Borough of Poole
Bournemouth Borough Council
CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE
Threshold Document
Early Help and Eligibility Criteria and Levels of Need for referrals to Children’s Social Care Services
Authorised by:
Gerry Moore, Service Unit Head, Borough of Poole
Kim Drake, Service Director, Bournemouth Borough Council
Effective date: July 2014
Date for review: July 2015
Contents
1. Introduction 2
2. What are ‘thresholds’ and why are they used? 3
3. Legislative requirements 3
4. Categories of Need 5
5. Guidance notes for referring agencies 6
6. What CSC will do with a contact from a referrer 7
7. Escalation / dispute resolution 8
8. Assessment 8
Appendix 1 - Bournemouth Children’s Services Early Help Arrangements - Threshold Guidance on Levels of Need and Support 9
Appendix 2 – Borough of Poole Levels of Need and Continuum of Support 12
Appendix 3 – Referral flowchart 14
Appendix 4 - Examples of situations under each category 15
1. Introduction
This document is intended for publication by the Poole and Bournemouth Local Safeguarding Children Board to meet the requirement of Working Together 2013 (Chapter 1, point 18) to produce a threshold document which sets out the criteria for cases to be referred to Children’s Social Care. It is designed to help professionals who are regularly in contact with children, young people and their families to understand when and how they should refer to Children’s Social Care (CSC) in Poole and Bournemouth. It sets out the circumstances in which CSC are likely to provide services and it offers guidance on the way in which referrals should be made and what responses referrers can expect. It is not prescriptive and requires professional judgement to be used by professionals making and receiving referrals.
The eligibility criteria for CSC will dovetail with the Early Help Offer and services provided elsewhere in the Local Authority and by other agencies and organisations, across a continuum of need. This continuum is visible in the Bournemouth and Poole Models of Help available outlined in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2.
Bournemouth and Poole have Services to support parents and professionals to access support in their communities.
In Poole, this is the Family Information Service:
http://www.poolefamilyinformationdirectory.com/kb5/poole/fis/home.page
In Bournemouth, the Children’s Information Services provides this information:
http://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/ChildrenEducation/InformationforParentsCarers/EarlyYears/ChildrensInformationService/ChildrensInformationService.aspx
Professionals working with children should be aware of universal and ‘early help’ services as most children will not need services at the specialist level of children’s social care.
2. What are ‘thresholds’ and why are they used?
In this document, threshold refers to the point at which Local Authority Children’s Social Care is likely to accept a referral for a child or young person. This threshold is underpinned by legislation.
Poole and Bournemouth CSC will use thresholds to consider whether a referral will be accepted, whether an assessment will be undertaken, and what services will be offered or provided. This way, they can ensure that help is provided for those children who are vulnerable or who need protective services, and that any decisions made about services are consistent.
3. Legislative requirements
The Children Act 1989 sets out a duty for local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in need, and to provide a range of support services to children and their families. Children are defined as being under the age of 18 years.
Child in Need (section 17)
The legal definition of children in need, as contained within s17 of the Children Act 1989 is if the:
a) child or young person is unlikely to achieve or maintain or have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision of services by a local authority,
b) child or young person’s health or development is likely to be significantly impaired or further impaired, without the provision of such services, or
c) child or young person is disabled.
Child subject to a child protection investigation (section 47)
The other part of the Children Act 1989 which defines the duties of the local authority is s47 which requires the local authority to make enquiries to enable it to decide whether action is required to safeguard and promote the well-being of the child. These enquiries set out to determine where a child or young person is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm and to assess whether action is required to safeguard and promote the child or young person’s welfare. Health, education, police and other services have a statutory duty to help CSC carry out a s47 enquiry.
Child coming into care under a voluntary arrangement (section 20)
The local authority, under section 20 of the Children Act ‘Provision of accommodation’, can bring a child into care with the permission of those with parental responsibility where the child appears to them to require accommodation as a result of:
(a) there being no person who has parental responsibility for him;
(b) his being lost or having been abandoned; or
(c) the person who has been caring for him being prevented (whether or not permanently, and for whatever reason) from providing him with suitable accommodation or care.
The local authority shall provide accommodation for any child in need within their area who have reached the age of sixteen and whose welfare the authority consider is likely to be seriously prejudiced if they do not provide him with accommodation.
Child coming into care under a court order (section 31)
Under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 ‘Care and Supervision’, the court, on application of the local authority can make an order:
It (a) placing the child with respect to whom the application is made in the care of a designated local authority; or
(b) putting him under the supervision of a designated local authority.
The threshold a court will apply is that it must be satisfied:
(a) that the child concerned is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm; and
(b) that the harm, or likelihood of harm, is attributable to
(i) the care given to the child, or likely to be given to him if the order were not made, not being what it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give to him; or
(ii) the child’s being beyond parental control.
Diversity
The Local Authorities are committed to principles of valuing diversity based on the Equality Act 2012. Bournemouth and Poole CSC will consider the impact of diversity on the welfare of the child and protected factors such as disability, ethnicity, faith and gender, will be considered in any threshold decision. It is known that some factors such as discrimination, impairment and faith related issues, such as honour based violence, can create additional vulnerabilities and risks for children. CSC will ensure that where reasonable adjustments are needed to work with children and their families, such as translation or signing services, these are provided, wherever possible. By taking these measures the potential to discriminate against people is minimised. Equality Impact Assessments have been undertaken on CSC services and are available on request.
4. Categories of Need
To gain a shared understanding of different levels of need for children and young people in Poole, four levels of need have been identified. These differ slightly between the two Local Authorities:
Bournemouth’s Category of Need - see Appendix 1 for model· Universal
· Universal Plus
· Plus Partnership
· Statutory/Specialist Help for children in Need and in need of Protection
Poole’s Categories of Need – see Appendix 2 for model
· Universal for families with Universal Needs
· Universal Plus Help for Families with Additional Needs
· Partnership Plus Help for Children who are Vulnerable
· Statutory/Specialist Help for children in need of Protection
CSC will assess, plan, provide and coordinate services for children who are:
· In Poole - those in need of protection and some who are vulnerable,
· In Bournemouth – those children in Need and in need of Protection.
Appendix 4 gives some illustrative examples of cases fitting these categories.
Some children defined under the Children Act 1989 as being a child in need will receive services under the category of Additional needs from other Local Authority and partner services.
The majority of children and young people in Poole and Bournemouth have a number of universal needs that can be supported through a range of services which are available to everyone. These services include health, education, early years, housing, youth services, leisure facilities and services provided by voluntary sector organisations.
It is widely accepted that identifying children who require specialist assessment and support can be a challenge, and all professionals should be committed to an open dialogue and regular review to ensure that children who have needs at this level receive the support that is right for them. The views and wishes of children young people and families, together with a consideration of likely outcomes must be carefully considered.
5. Guidance notes for referring agencies
Professionals in all agencies have a responsibility to refer a child to CSC when:
‘there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child or young person is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm’.
Remember that an allegation of child abuse or neglect may lead to a criminal investigation so it is important not to do anything that may jeopardise a police investigation such as asking a child a leading question or attempting to investigate the allegations of abuse yourself.
Where there is uncertainty about making a referral
If a professional has concerns about a child but is uncertain as to whether a referral to CSC is appropriate, they should discuss their concerns with the designated lead for safeguarding in their agency / organisation. This may be an important way of developing an understanding of the reasons for concerns and ensuring that an appropriate response to the needs and concerns identified is made. If they are still unsure at this stage, the concerns can be discussed with a duty worker at CSC, without necessarily identifying the child or young person. Details of how CSC can support and advise partners is set out in the ‘Consult Offer’ available at http://www.bournemouth-poole-lscb.org.uk/home/practitioner-section. Both the professional making the enquiry and the duty worker should ensure that at the end of discussion they are both clear on next steps, including whether a referral has been made.
Where there is certainty about making a referral
If the professional is clear they need to make a referral, the following information should be made available to CSC:
· the nature of concerns
· how and why the concerns have arisen
· what appears to be the needs of the children and the family
· whether immediate action may be required to make the child safe
· full details of the child, parents, carers and other significant adults (as available)
· whether the parents / carers / child / young person are aware of the referral and if not how and whether they should be told, by whom and when.
In general professionals should seek to discuss their concerns with the child as appropriate to their age and understanding and with their parents / carers and seek their agreement to making a referral to CSC. They should do this unless they consider such a discussion would place the child at risk or significant harm. If in any doubt as to whether or how to share concerns with the child and/or their parent or care, a duty social worker at CSC will be able to advise.
Each agency and organisation should be clear about their information sharing protocol to share information without consent if they have to do this.
How to make a referral – See Appendix 3 for simple flowchart
Referrals will always need to be made in writing to CSC. There will be some urgent situations where a telephone referral to CSC will be made first and followed up in writing. In some cases it will be most helpful for written referrals to be made and followed up with a telephone discussion with the Bournemouth’s Children First Team and Poole’s Referral and Assessment Team.
All referrers will be asked to use the Interagency Referral Form, available on both Local Authority and the LSCB Websites.
It is expected that in many cases the referrer and others will have identified the needs of children, young people and their families at an early stage and will have undertaken assessments, planned and reviewed interventions either individually or as a Team Around the Child. It is helpful to CSC if assessments and chronologies are sent with the referral form as ‘background’ information along with summaries of what attempts have already been made to improve the situation and any views about why this has been unsuccessful.
It is recognised that some services will not have this background to the situation when they identify concerns. In these situations the Interagency referral form should be completed as fully as possible with the information available.
6. What CSC will do with a contact from a referrer
When any agency or individual contacts CSC they will be required to provide the information set out above, so that their request can be ‘screened’ to check that it relates to a child in need, using the Children Act definitions. The screening process will enable staff to decide initially whether the contact is a request for a service and should be a referral.
The request for a service can be accepted as a referral if, on screening, the child may be in need under one of the categories set out on page 5.
CSC will decide within 24 hours (1 working day) whether a contact made to them is accepted as a referral and will be assessed. In some cases this decision will be made at the point of referral.
A response to the referrer will be made within 3 days to advice them of the decision / action taken. If the referrer has not heard back within 3 days they have a responsibility to contact the service and find out what has happened.
7. Escalation / dispute resolution
In some cases referrers will not accept the decision made by CSC when a referral is not accepted. Referrers should consider whether all of the information that causes them to be concerned has been shared and understood, and whether sufficient evidence has been presented to CSC. They should ensure that they understand the rationale behind CSC’s decision.