4. Finalise the investigation and assessment
An investigation and assessment must be completed and approved within two months of the date of the notification or, where the decision has been made that a child will have a 'substantiated - child in need of protection' outcome and a referral is made to the family group meeting convenor, the investigation and assessment must be completed and approved within seven days of the date of the referral.
Completion of an investigation and assessment requires that:
- all subject children have been sighted, and where appropriate, interviewed by a Child Safety Services' authorised officer
- the investigation and assessment is finalised, including determining the appropriate outcomes
- the investigation and assessment document is approved in ICMS by a team leader or in specified circumstances, a CSSC manager.
4.1 Determine whether there will be ongoing intervention
Following an investigation and assessment, the decision about whether there will be ongoing intervention will be guided by the following requirements:
- ongoing intervention is required for any child who has been assessed as being in need of protection
- ongoing intervention will be offered to the pregnant woman when it is assessed that an unborn child will be in need of protection after birth - refer to Chapter 7. Support service cases
- ongoing intervention is not required for any child who has been assessed as not being in need of protection, but will be offered to the family where there is a 'high' or 'very high' outcome on the family risk evaluation.
The decision about the type of ongoing intervention that will occur with the family, will take into consideration what is required to:
- meet the child's protective and care needs
- reduce the likelihood of future harm to the child.
When determining the type of ongoing intervention that is to occur, refer to Chapter 3. Ongoing intervention.
4.2 Record the investigation, assessment and outcome
Recording the investigation and assessment is a key step in the assessment of a child's need for protection. The information recorded is critical for any ongoing or future contact with the child and family.
Recording key information
When recording the investigation and assessment, and completing the investigation and assessment event in ICMS:
- ensure that all key information is recorded in the investigation and assessment event in ICMS, including:
- the date, time and details of all contact with subject children, parents and other persons
- details of who conducted the interviews, including the names and positions of the primary and secondary officers and any police officers or other people present during the interviews
- a summary of the significant information gathered from interviews and other sources
- responses to the notifier's concerns and any relevant disclosures, admissions or denials by the subject child, other children, the parents, family members or other adults
- any information relevant to the assessment of the child's safety and protective needs
- any relevant observations about the child (presentation, demeanour, developmental level), the parents (interaction with child, non-verbal cues) and the home environment
- any action taken that assists with the assessment such as medical examinations or photographs
- the rationale for decisions made throughout and at the end of the investigation and assessment process, including whether there will be ongoing intervention with the family to meet the child's protection needs or reduce the likelihood of future harm to the child
- ensure that the indigenous status of all subject children and other relevant persons are accurately recorded in ICMS
- ensure that each subject child recorded in the notification is also recorded as a subject child in the investigation and assessment, with an outcome and rationale recorded, based on a professional judgement and assessment of the risk and protective factors assessed
- ensure that an assessment and outcome is recorded for any additional subject child identified as being harmed or at risk of harm during the investigation and assessment
- ensure that all relevant ICMS forms are completed in the investigation and assessment event - for further information, refer to the practice resource Recording the investigation and assessment.
Record the outcome in ICMS
Once a determination has been made about the child's need for protection, the investigation and assessment outcomes can be finalised. When there is a 'substantiated' outcome for a child, whether or not they are in need of protection:
- select all 'harm' types experienced by the child, if applicable - select from List 1 in Table 1 below
- select all 'unacceptable risk of harm' types for the child if applicable - select from List 2 in the table below
- record the person responsible for each harm type recorded - more than one person can be responsible for the same harm type for a child
- select the most serious harm for the child - this is based on the harm or unacceptable risk of harm that has the most serious impact on the child.
Note: the harm or unacceptable risk of harm substantiated may be different to the harm recorded in the notification.
| List 1 - Harm | List 2 - Risk of unacceptable harm |
|---|---|
|
|
When the outcome is 'unsubstantiated', no harm types can be selected.
Record the 'person responsible'
While an investigation and assessment focuses on the ability and willingness of the parents to protect the subject child, and they are generally recorded as the person responsible for a substantiated outcome, the following persons may also be recorded:
- another adult who lives in the home or has regular access to the child in the home
- another child aged 10 years or over who lives in the home, who is assessed by the CSO as having the developmental ability or capacity to understand the consequences of their actions - this is not common, but may occur in some circumstances.
A subject child cannot be recorded as a person responsible for another subject child in the same investigation and assessment event. Where there are child protection concerns for a child (aged 10 years or over) who is recorded as a person responsible for a subject child, a separate notification will need to be recorded on that child.
When a child has self harmed they must not be recorded as a person responsible for that harm.
The outcome for each subject child must be supported with clear information about the professional assessment of the harm or risk of harm to the child and the reasons for the outcome recorded.
Record the outcome
Record a substantiated - child in need of protection outcome when it is assessed that there is harm or risk of harm to a child, as defined by the Child Protection Act 1999, section 9, and it meets one of the following:
- harm has been experienced by the child, there is unacceptable risk of harm and the child does not have a parent able and willing to protect them, whether or not the harm was part of the concerns received
- no actual harm has occurred but there is unacceptable risk of harm and the child does not have a parent able and willing to protect them, whether or not the harm was part of the concerns received
- there is unacceptable risk of harm to the unborn child after birth and the parents will not be able and willing to protect the child from the harm.
In most cases, the outcome of the family risk evaluation for these matters will be very high or high.
Record a substantiated - child not in need of protection outcome when it is assessed that either:
- harm, as defined in the Child Protection Act 1999, section 9, has been experienced by the child but there is no unacceptable risk of harm
- harm has been experienced by the child and there is unacceptable risk of harm, but there is a parent able and willing to protect the child.
There must be clear information recorded to support the ability and willingness of the parents to protect the child, not just statements to this effect.
Record an unsubstantiated - child not in need of protection outcome when it is assessed that either:
- the child has not suffered harm and there is no risk of unacceptable risk of harm
- the child has not suffered harm, there is unacceptable risk, but there is a parent able and willing to protect the child
- an unborn child will not be at unacceptable risk of harm after birth.
In most cases, the outcome of the family risk evaluation for these matters will be moderate or low. Where the outcome is high or very high, ongoing intervention is recommended by the family risk evaluation, and the family will be offered ongoing intervention via a support service case, to address the risk factors identified. Clear information needs to be recorded about the risk factors identified and the family's response to the services offered.
When this outcome is recorded for an unborn child, no further action is required, however, where there are identified needs, and the pregnant woman has expressed a willingness to receive support:
- make a referral to another agency to offer the pregnant woman help and support
- make a referral to a RAI service (refer to the Chapter 10.5 Referral for active intervention services).
Record a no investigation and assessment outcome on rare occasions only, when:
- the investigation and assessment has not commenced because the child and family could not be located and actions taken to locate them have been unsuccessful
- the investigation and assessment has commenced, but is not able to be completed, as there is insufficient information to decide on an outcome, and the family has subsequently moved following Child Safety Services' contact, and is not able to be located
- a subject child has died prior to the completion of an investigation and assessment and there is insufficient information to decide on an outcome
- a pregnant woman advises that she is no longer or has never been pregnant, her appearance supports this information, and this is confirmed with her medical practitioner (or reasonable attempts have been made to do so)
- the pregnant woman has not been located and two months have passed since the estimated date of delivery.
This outcome is not to be used to:
- manage a lack of resources, or high workloads
- finalise an old investigation and assessment that is only partly completed.
Prior to approving this outcome, other than for an unborn child notification, the team leader must consult with the senior practitioner, and record a clear rationale for its use.
When this outcome is used, due to a child or family, or a pregnant woman, not being located, complete the 'Record of actions - mobile family' form in the investigation and assessment event in ICMS and a 'no investigation and assessment' outcome will be recorded.
There may be times when this outcome is used for one of a number of subject children in a family, due to a child absconding or not being able to be located or contacted. In these cases, there must be an assessment that there is insufficient information already gathered about the child and family to record an outcome for the child, without the child being sighted or interviewed. In this case an outcome must still be recorded for all other subject children.
Approve the investigation and assessment
All investigation and assessments will be approved by a team leader, within 2 months, with the following exceptions:
- when an investigation and assessment relates to a vexatious or malicious notifier with a 'no investigation and assessment outcome', the CSSC manager must approve the investigation and assessment and provide a clear rationale for its use
- when the approving team leader undertakes any key steps related to the investigation and assessment, another team leader or CSSC manager must approve the investigation and assessment.
4.3 Inform the parents about the outcome of the investigation and assessment
The Child Protection Act 1999, section 15(2), requires that, as soon as practicable after completing the investigation and assessment, an authorised officer must:
- tell at least one of the child's parents about the outcome of the investigation
- if asked by the parent, provide the outcome of the investigation and assessment in writing.
In doing so, consider whether the information should be provided to both parents, especially when parents are residing separately.
Provide information to the parents
When providing this information, either verbally or in writing:
- provide sufficient information about the key child protection concerns outlined in the notification, to ensure they understand the reasons for Child Safety Services' intervention, without identifying the notifier
- provide the outcome of the investigation and assessment, the rationale for the decisions made, including an explanation of the terminology and a rationale for any harm or risk of harm to the child and any protection and care needs identified
- outline the reasons and rationale for any decision to open an ongoing intervention case, to assist the parents to participate in further decision-making, and strengthen their ability to meet the child's needs in the future.
Discretionary compliance with section 15(2)
The Child Protection Act 1999, section 15(3), permits discretionary compliance of this requirement if the authorised officer reasonably believes either:
- someone may be charged with a criminal offence for the harm to the child, and compliance may jeopardise an investigation into the offence
- that compliance may expose the child to harm.
When considering the use of discretionary compliance:
- determine what is reasonable and appropriate in each particular circumstance, taking into account the practice considerations outlined in the practice resource Informing the parents about the harm and the outcome - section 15
- consult with the QPS if there is an ongoing criminal investigation, prior to any information being provided to the parents
- use professional judgement, the outcome of the family risk evaluation and any relevant information in relation to domestic violence issues to determine if the provision of information may expose the child to harm
- seek team leader approval for any decision not to provide the information
- record the decision, rationale and approval process in the 'Information provision to parents' form in ICMS.
For information about privacy considerations, refer to 2.2 Inform the parents about the harm.
- Last updated
- 18 September 2009
Other languages