[title] A new way of evidencing practice [sub-title] FOR MANAGERS - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Social Work Assessment

A new way of evidencing practice FOR MANAGERS AND PRACTITIONERS

September 2015

Aims and Objectives

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Understand why the new (single) Social Work Assessment has been introduced Understand the changes to practice and processes Know what ‘good’ looks like Know how to manage ‘pipeline’ cases Understanding your role in recording on the form – how and when Know how to check progress and run reports

Background

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Eileen Munro’s Review of Child Protection – Promoting child focused practice, review of the ‘system’, aiming to reduce time spent in front of computers to promote time spent with families Working Together (2013 + 2015) Ofsted 2013 – Plans for introduction of SW Assessment in Norfolk put on hold, Review of CareFirst Restructure and ongoing improvements Statutory returns to DfE, Annexe A, etc.

Key Changes

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On 5 October 2015 Norfolk is implementing the single Assessment. It will be called the ‘Social Work Assessment’. CareFirst forms will be updated accordingly. The new Social Work Assessment will replace the following CareAssess Forms: Initial Assessment Core Assessment S47 Core Assessment/SW report to ICPC Mandatory Child Data Form Manager checkpoints introduced to provide evidence of management oversight and to prevent any drift. The progress of the completion of this form will be monitored by a ‘self service’ tracking report.

Social Work Assessment – Overview

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The Social Work Assessment is:

The recording tool to coherently bring together information and evidence gathered through enquiries and interventions with the child, their family, network and partner agencies Enables further decision making and planning Used at points where clear and analytical thinking needs to be well

• evidenced. (The exception being Pathway Plan Needs

Assessments):  Evidence the work undertaken following a referral into Children’s Services  Evidence Child Protection (s.47) enquires following a strategy discussion  Doubles up as the Social Workers Report to an Initial Child Protection Conference  Used whenever there is a necessity to provide an up to date assessment on a child or young person

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Signs of Safety and the Assessment Framework

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Signs of Safety is an approach: Focuses on safety Strengths within the family A questioning approach Relationship based Greater transparency Clearly represents of voice of the child and impact on child No jargon

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Consistency is ensured through use of agreed tools, changes to meeting structures, i.e. Signs of Safety mapping as a visual tool to create dialogue. Information collected from children, families and partner agencies still needs to be represented within the Assessment Framework, (as set out in Working Together 2015).

The Assessment Framework

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Working Together 2015

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The principles and parameters of a good assessment

High quality assessments: Are child centred. Where there is a conflict of interest, decisions should be made in the child’s best interests Are rooted in child development and informed by evidence Are focused on action and outcomes for children Are holistic in approach, addressing the child’s needs within their family and wider community Ensure equality of opportunity Involve children and families Build on strengths as well as identifying difficulties Are integrated in approach Are a continuing process not an event Lead to action, including the provision of services Review services provided on an ongoing basis Are transparent and open to challenge

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Design Principles

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The design of The Social Work Assessment was based on the Initial and Core Assessments which Norfolk Children’s Services have been using since 2013: Whole family recording (Matrices to add names of the children and adults in the household. The form is then duplicated to each child’s record) Open text boxes to enable free narrative (Child’s Developmental Needs, Parenting Capacity, Family and Environmental Factors) Information pulling through into plans to be copy and pasted into boxes of the Smart Plan Sharing of information via ‘view last’ buttons where ever possible Hint text supports Signs of Safety Further review of all forms will decide whether additional text boxes should be added which will pull through to plans i.e. Danger statements, Safety Goals

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Trigger Points

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The Social Work Assessment can automatically triggered from 2 forms: Contact and Referral Form Missing Child – Notification of Return

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Manually triggered from all other points i.e.: CIN Review Review CP Conference LAC Review Court directed Strategy Discussion on open cases Supervision (this includes a case discussion outside of formal supervision) E.g. Whenever there is a need for information to be pulled together to assist in decision making

Manager Checkpoints

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On Day 1, produce the ‘work plan’ and record the anticipated ‘end date’ of assessment: Checkpoint recording timescales: Day 7-10, Day 11 -20, Day 21-35, Day 36+ Input comments where required Managers’ comments are not automatically included on the output, but can be if required Used to prevent drift (via the Tracking Tool report) Anticipated that most SW Assessments will continue to be completed by day 10, with cases closed or stepped down “Manager’s comments on final assessment” pull through to ‘Observations’

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Process Frameworks and Timescales

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Child in Need process framework and Child Protection process framework have both updated to reflect: Use of Social Work Assessment Transfer points Timescales

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Local Protocol – All Social Work Assessments (including for LAC) to be completed within 35 working days

(day 1 = day decision was made for assessment)

All children must still be seen by day 10 at the latest, mostly much sooner S47 timescales remain the same (ICPC within 15 days of first strategy discussion) Rapid network meetings (Initial CiN Meeting) by day 20 for complex CiN cases where a Child in Need plan is required See also Step-down process

‘Pipeline’ Cases

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Those with Open Assessments on 5 October

Guidance produced General rule – do not abandon assessments, however, there are exceptions… Where abandoning – must backdate SW Assessment to start date of the original Old forms (IAs & CAs) can still be duplicated but not created (need to use same start date) Mandatory Child Data forms should never be abandoned Mandatory Child Data forms will still be triggered from old IAs and must be completed (Mandatory child data built into new form) Need to manually trigger SW Assessment from Contact and Referral and Missing Child Notification of return forms that are already open on the 5 October

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Glossary

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Some CareFirst Terminology

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Activity An alert to advise something needs to be done e.g. allocate case/ authorise CareAssess form Assignee The person who is responsible for completion of the piece of work Base Data Information held within CareFirst which can be used in different form and data can be gathered from e.g. address/DoB/Qualifications, etc. Peek and Grab A way of pulling information from ‘base data’ if it is available Classification (type question) Data extraction tool: information from which key information can be gathered e.g. Ethnicity/Language/Legal Status, etc. Key Classification A classification which displays on the child/YP front screen (desktop) which provides important information e.g. Has information sharing been discussed (DP1) is the child Missing (Missing Episode) Required (aka mandatory) If there is a ‘required’ question type unanswered you will not be able to complete the form View Last Pulls through information from ‘shared question sets’ (similar to copy and paste)

Useful Information

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To enable the flow of information between forms via the ‘view last’ function, forms have to be completed (and authorised where applicable) in the right order because the ‘shared answer’ comes from the form which was last completed. IMPORTANT – REDUCING THE RISK OF DATA BREACHES: The Household Entry section within the SWA is for information only (does not print out on the ‘output’ version). If you become aware it is not reflecting a true picture of the child’s living situation, this needs to be amended. (This cannot be done within the form; instead go to Main Menu>Biography>Household Entry and make the changes) There are two ways of keeping the network up to date: Prior to completing the Social Work Assessment, check and update the

• network. This can pull through into the form via ‘peek/grab’ and will

feed back into the base data at the point of completion Add new relationships (or end old ones) directly within the form and this will feed back into base data at the point of completion/authorisation

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Child Protection Recording

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To indicate the form is to be used to evidence a Section 47 Investigation (S47 Outcome) following a Strategy Discussion the questions in the Child Protection section need to be completed. There is a mandatory question (meaning the form cannot be completed without an answer).

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If the form is being used for any other purpose it is important to answer “no” and NOT to add any text to any other question asked, or the section will be included in the ‘output’. You can change a ‘Section 17’ assessment to a ‘Section 47’ assessment at any point during the assessment period without having to start a new

• ne.

Transfer point from Assessment to FIT is at the ICPC, therefore the receiving team needs to know a.s.a.p. to ensure workers from both teams are present to complete the handover.

Timescales

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All Social Work Assessments have to be completed within a 35 working day timescale, but many will require shorter completion times. Day one is indicated not by the date the form was added but by question 3.1.2 in the Reason for Assessment section, however it is always good to keep the dates the same as it reflects the ‘truth’ in the CareFirst Chronology.

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17 Sections!! (none of which are huge)

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1. Consent – Information Sharing status (Key Classification) pulls from or feeds back into the ‘base data’ 2. Reason for assessment – Explains why assessment is being undertaken now 3. Relationships – a place to check/amend personal relationships and use ‘the family matrix’ 4. Management decisions Day One – Direct input – replacing use of Observations 5. Child Protection (required) – Answer Y/N and only proceed if used for CP Enquiry outcomes 6. EDT Involvement – only completed by EDT if they have involvement out of hours – replacing use of Observations 7. Consultation – Child Seen? Who else consulted? 8. Assessment of Need – main narrative, 3 assessment framework domains (text boxes now expanded to 6 x 4000 characters) 9. Child/Young Person’s Views – on the presenting issues

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17 Sections!! (continued)

• 10. Analysis – making sense of all the information recorded in the

assessment

• 11. Identified Needs and Issues to be addressed in the Plan –

The place to transfer information from the Assessment to the corresponding Plan (View Last)

• 12. Social Worker’s Recommendations – What should happen

next and why?

• 13. Factors Identified at the End of the Assessment – (CIN

Census) Replacing the Mandatory Data Form and requires completing at the end of every assessment undertaken on a child/YP

• 14. Views and Comments – (on the Assessment – next steps)
• 15. Sharing Restrictions – Considerations regarding sharing the

assessment

• 16. Manager’s Decisions and Rationale – see next slide
• 17. Finish and Save – completion and authorisation screen

Manager’s Tasks

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Day 1

Reassign or open Social Work Assessment (adding start date) Complete “Manager’s Decisions Day One” section Observations are NOT required

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Manager’s Tasks

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Checkpoint Recording

Managers are expected to exercise professional judgement in relation to when to add a checkpoint comment. This is entirely dependent on case type and the team the case is allocated to. For example assessment team managers will want to satisfy themselves at regular intervals of the progress of the assessment to avoid drift and sustain regular management

• verview.

Cases that are longer standing and are undergoing a routine assessment may just require a comment from the team manager on day one and at least one other point in the duration of the assessment period.

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Checkpoint Recording

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All these recordings are found in the section: ‘Manager’s Decisions and Rationale’ and are to be used instead of observations (Meaning a change of habit when reviewing case files as key information may be held within this section of assessments). Checkpoints are text boxes to enable progress to be recorded. Day 7-10, Day 11 -20, then Day 21-35 finally Day 36+ Manager’s comments on final assessment (will be pulled through to Observations) Was the assessment completed within agreed time period? (as agreed at the start) Was the assessment completed within 35 working days?

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Within the Finish and Save screen there is the Authorisation Comments box – This should be used to record information regarding the authorisation of the form, and not relate to supervision actions, etc. This information does not print out on the ‘output’ of the form and does not need to be copied into Observations.

CIN Episode Classification

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Any referral accepted within Children’s Services Social Care should always have an open ‘CIN Episode’ Classification as this is how it is ascertained that Children’s Services Social Care Teams are actively working a case. The CIN Episode should inform the date that the referral was first made (date of initial contact) and end at the point the case closes to social care, whenever that may be. Therefore if a case is to close at the end of the Social Work Assessment, the CIN Episode can be ended, if the case is to transfer or remain active to the team, the CIN Episode remains open.

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Generating the Output (to print off the assessment)

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Note: these sections are excluded from the output by default

Social Work Assessment Tracking Tool

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Why do we need a tracking tool report?

There are lessons learned from other authorities about the potential for “case drift” when using the ‘continuous assessment’ model of working (i.e. not all assessments should take 35 days to complete!) Managers/workers need some oversight to track progress of open cases – the tracking tool report provides this Managers need to know which assessments are due a checkpoint comment – the tracking tool report helps with prioritisation

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Where Can the Tracking Tool be Found?

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For managers, the report can be accessed in the “Children’s Operational Reports” folder For other workers, the report can be accessed from the “Children’s Reports” folder

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From where does the tracking tool derive its information?

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The tracking tool uses information recorded in the following sections in the Social Work Assessment form:

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Reason for Assessment Management Decisions Day One Manager’s Decisions and Rationale

Running the Report

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Defaults to the team

• f the logged in user

Managers can choose to view assessments of all workers within their team, or select individual workers (holding the CTRL key enables multiple selection). Workers can only view assessments allocated to themselves. The report can be ordered by:

• Start date of form
• Priority checkpoints
• Assessment status

<< CareFirst demo >>

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Points to Note

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Designed by operational team managers, for use by them & their workers It is a self-service “dashboard” report which will not (and cannot) be used for performance reporting purposes Both workers and managers should regularly run the report to monitor that assessment checkpoints are written up before going overdue (could be useful at supervision?) Once the report has been run, it can be exported to PDF in a separate window (allowing the user to continue using other CareFirst screens) All checkpoint calculations are based on the answer to q.3.1.2 (date of decision to undertake an assessment). Managers should check this question contains an answer at Day One of the assessment Cases disappear from the report once the Assessment has been authorised or abandoned (you only want to track ongoing assessments!) Some assessments do not require checkpoints to be recorded (e.g. a routine “update” assessment for a looked after child). Managers should know which cases these are; the report will not differentiate them All weekly and monthly performance reports will be updated to reflect the SW Assessment as well as any open IAs and CAs

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