From the Conwy & Denbighshire Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) in March 2012.

1. REFERRAL TO
ASSESSMENT
Promoting Multi-Agency
Working and Collaboration.

2. REFERRAL PROCESS :-
• When to make a Referral
• How to make a Referral
• Child Protection (C.P)
• Child in Need (CiN)
• Threshold of Children’s Services
• Assessments.

3. Child Protection Referrals
• Significant harm
• When to make a C.P. Referral
• Timescales
• Information required.
• What not to do.

4. When to make a C.P. Referral?
• Is the child at risk of significant harm?
• Does a child have an injury?
• Disclosure
• Is there a reasonable explanation by child/
parent or carer?
• Any historical child protection concerns?
i.e previous injuries/c.p register

5. Timescales
• Child protection referrals should be made to the department
as soon as possible, when suspicion or concern about a
child becomes apparent, and certainly within 24 hours in
order to allow the department and Police to have an
opportunity for an initial strategy discussion;
• All telephone referrals or referrals made in person, should be
confirmed in writing within two working days, using the
Conwy and Denbighshire referral form;
• Outside office hours, referrals should be made to the
Emergency Duty Team or to the Police
(All Wales Child Protection Procedures, 2008)

6. Information required
• Suspicion about child abuse may take the form
of ‘concerns’ rather than ‘known facts’;
• Gut feeling – pick up the phone and discuss;
• Concerns can and should be shared with the
department through a referral;
• But while concerns may not necessarily trigger a
S.47 Child Protection investigation, referrals do
help to build up a picture

7. Information required cont’d…
The duty social worker taking the referral should be given as much of the following
information as possible by the referrer, which also needs to be included in your
written referral…
• The nature of the concerns;
• How and why those concerns have arisen;
• The full name, address and dates of birth (or age) of the child;
• The names, addresses and dates of birth/ages of family members along with any
other names which they may use or are known by;
• The names and relationships of all those with parental responsibility, where known,
should be recorded;
• The name, address and date of birth of parent’s partner;
• The name, address and date of birth of any other adults living in the household;
• The names of other professionals involved with the child/family, including school and
G.P;
• Any information you may have on the child’s developmental needs and his/her
parents or care giver’s ability to respond to these needs;
• Any information affecting the safety of staff.
(All Wales Child Protection Procedures, 2008)

8. What not to do
• Do not go beyond basic simple questions;
• Do not interrogate the child or
parent/guardian;
• However, if the child discloses openly to
you, do not stop them;
• Do not make promises to a child or family;
• Do not try to manage the situation yourself;
• Do not and can not remain anonymous.

9. Child in Need Referrals
• When to make a CIN Referral
• Threshold
• Consent
• Timescales
• Joint Assessments

10. Threshold
• Eligibility Criteria
• Tiers 1 – 4
• Tier 1 – Universal Services
• Tier 2 – Targeted Services
• Tier 3 – Complex Needs
• Tier 4 - Acute Needs

11. Consent
• Consent IS required on all CIN referrals.
• Consent should be gained from parent or
person with P.R.
• Consent should be gained following a
discussion between parent/carer and the
referrer.
• Parent/carer should not be told a referral is to
be made. This is not consent.

12. Additional Information required with
all referrals, where possible.
• Chronologies
• Agency Assessments, i.e. Asset,
Edinburgh Scale, Health Pre-Birth
Assessments,
• Further Information

13. Joint Assessments
• Joint Home visits to carry out Initial
Assessment
• Joint Core Assessments (filling in
appropriate sections with family members,
including the child/young person)

14. Duty Social Workers
• Always available
• Happy to discuss any referrals
• Advice re Referrals
• Tel. 01492 575111 (9.00am – 5.15pm Monday to
Thursday, Friday 9.00am-4.45pm)
• EDT 01492 515777 (Emergency Duty
Team/Out of Hours)