Assessment
Improvement
Maureen McEnaney
Safeguarding &
Review Manager
Every Child Matters
ASSESSMENTS
ASSESSMENTS
ASSESSMENTS
Every Child Matters
Local Picture
Every Child Matters
Findings with regard to assessments have been
highlighted within the following:

Serious Case Review

Audit of children made subject to a protection plan for
a second or subsequent time

Assessment audit

Announced Inspection

Case File Audit Process
Every Child Matters
Summary of Findings

ICS exemplars do not easily evidence all aspects of the assessment
process (in particular evidence that consent to share information has
been sought).

Poor compliance with sections of the exemplar (“list empty”).

Insufficient recording of children’s and parents views and wishes.

Assessments that do not address the issues contained in the referral.

Lack of analysis of information gathered often this section was very
brief and repeated information already contained in the body of the
report as a result assessments are describing events but not identifying
possible reasons and underlining factors for why they have occurred.

Lack of risk assessment and identification of protective factors.
Every Child Matters
Summary of Findings

Little evidence of the use of assessment tools.

Children’s needs not always identified.

Lack of evidence of the contribution to assessments from partner
agencies.

Assessments not being clear why decisions were made.

Lack of reference to evidence based decision making that referred back
to research.

Assessments that do not always take into consideration the relevance
of the family history and were presented more of a snap shot in time.

Assessments not being planned or based on focused sessions with the
family.
Every Child Matters
Assessment Improvement Plan
Assessment Improvement Group
Every Child Matters
Recommendation:
Standards for the key components of assessment,
planning and review should be reviewed and if
necessary revised and communicated to all staff as
expectations of practice.
Actions:
 Quality standards revised and updated and circulated to
all staff.
 Quality standard to be included in the induction pack for
new employees.
Every Child Matters
Recommendation:
Compliance of practice against these standards should
be regularly monitored and audited by managers.
Actions:
 Programme of case file audit to be progressed.
 Managers to encourage practitioners to use case file
audit as part of supervision and employees
development.
 Audit practice to be improved by the provision of training
to Managers and Principal Practitioners.
Every Child Matters
Recommendation:
The process of assessment must incorporate the family
history and its relevance to current circumstances
particularly in cases where there has been a substantial
history of agency involvement.
Actions:
 To promote improved mapping of information held about
a family by the better use of:
 Chronologies
 Genogram
 Ecomaps
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Recommendation:
Improve social work practice to ensure assessments are
child focussed and clearly reflect children’s and parents
views and feelings.
Actions:
 Social Care Briefing Sessions to be held and used as a
focus group meeting to identify Social Workers views
and ideas about how assessments can be improved.
 Participation to be a significant theme in practitioner
workshops to share good practice.
Every Child Matters
Recommendation:
As well as established training courses and regular formal case
supervision sessions, additional activities should be undertaken
such as practitioner led workshops, action learning sets, complex
case clinics and assessment mentors to promote improved practice
with regard to assessment.
Actions:






Deliver a comprehensive Safeguarding and Specialist Services
learning and development programme.
Introduction of the Blended Learning Model.
Programme of practitioner led workshops to be developed
(Breakfast Clubs and Lunch and Learn).
Managers to receive training on supervising assessment practice.
Complex case clinics to run along side legal consultation panel
from September 2010.
Assessment mentors identified and currently working on the
programme of practitioner workshops.
Every Child Matters
Recommendation:
Multiple sources of information should be used in the
assessment process as oppose to relying solely on
case records.
Action:
 Workers to routinely produce Genograms and
Chronologies to identify all possible sources of
information.
 Assessments to be undertaken on a multi agency
basis.
Every Child Matters
Recommendation:
Core assessments should be well planned and based
on focussed assessment sessions held with the family.
The case record should provide a record of when these
sessions took place, who was involved and a summary
of topics discussed.
Action:
 Case supervision to have oversight of this aspect of
assessment practice.
Every Child Matters
Recommendation:
Multi agency planning meetings should be held as soon
as a core assessment is initiated. A planning tool should
be developed to support this procedure based on the
Assessment Framework triangle to identify the key
issues on which to focus and what contribution the
involved agencies would be expected to make. Regular
review meetings of progress should be put in place as
part of this process.
Actions:
 Core Assessment Planning Tool developed.
 Multi-agency Practice Guidance with regard to
assessment being commissioned by the HSCB.
Every Child Matters
Recommendation:
Use of assessment tools should be embedded into
assessment practice to enhance the quality of reports in
particular with regard to risk assessment.
Action:
 Assessment Improvement Group to identify a range of
assessment tools and organise workshop sessions with
Social Workers to increase their use in assessments.
Every Child Matters
Recommendation:
Current assessment exemplars to be reviewed and
recommendations regarding changes to be progressed
via the ICS practitioners group and direct discussions
with the provider.
Actions:
 ICS mapping day has been held.
 New Core Assessment exemplar in development.
Every Child Matters
Quote!
Every Child Matters