or a review and up-dating of a previous Core Assessment, will also be required at specific stages in the life of a Looked After child to inform planning and to ensure all needs have been identified and are being met. Such stages include: When a young person reaches an age where a Pathway Plan is required (i.e. rising 16 years); Prior to the return home of a child in care whose Care Plan is for a return to his/her family. Where a placement of the child under the Placement with Parents etc Regulations 1991 and/or an application to discharge a Care Order is being considered - see Placements With Parents Procedure.

6. Planning and Conducting all Core Assessments

6.1	The social worker should convene a Core Assessment Planning Meeting within 5 working days of the start of the Core Assessment.
6.2	The Assessment Framework provides detailed advice about key questions to be considered in the planning process. See also Universal Assessments Guidance.
6.3	The planning meeting should consider the following: the timescale for the various elements of the assessment, enabling it to be completed within the required 35 working days has the issue of consent been discussed and obtained? the areas to be focused upon within the assessment who will undertake the assessment and what resources will be needed? who in the family will be included and how will they be involved? in what groupings will the child and family members be seen and in what order? are there communication issues, if so, how will these be met? what methods of collecting information will be used? where will particular assessment tasks take place? how will information be recorded?
6.4	The need for any specialist assessments should be considered.
6.5	Participants at the Planning Meeting should include agencies or individuals who will contribute to the assessment, including the family and child, where appropriate.

7. Outcomes of Core Assessments

7.1	Core Assessments should result in: An analysis of the needs of the child and the parenting capacity to respond appropriately to those needs within the family context; Identification of whether and, if so, where intervention will be required to secure the well being of the child; A realistic plan of action (including services to be provided) detailing who has responsibility for action, a timetable and a process for review.
7.2	The outcomes of Core Assessments may include: No further action; Referral to other agency or services; Provision of services under Section 17 of the 1989 Children Act, within a Child in Need Plan - see Child in Need Plans and Review Procedure - to follow Further specialist assessment; A Child Protection Plan; (see Section 9, Outcomes of a Section 47 Enquiry) A decision that the child should be Looked After.
7.3	Note that Section 17 services may be put in place or commissioned before the Core Assessment is completed.
7.4	The responsible team manager should agree the outcome and ensure that the necessary documentation is complete.

8. Conducting Section 47 Enquiries / Core Assessments

The detailed procedures for Section 47 Enquiries are set out in the Ealing Safeguarding Children Board, and the London Safeguarding Children Board Procedures.

8.1	The Core Assessment is the means by which a Section 47 Enquiry is carried out. The objective of the Section 47 Enquiry is to determine whether action is required to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. The decision to initiate a Section 47 Enquiry will be taken by the team manager after a Strategy Discussion/Meeting and where such a decision is made the Section 47 Enquiry must be completed within 15 working days.
8.2	The social worker, when conducting a Section 47 Enquiry, must assess the potential needs and safety of any other child in the household of the child in question. In addition, Section 47 Enquiries may be required concerning any children in other households with whom the alleged abuser may have contact.
8.3	In determining who should be involved in a Section 47 Enquiry, consideration should include with whom the family is most likely to cooperate, and whether there are any risks. In all cases where there is a known propensity to violence within the family household, consideration should be given to the strategy to be adopted, with Police advice/assistance if appropriate, about how to reduce the risks before any visits take place.
8.4	The child must always be seen alone in the course of a Section 47 Enquiry, unless it is contrary to his or her interests to do so. The Strategy Discussion/Meeting will plan any interview with the child.
8.5	Before a child is seen or interviewed parental permission must be gained unless there are exceptional circumstances that demonstrate that it would not be in the child’s interests and to do so may jeopardise the child's safety and welfare. Relevant exceptional circumstances would include: the possibility that a child would be threatened or otherwise coerced into silence; a strong likelihood that important evidence would be destroyed; or that the child in question did not wish the parent to be involved at that stage, and is competent to take that decision.
8.6	In such circumstances, the social worker must take legal advice about how to proceed and whether legal action may be required, for example through an application for an Emergency Protection Order or a Child Assessment Order.

9. Outcomes of a Section 47 Enquiry

The outcome of a Section 47 Enquiry must be endorsed by the team manager.

A Section 47 Enquiry may conclude that concerns were unsubstantiated, concerns were substantiated but the child is not judged to be at continuing risk of Significant Harm, or the concerns are substantiated and the child is judged to be at continuing risk of Significant Harm.

9.1 Concerns not substantiated

No Further Action
Enquiries have revealed that there are no causes for concern. The child may be a Child in Need but the family do not wish for services to be provided, in which case the case will be closed.
Family Support to be provided
Enquiries have revealed that there are no causes for concern but that there are needs that could be met by the short term provision of services either under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 or by signposting the family to another agency. The family are willing for a short-term package of support to be provided, or continue to be provided.

Where services are to be provided under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, the social worker/team manager should convene a Child in Need Planning Meeting within 7 working days to agree a Child in Need Plan – see Child in Need Plans and Review Procedure - to follow.

9.2 Concerns substantiated but no continuing risk

Enquiries have confirmed that the child suffered Significant Harm, but it has been agreed between the agencies most involved and the child and their family that a plan for safeguarding the child’s future safety and welfare can be developed and implemented without having an Initial Child Protection Conference or a Child Protection Plan.
The social worker/team manager must convene a Child in Need Planning Meeting to be held within 7 working days to agree a Child in Need Plan - see Child in Need Plans and Review Procedure - to follow.

9.3 Child at continuing risk of Significant Harm

Enquiries have revealed that the child may continue to suffer or to be at risk of suffering Significant Harm.

An Initial Child Protection Conference must be convened within 15 working days of the Strategy Discussion/Meeting where the decision to initiate a Section 47 Enquiry was made. The request to convene the conference must be supported by a team manager. For the detailed procedure in relation to Child Protection Conferences, see the Ealing Safeguarding Children Board, and the London Safeguarding Children Board Procedures.
Where immediate protective action is required, the advice of Legal Services should be sought.
The Core Assessment should be completed within 35 working days of the commencement of the Section 47 Enquiry.

10. Recording Core Assessments and Section 47 Enquiries

10.1	The social worker should record the Core Assessment on a Core Assessment Record.
10.2	The completed Core Assessment should be signed by the social worker and approved by his or her team manager. The date of the team manager’s approval should be recorded as the date of the completion of the Core Assessment.
10.3	The child (depending on age and understanding) and parent should be given a copy of the record.
10.4	Where a Section 47 Enquiry is conducted alongside the Core Assessment (see Section 8, Conducting Section 47 Enquiries/Core Assessments), the social worker should record their actions/information gathered during the course of the enquiry and its outcomes on a Record of Section 47 Enquiries, which should be approved by the team manager.

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