Social work assessments: implications of recent guidance: Part I

 Elizabeth Isaacs QC and Carmel Shepherd, Barrister

St Ives Chambers, Whittal Street, Birmingham

Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, the statutory guidance for local authorities and other agencies working with children, was completely revised in April 2013.

Working Together is the key piece of statutory guidance issued under s 7(1) Local Authority Social Services Act (LASSA) which provides a clear framework for how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and how practitioners should conduct the assessment of children.

This article sets out the historical context of interagency guidance, sets out the revised legal framework for professionals, and provides a critical analysis of the implications of the revised guidance for child care law practitioners representing local authorities, parents and children.    

The full version of this article appears in the October 2013 issue of Family Law.

Read the full article here.