The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families and Signs of Safety: Competing or Complementary Frameworks?

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families and Signs of Safety: Competing or Complementary Frameworks?

AU - Baginsky, Mary

AU - Manthorpe, Jill

AU - Moriarty, Jo

PY - 2020/7/22

Y1 - 2020/7/22

N2 - Signs of Safety (SoS) is a comprehensive assessment framework (AF) used in some form in most English children’s service departments as well as in many other countries. The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (AF) was introduced nearly twenty years ago to address identified failures to adopt a holistic approach to assessments of families where there were concerns that children were in need of protection or support. The AF is not only a statutory requirement in England but it has influenced the development of approaches to assessment globally. An evaluation of SoS in pilot local authorities in England provided opportunities to examine the extent to which the two frameworks were being used together. Findings from interviews, case record analysis and a survey indicate that while recording processes were aligned with the AF, it was not central to many of the assessments conducted and it proved difficult to detect its influence on their content. It appears timely to examine the extent to which the AF is used across England, to assess its relevance to current practice and the extent to which frameworks such as SoS have supplemented or replaced it.

AB - Signs of Safety (SoS) is a comprehensive assessment framework (AF) used in some form in most English children’s service departments as well as in many other countries. The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (AF) was introduced nearly twenty years ago to address identified failures to adopt a holistic approach to assessments of families where there were concerns that children were in need of protection or support. The AF is not only a statutory requirement in England but it has influenced the development of approaches to assessment globally. An evaluation of SoS in pilot local authorities in England provided opportunities to examine the extent to which the two frameworks were being used together. Findings from interviews, case record analysis and a survey indicate that while recording processes were aligned with the AF, it was not central to many of the assessments conducted and it proved difficult to detect its influence on their content. It appears timely to examine the extent to which the AF is used across England, to assess its relevance to current practice and the extent to which frameworks such as SoS have supplemented or replaced it.

KW - assessment framework

KW - case records

KW - Signs of Safety

KW - child protection

U2 - https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcaa058

DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcaa058

M3 - Article

SN - 0045-3102

JO - British Journal of Social Work

JF - British Journal of Social Work

ER -