Initial Contacts and Referrals

An Initial Contact is made where Children's Social Care is contacted about a child, who may be a Child in Need, and in need of a statutory assessment. This is undertaken via the Online Referral Form. This form is found on the Bolton council website.

All contacts need to be considered alongside the Threshold Document and Early Help Criteria and a decision made within 24 hours regarding the level of response required and if it should progress to a Referral.

At any time, an Initial Contact may become a Referral if it appears that services may be required for a Child in Need.

An Early Help Assessment is not a referral form, although it should be used to support an Online Referral or a specialist assessment.

In all other cases, at the point when an Initial Contact is made, the duty worker should establish whether the enquiry can be dealt with by the provision of information and advice or re-direction to other agencies or services instead of a referral.

The duty worker should also check the electronic data base records to see if the child or family is known and, if so, retrieve information on them.

An Initial Contact will be progressed to a Referral where the social worker or manager considers an assessment and/or services may be required for a Child in Need.

Referrers should have the opportunity to discuss their concerns with a qualified social worker.

Once the Referral has been accepted by local authority children's social care the lead professional role falls to a social worker.

The social worker should clarify with the referrer, when known, the nature of the concerns and how and why they have arisen.

The information that is required is held on the Online referral Form.

Once a decision has been made that a Contact should be passed to Referral stage, all Referrals must be recorded and a decision made about their disposal within one working day/24 hours.

Within one working day of a Referral being received, the Integrated Front Door social worker should make a decision about the type of response that is required. This will include determining whether:

• The child requires immediate protection and urgent action is required;
• The child is in need, and should be assessed under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989;
• There is reasonable cause to suspect that the child is suffering, or likely to suffer, Significant Harm, and whether enquires must be made and the child assessed under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989;
• Any services are required by the child and family and what type of services; and
• Further specialist assessments are required in order to help the local authority to decide what further action to take.

The following process applies both to children who are already known to the authority and those who were not previously known.

The process of Referrals must include screening against the Threshold Document and/ or Early Help Criteria and must include internal electronic database and agency checks to establish whether the family is previously known, and whether there is a Child Protection Plan in relation to the child and/or whether the child is Looked After.

The screening process should establish:

• The nature of the concern;
• How and why it has arisen;
• What the child's needs appear to be;
• Whether the concern involves Significant Harm;
• Whether there is any need for urgent action to protect the child or any children in the household.

This process will involve:

• Consideration of any existing records, including whether the child is the subject of a Child Protection Plan;
• The parent or carer should normally be informed that a Referral is being made unless to do so would place a child or vulnerable adult at increased risk of harm;
• The Information shared should always be necessary, proportionate, relevant, accurate, timely and secure;
• Involving other agencies as appropriate and in accordance with Information Sharing: Advice for Safeguarding Practitioners (DfE) and Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfE).

If there are indications that a child may be at risk of Significant Harm, the manager may authorise whatever actions are necessary to protect the child or others in the household from Significant Harm, which may result in the immediate provision of services. There should be consideration of a Strategy Discussion and of a multi-agency response (see Greater Manchester Safeguarding Children Procedures, Underlying Principles and Values Procedure, Safeguarding and Promoting Children's Welfare).

If there is suspicion that a crime may have been committed including sexual or physical assault or neglect of the child, the Police must be notified immediately.

Personal information about non-professional referrers should not be disclosed to the parents or other agencies without the referrer's consent.

Parents/carers should usually be informed before discussing a referral with other agencies unless this may place the child at risk of Significant Harm, in which case the manager should authorise the discussion of the referral with other agencies without parental knowledge. The authorisation should be recorded with reasons.

The initial disposal of a Referral, which must be authorised by the manager, may be:

1. That the child does not appear to be a Child In Need, which will result in one of the following: the provision of information, advice, sign-posting to another agency and/or no further action;
2. That the child appears to be a Child in Need with a moderate level of need, in which case, the manager may authorise a Single Assessment;
3. That the child appears to be a Child in Need with a high level of need, which must result in a C&F Assessment. Consent must be sought from the family;
4. That it is suspected that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer from Significant Harm, which will result in a C&F Assessment, with a view to conducting a Strategy Discussion, prior to a Section 47 Enquiry commencing.

Professional referrers should be advised of the disposal of the Referral.

Feedback on the outcome of the Referral should also be provided to non-professional referrers in a manner consistent with respecting the confidentiality of the child. 

The child and family must be informed of the action to be taken.

The child should be seen as soon as possible if the decision is taken that the Referral requires further assessment. This should be no longer than 5 working days but sooner if possible.

Where requested to do so by local authority children's social care, professionals from other parts of the local authority such as housing and those in health organisations have a duty to cooperate under section 27 of the Children Act 1989 by assisting the local authority in carrying out its children's social care functions.

All Initial Contacts and Referrals should be recorded on the electronic database.