1.2.1 Introduction to ICS |
Contents
- Introduction to ICS within Framework
- Table of Episodes and Documents
- Principles of ICS
- Information Gathering
- Working with Sibling Groups
- Openness and Consent
1. Introduction to ICS within Framework
ICS is the case recording and workflow system which has been developed from the Framework for Assessment and the Looked After Children materials which have been in use since 2000. It forms part of the Every Child Matters agenda.
Extensive background can be accessed on the Every Child Matters website.
An on-line training and information is also available on the 'Write Enough' website This site provides useful information and guidance but please note that the ICS documents in use in Lambeth have been modified from the original versions.
ICS includes 4 types of records:
- Information Records: the Contact Record, Referral and Information Record and the Chronology.
- Assessment Records: Initial and Core Assessment Records, Initial Child Protection Conference Report, Record of Strategy Discussion, Outcome of S47 enquiries and Assessment and Progress Records.
- Planning Records: Child or Young Person's Plan, Child's Care Plan, Adoption Plan, Pathway Plan.
- Review Records: Child in Need Review, Child Protection Review, Looked After Child Review.
A small number of additional documents have been developed to supplement the ICS records. These include the Child Protection Screening Form and the Consent form. These can be found in the Documents section within Frameworki.
The Initial Assessment is the 'gateway' to any level of involvement with a child or family greater than providing brief advice and information - though sometimes it may be done very briefly - particularly where a Core Assessment is going to be done.
The Core Assessment is at the heart of the process and is the basis for all ongoing work with children and families, particularly where there are complex or long term issues.
The Child's/Young Person's Plan is developed from the needs analysed in the Core Assessment. It summarises what we are trying to achieve for each child and the services and resources being used to do this. Where a child is in need of protection the plan becomes known as a Child Protection Plan, though the same format is used. Where a child is accommodated the plan becomes the Care Plan.
ICS operates within Frameworki, the electronic case management system which is used by both Children's Social Care and Adult Services.
Framework is an electronic recording and case management system that maintains an index of all children who have had contact or have been notified to Children's Social Care and of the adults who are known to be connected with them.
Full details of the workflow and processes within Frameworki are available on the intranet and also on the CD which is distributed to everyone who has received training.
Framework structures work into a series of episodes - contact, referral, initial assessment etc. Within each episode work can be assigned, tasks undertaken and manager approval obtained for completed work or recommended actions.
Episodes contain the following: the applicable ICS document, the option to upload documents, a list of compliance questions (but not always) and an area where you can seek manager approval for completed work and recommended actions.
2. Table of Episodes and Documents
The majority of Frameworki episodes will have corresponding ICS documents, however there may be more than one ICS document for some episodes, while some ICS documents e.g. the Looked After Child and Child protection Reviews involve more than one episode
All episodes (except 'LBL Contact') within the Fostering and Adoption Teams are not at present covered by ICS documents.
| Episode | ICS document | Replaces | Notes |
LBL Contact |
ICS Contact record | CD 2 | Use for info only or when unsure if action is required |
| ICS Referral | ICS Referral and Information record | CD 1 | Use whenever there is a clear request for service |
| ICS Initial Assessment | ICS - Initial Assessment LBL CP Screening Form | CD11 | Episode can be started and ended without completing full doc whenever manager agrees that a Core Assessment is needed. Used to assess potential CP issues prior to Strategy Meeting - Use CP screening tool. |
| ICS Core Assessment | ICS - Core Assessment | Current format | Used to assess:
|
| ICS Strategy Discussion | ICS Record of Strategy Discussion | New | Three purposes:
It is the Team Manager's responsibility to complete this form. |
| ICS Section 47 Enquiry | ICS Record of Outcomes of Section 47 Enquiries | New | Summarises the outcome of a S47 enquiry, prior to completion of a Core Assessment. |
| ICS Initial/Pre-Birth CP Conference | ICS Initial/CP Child Protection - Child Protection Report | Current format | This should contain a summary of the issues to emerge from the Core Assessment, whether completed or in progress. |
| ICS Review Child Protection Conference | ICS - Child - Young Person Protection Review | Current format | This should contain a summary of any fresh information to have emerged since the previous conference and reviews the progress of the Child Protection Plan.
Part 1 - completed by the SW prior to the conference Part 2 - Completed by the Chair following the conference |
| LBL Record of Core Group Meeting | Non-ICS | Continuation | Existing doc now embedded in Framework. |
| LBL Child Protection Visit | Non-ICS | Existing doc now embedded in Framework. | |
| ICS Child/ Young Person's plan | ICS Child/ Young Person plan (Child Protection) | CP plan in Case Conference Decisions | This is in same format as the general Child/Young Person's Plan and is generally known as the Child Protection Plan. |
| LBL Allegation of Sexual Abuse against a Child | L.B.Lambeth Summary Child Protection Screening Form | New | This must be used to record the substance and outcome of any allegation of sexual abuse or underage sexual activity. |
| LBL Reception into Care | ICS Placement Information Record | EIR Pt 1 and 2 Foster Carers' Undertaking |
Must be completed/updated prior to any new placement and a copy provided to the parents and foster or other placement. |
| LAC Reviews Start and Complete - 2 stage | ICS Child - Young Person Looked After Review | Current format | Part 1 - completed by the SW prior to the conference.
Part 2 - Completed by the Chair |
| Not episode based | ICS Child/Young Person Care Plan | LAC materials | Part 1 - the overall direct of the plan Part 2 - the detailed steps needed to get there |
| Permanency Plan | ICS Adoption Plan | New | Must be completed for the second (4 month) review whenever adoption is being considered. Replaces Part 2 of the Care Plan when adoption is the only plan being pursued. |
| Not episode based | Assessment and Progress Record 1 and 2 years | Assessment and Action records | Required for all LAC from their third (10 month) review |
| Not episode based | Assessment and Progress Record 3 and 4 years | |
|
| Not episode based | Assessment and Progress Record 5-10 years | |
|
| Not episode based | Assessment and Progress Record 11- 15 years | ||
| ICS Develop Pathway Plan | ICS Pathway Plan | |
St. Christopher's will continue to use their existing format. ACT should complete Care Plan. |
| ICS Review Child/ Young Person's plan | ICS Child/ Young Person in Need Review | New | The Team Manager is responsible for determining the appropriate forum for this review. |
| LBL Close to Department | ICS Closure Record | CD11 | Same format used for transfer summaries |
| ICS Chronology | ICS Chronology | LBL chronology | Must be begun alongside a Core Assessment. Only 'Record of Significant Events is compulsory. Detailed areas are at the workers/managers discretion. |
3. Principles of ICS
ICS is based on an individual record of each child who receives a service. The benefits of this are that the delivery of services to them is founded on an understanding of their specific individual needs, rather than on a list of problems or on what their parents or others may be requesting on their behalf.
This approach to our work with children and families, based upon meeting their individual identified needs is a common thread throughout all stages of work from Initial Assessment to Pathway Plan.
A further benefit of the ICS approach is that when a child's circumstances change, for example they are accommodated or return home from accommodation their existing documentation can be built upon within their new circumstances - the Child and Young Person's Plan can be developed into the Child's Care Plan.
All the ICS documents are therefore the core information gathering, assessment, planning and review tools for all our work with children in need and their families.
The common elements throughout all of the recording formats are:
The recording formats therefore go systematically through the dimensions of the child's needs - this may seem laborious but ensures that all areas are covered.
The Child's Developmental Needs
An understanding of the child's fundamental developmental needs and of the parents' response to meeting these needs is at the heart of ICS and is a necessary step in considering what support or other intervention is should be provided. Needs are divided as follows: Health, Education, Emotional and Behavioural Development, Identity, Family and Social Relationships, Social Presentation and Self-Care Skills.
The degree of depth in which the areas are covered will clearly depend on the type of assessment or other work that is being undertaken: for an Initial Assessment you are undertaking a general screening as to whether the child is in need of services and if so whether a more intensive assessment is necessary; for a Core Assessment you need to focus on the fundamental issues in a child's life and thus need to go into much greater depth.
For a Looked After child where the Authority has responsibility for both their day to day well-being as well as their longer term outcomes far more comprehensive details of their health and educational needs are required than for children who are cared for by their parents.
These are some of the points you need to bear in mind when looking at the categories:
Health - means not just whether the child suffers from any acute or chronic health condition: it should also include whether they eat healthily, have a regular and age appropriate sleeping pattern and are physically active and able to enjoy play and other age appropriate activities.
Education - likewise is not just a matter of whether a child goes to school; but also whether they have an age appropriate interest in the world around them, have access to reading materials within the home, the facilities and support to complete homework etc.
| For both health and education it will normally be necessary to get information from those professionally concerned with the child in those areas. |
Emotional and Behavioural Development - this will often be the heart of an assessment of a child's needs and of whether the child is making age appropriate psychological development. This should look both at areas of potential positives: whether milestones have been met, the child has a capacity to make relationships with others, whether normal sibling rivalry is balanced by positive interaction; as well as whether there are problem areas such as bed-wetting or nigh fears etc.
Identity - 'who I am' - will not be an issue for many children, however it may be so where English is not spoken at home, where part of a child's life has been spent outside the UK or where one or both of a child's parents are not currently with them.
Family and Social Relationships - includes the child's need to be part of a wider family and social network. When and how frequently does the child see extended family and friends from outside of their day-to-day network? Is this a positive thing for them?
Social Presentation - This may not be a significant area for all children but should include the ability to present themselves in the range of situations they encounter in the community, in school etc.
Self-care skills- Are these appropriate to the child's age and developmental level? This may include them being inappropriately advanced if a young child is having to undertake tasks such a shopping or food preparation, which more appropriately belong with an adult.
Parenting Capacity- is looked at alongside the areas of the child's needs. This is because the parents' issues and problems are most appropriately seen in terms of their effect upon the ability of the parent to meet the child's needs. The existence of a factor such as parent's mental illness does not of itself mean that a child will not be appropriately cared for: it is essential to know what its impact is upon the child and whether it is balanced by other factors, in order that the child's situation can be understood.
Attributes of parents'/carers' capacities- This is the section to focus upon the common themes to emerge in looking at parents' abilities to respond to the children's needs. It is particularly important to be able to understand in order to address any major problem areas such as ill-health or disability, learning difficulties, mental health problems or personality disorders or abuse of drugs or alcohol. Any persistent criminal or anti-social behaviour on the part of a parent is also likely to affect their ability to parent their child and should be noted.
Family and environmental factors- This is the point at which relevant aspects of the family's social history including any difficulties the parents encountered during childhood and youth should be summarised.
4. Information Gathering
The ICS recording formats are tools for gathering and structuring information - they must not be used as questionnaires. Information gathering to complete an ICS record should be based, as appropriate on the following:
Discussion - with the child at an age appropriate level, as well as with the parents and carers, recognising their cultural and linguistic background and using interpreters or other communication support as necessary.
Observation - of the child and parents in terms of physical care, of the conditions of the home and of any clues this might contain, of the parents and child's social presentation and of the verbal and non-verbal interaction between them.
Historic Information - usually from Children's Social Care records. This may include records held on a parent when they were a child. It is important to obtain details of the involvement of other Children's Social Care agencies where there has been such involvement.
Current Information - from agencies and professional currently working with the child.
5. Working With Sibling Groups
Many of the children we work with live with brothers and sisters who may also have been referred. When assessing the needs of sibling groups it is essential to balance the need to treat each child as an individual; with an awareness of the common factors in the parenting and family environment which affect all of them.
It is therefore essential to undertake an individualised assessment of each child's developmental needs. This is important in ensuring that children who have less conspicuous needs and problems than do their siblings are not 'lost'.
It is however likely that there will be significant common factors in the 'attributes of the parents' and carers' capacities' and in the 'family and environmental factors'. It is therefore legitimate to copy these aspects of the assessment between siblings, however this always needs to be subject to a critical scrutiny and consideration as to whether there are distinct individualised aspect to these areas e.g. when some siblings have a different parent.
6. Openness and Consent
Assessments of children's needs must be conducted openly and transparently and with every effort to engage the co-operation of the parents and children concerned. Compulsory powers are available only when we have 'reasonable cause to suspect significant harm': at other times we need to use encouragement and persuasion when parents or children to promote participation in an assessment.
Members of the public may sometimes be understandably impatient for delivery of the service they wish to receive. It is important to explain that the purpose of an assessment is to ensure that any service is appropriate and that this requires an understanding of the needs it is intended to meet and the outcomes for the child that will be brought about.
Parents should always be asked to sign a consent form at the beginning of an assessment. This asks them to agree:
- To the assessment going ahead
- To other agencies involved with them and their child being contacted to provide relevant information
- To the outcome of the assessment being shared with other agencies as appropriate
Where it is necessary to begin an Initial Assessment prior to meeting the parent every effort should be made to contact them to discuss this to obtain verbal consent by telephone., the outcome of which should be recorded on the case note. Starting work on an Initial Assessment should not however be delayed where consent is awaited and this should be dealt with at the earliest reasonable point.
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