1.6.3 Auditing of Case Records in the Social Work and Safeguarding Service

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Practice Standards for Record Audit
3. Procedure
4. Agree Minimum Standards for Initial Assessments
5. Agree Minimum Standards for the Completion of Core Assessments and Proposed Triggers for Core Assessments
   
   Appendix - Audit Referral Process Checklist

1. Introduction

This procedure affects all managers in the Social Work and Safeguarding Service with Line Management responsibilities for staff or teams allocated casework responsibility for a named child in receipt of social care services from The Children & Young People's Department.

The procedure is designed to achieve the following outcomes:

• To provide regular and planned audits of children's case records to ensure that they are monitored in accordance with Blackpool's Policies, Values and Principles Procedure.
• To promote accountability and management oversight at all levels in checking and ensuring that the case records evidence management practice standards as detailed below.

2. Practice Standards for Record Audit

Evidence of Holistic Assessment

• Each child's case record will evidence a holistic assessment of the child's needs geared to safeguarding and promoting the child's welfare.
• An assessment will include an outcome evidenced in writing, approved in writing by a manager, which results in a plan setting objectives and appropriate service responses to a timescale appropriate to the child's age and developmental needs.
• The decision to initiate an Initial Assessment will be made and evidenced within 24 hours of receipt of the contact/referral.  Initial assessments will be completed within 7 working days of referral to Children's Services.  Core Assessments will be completed within 35 working days of commencement of the assessment.
• Receipt of referrals should be acknowledged, decisions as to next actions should be fed back to referrers and outcomes of assessments communicated to referrers.
• For children who may be at risk of significant harm an Initial Assessment will be completed, a strategy discussion will have been held and outcomes recorded, enquiries under s.47 of the Children Act 1989 will have been completed and a Core Assessment commenced.  Where necessary a Child Protection Conference will be convened within 15 working days of the last strategy discussion.

Where initial assessments or enquiries under s.47 Children Act 1989 are made because of concerns that a child may be at risk of 'deliberate' or significant harm:

1. The purpose of a visit, the information to be gathered during a visit and the action to be taken if no one is at home must have been considered and recorded on the ICS record prior to the visit.
2. The child must be seen and spoken to (individually and away from their carer where this is age appropriate) and the visit recorded in the ICS record.
3. The child's carer must be seen and spoken to and the visit recorded on the ICS record.
4. No visit should be undertaken without reference to previous Children's Services involvement, an enquiry as to whether the child is or has been subject to a Child Protection Plan and enquiries as appropriate of other agencies.  All enquiries should have been completed at the conclusion of the s.47 enquiry.
5. For children of school age, the Local Children's Services Directorate with educational responsibility for children in the area must be notified if the child is not in school, and for children found not to be registered with a GP, the (named person) in the PCT must be notified.

Evidence of Child Centred Planning

The child's needs to be safeguarded and for his/her welfare to be promoted must be at the centre of every plan.  All plans must be reviewed using the tools for review of children's cases within ICS (reviews of children receiving services under section 17 of Children Act, are subject to a child protection plan or who are looked after by the authority).  There needs to be evidence that the views of the child and parent/carer are sought and taken into account in developing the plan for the child, a record of their agreement or disagreement with the plan and evidence that copies have been sent or given to them.

For children formally Subject to Child Protection Plans there shall be a multi-agency Child Protection Plan underpinned by written evidence that:

1. Confirms that an appropriate key worker has been identified.
2. Review Child Protection Conferences are being held at the prescribed intervals and in accordance with the Blackpool Safeguarding Procedures.
3. Core Groups as constituted by the Child Protection Conference are being held at the prescribed intervals and in accordance with the Blackpool Safeguarding Procedures.
4. The child is being seen (and spoken to individually, away from their carer where this is age appropriate) at an absolute minimum, every four weeks and their welfare/safety assured.

Evidence of Good Corporate Parenting

For a Looked After Child there will be a completed Care Plan, a Personal Education Plan for a child of school age, a Pathway Plan where appropriate, and a Health Plan underpinned by written evidence that:

1. Statutory Reviews are being held at the prescribed intervals and in accordance with Blackpool's Children Looked After Reviews Procedure. 
2. The child is being seen (and spoken to individually, away from their carer where the age is appropriate) at the prescribed intervals and this is recorded in the ICS recording and in the LAC Review of Arrangements form provided to every review.

Clear Communication, Recording and Evidence of Activity

All activity undertaken in respect of a child by the Social Work and Safeguarding Service must be clearly evidenced.

The Conduct of Audits of the ICS Record

In order to ensure the effective audit of the record the attached File Audit Tool should be used.  This is designed to ensure the audit of the record against standards for each question which are explained within the appendix.

The whole audit tool is lengthy and it is not feasible for managers to undertaken the whole audit for each case reviewed (except for exceptional circumstances such as when the record needs to be reviewed for inspection purpose).  Managers should focus on the relevant section (1 to 13 for new contacts, 11 to 20 for children subject to child protection plans, 22 to 27 for children in need receiving services) and 37 to 42 relating to recording and supervision for all cases where applicable.

Evidence of Managerial Oversight

Each child's case record will evidence regular and critical managerial oversight of the case together with managerial and arms-length audits and actions flowing from audits.

3. Procedure

1. First line managers with supervisory responsibility for workers holding casework responsibility for children in receipt of a service must audit, as a minimum standard, one file per worker, per supervision - that is on average one file per worker per month auditing using the Children's Services File Audit Tool.
2. Cases can be selected at random or on the basis that a particular case is challenging or concerning.
3. Managers undertaking a file audit must use the Audit Forms to:
4. Check that the required documentation is present.
5. Assess the quality of work evidenced by the file against the relevant practice standards (yes or no).
6. Record any remedial action required, by whom and within what acceptable timescale.
7. The Audit Forms must be completed electronically.  The recommendations on the audit form need to be addressed by the worker.
   
   A hard copy must be retained by the supervisor in the named worker's supervision file until he/she is satisfied that any issues have been appropriately addressed.
8. It is the joint responsibility of supervisor and supervisee to review any required remedial action and to ensure that action has been taken.  This forms part of formal supervision and must be recorded in supervision minutes and a note concerning the required action placed on the child's case file by the supervisor.
9. The supervisor must e-mail copies of the completed File Audit forms to:
   • Service Manager, Assessment and Care Management
   • Service Manager, QA
10. Service Manager, Assessment and Care Management must monitor and ensure that File Audits for their service areas are being carried out.
11. Service Manager, Assessment and Care Management must report to the Senior Service Manager and Assistant Director quarterly on the outcome of File Audits and to confirm that they are occurring as required by this procedure.
12. The Service Manager, Assessment and Care Management and Senior Service Manager will also personally review 2 files per month as part of this process and email copies of the completed audit forms to:
13. The Assistant Director
14. Service Manager, QA
15. The QA Service Manager will check that audits are being completed as required and present quarterly reports to SMT on the outcomes of the file audit process.
16. The LSCB Administrator will publish submitted file audits as "read only" in a Public File.  Access to this file will be restricted to the Social Work and Safeguarding Service Management Team as well as the Local Safeguarding Board 'Business' Manager and Executive Director.
17. None of the requirements of this Procedure remove or alter existing managerial responsibility to plan intervention, authorise or sign off assessments or counter-sign reports, plans or summaries.
    
    The flowchart illustrates the process.
18. The Assistant Director Safeguarding & Social Work and Safeguarding Service and the Executive Director will jointly audit 6 cases per quarter using the audit tool.
19. External scrutiny will be provided by an independent audit undertaken of 6 cases per month, selected at random.    

Click here for Audit of Records in Children’s Social Care Flowchart

4. Agree Minimum Standards for Initial Assessments

The following represents proposals for minimum standards for practice in Blackpool.

The initial assessments to which these standards apply are those conducted under the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families.  Although in most case there will be a multi-disciplinary involvement in contributing to these assessments they will be carried out and completed by social workers.

An initial assessment must always be completed when:

• On receipt of a contact to Children's Social Care service a manager deems the child concerned to meet the  threshold of a child who may be by definition "a child in need".

The definition of a "child in need" under the Children Act 1989 states that a child shall e taken to be 'in need' if:

• He/she is 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 under this section of the Act.
• His/her health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision of such services.
• He/she is disabled.

The standards will assist with consistency and standardisation of assessment across the business. It will validate performance through quality assurance.

The following are agreed minimum standards that are to be incorporated into revised Directorate procedure and guidance. These do not replace the professional judgement and expertise of the key managers across the business.

These standards are based on the following premises:

• Standards prescribed by government guidance are taken as given; these are in addition to, or amplification of, those standards.
• These are minimum standards; it is anticipated that individual authorities may add or require higher standards.
• Regional minimum standards cannot substitute for local practice guidance or training.

STANDARD	SOURCE
Complete IA in 7 working days	Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need & Their Families
Child must be seen and consulted	Working Together to Safeguard Children Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families.
Consent to IA by parents/carers, consultation with parents/carers - evidence parents/carers spoken to	Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families
Interpreter if needed	Working Together; Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families Laming
Management instructions	Laming, if child at risk (purpose of visit)
Management sign off-closure-includes child/parent comments and signature; closing letter to family, professionals and referrer	Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families
Inform police if there are indications that a crime may have been committed against the child	Working Together 2006 Bichard
Inform relevant authorities if a child of school age is not attending/registered at school/registered with a GP	Laming
Conclusion of assessment should respond to the reason for the referral.	Professional/practice standard
IA on every child in family	Best Practice
Evaluation, analysis, recommendations And plan completed by SW	Best Practice, Laming, VC Audit

1. Where possible, children's social care will provide a consultation service for those practitioners in partner agencies who want advice concerning the appropriateness of any proposed referral.  Each authority will make whatever arrangements it considers appropriate to record such consultations and any advice given.
2. When making referrals, partner agencies will be asked what they believe to be the child's needs.
3. Any child subject of an initial assessment must be seen by the lead professional with legislative responsibility as agreed by the manager responsible for the assessment and spoken to (in age/ability appropriate fashion) about the reason for the assessment.
4. In every initial assessment, information will be sought at least by telephone from:
   • Health visitor, if any child in the family is below school age;
   • School, if any child in the family is of school age (Pupil Welfare Service during school holidays);
   • Early Years provider, if any child in the family is attending such a service;
   • Any C&YP Department known to be previously involved with this child or any relevant member of the family.
5. The referrer, if a partner agency, will be informed in writing of the outcome of any initial assessment within 5 working days of its conclusion or abandonment.
   
   If the plan is for another agency to provide support for the child and the case to be closed to Children and Families teams; there must be a request in writing for the case worker to be invited to a review meeting or informed of outcome by letter 3 months after the case transfer.  This letter or minutes of the meeting should be filed on the child's file to ensure that there is documented evidence of review of the care plan.
   
   In such cases the CAF meeting will be convened as an exit strategy from the Locality Social Work Team.
6. Except where a child is the subject of a Section 47 enquiry, is the subject of care proceedings or is looked after by the authority, the decision to embark on a core assessment will be made by the responsible team manager.  The decision and its reasons will be recorded by the manager.
7. In all assessments, any disagreements, whether involving professionals or family members, will be recorded.
8. Any decision to deviate from assessment standards or to discontinue an assessment, will be recorded, with its rationale.
9. In all assessments, the sources of information will be explicitly recorded.
10. A printed out genogram should be attached to the assessment once the ICS system has the capacity to provide this.
11. All assessments will be discussed with the child and family prior to sign off.  The family is required to be informed of the outcome of the assessment within 7 working days, and this can occur over the telephone, although face to face discussion is preferable.  At a minimum, provided there has been a telephone conversation, a copy of the assessment may be forwarded to the family after this time.
12. All assessments will have a current plan attached, regardless of whether the plan is to close the case or request other agency support for the child.  The planned outcome boxes must be completed.  These plans must be discussed with the child and family and any other responsible agencies.
13. All assessments will be signed by the lead social worker and responsible manager.

5. Agree Minimum Standards for the Completion of Core Assessments and Proposed Triggers for Core Assessments

The following represents proposals for minimum standards for practice in Blackpool.

The core assessments to which these standards apply are those conducted under the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families.  Although they must have multi-disciplinary involvement, such assessments can only be led by social workers.  Other specialist assessments, for example the Youth Offending Service's ASSET are not core assessments in this sense, although they may contribute to them.

A core assessment must always be completed when:

• Required by the Judicial Protocol in respect of children in proceedings;
• A Section 47 enquiry has been initiated (including in the case of concerns for an unborn child;
• The child has become looked after or is a risk of becoming looked after;
• In the manager's professional judgement, a core assessment is required;
• A strategy meeting can agree an outcome of core assessment.

Circumstances in which the manager should always consider exercising their professional judgement in favour of a core assessment include when:

• A Child in Need plan is not achieving the desired outcomes;
• There have been a number of initial assessments completed in respect of any child in the family in the previous 12 months;
• Other complex cases, to include:
  • Complex child in need/family support cases, where the initial assessment concludes that social work intervention is likely to be required in excess of three months;
  • Children with a disability, as defined by the authority's children with a disability service.

These standards are based on the following premises:

• Standards prescribed by government guidance are taken as given; these are in addition to, or amplification of, those standards.
• These are minimum standards; it is anticipated that individual authorities may add or require higher standards.
• Regional minimum standards cannot substitute for local practice guidance or training.

STANDARD	SOURCE
Complete Core Assessment in 35 working days.	Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need & Their Families
Child must be seen and consulted	Working Together to Safeguard Children Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families.
Consent to assessment by parents/carers, consultation with parents/carers - evidence parents/carers spoken to	Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families
Interpreter if needed	Working Together; Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families Laming
Management instructions	Laming, if child at risk (purpose of visit)
Management sign off-closure-includes child/parent comments and signature; closing letter to family, professionals and referrer	Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families
Inform police if there are indications that a crime may have been committed against the child	Working Together 2006 Bichard
Inform relevant authorities if a child of school age is not attending/registered at school/registered with a GP	Laming
Conclusion of assessment and further planning should address the issues originally identified from the initial assessment and respond to t hose also raised as a result of the core assessment.	Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families. Professional/practice standard
The child and their family will be kept appropriately informed throughout the assessment process and their participation must be encouraged and valued.	Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families. Professional/practice standard

1. Any child subject of a core assessment must be seen by a practitioner agreed by the manager responsible for the assessment and spoken to (in age/ability appropriate fashion) about the reason for the assessment.  The child's needs must be assessed with the child participating through play, use of child development theories, attachment theories, or any other practice tool that will allow the worker to verify the key information sought as part of the core assessment.
2. Except where a child is the subject of a Section 47 enquiry, is the subject of care proceedings or is looked after by the authority, the decision to embark on a core assessment will be made by the responsible Team Manager.  The decision and its reasons will be recorded by the manager.  (Such a decision may have been informed by the outcome of a strategy meeting, which has concluded that there is not need for a S47 enquiry but identified a need for a core assessment).
3. A multi-agency core assessment planning meeting should be held prior to the beginning of a core assessment.  This plan will include; key areas of assessment focus, identify which agency worker will contribute what information, arrange any joint visits to gather information (for example a play session with the health visitor and the social worker to gather information about child development and attachment behaviour), set milestones for completing the report within timescales (35 working days), agree information sharing processes.
4. The core assessment plan will make explicit the focus of the assessment and its parameters.
5. The scales and questionnaires from the National assessment framework will be utilised where appropriate and referenced as evidence in the assessment.  All other social work theory and tools to be referenced and provide evidence of conclusion drawn during the assessment process.
6. The core assessment form is to be filled in completely.  Any fields where information is not available should be noted along with when or how the information will be obtained in future should it be key to meeting the child's on-going needs.  If the section is not applicable the reason why needs to be noted on the form.
7. A genogram and eco-map to be completed to ensure that all people relevant to the child are know.
8. Any change of lead social worker in core assessment should be avoided.
9. Any disagreements about the assessment, whether involving professionals or family members, will be recorded.
10. Any decision to deviate from assessment standards will be recorded, with its rationale.
11. In all assessments, the sources of information will be explicitly recorded.
12. All assessments will be signed by the lead social worker and responsible manager, and any plan arising from the core assessment will be signed by the above officers, contributing agencies and the child and family.
13. There will be clear evidence that the core assessment has addressed the original reason(s) for the assessment, taking into account the domains and dimensions of the child and family life.
14. The available documentation will demonstrate appropriate management oversight, challenging analysis and outcomes in planning.  This is to encourage continued improvement in this area of work.  It is expected that managers will review the process and likely outcomes of all core assessments with the allocated worker 25 working days after the assessment has commenced.

Appendix - Audit Referral Process Checklist

Click here to view Checklist

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