- 16 and 17 year olds
Advanced Guidance (81 KB)- Children left alone
- Domestic abuse referrals
- Eligibility criteria
- Emergency Duty Team - Information
- Expected baby protocol
- Information sharing protocol and Referrals
- Legal framework for identifying responsible Local Authority (35 KB)
- Referrals to Adult Community Care (ACC)
- Successful features of partnership with a child
- Visits to hazardous places or people
Policy
B/1 A Referral and Information Record must be completed on receipt of a request to social care for a service, and authorised by the team manager (or senior practitioner where delegated to do so) within twenty-four hours.
B/2 The person taking the referral must discuss with the referee the issues of confidentiality and the sharing of information about a child and their family.
See: Protocol on Confidentiality and Information Sharing
B/3 If the referral is a matter of child protection then the person taking the referral must:
- undertake statutory checks with the Child Protection Register, and when appropriate, Child Health, the Child Protection Team (CPT).
- seek the advice of the team manager immediately.
See: Child Protection manual 2.8
Procedure
B/4 A person ( the referee) requests a services from social care and contacts the child care duty team.
B/5 The referral and information assistant (R&IA) receives information from the referee.
B/6 The R&IA may pass the referee to the duty social worker at an appropriate point if the call is complex or requires social work judgement; the duty social worker will then take responsibility for the rest of the procedure.
B/7 The R&IA or social worker discusses the issues of confidentiality, and information sharing with the referee.
B/8 The R&IA or social worker completes a Referral and Information Record.
B/9 The social worker must undertake statutory checks, and notify the team manager immediately, if the referral is a child protection issue.
B/10 The social worker or R&IA explains the proposed action and recommendations recorded on the Referral and Information Record to the referee.
B/11 The team manager should ensure (using “notify” or “task ” on PARIS), that the referee is advised of the outcome of the referral, by the R&IA or duty social worker, if they have not been already,. The referee should be advised of the outcome, before the referral is closed, and recorded as a Casenote by the R&IA or duty social worker.
B/12 The social worker or R&IA notifies the team manager that the completed Referral and Information Record is available for authorisation (or senior practitioner where delegated to do so) as soon as possible.
B/13 The team manager (or senior practitioner where so delegated) authorises the Referral and Information Record within twenty-four hours.
Guidance
B/14 A Referral and Information Record is completed when the request for the provision of a service, would lead to the allocation of a social care worker to assess the needs of the child.
B/15 Where a referral is made regarding a child protection matter, the team manager should consider whether the Referral and Information Record needs to be completed and authorised within twenty-four hours, for instance before the end of the working day.
B/16 Other requests for assistance from social care should be recorded on a Contact Record (and are not referrals but contacts) such as:
- To make a request for information about the young person;
- To check if a child/young person is known to Bristol social care;
- To give notice of another Agency's contact with child/young person;
B/17 The Referral and Information Record requires the person taking the referral to gather information about:
- The reason for the Referral (or request for service), including the referrers details.
(In the Information Record:)
- The child's personal details including ethnicity, nationality, impairment, (previous) known episodes of Child Protection Registration and/or being 'Looked After'.
- The child's parents, (and/or) carers including the family's social and community networks.
- Other household members including other children.
- Other significant adults associated with the child or their family
- Key agencies already involved including other social care cases associated with the child.
B/17 Further enquiries may be necessary to gather all of the information required to make a recommendation about the outcome of the referral.
B/18 The person completing the referral should record the reason for their recommendations for action; which can be one or more of the following:
- Provision of advice and information
- Referral to another agency or social care team
- Social work assessment (which will require allocation to a social worker)
- No further action
B/19 Copies of the Referral and Information Record are not routinely provided to parents and third parties, but should be provided if requested. The Referral and Information Record should be marked as a copy to a named individual, and a record of the copies given, to whom and when should be recorded on the child's file as a Casenote.
B/20 The Referral and Information Record can be accessed in PARIS and referred to by other authorised PARIS users if required in the future.
B/21 for Domestic Abuse referrals check the Domestic abuse referrals threshold guide.