Knowsley Safeguarding Children Board

KNOWSLEY SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN BOARD

CONTINUUM OF NEED AND THRESHOLD FOR RESPONSE 2014

Index

Introduction

The Government re-published Working Together to Safeguard Children in March 2013 which streamlines the previous statutory guidance in an attempt to be clearer about the responsibilities of all professionals and agencies to safeguard children from harm, protect them from abuse, and ensure their welfare and developmental needs are being met. All practitioners who work with children and families should be familiar with Working Together 2013.

This ‘thresholds’ document has been developed by Knowsley LSCB to ensure that children’s needs are responded to at an appropriate level and in a timely way. It should be seen as an overarching guidance for the whole of the workforce within Knowsley and will guide professionals and volunteers in considering how best to meet the needs of children and young people. This does not alter the agencies own threshold for intervention and response to children’s needs but should support their own framework for delivering appropriate interventions for children and families.

The “windscreen model” is a depiction of the child’s journey and levels of need across the continuum from universal service provision through to statutory intervention. The vast majority of children and young people should have their needs met via universal services (level 1) and should be able to receive more targeted support via a single agency as additional needs are identified (level 2) in a seamless manner. If the level of identified need increases further and the needs are multiple or complex, then a multi-agency approach will be coordinated via the CAF/ Early Help Assessment process with an identified lead practitioner (level 3). Referrals into Children’s Social Care should only be made when the child requires the intervention of statutory services to undertake an assessment of need under Section 17 (Child in need) or Section 47 (Child in need of protection) of The Children Act 1989.

Wherever possible the response to need should be at the earliest possible opportunity to enable this to be delivered within universal provision to improve outcomes for children and reduce the potential for escalation of need which may result in statutory intervention. Effective partnerships and joint working are key to ensuring positive outcomes for children and to reduce the need for more intensive intervention at a later stage.

In some circumstances the level of need or the level of concern by professionals may require a “step up” into support which needs to be led by Children’s social care. Equally the level of need may decrease sufficiently to no longer require statutory or multi agency intervention and at this point the needs could “step down” and be met at a lower level. Professionals and volunteers should be mindful that the level of need may increase and if so the response will need to be stepped up again. If there is any difficulty in obtaining a response at the required level then the LSCB escalation policy must be utilised.

Child Sexual Exploitation and other forms of exploitation including gun and gang crime

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a high priority for Knowsley LSCB and professionals need to be aware of the range of risk factors which on face value do not immediately suggest a risk of CSE. However, the devastating impact on young people can include the following indicators which may be apparent across the levels of need: isolation from friends and family; teenage parenthood; failing at school or dropping out of education; mental health problems; suicide attempts; alcohol and/ or drug addiction; aggressive behaviour and criminality.

The recent Ofsted thematic inspection into CSE highlighted the need for agreed multi-agency thresholds for intervention which include clear reference to CSE and the need to refer to Children’s Social Care for an assessment when indicated. It is therefore important that all professionals and volunteers working in Knowsley are aware of the potential indicators which may suggest that a young person is at risk of / known to be suffering CSE and respond accordingly. If practitioners identify a risk of CSE it is essential that this is acted on quickly as the impact on the child / young person is devastating and can last a lifetime. The recent report by Alexis Jay following the Rotherham Independent Inquiry into CSE in the borough has demonstrated that CSE is pervasive and requires a culture change in how professionals view, identify and respond to victims of CSE. It is not an issue confined to Rotherham and each local authority areas has been charged with developing a rigorous approach to the identification of potential victims, an effective risk assessment process and a robust response which safeguards the most vulnerable young people in our society. It is also vital that “soft intelligence” is gathered to build up a picture of risk within the community and develop a preventative strategy where CSE is suspected but not confirmed. In addition, professionals working in Knowsley need to be aware of and proactive in the early identification and risk management response to young people who are involved in gun and gang crime as this is another significant form of exploitation and can have devastating consequences on the life chances of young people.

What is Early Help?

“Early help” refers to intervention at the earliest possible opportunity in a child’s life as soon as a problem emerges and is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting at a later stage when the issue may be more entrenched and difficult to resolve. It relies upon all agencies working together to identify children who would benefit from early help, undertake an assessment of their needs and provide targeted support to significantly improve the outcomes for the child. Early Help, underpinned by universal service provision, may prevent problems from becoming entrenched or escalating into a higher level of need for support and can help reduce demand for higher cost specialist services by promoting resilience in families and breaking the intergenerational cycle of risk and vulnerability.

All agencies should adopt a child centred approach to service provision which is based on understanding the needs and views of children, keeping their needs paramount and ensuring that all professionals are alert to actual or potential risk of harm. A new assessment tool, an Early Help Assessment, is being introduced in Knowsley in early 2015 and will replace the current Common Assessment Framework (CAF) assessment tool. A comprehensive multi-agency training programme for Early Help is planned for January and February 2015 to introduce the new assessment tool and associated processes.

Early Help and the Process for Assessment

“The provision of early support services should form part of a continuum of support to respond to the different levels of need of individual children and

families and that there are clear criteria for taking action and providing help across this full continuum. Having clear thresholds for action which are

understood by all professionals, and applied consistently, should ensure that services are commissioned effectively and that the right help is given to the

child at the right time”.

This document sets out the process for early help assessment in Knowsley and outlines the thresholds from the first levels of single agency early support (levels 1 and 2) through to high level multi- agency support (level 3) and up to specialist social work led assessments and interventions (level 4). It also indicates the point at which an agency should refer concerns to social care and the thresholds/indicators at which children’s social care is likely to accept a referral regarding a child. Details of the various options available in Knowsley to provide early help and support from universal service provision through to targeted services both in the statutory and voluntary setting is included.

Parental Non-Consent to Early Support Assessment

Working Together states that: “If parents and/or the child do not consent to an early help assessment, then the lead professional should make a judgement as to whether, without help, the needs of the child will escalate. If so, a referral into children’s social care may be necessary”.

This statement does not negate the need for practitioners in all agencies to be innovative and persistent in their attempts to engage troubled and vulnerable children, parents and families and develop strong therapeutic relationships with them.

However, should the family not engage, then practitioners need to consider the risks and impact to the child (including developmental) and if they will escalate without support. In re-considering such risks practitioners may need to speak to colleagues both in their own and other agencies, their agency safeguarding lead, the Early Help Team or the Knowsley Access Team. Professionals need to consider the issue of seeking parental consent or sharing concerns with parents before making a referral to children’s social care, unless there is an immediate safeguarding concern for the child.

If you are in doubt about a child being potentially at risk, first of all consult with your line manager or your organisation’s named lead for safeguarding for advice on how to proceed.

If you feel that the level of need does not meet the threshold for assessment by Children’s Social Care but you need advice and guidance on how best to meet the need, contact the Early Help Team on 0151 443 4707

If you feel that the level of need does require an assessment by Children’s Social Care you need to contact Knowsley Access team on 0151 443 2600 and complete a multi-agency referral form (MARF) Add hyperlink to MARF

Early Help Team (EHT)

The Early Help Team (EHT) is the point of contact for cases which do not meet the threshold for intervention by Children’s Social Care or where an appropriate agency has not been identified to meet the needs of the child and family. They provide practical advice and support for practitioners on the CAF process and can facilitate multi-agency meetings. The pathway into the EHT is set out at Appendix 1. The team offers appropriate Advice and Guidance on an individual basis which may include signposting to a single agency for further support; completion of an early help assessment or may identify where support is already being offered through Children’s Social Care or a Team Around the Family (CAF/CAF/TAF) that the practitioner may be unaware of.

Cases that meet Level 4 (specialist social work assessment and intervention) threshold at any stage of triage will be escalated in accordance with this Continuum of Need guidance and local safeguarding procedures using the “Step up – step down” approach

How to use the levels of need framework

This guide is for practioners and managers in every agency that work with or is involved with children, young people and their families and aims to assist them in: assessing and identifying the level of need; the type of service or resource needed to meet the need; and the process to follow in order to best meet the needs of the child / young person.

It is essential that a range of options for support is available to meet the needs of children and this framework is underpinned by the following principles:

·  Children whose level of need is at levels 2,3 & 4 will still require access to universal services

·  Children’s needs can move from one level to another and it should not be necessary for them to have their needs identified more than once.

·  Where a child requires a higher level of response they should be able to move seamlessly across the continuum to the appropriate level without having to go through each level first.

·  Children and families have a right to be involved in and have their voice heard throughout the process so that they can influence how their needs are met.

There may be times when there are differences of opinion or perceptions about how best to support children and families and practitioners may disagree about the level of intervention required. In the first instance any difference of opinion should be resolved within the multi-agency group and if this is not achieved then the LSCB escalation procedure should be followed.

The Early Help Assessment should be used by all services to provide a holistic overview of the needs of the child and where required inform the statutory assessment by Children’s Social Care. At level 3 the framework describes the Team around the Child/Family (TAC/CAF/CAF/TAF) which is facilitated by a Lead Professional. At level 4 the Lead Professional will always be a Social Worker who will be responsible for undertaking a social care single assessment in conjunction with other professionals working with the child/family.

The windscreen model below depicts the journey of the child across the varying levels of need and identifies the appropriate response by professionals. In addition, there is a brief overview of some of the indicators at each of the levels from level 1 through to level 4. This is not an exhaustive list and for further details of potential indicators of risk across the different levels please see appendix 1 which may help practitioners to decide which level of need a child or young person may require which will determine the appropriate intervention either at a single agency or multi-agency level.

The indicators should be viewed as a guide and the initial intervention should be at the level which is least invasive for children and families and enables them to have direct input into the support available to meet their needs. Whilst the indicators also make specific reference to parents and carers it is essential that the needs of the child or young person are not overshadowed by those of the adults. Where adult carers have specific issues the assessment of those needs must reflect the impact on the child and what needs to be put in place to address the needs of the child as the primary focus. There must always be an attempt to maintain the parent/carers ability to support their child and this may be best achieved by direct work with the parent/carer to reduce the risk that their lifestyle or behavior may be having on the child.