ASSESSMENT (Impact) CHRONOLOGY EPISODE

UPDATED 29.01.15

There will be 2 chronologies which are both episodes that can be converted to word documents

  • Assessment Chronology (also called an impact chronology) – this is to be part of the child/young person assessment to show the child's journey. A child centred chronology that shows events that have an Impact on the child. Good practice would also have a genogram of the family.
  • Court Chronology – this is when the case is going to court and should be easily convertedfrom the assessment chronology, if required.

ASSESSMENT CHRONOLOGY

The sections will be:

  1. Age of child, years, months – shows age of child at the time of incident…(this will be part of explaining the impact)
  1. Date:
  1. Incident, Type, Participation, duration, who reported: significant event/incident, who reported it etc – that has an impact on the child.
  2. In the Court chronology sections 4, 5 & 6 are removed; therefore put enough in this section to make it make sense but succinct (evidence).
  1. Aggravating factors - issues could be around: drugs/alcohol, domestic abuse incident, mental health, criminal activity etc. This can be listed
  1. Impact on child: such as 'the child is likely to be frightened witnessing parents arguing'; 'child said he was angry with his father for…'
  1. Response/Intervention from parent/agency: Response from Social Worker, family, agency or outcome if relevant. This could be a positive response
  1. Manager's Decision: This is for manager's decision or a decision making forum such as ICPC, LAC review or court decisions/Orders.
  2. Remember to use the same line when manager makes a decision about the significant even if a few days later (see below example)

7½ mpregnant / 28.11.13 / Midwife reports that mother is continuing using heroin and not engaging with Pathways. Observations of black eye / Drug use
Possible domestic abuse
** italic sections removed when converting to court chronology** / Baby will be at risk of harm from drug intake within the womb / Social worker informed team manager and encouraged mother to engage / 30.11.13 Manager's decision; Initial Child Protection required

When should the chronology start?

On the first visit to the family when you gather historyand significant events regarding parents (including genogram) and the child (you could use life river), START THE CHRONOLOGY and start from the child's conception adding in significant events even before CS involvement – separation of parents, school/house moves, birth of sibling, death of significant person or pet. Check FWI for early help [EH] involvement…

  • SOCIAL WORKERS/TEAM MANAGER/EARLY HELP WORKER SHOULD ONLY TICK THE SIGNIFICANT EVENT BOX ON CASE NOTE WHEN A SIGNIFICANT EVENT HAS OCCURRED.

What the assessment chronology is:

  • Significant events and the IMPACT on the child or risk factors with parents that will impact on the child
  • Significant events and incidents prior to current involvement are recorded separately in each box this tells the journey of the child from their conception.
  • It can be colour coded to easily locate and demonstrate themes
  • Easily identification of patterns of behaviour regarding the child and parents(particularly when colour coding).
  • Easily identification of risk(particularly when colour coding).
  • Summary of significant historical information regarding parents
  • It can show reflective supervision discussions or where decisions have been made
  • Manager's Decisions and Decision making forums (Court, CP conferences, LAC reviews). They can be easily identified and shows decision making progression.
  • Can easily converted to a court chronology easily and quickly on FWI
  • It can be converted to a word document by a ‘6 click’ operation and Fwi guidance is available
  • Is used by Early Help and Social Care to promote seamless service and reduce gaps in information about risks to the child

What the assessment chronology isn't:

Statutory or home visits that do notevidence an impact on the child or aggravating factors regarding parents

Child in Need Meetings/Core groups – that do notevidence an impact on the child or aggravating factors regarding the parents.

Non engagement should be recorded every few times as significant.

Other considerations

•Change of social worker – is significant and added to chronology

•Don't complete the chronology within the CYP assessment episode, please use the chronology episode!

The assessment chronology as an episode

  • The design is exactly the same as the ‘word document’ with the same columns and sections
  • The episode goes into ‘incoming work’ at the point of allocationto the SW (social worker)
  • Episode can remain uncompleted while child is open, with significant events added (it takes a minute to convert from case recording)
  • If siblings, the chronology is opened on the sibling most relevant and agreed by the manager in their decision. A ‘general note’ is then put on the other siblings' front screen stating which child the chronology is open on (ask a team member if you cannot do this).
  • If recording template is accurately used and the ‘significant event’ tick box is only ticked on an event that impacts on child (or high risk/managers decision) then the process of adding and editing the episode will be quick

The Episode can:

Be re-assigned to a different worker,

It can be added to if a child is re-opened

Once closed, the episode can be copied to siblings (and should be closed, copied across and re-opened at regular intervals/transfer to a new worker). An example may be lots of significant events or a large sibling group. This should be discussed in supervision

Historical ‘word’ chronology document can be uploaded into chronology episode using the upload function in the episode (ask if you need support).

The SW can copy and paste the episode into a word document in order to colour code themes and family patterns (it copies exactly and easily)

THIS IS PART OF YOUR ASSESSMENT

BSO’s may be able to help with this process (SW just needs some highlighters to code)

Accumulative

Impact on social worker

Impact on social worker, the process is quick and easy

Impact on the child

THEIR STORY AND LIVED EXPERIENCE, PATTERNS AND THE ACCUMULATIVE IMPACT ARE CAPTURED EFFECTIVELY AND THEY ARE CENTRAL TO ALL ASSESSMENTS

Children are kept safer as up-to-date information always available- Serious case reviews evidence this time and time again

Frequently asked questions

Where is the guidancefound?

The General Assessment Guidance

Chronology is on the first page

Recording Template is on the back page

Where do you go back to?

Go back to the previous chronology and add summary in the top – upload previous chronology into episode

Where do you find previous chronologies?

  1. documents and there more than one (you can tailor the search easily, ask for help)
  2. on child's front screen chronology – used for a short time in 2011/2012
  3. check for previous chronology episodes in episodes

Social workers DO NOT complete the chronology in CYPA’s.

Where do positive factors go?

These can be included in the 'incident' section, such as "mother has completed the freedom programme which has made her more assertive in managing her children" 'impact on the child' – "the children feel more settled and stable in the care of their mother, improvement at school" . It can also be in the 'response/intervention…section', such as "mother insisted father leave the property after a heated row and contacted the police".

** Remember the recording template guidance and how it fits into the chronology**

Who can support me?

Coming to a workshop is mandatory to promote a full understanding and dates are available in the kitchen area, fortnightly to July 2014. After that, the workshop will form part of the induction process. If unsure of dates, please contact:

Lead - Paula Cook on 01905 765964/ 07789

BSO - Adrienne Thomas on 01905 768368

Further support can be provided by any advanced practitioner, once a workshop has been attended. This can be in a group or individual. We can also attend a team meeting.

What happens next?

•Guidance will be provided on FWI ‘process’

•New workers will be continue to be invited to chronology and recording workshops, which will include genograms

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