Harrow LSCB Multi-Agency Threshold Guidance – Reviewed Nov 2016

Multi agency communication is key to developing a full picture of the child and their family circumstances, using independent interpreters if necessary. It is important that all involvement with a child and their family is recorded on your agency’s files. If there are any queries, practitioners should seek advice and support from the Safeguarding Leads within their own organisation.

Assessmenttool:

Levels of Need.

To help practitioners, our local agencies have given examples of their intervention at these different levels and consent needed to make referrals.

Levels of Need: Features: Consent: Agencies potentially involved:

Level 4 – Acute/ Child Protection:
  • Requires statutory intensive support as there is “reasonable cause to suspect that a child… is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm” Children Act 1989 Sect 47.
  • In need of Child Protection by Children’s Social Care intervention and other statutory services.
  • At risk of family breakdown.
Examples:
  • The baby is at risk of significant harm, as her father has a substance misuse problem, which brings the baby into contact with substance users at the family home on a daily basis and crime forms the means of maintaining the father’s supply. There is no other carer.
  • The young person has a health condition / disability, which requires regular treatment; the family is refusing this treatment and the young person’s health is affected.
  • The young woman has been trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation.
  • The father is known to MAPPA (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements) for sexual offences and is about to leave prison and re-join the family.
  • The pregnant woman has been a victim of domestic abuse.
  • The child has been witness to an incident of domestic violence of their carer and the case has been presented to MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference).
  • Inconsistent explanations or an admission about a clear non accidental injury.
  • Suspicions that a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering significant harm due to fabricated or induced illness.
  • Medical referral for non organic failure to thrive in a child under five years.
  • Child is the subject of parent’s delusions which imply risk.
  • A child self harms [repeatedly] and / or the harm is life threatening, and / or the parent does not respond appropriately.
  • Evidence that there is a risk of female genital mutilationor Forced Marriage.
  • Child frequently goes missing and their whereabouts are not known or raise concern of sexual exploitation and / or forced marriage.
  • Parent does not offer a good role model and condones anti-social behaviour.
  • Family associate / neighbour reports concerns that parents are smoking heroin and neglecting children.
  • Pregnant mother presents to Accident and Emergency under the influence of alcohol/drugs.
  • Young person exhibiting radicalised behaviour – where there is concern that they may commit an offense or travel abroad.
/ Level 4 – Acute/Child Protection:
Agencies must follow a verbal referral to Children’s Services and/or Police via the Golden Number with a written referral.
Child possibly experiencing significant harm requiring Child Protection and/or legal intervention
Requires specialist/statutory integrated support
May have complex additional unmet needs
May need to be accommodated by the Local Authority voluntarily or by Order in court. / Level 4 – Acute/Child Protection:
No consent required particularly, if this would place the child at risk of further harm. / Level 4 – Acute/Child Protection:
Universal services:
  • Health Visitor, School Nurses, GP
  • Police
  • Education
  • Children’s Centres & Early Years
  • Educational Welfare via Early Intervention Services
  • Voluntary sector & community services
  • LA children’s social care
Specialist health or disability services
  • Youth Offending Team
  • CAMHS
  • Family support services
  • Targeted drug and alcohol services
Other agencies as required.
Level 4 Examples:
The pregnant woman has been a victim of domestic abuse.
The baby is at risk of significant harm, as her father has a substance misuse problem, which brings the baby into contact with substance users at the family home on a daily basis and crime forms the means of maintaining the father’s supply. There is no other carer.
The father is known to MAPPA (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements) for sexual offences and is about to leave prison and rejoin the family.
The child has been witness to an incident of domestic violence of their carer and the case has been presented to MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference).
A child self harms [repeatedly] and / or the harm is life threatening, and / or the parent does not respond appropriately.
Child frequently goes missing and their whereabouts are not known or raise concern of sexual exploitation and / or forced marriage.
The young person has a health condition / disability, which requires regular treatment; the family is refusing this treatment and the young person’s health is affected.
The young woman has been trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation.
Level 4 can include a combination of the lower levels, putting the child at risk of significant harm.
Level 3 – Complex/Child in Need:
Complex needs that are likely to need longer term intervention from statutory or specialist services.
A targeted integrated response is needed.
This is the threshold for a child who needs Children’s Social Care intervention under Sect 17 Children’s Act 1989, “a child whose vulnerability is such that they are unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health and development will be significantly impaired, without the provision of services. This includes the provision of services to children who are disabled.”
Examples:
  • The mother is a young care leaver, with a young baby, unstable support network and housing difficulties. She has developed post-natal depression. Support from Early Intervention Services, Health Visitor, GP, Children’s Centre, Housing Officer.
  • A young person has become involved in serious youth gang/violence, is missing school and missing from home at times, and his parents are asking for him to be taken into foster care.
  • The child is privately fostered by a distant family member.
  • An allegation of abuse with no injury (other than to a pre or non-mobile child).
  • Parental learning disability, mental health / substance misuse concerns.
  • Evidence of domestic violence
  • Sexualised behaviour which is not age appropriate.
  • Child going missing but their whereabouts are known.
  • Child self harms causing minor injury and the parents respond appropriately.
  • Concern referred regarding vulnerabilities/development of pre-school children owing to family moving local authorities on a regular basis. Consideration for child protection investigation to be initiated, if family fails to cooperate with assessment of need.
  • Young person at risk of radicalisation – requiring consideration for referral to the Channel Panel.
/ Level 3 – Complex/Child in Need:
High risk to child if there is no early intervention
High level additional unmet needs
Longer term developmental needs requiring statutory or specialist service / Level 3 – Complex/Child in Need:
Consent required to make referral, unless via a member of the public, who wishes to remain anonymous. / Level 3 – Complex/Child in Need:
Universal services: Health Visitor, GP, School Nurse
Education
Children’s Centres & Early Years
Educational Welfare via Early Intervention Services
Voluntary sector & community services
Family support services
LA children’s social care
Other statutory service e.g. SEN services.
Specialist health or disability services
Early Intervention Services
Youth Offending Team
Targeted drug and alcohol services
CAMHS
Level 2 – Vulnerable:
Universal support and more targeted support services are needed
Examples:
  • The mother has a young baby and has developed post-natal depression. She attends at support group at the family centre and sees her GP for medication.
  • The ten year old has developmental delay and attends a mainstream school with additional support identified and reviewed by the Statement of Educational Needs.
  • School attendance is faltering around 80%, which could be an indicator of neglect.
  • Family are victims of hate crime.
  • Child potentially requires assessment.
  • Young person at risk of radicalisation.
/ Level 2 – Vulnerable:
Low level of additional needs for child and / or carers
a)Short term developmental needs that are possibly known but not being met
b)Child’s needs are not known, not clear or not met
Requires multi-agency assessment and possibly intervention / Level 2 – Vulnerable:
Consent required for assessment and intervention.
Needs may be met by a single agency, where the level remains 2A.
Where multiple agencies are involved a CAF is required and the threshold is 2B. / Level 2 – Vulnerable:
Education
Youth crime prevention services
Targeted drug and alcohol information, advice and education, including harm reduction advice to support informed choices
Health, education
Children’s Centres & Early Years
Educational psychology
Educational Welfare via Early Intervention Services
Specialist Play Services
Integrated Youth
Support Services
Voluntary & community services
Family support services
Process of Statement of Educational Needs begins and statement is reviewed. Individual Education Plan.
Level 1 - Universal:
No additional needs
Developmental needs are met by universal needs
Examples:
  • The baby and mother attend a family centre; attend developmental checks with GP and health visitor as required.
/ Level 1 – Universal:
No additional supports are necessary
Developmental needs are met by universal services / Level 1 – Universal: / Level 1 – Universal:
Education, Children’s Centres & Early Years
Health visiting service
School nursing
GP
Play Services
Integrated Youth
Support Services
Police, Housing
Voluntary & Community Sector

Graphics courtesy of EmmaMcBride, Charles Watson & Julie Cope of St. Dominic’s SFC, Harrow (copyright Harrow LSCB)

Key guidance:

All children have the right to grow up safe from harm and the Children Act 1989, and 2004 place duties on all agencies to promote and safeguard the welfare of children in need and at risk in their local area. A child is defined within the Children Act 1989, as anyone who has not yet reached their 18thbirthday, including unborn babies.

Practitioners should hold in mind that disabled children are 3-4 times more vulnerable to abuse. (Ofsted 2012).

The Universal Early Help Assessment recognises that early help sometimes provides a springboard for people to cope with difficulties or to help themselves – learning new skills, sharing daily tasks, getting information. The Harrow Universal Early Help Assessmentaims to recognise and provide assistance for families as soon as possible (Levels 2A & 2B). With consent, practitioners may undertake a common assessment to assess needs and to decide how best to support them. If there are a range of needs, there may be Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings to ensure a coordinated approach, with one person acting as the Lead Professional.

This intervention depends on parental consent. If refusal for early help leads to a child being at risk of significant harm, then the matter may be dealt with under child protection procedures.

Download the Universal Early Help Assessment here

The “Parent” should be taken to refer to anyone who has parental responsibility for the child, or any birth/natural father or any other adult within the family who can reasonably be regarded as having a parenting role. When there are issues of consent, it will be important to distinguish who has parental responsibility.

The Children Act encourages all agencies to work in partnership wherever possible with families and make onward referrals with their consent. This should be possible in levels 2-3 but it is acknowledged that gaining consent for level 4 could at times place a child at further risk and the practitioner should gain advice if time allows from their Safeguarding Lead.

Sometimes “Significant Harm” will be a single, traumatic event, but more often it is an accumulation of significant events, both acute and longstanding over time, such as in situations of neglect.

There are no absolute criteria in making judgements regarding children’s wellbeing. Practitioners are encouraged to professionally raise concerns and escalate those concerns with other agencies, if they feel in their judgement that a child’s needs or safety are being overlooked, using, if required the LSCB Resolution Policy, found on the LSCB website.

The LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) can be contacted via the Golden Number and should be alerted to all cases in which it is alleged that a person who works or volunteers with children has: behaved in a way that has, or may have harmed a child; possibly committed a criminal offence against children or related to a child; behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates s/he is unsuitable to work with children. (Working Together 2015)

Dependent on the situation, the following assessment tools are useful to provide a more specialist picture of need and suggestions for intervention: Barnardos Domestic Violence Matrix; LSCB Trafficking toolkit; LSCB Child Sexual Exploitation Guidance; LSCB London FGM resource pack; LSCB London guidance for assessing children and families affected by adults viewing child sexual abuse images on the Internet; LSCB Guidance on children missing from school and home; LSCB Guidance safeguarding children affected by gang activity; Forced Marriage Guidance. These policies can be found here: Please read local policies in your own organisation.

(copyright Harrow LSCB)

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