lcs user guide child in need - proceduresonline.com · 2018. 12. 14. · aug 2018 hp 2 5 7)...

LCS User Guide – Child in Need

People Directorate: Care & Support (Children & Families) SPART Team 1 Updated 14/09/2018

Contents Pre-requisites ............................................................................................................. 1

Single Assessment workflow ...................................................................................... 1

Priority (timescale)...................................................................................................... 2

Completing a Single Assessment ............................................................................... 2

Choosing Outcome: Child in Need – Active Child Plan ............................................. 8

Child in Need Review ............................................................................................... 10

Decisions Tab - Updating Child’s Plan and Other Actions ........................................ 14

Adding single assessment to unborn child ............................................................... 15

Starting the Single Assessment manually ................................................................ 18

Ending the Child’s Plan and Closing a CIN case ...................................................... 18

Pre-requisites Prior to completing a Single Assessment for a child, the child must have an active (authorised)

Referral Record. To progress to a Single Assessment the outcome of the referral would usually be

‘Single Assessment’ and the CSW/TM would assign this task to a social worker, or themselves, and

set a priority (timescale). However, if the outcome of the referral is Strategy Discussion (“fast track”

CP process) the Single Assessment is no longer initiated at the Section 47 stage but it can be started

manually from the Child’s Plan Decisions tab or the Full Map by clicking on the C&F Assessment box.

When you are updating previous versions of the Single Assessment, remember to copy forward your

latest assessment.

Single Assessment workflow LCS sometimes labels the Single Assessment, ‘C&F Assessment’ - where we can, we have re-written

many of these labels to display Single Assessment, but whenever you see ‘C&F Assessment’ or ‘C&F

Plan’ this is referring to our Single Assessment and CIN plan. (C&F = Child & Family).

The Single Assessment has been re-designed to include the ‘Signs of Safety’ methodology that has

now been adopted within Bristol.

Date Modified Author Version Page

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Priority (timescale) Your Consultant Social Worker (CSW) will set the ‘Priority’ if the Single Assessment is started as an

outcome of the Referral. If it is started manually it uses the default maximum timescale of 45

working days. Timescales are: 0-10 working days, 11-25 working days or 26-45 working days

(rounded up to next working day). Task due date in the worker’s worktray will reflect the chosen

timescale. Timescales can be amended with CSW approval in the tab labelled DCS.

Completing a Single Assessment 1) The social worker/CSW clicks on the task, which takes them into the Single Assessment pathway.

2) Click on the blue link ‘C&F Assessment’ to start the form.


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3) Select Start Blank or Copy Forward Selected as applicable. The first time you can only start

blank, after that you have to select Copy Forward as the system automatically copies forward

information from previous plans. You can also select to copy forward information from other

forms within the list.

or

The Single Assessment form has all the same functionality as a standard form and much of the form

is self-explanatory. Similar functionality includes:

The same “family working” consolidation for multiple siblings – use the toggle button to record answers individually, by child, where applicable.

Pages listed on the left hand side to enable you to move through the form.

Familiar buttons across the top: Save, Finalise, Cancel and Close. Please note if you cancel the first Single Assessment this will cause difficulties in creating a CIN plan.

Mandatory fields highlighted in red text.

If you click on the book icon within parts of the assessment, more information is provided

Free text boxes and tables.

4) Complete first page (shown above) the first three dates are automatically added but you will

need to enter the Date the assessment was completed before finalising the form (mandatory).

5) Complete Child & Family Information: Outline the ‘Reasons for doing an assessment’ including

the presenting issues are. Then complete the questions on consent (mandatory).


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6) Complete the Information about the Assessment section. This page includes information in

relation to who was involved in the assessment. Whether the child was seen during the assessment,

dates the Child/Young person & family members were seen.

The ‘Add New Case Note’ link must be used to add a case note to record the dates when the

child/young person were seen during the assessment. The case note(s) will need to be finalised

before you can finalise the form. Complete the Child’s & Parent/Carer views; this links to the ‘Sign of

Safety’ sections: What is the child/parent/carer worried about? What is working well? What do they

want to happen?

Finally on this page, complete details of who contributed to this assessment? Who has been seen

and spoken to and whether any difficulties arose or additional assistance has been needed. Key

Agencies /Professionals will need to be added manually – use the green plus to add more rows.


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7) Circumstances page – Complete the Assessment Framework questions – the three domains are;

Child’s Development Needs, Parenting Capacity and Family and Environmental Factors. Click

the green book at the end of the line to view areas to consider.

8) Complete the Signs of Safety Assessment page. Populate the text boxes.

9) Complete the Signs of Safety Planning section. This includes

Header page with information

Planning – action is required on this page if a Child’s Plan is required, see below.

Child’s Plan - see below


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Planning Section - This initial plan within the Single Assessment form cannot be consolidated, but consolidation will be available if required, next time you need to update the plan. Therefore, the ‘Create C&F Plan’ button must be started for each child separately.

TIP – The Create C & F Plan button must be selected for each child to ensure a plan is created for them, otherwise you will not be able to select Child In Need- Active Child’s Plan.

Child’s Plan - In this section complete the Child’s Plan for each child. You can ‘cut and paste’ from

sibling plans.


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10) Complete the Scaling and Views page to record scaling question, individual scaling and

comments made following the ‘Signs of Safety’ mapping process. Zero means it is not safe for a

child to live at home and ten means Social care services are not required. You can add a

different scaling question if this is more appropriate. Click on the radio button beside the value

to indicate the family, social worker and other professional scores as relevant.

11) TIP use the toggle button to add individual comments from children and contributors.

12) Factors Identified at the end of assessment. There should always be something identified as a

factor unless the Decision is NFA, in which case there should be no factors identified. Questions

are split up and some are about Parent/Carer or another person and other questions are about

the child.

If there is a disability the ‘Is Disabled’ tick box should be ticked as well as listing the Disability.

Factors are mandatory because they link to government funding streams. Please record

accurately.

At the bottom of the list of factors you have: Comments box, Other and No factors identified – only use this if NFA is the outcome and none of the above factors have been ticked.


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Complete the Recommended Outcomes section. Note the information below the screenshot about

creating an Active Child’s Plan.

Choosing Outcome: Child in Need – Active Child Plan For a CIN child, the first Single Assessment form that you complete will also require you to create the C & F Plan at the same time, before you can choose the ‘CIN – Active Child’s Plan’ outcome (screen above shows CIN Plan outcome crossed through). If the Plan is crossed out go back to the Planning section above for information on action to take to create the plan within the assessment. IMPORTANT ACTION: Make sure that you tick the ‘Child in Need – Active Child’s Plan’ option, otherwise the system will cancel your plan and the child won’t be recorded as CIN. TIP! You could select more than one outcome, see example below.

Click the grey Finalise Assessment button when the assessment is complete. This will send a message to the Consultant Social Worker to authorise the assessment.

13) The Consultant Social Worker will receive a message in their work tray to authorise the assessment.


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14) The Consultant Social Worker completes the Authorisation date and clicks the grey button Finalise Assessment. At the next stage the assessment can be returned to the Assessor if it requires revision.

15) The Consultant Social Worker selects Authorise or Request Further Information as applicable. Request Further Information will return the assessment to the assessor for revision. After they have revised the form it will go back to the Consultant Social Worker for authorisation. Alternatively the Consultant Social Worker can select the blue Amend link to enable them to amend the assessment prior to authorisation.

16) Following authorisation the Child’s Plan will be made active; the Case Coordinator will have a

message to this effect in their work tray.


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Child in Need Review A child who is the subject of a Child In Need Plan must have a Child in Need (CIN) Review at a

maximum of six months from the authorisation date of their Child in Need Plan. After the initial Child

In Need Review, subsequent reviews should occur at least every six months or earlier if there are

significant changes in the family circumstances, including consideration for ending a CIN plan.

You should have a task in your work tray to Child In Need- Organise Review Meeting.

1) Click on the link and the below screen will open. Enter the Planned Meeting Date, Length in Minutes

and Location. Notice that there is also an option to cancel the meeting if this is required.

On the right hand side of the Child in Need – Review screen an orange tick will appear if there are

outstanding tasks that need to be carried out before you can complete the meeting. If you click on

this it will show you the outstanding tasks.

2) Click on ‘Update Meeting Details and Scheduling’


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3) Click on the ‘Add Attendee’ link to select people to attend/invite to the meeting.

Sometimes you will need to add individuals not listed – use the links to locate them e.g. Click to

Add a Key Agency, Click to Search Other Professionals. You can continue to add Attendees to the

meeting until the outcomes form is finalised and authorised by the Consultant Social Worker.

TIP: On the Child In Need Review screen, under Meeting attendees you can click on Mark all as

Attended as a shortcut. You only need to mark the chair and who attended the meeting on the

system.

4) The post Meeting Outcomes form is completed by the social worker/CSW and authorised by the

Consultant Social Worker. Click on Meeting Held – Write up Outcomes’ to initiate the Outcomes

form.

When starting the Outcomes form the system will prompt you to add the Actual Meeting Date and

Planned Date of next CIN Review, click on copy planned meeting date if this was the date the

meeting was held as a short cut this will populate the date in Actual Meeting Date. Then click on

Update.


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5) A new link appears under Outcomes Form. Click on this link to open the outcomes form.

NB: Don't forget to copy forward rather than start blank! Signs of Safety mapping and previous

child’s plan will then copy into the CIN Review Outcomes form.

Complete the Chair's Report including the 'summary of discussion' and make sure you record if the

child attended (mandatory). You can still amend the attendees list at this point and add attendees

'Finalise' the Outcomes form and this will send a task to your Consultant Social Worker requesting

authorisation. You can update the CIN plan within the outcomes form.

6) Once the Consultant Social Worker has approved the outcomes form, you will have a task to

update the child’s plan. When you click into the task you will be taken to the following page.

From this screen you can either click ‘no changes to plan’ if you have updated the plan in the CIN

review outcomes form or if not then click to ‘update the plan’.


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7) Once you have updated the plan or clicked ‘No changes to Plan’ you will then be able to send for

Authorisation.

Future Reviews

LCS automatically sends you a new task to 'Update Child's Plan'. You should complete this as soon as

possible after the meeting and use the task in your tray to update the plan rather than manually

starting this task from the decisions tab, as otherwise the plan will not copy across to the next

review.

LCS automatically sends you a new task to start the next CIN review ‘Child In Need- Organise Review

Meeting’.

Note: You will not be able to complete another CIN Review meeting, if you still have an outstanding

‘Update Child’s Plan’ task.


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Decisions Tab - Updating Child’s Plan and Other Actions Click on the Active Child’s Plan task if you need to:

Start a Child in Need Review

Update (restart) the Child’s plan before the next review – this gives you version 1.1, 1.2 etc.

after each CIN Review you get a new version number. Please note if you manually restart

Update Child’s plan in this way then the plan will not copy to the next review.

Adding/updating/ending a S.17 Short Break placement.

Start the ‘Place Child into accommodation’ process – this starts the CLA process

Start Leaving CIN process – Use this prior to closing the case for a CIN child

Clicking on the task above opens the Decisions tab where you will see the list of possible Outcomes.

To create a short break placement use the S.17 placements tab and click on the below blue link.

Note: After a CIN Review has been completed an ‘Update Child’s Plan’ task will automatically be sent

to the case-coordinator and this should be updated as soon as possible after the review. You will not

be able to start the leaving CIN process or the next CIN Review forms if you have an outstanding task

to update the Child’s Plan.


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Adding single assessment to unborn child When a social worker is already supporting a child or young person, and the child’s carer, or the young person herself, becomes pregnant, an assessment should be recorded for the unborn child. This section explains how to complete this recording. In order to consolidate siblings, they need to be at the same point on LCC) 1. Add the child to LCS, recording the name as Unborn Mother’s-Last-Name. If you know the child’s gender, enter this; otherwise record the gender as Unborn. The system requires an expected DOB to progress the case, so enter the child’s approximate due date; you can always amend this when the child is born. 2. In the relationships tab, use the Edit Relationships link to record the child’s parent(s) and main carer; this will save time later on:

3. On the Personal Demographics screen, click the blue Create a new Contact link:

4. The contact form is used to start the process of making the child active in LCS so that an assessment can be recorded for them. If siblings are recorded, you may be asked if you wish to

include these in the contact record; generally, you do not, so unselect these and click 5. Only fields in red text are compulsory, so the other fields can be left blank. Fill in the date of contact with the date you became aware of the pregnancy:

6. The Child Details tab will be automatically completed with the information you have already recorded for the child and their carer(s) 7. The Contact Record tab is used to record details of the contact. Select ICS Child Request for Service in the Reason for Contact, and Assessment/Service in the Contact Outcome Code:


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8. Finally, complete the Further Action section by selecting Progress to Referral and

:

9. Because we are only recording a contact and referral to make the unborn child active in LCS, a team manager does not usually need to approve this recording. Instead, assign the authorisation to yourself by scrolling to the bottom of the list and clicking Create New Professional Involvement:

10. Search for and add yourself as the case coordinator, then select Case Coordinator and click Assign:

11. Use the bold Contact Record link to go into the record, click and then

12. Click and assign the Referral and Information record to yourself:


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13. In the Referral tab, fill in the reason for the referral; the reason for referral will have pulled through from the contact:

14. All other fields are optional, so go directly to Further Action and select an Outcome of Single Assessment:

15. Click , then . Assign the referral authorisation to yourself:

16. 11. Use the bold Referral Record link to go into the record. In the Relevant Information tab, record who will feedback to the person making the referral; since this is usually the pregnant carer, you can record that you will do this:

17. To authorise the record, click and then

18. This takes you to the Decision page, where you can click to start the Single Assessment. Select the appropriate timescale depending on the urgency of the assessment; your manager will be able to guide you on this:

19. Now click to begin filling out the Single Assessment. Complete the assessment, concentrating on the needs of the unborn child (not the young person who is pregnant). If you need


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to stop and go back to the assessment later, click . If the outcome of the single assessment is that the unborn child should be subject to a Child In Need plan then select the below outcome but you can select other outcomes as appropriate: for instance strategy discussion if there are concerns that the child is at risk of significant harm.

20. When you are happy with your record, click . This will automatically be sent to your team manager for their authorisation.

Starting the Single Assessment manually

As mentioned earlier, the Single Assessment can be started manually using the C&F Assessment box

in the Full Map or Restart tab in Single Assessment pathway.

This may be required if the outcome of a referral e.g. went straight to CP Strategy, and subsequently

need to complete a ‘Signs of Safety’ mapping with the family OR if you need to repeat the SoS

mapping process e.g. prior to a CIN/CP Review and record this and update the scoring . Single

Assessment has replaced the CP Pre-Meeting Report and CIN Pre-Meeting report is no longer

required.

A plan section will not appear in forms that are started manually, so this outcome ‘provision of

services’, will be available for you to trigger a CIN plan if applicable.

Ending the Child’s Plan and Closing a CIN case (Social worker completes steps 1-11 and Team Manager steps 12 -17)

1) Social Worker to check all outstanding tasks are complete and you only have an Active Child’s

Plan task (Screen below shows - Involvements tab with a few outstanding tasks that would stop

the closure process)

Tip if there are outstanding tasks you will not be able to close the CIN case.


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2) Social Worker locates the task from their Worktray or the ‘Involvements’ tab and clicks on the

“Child in Need – Active Child’s Plan” task, for the relevant child leaving CIN.

3) Case Pathway screen shows – click on the Decisions tab if it’s not already open – add the date

the child ceased to be CIN and the click on the Start button beside “Child in Need Leaving CIN

(Finalise Child’s Plan)”, outlined below.

4) Click on the Confirm button to proceed to the next stage


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5) Social Worker completes the on-screen form –adding the Plan End Date, Completion Notes and

Completed By (all these are mandatory), then click on Update Record button

6) Click on Start button beside “Child in Need No Further Action”

7) Check details and click on Confirm button to continue


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8) On screen confirmation shows that the “CIN No Further Action” has been completed. The blue

CIN flag now has a red line through it and the boxes in the pathway diagram are dark grey

indicating completion.

HOWEVER, THE CASE IS NOT CLOSED UNTIL YOU CLOSE THE REFERRAL – See next page

9) Referral Closure Record:

Following the completion of the CIN No Further Action task – LCS (Protocol) will automatically

send the social worker a Referral Closure Record task to their Worktray, as shown below.


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10) The social worker clicks on the task description to open the Referral Closure Record pathway - to

start the process click on the “Create Closure Record” button

11) The social worker completes the Closure Record adding the date case closed, a summary of

involvement and an Overall Summary, then Finalise – once finalised, a task is sent to your

manager to authorise the Closure Record.

Please note: the Plan sections in this form cannot be amended – the ‘final’ Child’s Plan should have

been updated before the leaving CIN process has been started!

12) The Team Manager clicks on the “Closure Record – Authorise” task from their Worktray

13) The CSW/TM reviews the completed Closure Record (click on the Closure Record link, outlined

below) and amends if applicable, then Finalises the form and chooses to either “Grant

Authorisation” or to “Request Further Information”.


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Click on Authorise to proceed or Request Further Information (this sends the Closure Record back

to the social worker to repeat step 11)

14) The team manager, after granting authorisation, must start the outcomes within the Decisions

tab, shown below. To continue to close the case, choose the Start button beside “Referral

Closure Final”

15) Click on the Confirm button to continue


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16) Team manager then selects the appropriate “End Reason”, then click on Close Referral button

17) The final step is to add the Retention Record: LCS (Protocol) will automatically calculate a

retention date – this can be amended if necessary.

Team manager must add the following mandatory fields:

a. Add the Retention Code

b. Retention Date (check automatic date is correct)

c. Action on Expiration: Standard option is to “Begin Purge Process”

d. Add any relevant retention notes (optional) and the paper file location

e. Save and Finalise the Retention Record


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Case is now closed – screen below shows the pathway in grey and green referral flag crossed out.

lcs user guide child in need - proceduresonline.com · 2018. 12. 14. · aug 2018 hp 2 5 7)...

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