Child In Need Assessment
Under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, the responsible Local Authority has an ongoing general duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their area who are ‘in need’ and promote the upbringing of those children by their families as long as this is consistent with the children’s welfare.
A child is ‘in need’ if:
- They are unlikely to achieve or maintain, or to have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision of services by a Local Authority under Part 3 of the Children Act 1989.
- Their physical or mental health and/or their physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision of such services.
- They are disabled.
- The child is homeless.
A Child In Need Assessment is undertaken when concerns for a child are referred to Children’s Services. Assessments are conducted in accordance with the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, DOH 2000. The Framework has been developed to provide 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 interrelationships, 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.
ACCA’s independent Social Workers will provide an evidence-based professional judgement on whether the child/dren are in need and create a robust SMART plan that addresses each area of need. This will involve, where necessary, the child, the parents or carers, wider family and other significant people and include a trajectory of work that will lead to an agreed end goal with reviews where necessary.
If the child is assessed to be at risk of significant harm, Advanced CCA’s and/or Local Authority Safeguarding Policy should be followed.
A safety plan would need to be identified and safety goals for the child as well as a plan of intervention should be completed.
If the child is assessed as not requiring a service, then a family plan will be agreed that identifies the roles and responsibilities for that child to address the referral concerns and any other work identified.
