Children and Families Assessment – Under the Children Act 1989 (section 17), local authorities are required to provide services for children in need for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting their welfare. Social workers for Somerset County Council will undertake assessments of the needs of individual children and will consider a child’s age and understanding when determining what, if any, services to provide.
Every assessment will be informed by the views of the child as well as the family, and a child’s wishes and feelings will be sought regarding their plan of support. The assessment outcomes could be for support to be provided by services other than social work teams, support from a social work team under Child in Need (section 17) or a recommendation for a strategy discussion to consider the risk of significant harm to the child (section 47).