Refer to children's services
Key points
This section assumes that you are concerned enough about a child to want to make a referral to children's social care, because you think they will be best placed to help. You should do this by telephone, following up in writing by fax, secure email, letter or their referral form. If fax, email or letter is used, this must then be followed up with a referral form within 48 hours. If you send in a written referral and children's social care haven't contacted you then you must contact them within three working days of making the referral. [WTSC 5.32]
Press here for contact details.
However it is may be helpful to read the guidance contained in these procedures first if the situation fits any of the following:
There is further guidance in these procedures which may help you in the following circumstances:
Children involved in prostitution
How to do it
Children's social care will want to decide with you whether;
this is a child protection case requiring a strategy discussion, a core assessment or an initial assessment; or
another agency should deal with the matter, or
you need to continue to monitor the situation.
It will help if you consider;
why you think the time is right to discuss the matter with children's social care
what information you can give them about
the child's developmental needs
parenting capacity
social and environmental factors.
how you will remain involved with the family
whether the parents know that you are making this referral
whether the parents agreed to you making this referral
how you can help to introduce a social worker to the family - for example by a joint visit
what you want children's social care to do.
It is important that you make your referral as soon as you have decided that this is the best course of action.
At the end of any discussion about a child, the referrer (whether a professional, a member of the public or a family member) and the social worker must be clear about what the proposed actions are, who will undertake them and what the timescale is; or alternatively that no further action will be taken. This decision should be recorded by both the person making the referral (if a professional) and the worker in children's social care.
Sometimes children's social care may be unable to get involved. This could be because the situation is not serious enough, or because there isn't yet enough information. In this case, you should continue to follow up your concerns, working with the family and collecting further information. Do not stop until you are sure that the child's needs are being met or that there is no need to be concerned.
Lessons from research
Research by Dendy Platt (2006) shows that judgments by social workers are not made solely on the basis of the risk to the child. They are also affected by;
the motives of the parents
what other professionals say
how specific the description of the harm to the child is
the worker's own interpretation of seriousness.
Other problems are that;
information taken at the point of referral is not adequately recorded
facts are not checked
reasons for decisions are not noted.
For these reasons, social workers should ask themselves
am I sure the information I have noted is 100 per cent accurate?
if I didn't check my notes with the family during the interview, what steps should I take to verify them?
do my notes show clearly the difference between the information the family gave me, my own direct observations, and my interpretation or assessment of the situation?
do my notes record what actions I have taken/will take, and what actions all other relevant people have taken/will take? [WTSC 5.47]
See Cleaver H, Wattam C and Cawson P: Assessing Risk in Child Protection, London, NSPCC (1998)