Assessing Children in Need - Essay Example

Assessing Children in Need Introduction Children usually come within the purview of the social workers’ jurisdiction based on a variety of needs. Most of the time, they are assessed based on various processes and criteria which help determine the critical needs and those needs which need immediate attention. The needs of these children range from the physiological to the psychological and it is incumbent upon the social worker to identify these needs in order to ensure that these needs would be addressed. This paper shall now identify the processes and criteria which social workers should use in order to assess whether or not children are in need. These processes and criteria help fulfill the eligibility for children’s social services and help ensure that children in need are given the attention and care that they need in order to adjust well in society. Discussion The framework for assessing the eligibility of children in need covers three dimensions or areas – developmental needs; capacity of parents or caregivers to respond appropriately to those needs; and the impact of the wider family and environmental factors on parents and child (Shropshire “Framework”). In assessing the child’s developmental needs, areas of assessment include the child’s health, growth and development (physical and mental well-being); education; cognitive development from birth as well as opportunities for play, access to books and to acquire skills and interests; emotional and behavioural development; appropriateness of feelings and actions to caregivers and parents; identity; family and social relationships; development of empathy; social presentation; and self-care skills (Shropshire “Framework”). In assessing the capacity of parents and caregivers to respond appropriately to the child’s needs, there is a need to evaluate the parent’s and caregivers ability to provide the child’s physical needs, medical and dental care, as well as his provisions for food, drink, shelter, warmth, and clean clothing (Shropshire “Framework”). There is also a need to assess the parent’s and the caregiver’s ability to ensure the child’s safety – including the ability to protect the child from harm and danger, as well as the recognition of harm and danger in the child’s environment. The parent’s ability to provide emotional warmth to the child is also part of the framework in assessing the eligibility of a child in need. This includes guaranteeing the child’s need for a positive cultural and racial identity and ensuring the child’s needs for a secure and stable relationship with adults (Shropshire “Framework”). Assessing the ability of the parent to provide stimulation to the child is also part of the framework for determining the eligibility of a child in need. This includes the parent’s ability to facilitate the child’s cognitive development through communication (Shropshire “Framework”). The parent’s and the caregiver’s ability to provide guidance and impose boundaries on the child is also included in the framework for assessing the eligibility of a child in need. This aspect would require the social worker to assess the parent’s ability to regulate the child’s behaviour and emotions, as well as teaching and demonstrating to the child proper behaviour (Shropshire “Framework”). Finally, the parent’s and the caregiver’s ability to provide stability to the child needs to be assessed in order to determine the eligibility of a child in need. Reduced stability may mean that the child is really in need. In considering the family and environmental factors in assessing the eligibility of a child in need, factors include family history and functioning (genetic and psycho-social factors); wider or extended family; housing and accommodations whether they are sufficient to meet the needs of the child; employment and the impact of such employment on the child; income and whether or not it is sustained and sufficient to meet the child’s and the family’s needs; family’s social integration including his relationships to the neighbourhood and the community; and the community resources which include health care, day care, places of worship, etc (Shropshire, “Framework”). These are the standards and the framework by which a child is assessed for eligibility as a child in need. These needs are partly based on the needs as laid out by Maslow as it covers the physiological as well as the emotive needs of the child. The process of assessment in determining a child in need includes the following: clarification of source of referral and reason; acquisition of information; exploiting facts and feelings; giving meaning to the situation; reaching an understanding of the problems, strengths and difficulties impacting on the child; and drawing up an analysis of the child’s needs and parenting capacity (Merthyr, p. 31). This process helps to outline assessment and helps ensure that the child’s needs are taken into consideration. It is also important to note that assessment is a continuing process, one that is being carried out at every stage in the delivery of the child’s needs. “Understanding what is happening to a vulnerable child within the context of his or her family and the local community, and taking appropriate action are continuing and interactive processes and not single events” (Wirral Borough Council, p. 2). The different actions and services are provided based on the specified needs of the child and his family in conjunction with the assessment where necessary. It is not always important to complete the assessment process before health care needs can be delivered. The immediate needs of the child can already be filled even before or while the more complex needs are being fulfilled. Moreover, the assessment process should continue along a continuous pattern which assesses the interventions applied and how these interventions impact on the child’s life while his needs are being delivered. The assessment process also considers the following principles in evaluating whether or not a child is in need and what his actual needs would be in the long run. These assessments must be: child centred; rooted in child development; ecological in their approach; involve working with children and families; ensure equal opportunity; inter-agency in their approach to assessment and provision of services; build on strengths as well as weaknesses; a continuing process not a single event; carried out in parallel with other action and providing services; and grounded in evidence-based learning (DOH). These principles help ensure that the assessment process is holistic and greatly beneficial for the child and his family. The eligibility criteria for determining children who need looking after are first set after an assessment of the evidence indicates children are in following situation: children for whom it is not possible to manage the risk of harm within their families and there is no alternative within the wider family; children present a risk of significant harm to other children in other household and the risk cannot be managed by parents fulfil the requirements of ‘looking after;’ children for whom there are no suitable people within the family capable of looking after them in the future and in the long term; children for whom overnight stay is considered to be the most appropriate care for purposes of maintaining long term care within the family; and lastly, children remanded to local authority accommodation (Nottinghamshire, pp. 1-2). Children who are in need of protection services include the following: those who may or are in danger of suffering significant harm for risk under Section 47 of the 1989 Children Act; those who after assessment, are likely to fulfil the criteria for a child protection plan; and those who fulfil the criteria for a child protection plan based on the Department’s services (Nottinghamshire, p. 2). Children who need supportive services include families whose children’s health, welfare, and development are always subject of reports from agencies and from neighbours; families with a background in chronic deprivation and ill health with standards of parenting needing assistance; families with disabled children with exceptional needs putting stress on the rest of the family; and families who have been to the Section 20 accommodation panels but who have not been accommodated (Nottinghamshire, pp. 2-3). Families and children who need short term social report include families which, after assessment indicate a child in need under Section 17 of the Children Act of 1989 and where short term help can improve and avoid deterioration in their situation (Nottinghamshire, p. 3). The multiagency protocol is based on the protocols set by the different implementing agencies and local government units. A protocol set by the County of Powys more or less sets a standard protocol similar to other agencies. The county itself works with the National Framework for Assessment, the Children’s Services Local Authority, the Local health board and all independent and not for profit agencies in order to assess the children living within the county (Powys, p. 5). These different agencies work with each other and perform different functions which help assess children in need and determine their eligibility for the social services offered by the government and other private funding agencies. Conclusion The assessment process for determining children in need include the assessment of developmental needs; capacity of parents or caregivers to respond appropriately to those needs; and the impact of the wider family and environmental factors on parents and child. The criteria for determining eligibility for consideration as a child in need include eligibility for looking after, for protection, for supportive services, and for short-term social services. The multiagency protocol is based on the coordination of the National Assessment Framework, the Children’s Services Local Authority, the Local health board and all independent and not for profit agencies. These agencies apply the different assessment framework and eligibility criteria in order to assess the children who are in need and who may be entitled to social services and support. Works Cited Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (n.d) The Process of Assessing Child in Need. pp. 1-9. 31 July 2010 from http://www.merthyr.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8B181974-F2C9-4AD8-BB81-4E601938DEF9/0/AppendixA.pdf Nottinghamshire County Council (2008) Children’s Services – Eligibility Criteria for Children in Need Services. pp. 1-3. 31 July 2010 from http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/eligibilitycriteriaforchildreninneedservices.pdf Powys (2005) Powys Interagency Protocol for Children in Need and their Families. pp. 1-84. 31 July 2010 from http://www.powys.gov.uk/rep_2005-03-16cfll1_32b_en.pdf?id=47 Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Boards Inter Agency Child Protection Procedures for Safeguarding Children (2009) Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families. “Framework”. 31 July 2010 from http://cpp.shropshire.gov.uk/chapters/p_frame_ass_cin.html Wirral Borough Council (n.d) Managing Individual Cases. pp. 1-9. 31 July 2010 from http://www.wirral.gov.uk/downloads/1140 Read More

Assessing the ability of the parent to provide stimulation to the child is also part of the framework for determining the eligibility of a child in need. This includes the parent’s ability to facilitate the child’s cognitive development through communication (Shropshire “Framework”). The parent’s and the caregiver’s ability to provide guidance and impose boundaries on the child is also included in the framework for assessing the eligibility of a child in need. This aspect would require the social worker to assess the parent’s ability to regulate the child’s behaviour and emotions, as well as teaching and demonstrating to the child proper behaviour (Shropshire “Framework”).

Finally, the parent’s and the caregiver’s ability to provide stability to the child needs to be assessed in order to determine the eligibility of a child in need. Reduced stability may mean that the child is really in need. In considering the family and environmental factors in assessing the eligibility of a child in need, factors include family history and functioning (genetic and psycho-social factors); wider or extended family; housing and accommodations whether they are sufficient to meet the needs of the child; employment and the impact of such employment on the child; income and whether or not it is sustained and sufficient to meet the child’s and the family’s needs; family’s social integration including his relationships to the neighbourhood and the community; and the community resources which include health care, day care, places of worship, etc (Shropshire, “Framework”).

These are the standards and the framework by which a child is assessed for eligibility as a child in need. These needs are partly based on the needs as laid out by Maslow as it covers the physiological as well as the emotive needs of the child. The process of assessment in determining a child in need includes the following: clarification of source of referral and reason; acquisition of information; exploiting facts and feelings; giving meaning to the situation; reaching an understanding of the problems, strengths and difficulties impacting on the child; and drawing up an analysis of the child’s needs and parenting capacity (Merthyr, p. 31). This process helps to outline assessment and helps ensure that the child’s needs are taken into consideration.

It is also important to note that assessment is a continuing process, one that is being carried out at every stage in the delivery of the child’s needs. “Understanding what is happening to a vulnerable child within the context of his or her family and the local community, and taking appropriate action are continuing and interactive processes and not single events” (Wirral Borough Council, p. 2). The different actions and services are provided based on the specified needs of the child and his family in conjunction with the assessment where necessary.

It is not always important to complete the assessment process before health care needs can be delivered. The immediate needs of the child can already be filled even before or while the more complex needs are being fulfilled. Moreover, the assessment process should continue along a continuous pattern which assesses the interventions applied and how these interventions impact on the child’s life while his needs are being delivered. The assessment process also considers the following principles in evaluating whether or not a child is in need and what his actual needs would be in the long run.

These assessments must be: child centred; rooted in child development; ecological in their approach; involve working with children and families; ensure equal opportunity; inter-agency in their approach to assessment and provision of services; build on strengths as well as weaknesses; a continuing process not a single event; carried out in parallel with other action and providing services; and grounded in evidence-based learning (DOH). These principles help ensure that the assessment process is holistic and greatly beneficial for the child and his family.

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