4.2 Undertaking the assessment stage
Purpose
This procedure outlines the process for completing the assessment stage of case planning to inform the development or review of a case plan.
The assessment stage
Following the decision that there will be ongoing intervention with the child and family, or prior to the review of a case plan, the CSO will undertake an assessment stage to gather information about the child and family's circumstances to inform the development of the case plan or the review of a case plan.
The assessment will be completed with the involvement of the child (where appropriate), family and any other significant people (for example, current service providers or key family members).
The assessment will identify the strengths and needs of both the child and the parents and assess the ability of the family to address the child's need for safety and wellbeing.
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While an investigation and assessment focuses on safety and risk factors to determine whether ongoing intervention with the child and family is required, the assessment stage gathers and assesses the information which needs to be addressed during the ongoing intervention.
The assessment will be:
- child-focused and individualised;
- evidence based;
- strengths led;
- sensitive to the cultural context and issues for a child;
- holistic, and include information from a wide range of sources;
- developed in a participative manner with all parties involved; and
- undertaken in a timely manner.
Completion of a thorough assessment will result in:
- enhanced participation in the case planning process by the child and their family;
- better identification of a child's strengths and needs;
- better identification of the parent/s strengths and needs; and
- a clear focus for departmental intervention.
The identified areas of need will become the focus for the case planning process, which aims to:
- address the areas of need;
- build on the child and family's strengths; and
- build capacity within the family to meet the child's safety and well-being needs.
The assessment stage must be completed in a timely way to ensure the appropriate information is provided to the case planning process, and allow the family group meeting to be held within 30 days of the decision that the child is in need of protection.
Key steps in the assessment stage
The six key steps to the assessment stage are outlined below.
1. Gather information
The CSO will work in collaboration with the child and parents to complete the assessment stage, and will consult other people who are important in the child's life to contribute information to the assessment. These people may include other family members, anyone who has a significant relationship with the child, the child's carer, any relevant professionals, SCAN AM Team members and members of the child's cultural community. The CSO must inform the people consulted of their legal duty to maintain confidentiality under the Child Protection Act 1999, section 187 and 188.
Information will be gathered from other sources including:
- the departmental history for the child and family, in particular:
- any recent safety assessment;
- the protection and care needs identified in the investigation and assessment; and
- any safety or protection and care issues identified as part of case plan implementation; and
- any current professional assessment completed.
The recognised entity must be consulted during the assessment stage for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child.
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Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs Services (ATODS) (or a related service) must be consulted during the assessment stage when the parental substance misuse is an identified child protection concern, irrespective of whether a parent is:
- participating in substance testing; or
- currently engaged ATODS (or a related service).
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2. Complete the child and parental strengths and needs assessments
As part of the assessment stage the CSO will:
- complete the child strengths and needs assessment; and
- complete the parental strengths and needs assessment.
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3. Establish the department's 'minimum requirement'
Once the strengths and needs assessments have been completed, the CSO will determine the department's position or 'minimum requirement' for intervention with the child and family.
The minimum requirement is the department's assessment of the minimum intervention that is required to ensure the ongoing safety of a child, for example, the need for a child to be placed with a person other than the parent for a specified period.
When determining the minimum requirement, the CSO and team leader will consider:
- the extent of the child's protection and care needs;
- the child's strengths, resources and abilities; and
- the parents strengths, needs and capacity to meet the child's needs.
The CSO is responsible for discussing the department's 'minimum requirement' with the child, family and other key people prior to the family group meeting.
4. Explore service options
The CSO is responsible for exploring possible service providers who can provide services, support and assistance to meet the identified needs of the child and the parents/carers, prior to the family group meeting or case plan review.
Where appropriate and agreed to by the child and family, consideration will be given to continuation of services and support with existing service providers.
Liaising with service providers
When an agency has been identified as a potential service provider, the CSO should undertake the following liaison activities:
- contact the agency and ensure the services provided fit with the identified needs of the child or family, and the child or family are eligible for the service;
- canvass the availability of services and timeframes for commencement and completion of the service, to ensure they will meet case plan requirements;
- determine the referral procedure for the agency and the required information;
- discuss the agency and department's expectations for interaction, feedback and review of progress;
- ascertain the cost of the service and any other resources required to complete the work with the child or family that will be provided by the department; and
- canvass the child and family's willingness to receive the service.
Resource approval
Prior to the family group meeting, the CSO will seek approval from the financial delegate for any anticipated expenditure involved in the implementation of the case plan.
Assessing service options
The CSO is responsible for ensuring the child and family are involved in the exploration process and are kept informed of the activities undertaken with regard to service provider options.
Once liaison has occurred, the service options and suitability should be assessed by the CSO, in consultation with the team leader. This information will be recorded and provided to the convenor of the family group meeting in a timely manner. This process must not pre-empt the family decision-making process at the family group meeting.
Any service providers involved in the preparation for the case plan, that might be involved with the child and family, should be given the opportunity to attend the family group meeting, where the family agrees to their involvement. Generally, service providers already working with a child or parent are more likely to attend a family group meeting.
Referrals when there is limited service capacity
In situations where there are limited places at an agency and where an immediate referral would be required to secure the services for the child or family, the CSO should consider:
- obtaining approval for any financial resources required;
- contacting the child and family immediately to get their agreement to undertake the intervention; and
- making the appropriate referral.
5. Documenting the assessment
The information that has been gathered and assessed, will be recorded and provided to the convenor of the family group meeting to inform the development of the case plan or the case plan review.
The information is recorded in:
- the completed child and parental strengths and needs assessments; and
- a generic case note entitled 'assessment information for case planning'.
The case note will include:
- a brief summary of the history of departmental involvement with the child and family, including the outcome of the current investigation and assessment and case opening decisions as determined by the family risk evaluation tool;
- any relevant information not recorded in the child and parental strengths and needs assessments, for example, the need for a professional assessment;
- the department's position or minimum requirement for case planning;
- a summary of the service options that have been identified to meet the child and parental/carer needs; and
- the identified convenor for the family group meeting.
The team leader will verbally approve the content of the case note prior to it being provided to the family group meeting convenor.
6. Providing information to the convenor
For an initial family group meeting to develop a case plan, the convenor must be provided with sufficient information to prepare for the family group meeting at the earliest possible time.
This includes:
- a 'Referral to a convenor for a family group meeting';
- the 'approved' investigation and assessment document;
- the completed child and parental strengths and needs assessments; and
- the case note entitled 'assessment information for case planning'.
When a family group meeting is held to review a case plan, the additional information from the family risk re-evaluation or the family reunification assessment will also be provided to the family group meeting convenor.
Ongoing contact between the CSO and the convenor is required to ensure that additional information gained during the planning process is known and considered by all relevant parties.
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Completing the assessment stage
To complete the assessment stage, the following steps must be undertaken.
- Complete a 'Referral to a convenor for a family group meeting' form and immediately provide it to the convenor.
- Provide the 'approved' investigation and assessment documents to the convenor within seven days of completing the referral form.
- Peruse and consider all previous departmental records for the child and their family (including information on electronic and paper files).
- Consider the child's protection needs, and any other relevant information contained in the current investigation and assessment;
- Talk with the child to determine their views and wishes, as appropriate;
- Consult with people in the child's life who can contribute information to the assessment and case planning process;
- Complete the child and parental strengths and needs assessments;
- Determine the department's position or 'minimum requirement' to ensure the protection of the child;
- Explore service options to meet the identified needs for the child and the parents;
- Record the assessment, the decisions made and any updated information in a case note; and
- Provide the following to the convenor prior to the family group meeting:
- the case note outlining the information above;
- the completed child strengths and needs assessment tool; and
- the completed parental strengths and needs assessment tool.
For assessments prior to the review of a case plan, the CSO will undertake the steps outlined above, as well as reviewing the information gathered as part of the implementation of the case plan (including any assessments undertaken by other professionals, for example, a paediatrician or psychiatrist).
- Last updated
- 18 September 2009
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