83 CHILD PROTECTION CORE ASSESSMENTS
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To consider the report on initial and core
assessments for child protection cases.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
RECEIVED the report on First Response
Performance – timeliness of completion of Initial and Core
Assessments, introduced by Sylvia Chew (Head of First Response) as
laid out on pages 11 – 19 of the agenda pack.
NOTED in response to questions and
discussion:
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Performance indicators NI 59 (percentage of initial assessments
carried out within 10 working days from referral) and NI 60
(percentage of core assessments carried out within 35 days of
commencement) had previously been closely monitored by the
Committee. It was reported that
assessments comprised only 40% of the work of the First Response
Team and 71% were completed within deadlines through good
partnership working and a more stable workforce than in the
past. The Service was still very busy
and there were fluctuations in the numbers of referrals, for
example, towards the end of school terms when schools were more
aware of the situation of children needing referrals.
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Concern was raised in relation to paragraph 5.4 and the tables on
page 15 of the agenda pack which showed Haringey to be behind its
neighbours statistically. Officers
reminded members that the service provided high quality
assessments, meeting clear standards to ensure all relevant
referrals were seen and assessed. The Service had received a
“good” rating by Ofsted during the last unannounced
inspection.
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Officers explained the process for assessing initial referrals from
a member of the public or a partner such as the police, schools
etc. A multi agency team dealt with the
initial first contacts to gather intelligence and decide within 48
hours if and which agency should take the referral
forward. All contacts received were
screened and child protection referrals were passed on to the duty
manager on the same day as received.
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The database shared with partners was improving for better
identification of children; however, 51% of children referred were
not known to the borough and, in part this related to the
significant amount of temporary housing. Children from other
boroughs were passed on to the relevant local authority when it was
established safe to do so.
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It was recognised that the needs of Roma children,
in terms of accessing services, were difficult to meet due to their
movement between boroughs. Haringey employed a Romanian speaking
officer to help communicate with this group.
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The service had access to a Domestic Violence Senior practitioner and better
work with families where domestic violence was a feature was
provided since this officer had been
employed.
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There was also a specific team to deal with the
travelling community.
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In response to questions about maintaining current
service levels and possible service
cuts it was reported that there were 4 teams of social workers (7
social workers in each) and there was currently no plan to cut the
service.
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Where a child had been previously known to the local
authority and then came back into the system, often after moving
out of borough, a ‘step down’ package was devised to
ensure the appropriate support continued. The Head of First Response audited cases
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