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Before Assessment Visit(s):

1. Check if consent to information sharing and assessment has been given at the referral stage.
2. If it has, identify all professionals and agencies involved with the child and obtain verbal information.
3. Collate and read any previous information held within Children's Social Care.
4. Contact the family if possible; explain the reason for contacting them and seek consent to    gather information if not already obtained. Discuss the assessment process with the family and   make arrangements to complete the assessment.

Assessment Visit(s):

1. Explain reason for visit (referral) and what the assessment will involve if explanation not already given.
2. Obtain consent to information sharing and assessment if not already obtained.
3. Provide the family and child/ren with relevant information leaflets, including information about the complaints procedure. 
4. Check who lives in the household. Are there any verbal or physical clues to indicate all members of the household have not been disclosed?
5. Check details of household members - names, dob, race/religion, school, employment, professionals involved.
6. Obtain information relevant to the ECM 5 Outcomes in respect of each child. This may be from direct questions or information provided by professionals -
   • Health - any disability; enduring health problems; illnesses; accidents; hospital visits; immunisations record
   • Education - any learning difficulties; school or nursery attendance/attainment
   • Any emotional/behavioural difficulties
   • Any family/social relationships difficulties - Does any child seem to be treated differently? Does any child seem fearful/withdrawn/friendless/clinging/overly affectionate to strangers?
7. Explore parental strengths and difficulties - any physical/mental illness/learning disability;  substance/alcohol misuse; domestic abuse; childhood abuse/ history of abusing children;   family's integration in the community and use of family/local supports and resources; any       financial difficulties
8. Observe the physical conditions of the home and the quality of interactions between household members. Are the home standards acceptable and have home conditions upstairs and down, where appropriate?
9. Consider whether any child is at risk of significant harm.
10. Obtain parents and children's views of what they think the issues are and any views they have about potential solutions. 
11. Discuss information obtained/observations; relevant historical information and any information provided by professionals
12. Decide what immediate services may be.
13. End with an indication of your conclusions/preliminary plan/subsequent actions.

After Assessment Visit(s)

Record the visit and the assessment. Specify the actions to be taken following the assessment needed and make appropriate recommendations in the record of the assessment for authorization / approval by the manager.

1. Submit the assessment for management authorisation.
2. Feed back to the family, referrer and other agencies the outcomes of the assessment in writing.
3. Provide copy of assessment to persons with parental responsibility with a cover letter
4. End of Service Customer Feedback form to be sent out to the person with Parental Responsibility and to the child.

End