1.6.3 Allocation of Work and Transfer Protocols

Duration of Work within the Referral and Assessment Service
Transfer of Cases between RAS and Neighbourhood Services
Tracking Referrals, Initial Assessments, CIN Core Assessments and Section 47/Core Assessments
Transfer of Cases (internal/external)
Disputes
Criteria for transfer between Different Neighbourhood Teams
Criteria for Transfer between Neighbourhood Services and Specialist Teams
Transfers to Family Support Teams

APPENDIX 1 - Allocation of Work between Referral and Assessment and Neighbourhood Services

1. Duration of Work within the Referral and Assessment Service

Cases remain allocated within the Referral and Assessment Service for the following time:

Initial Assessments - until the assessment has been completed and a plan of intervention identified - 7 working days - Transfer to a Multi-Disciplinary Team is then automatic unless there is a Section 47 Enquiry of the child becomes Looked After
Looked After Children - until the first Looked After Review -maximum of 28 days - Transfer to Neighbourhood Services should be automatic.
Initiation of Court Proceedings - Transfer to Neighbourhood Services occurs at the point that the Court makes a decision in respect of an interim order. If no order is granted the case should transfer at this point.
Section 47 Enquiries - where the outcome is that the child is not made subject to a Child Protection Plan - up to Initial Child Protection Conference - maximum of 15 days - Transfer to Neighbourhood Services should be automatic
Child made subject to a Child Protection Plan - Transfer to Neighbourhood Services will take place at first Core Group meeting. This meeting will be chaired by a RAS manager and attended by Neighbourhood Services for handover.

Neighbourhood workers should when possible attend Initial Child Protection Conferences and Initial Looked After Reviews to assist in a smooth transition between services locations.

There may be exceptions to these time scales, which will be agreed by the Integrated Service Manager from Referral and Assessment Service in consultation with the relevant Neighbourhood Integrated Service Manager.

RAS managers will develop and maintain links to Neighbourhood Managers/CAF Co-Coordinators/Community Resource Officers and attend Neighbourhood Family Support Meetings/Panels and also other relevant professionals as appropriate.

2. Transfer of Cases between RAS and Neighbourhood Services

There is a joint commitment between Neighbourhood and RAS Services to achieve the automatic transfer of cases.

A meeting is convened every Wednesday between RAS and Neighbourhood Managers to discuss and progress transfers from RAS to Neighbourhood Services. The Integrated Service Managers from each Neighbourhood either attend or send appropriate representation at a level that ensures decisions can be made and cases progressed to Neighbourhood Services. The RAS administrator is responsible for ensuring that notes are taken and brief notes distributed on agreements and decisions reached. The family and relevant professionals concerned will be notified in writing that the case is to transfer and Neighbourhood Services will further notify the family in writing of the newly allocated worker identified.

Essentially, the meeting is to agree that plans are in place and recording (on the case file and on relevant systems) is up to the required/acceptable standard (see Transfer/Closure Summary Checklist).

The meeting does not discuss specific allocation issues and cases transfer at agreed transfer points and timescales. Manual transfer of case files should take place following the meeting.

For ease of transition, funding agreed within RAS continues for one week post transfer to be reviewed by the relevant Neighbourhood Integrated Service Manager.

Transfer Summaries should clearly outline outstanding recommendations from Child Protection Plans/Child in Need Plans. This should also be reflected in the CF15 Management decision-making record.

Any cases that are closed in Neighbourhood Services that require further involvement within 6 weeks will return to the previously allocated worker or appropriate other in Neighbourhood Services for completion of work required and to assist with consistency.

When only one child in the same family is open and a new referral is received on another child within the same household, the case will be the responsibility of the currently allocated worker; unless there are exceptional circumstances agreed by the Integrated Service Managers concerned.

See Appendix One for Allocation of Work

3. Tracking Referrals, Initial Assessments, CIN Core Assessments and Section 47/Core Assessments

Referrals, Initial Assessments, CIN Core Assessments and Section 47/Core Assessments are all recorded each week by the service on ICS and the electronic recording system.

Contacts are recorded on ICS only where the name of the child is known. Where a Contact is made with RAS and the name of the child is not known, a paper record will be made and recorded.

In addition caseload listings identifies the current Section 47 Enquiries/CIN and track time scales.

Once a week the Dedicated Admin clerks will be asked to run a list of outstanding Initial Assessments / Core Assessments so that the Managers can check out those which are almost reaching time scales and take action to ensure that they are progressed within timescales or where appropriate record the reason for delay and the planned completion date for review.

4. Transfer of Cases (internal/external)

All files must have either a summary at the end of a completion of an Initial Assessment or a written summary.

Workers should routinely use the Transfer/Closure Summary Checklist as an aide memoir in preparing files for transfer.

All files must be audited prior to transfer and any corrective action taken. Any files not reaching the Directorate's standard will not be transferred.

The team manager transferring will inform the team manager receiving that a transfer is proposed in order to facilitate the transfer to a named worker where possible. If at all possible, an introductory visit should be undertaken so that the current worker can introduce the new worker to a family/child.

On receipt of transferring case files, the receiving office must take a view on acceptance within a week. If no objection to the transfer is expressed within five working days, case responsibility transfers automatically. Objections to transfer can be made only if this guidance has not been fully adhered to or the relevant criteria have not been met.

The Transferring Team will remain responsible for the case until the five working days period referred to in (iv) above has been completed or (if an objection is expressed) until agreement to the transfer has been confirmed. At this point, the transferring team will advise others involved of the transfer giving a contact name and number in the receiving team.

Once a case is allocated, the child. parents, carers and if appropriate the Fostering Service should be notified in writing of any transfer by the newly allocated worker.

Where transfer of responsibility occurs between one local authority's Children's Social Care to another, this should be recorded on file and confirmed in writing.

Where any case is transferred within or between offices, it is important that assessed risk are clearly identified in the transfer summary so that informed decisions can be taken when considering allocation, case planning and closure. Managers in the receiving team must make sure that risks identified prior to transfer have been fully considered in any decision to allocate, close etc.

5. Disputes

Where there are disputes, these should be resolved wherever possible in discussion between fist line managers. Where this is not possible, reference will be made for the next line managers for the teams involved in the dispute.

Every effort must be made to prevent delay in this process - the needs of the child MUST ALWAYS be paramount.

6. Criteria for transfer between Different Neighbourhood Teams

When the family (Parent or person with Parental Responsibility) moves to a permanent address in another neighbourhood area, transfer should happen at the next review of the case, whether a Looked After Review, Child Protection Review Conference, Core Group or Child in Need Plan Review.

It is important that this should not happen in the middle of a Core Assessment or direct work where this change will have a significant detrimental impact on the management of the case or on the family concerned. Regard should also be had to Court timetables in this context.

When the case responsible social worker leaves the particular Neighbourhood Team and the family live permanently in another area, transfer should be automatic.

Where the worker is on long-term sick leave (over three months), every effort should have been made to reallocate the case. If this has not been possible and the family live permanently in another area, transfer should be automatic.

N.B. Where the child is Looked After, the home address of the person with Parental Responsibility or a Residence Order in respect of that child is the significant address.

Where those with Parental Responsibility move out of Coventry leaving a child in the care of Coventry City Council and the child is an open case to Neighbourhood Services, then the case remains with the neighbourhood area in which it was when the parent left Coventry.

Where families transfer outside the city, responsibility will be determined in line with the Inter Agency Protocol for Children in Need (see the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board Procedures Manual)

7. Criteria for Transfer between Neighbourhood Services and Specialist Teams

7.1 Permanence Team.

Where a case meets the criteria for the Permanence Team, transfer should be automatic. This is where a clear recommendation for Adoption has been made at a Looked After Review, or at a Child Protection Conference, where all family and friends options have been considered and rejected.

The Permanence Team will also accept a transfer where there is a very clear plan for Adoption for an unborn child.

Where a case ceases to meet the criteria of the Permanence Team, the case should automatically transfer back to the Neighbourhood Team in whose area the person with Parental Responsibility or a Residence Order lives.

7.2 Children's Disability Team

Where a case meets the criteria for the Children's Disability Team, transfer should be automatic

Where a case ceases to meet the criteria of the Children's Disability Team, the case should automatically transfer back to the Neighbourhood Team in whose area the person with Parental Responsibility or a Residence Order lives.

Criteria for Children's Disability Team

Criteria for access to social care services through the Children's Disability Team (CDT) will not be dependent on the diagnosis of a disability, but rather on the impact of that disability on the child and his or her family.

Cases will only come within the remit of CDT if all of the circumstances given below are met:

The primary reason for the involvement of social care services is a disability;
The impact of the disability on the young person or family is severe; and
The disability is such that it requires a service that is specialist.

NB If the child with a disability belongs to a sibling group with whom another Children's Social Care Team is involved for other reasons, then, in most cases, the responsibility for the child will remain in the neighbourhood team/with the allocated worker, with specialist advice and support being provided by CDT.

If a child is open to CDT and concerns arise with other siblings who are not open to Children's Social Care, the CDT will refer these children into the Referral and Assessment Service (RAS) who will do a joint visit / assessment and following this, discussions will be held about where the case should sit.

In the event of complex cases, then the Integrated Service Managers would need to decide the most appropriate allocation based on the individual circumstances.

8. Transfers to Family Support Teams

The prime purpose of Family Support Teams is to specialise in keeping children out of the Looked After Service and returning them home from the Looked After Service. In line with this, the following work will be transferred automatically to Family Support Teams:

Where an assessment concludes that family support services could avoid the admission of a child to the Looked After Service.
Where an assessment concludes that family support services could achieve the return of a child to the care of those with Parental Responsibility or other family members.

Where there is concern about a potential risk of Significant Harm, a Section 47 Enquiry and Core Assessment should be completed by qualified social work staff.

Where it is concluded that a child's rehabilitation to his or her family is no longer a viable option, such cases should be transferred as appropriate to the Permanence or a Looked After Children Team.

Where the resources of the Family Support Team allow, other appropriate work may be transferred to them for ongoing case management as determined by the appropriate Integrated Services Manager.

APPENDIX 1 - Allocation of Work between Referral and Assessment and Neighbourhood Services

The Referral and Assessment Service's business will generally consist of:

Taking Referrals
Carrying out Initial Assessments on new referrals
Carrying out Core Assessments for Children in Need (Section 17)
Carrying out Section 47 Enquiries with Core Assessments
Initiating Care Proceedings
Carrying out Core Assessments where children become Looked After
Taking new Notifications of Private Fostering and carrying out Initial Assessment and joint visit with specialist Private Fostering Worker before Transfer to Neighbourhood Services - see Private Fostering Procedure
Dealing with any issues in relation to a Private Foster Carer's own children - Refer to RAS to open and undertake Initial Assessment then transfer to currently allocated worker or another appropriate neighbourhood worker.
Pre-Birth Assessments unless children previously known and removed. Transfer once completed. If more than four weeks notice given- open straight to neighbourhoods to complete.
Requests for Section 7 Reports on new cases
Requests for Section 37 Reports on new cases
Notification of application for Special Guardianship Order and request for Court report on children not previously known (see Application for Special Guardianship Order Procedure )
Section 17 payments for all new referrals as appropriate
Initial Assessments of Families with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) - if no additional vulnerability- transfer for ongoing financial review to Neighbourhood Services
LAC admissions on new referrals
Progressing Looked After Children to return home or transfer to Neighbourhood Services - where the child is to remain looked after, the transfer may be to the Specialist LAC Team
Attending Panels as appropriate
Attending Family Group Conferences as appropriate
Open cases to RAS - CAF meeting to transfer Lead Professional role back to CAF arena - see Common Assessment Framework Procedure in the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board Procedures Manual
Receiving in Conferences - Initial Assessment - Transfer to Neighbourhood Services

The Neighbourhood Services business will generally consist of:

Initial Assessments on open cases
Looked After admissions
Attending Panels as appropriate
Attending Family Group Conferences as appropriate
Core Assessments for CP and LAC and complex CIN
Joint viability assessments of F&F-SGO of LAC
Pre-birth assessments on open cases and when children have previously been known
Pre-birth assessments on cases where the expected date of delivery is more than four weeks in advance.
Private fostering assessment jointly with Fostering and ongoing visits to the child - see Private Fostering Procedure
Section 17 payments to open cases
Progressing Child Protection Plans
Progressing Court work
Progressing Looked After Children to return home or permanency in which case the child will be transferred to the Specialist Services Permanency Team
Notification (on open case) of Private Fostering - Initial Assessment and joint visit with Specialist Private Fostering Worker
Notification from Court of request to accept a case from another authority (e.g. Supervision Order). Notify RAS to open case and progress within neighbourhood - attend Court etc
Revocations of Court Orders
Requests for Section 7 Reports on existing cases
Requests for Section 37 Reports on existing cases
Non Agency Adoptions - see Non Agency Adoption Procedure
Families with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) - maintain and review/progress
Review and maintain Residence Order Allowances
Attend Receiving in Conferences
Requests for Access to files
CAF meetings to transfer Lead Professional responsibility back to universal services

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