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 where there is a request for general advice, information or a service.

All contacts need to be considered alongside the thresholds for Children in Need and Safeguarding and a decision made within 24 hours regarding the level of response required. First Contact is the Single Front Door for early help and support and are triaged within an appropriate timescale.

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

Any significant information received about a child who is an open case should be passed to the child's allocated social worker and recorded on the electronic data base.

A Children's Services Referral Form should be completed by partners for all requests for early help and support, or concerns about children.

Referrers should have the opportunity to discuss their concerns with a qualified social worker. The referrer should be asked specifically if they hold any information about difficulties being experienced by the family/household due to domestic abuse, mental illness, substance misuse and/or learning difficulties.

First Contact will establish whether the enquiry can be dealt with by the provision of information and advice or re-direction to other agencies or services.

First Contact will identify the initial level of threshold and determine if the referral will be accepted for a social care response (see Section 2, Screening Process).

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 of Need Document 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 Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures, Child Protection Enquiries - Section 47 Children Act 1989 Procedure, Strategy Discussion / Meeting).

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.

Once received, all contacts must be written up and a decision made about their disposal within one working day of the initial contact (Note: This should be as soon as possible where it is evident the child is seen as requiring immediate protection/urgent action). 

Within one working day, the social worker should make a recommendation about the type of response that is required which is then signed off by a Social Work Consultant/team manager. This will include determining whether:

• The child requires immediate protection and urgent action is required;
• 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.
  See Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures, Child Protection Enquiries - Section 47 Children Act 1989 Procedure, Timescales for Section 47 Enquiries;
• The child is in need, and should be assessed under section 17 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 outcome 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, which must result in an Assessment;
3. That it is suspected that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer from significant harm, with a view to conducting a strategy discussion, prior to a section 47 enquiry commencing, which will result in an Assessment (see Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures, Child Protection Enquiries - Section 47 Children Act 1989 Procedure).

Professional referrers should be advised of the outcome of the referral (see Durham Resource Library – First Contact and MASH).

Feedback should be given by local authority children's social care to the referrer on the decisions taken. Where appropriate, this feedback should include the reasons why a case may not meet the statutory threshold and offer suggestions for other sources of more suitable support.

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 Liquid Logic system.

The receiving Service must ensure the child and family are informed of the action to be taken.

Accepted referrals are progressed to either early help (One Point Teams) or statutory services (Family First Teams or Young People's service). An assessment will be required for a Child in Need. The child should be seen within 5 working days of allocation to a 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 social worker will arrange to visit or contact the referrer and obtain as much of the following information as possible (see Durham Resource Library – First Contact and MASH):

• Full names, dates of birth and gender of children;
• Family address and, where relevant, school/nursery attended;
• Identity of those with parental responsibility;
• Names and dates of birth of all members of the household;
• Ethnicity, first language and religion of children and parents;
• Nationality and immigration status;
• Any additional needs of the children including the means in which they communicate;
• Any significant recent or past events;
• Cause for concern including details of allegations, their sources, timing and location;
• The child's current location and emotional and physical condition;
• Whether the child needs immediate protection;
• Details of any alleged perpetrator;
• Referrer's relationship with and knowledge of the child and their family;
• Known involvement of other agencies;
• Information regarding parents' knowledge of the referral.