Management of Case Transfers in Children's Social Care

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This protocol sets out the management and best practice for case transfers between teams within Central Bedfordshire Children's Social Care.

AMENDMENT

This chapter was updated in March 2021 and should be re-read.

1. Principles Underpinning the Transfer of Cases

Children and their families should experience the minimum number of transitions in receiving our services;
Wherever possible cases should not be reallocated between workers within a team;
Where the transfer of existing cases to new workers is unavoidable, the children and families must be given the maximum information about impending changes, at the earliest possible opportunity;
In sibling groups, the children will have the same Social Worker, unless it can be demonstrated that this is not in the child's best interest;
Wherever possible, the siblings of a child who becomes looked after will be allocated the same Social Worker, even if the other children are not looked after themselves;
All disputes between Team Managers shall be referred to their respective Practice Managers for a decision. If the Practice Managers are unable to secure agreement, the matter will be escalated to the respective Heads of Service for final decision.

2. Case Transfer Standards

The following tasks should be updated and/or completed prior to transfer:

Chronology must be up to date and provide a clear summary of the journey of the child;
Case notes must be complete, up to date and finalised;
The Child and Family Assessment should be updated if it is more than 9 months old;
Record of case management decisions and supervisions;
Outstanding tasks in Mosaic work tray;
Signposting of relevant documents (including court statements) on Mosaic;
Notification of first Child in Need meeting, Child Protection Conference or Looked After Child review to incoming team as early as possible;
Placement planning meeting (prior to start of, or, within 72-hours of placement);
Placement plan (within 5 working days);
Initial health assessment referral (within 5 days of the child becoming looked after and if needed appropriate referral for the next review health assessment);
Personal Education Plan (requested within 10 working days of the child becoming looked after);
Care/Pathway plan;
Contact planning meeting;
Agreement for funding for any expert assessments/interventions detailed in the care plan should be agreed prior to transfer;
Completed transfer summary by the transferring team;
Joint case supervision, and a handover meeting/visit;
Please note that our children tell us that they value knowing something about their new social worker before they meet them, being introduced to the new social worker (joint handover visits), and proper goodbyes with social workers;
Before transferring the case should be quality assured and signed off by the transferring manager to ensure all outstanding work has been completed.

The following case transfer procedure is a best practice example and Children’s Services teams should aim to meet this standard when cases are being transferred between teams and services. The transferring and the receiving team managers should take a joint problem solving approach to ensure smooth and timely transfer that is undertaken in the best interests of children and their families.

3. Referrals

Children with Disability	If the child has disabilities identified in the details of the contact then the Hub Team Manager will discuss and agree with a CWD representative to establish within which team the child’s needs will be best met. If the child is allocated to the CWD team then the contact will be tasked to the CWD Team Manager for Child and Family Assessment to be progressed. Where there are children within a family with a disability and others without a disability a decision will be needed between the Hub Team Manager, the CWD Team Manager and the Assessment Team Manager as to whether the case should be co worked between Assessment and CWD.
Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children	All Unaccompanied children that are brought to the attention of the Police or any other voluntary agency within Central Bedfordshire will be allocated and assessed by a member of the Leaving Care Service. There may be occasions when this is jointly completed with the support of other teams, including the Assessment Team due to a high volume of requests at any one time. The Leaving Care and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Service will be the lead team.
Section 7 and Section 37 Reports	A request for private law court report in relation to a child/young whose case is open or has been open within the last 12 weeks will be dealt with by the last allocated team. If a case is closed (or not known to Children’s Services Safeguarding and Early Help) and has been closed for 12 weeks or more then the Assessment Team, or Children With Disabilities (CWD, if applicable) will complete the Section 7. If a case is closed (or not known to Children’s Services Safeguarding and Early Help) and has been closed for 12 weeks or more then the Assessment Team, or Children With Disabilities will complete the Section 37. If a request for a Section 7 or Section 37 report is made when a child is allocated to a social worker in the Family Support Service, the allocated social worker will complete this report.
Special Guardianship /Private Fostering Applications or Reports	Requests to apply for a Special Guardianship Order assessment in respect of a child living in the authority’s area, and the child is not known, or their case has been closed for more than 12 weeks will be undertaken jointly by the Assessment and Fostering teams. The Fostering Team will complete the Special Guardianship Report regarding the adults seeking the Order with contribution by the Assessment team regarding the child or young person. If the child has a Social Worker, or the child was open less than twelve weeks prior, preparation of the report will be completed by the Fostering Team regarding the adults seeking the Order with contribution by the current allocated team regarding the child or young person. Private fostering assessments are completed by the Family Support Team. Case responsibility for support and oversight of private fostering arrangements will be transferred to the Fostering Service after six months.
Children in Need transferred from other Local Authority	Children in Need transferred from another Local Authority will be reviewed by the Hub and in accordance with the Central Bedfordshire threshold, if deemed appropriate will be allocated to Early Help intervention or the Assessment Team and an assessment will be undertaken. This may include attending the Child in Need meeting convened by the transferring in local authority.
Children subject to a Child Protection Plan transferred from other Local Authority	Requests will be reviewed by the relevant locality Family Support Team. The ‘East of England Region Children’s Services Joint Protocol on Children Subject to Child Protection Plan Moving Between Local Authority Boundaries’ will be referred to: Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton Safeguarding Children Boards Procedures
New referral of cases recently (within three months) closed to Early Help	In these instances, the Assessment Team Manager will review the intervention provided/offered and if deemed to be appropriate case responsibility will be transferred to the previous Family Support Team, thus ensuring that the child is not subject to unnecessary duplication and repeat assessments.
New referral of cases recently (within three months) closed to Family Support	New referrals received within three months of a case closing to Family Support are referred to the team previously allocated at point of closing to make decisions in respect of that referral. Professional judgement will be applied to this principle of a three month period, as there may be occasions when it is in the best interests of the child to provide continuity. This transfer and allocation will be discussed and agreed between the previous allocated Family Support Team Manager representative and the Assessment Team Manager.

4. Case Transfer between Specialist Teams:

a. Assessment to Locality Family Support Team, or Children with Disability Team (CWD)

Child in Need (including disabled children)	The Family Support Team Social Worker will attend Child In Need (CiN) meeting. Two weeks’ notice needs to be provided for the CiN meeting. The CiN plan is agreed by both workers and written up by the Assessment Team Social Worker. Case responsibility for the child will be reallocated to the Family Support Team Social Worker within 72 hours (3 working days) of the CiN meeting. Outstanding tasks will be completed by agreement by the outgoing and incoming Social Worker.
Child Protection	The Conference and Review Service and Assessment Team will notify the Family Support Team when an Initial Child Protection Conference is scheduled. The Family Support Team Social Worker or Team Manager will attend the Initial Child Protection Case Conference. The Assessment Social Worker and receiving Social Worker will make a joint visit to the family after the Conference. The Family Support Team Social Worker is allocated at the Initial Child Protection Case Conference. Outstanding tasks are completed by agreement by outgoing and incoming Social Worker.
Children, subject of Legal Planning Meeting (LPM), Public Law Outline (PLO) processes instigated	Social Workers and Team Managers from both service areas will be present at LPM or PLO meeting. Case transfer should not be delayed by the LPM or PLO process.
Unborn babies	Please refer to the Pre-birth Protocol. If the Assessment practice manager forms the view that there are indicators for ongoing social work input, joint consideration should be completed with: The relevant Family Support Practice Manager (if there is a realistic prospect of successful work); or The Court and Permanence Practice Manager (if it is indicated that there is a high likelihood of the child becoming looked after).

b. Assessment or Family Support Team transfers to Court or Leaving Care Teams

Care Proceedings except unborn babies	Social Worker from the Court and Leaving Team will attend the first Interim Care Order hearing if at all possible. The Social Worker from Court or Leaving Care Teams will be allocated by the Case Management Hearing. Outstanding tasks are completed by agreement by the outgoing and receiving Social Worker.
Unborn babies where care proceedings at birth are recommended (care plan of removal at birth, including relinquished babies) and parents’ children currently or recently (within 12 months) subject to Care Proceedings.	Please refer to the Pre-birth Protocol.
Section 20 Accommodated Children	Cases will transfer to the Court or Leaving Care Team when it is agreed there is an unlikely prospect of reunification.

c. Court or Leaving Care Teams to Family Support Team

Children returning to care of their parents or extended families following ceasing to be Looked After (Includes: Supervision Order, Child Arrangement Orders, Special Guardianship Order that include a CiN Plans).

Family Support Team Social Worker to attend the Child In Need meeting. Two weeks’ notice needs to be provided for the CiN meeting. The CiN plan is agreed by the outgoing and receiving Social Workers. The CiN meeting will be written up by the receiving Social Worker. Case responsibility for children will be reallocated within 72 hours (3 working days) of the CiN meeting. Outstanding tasks are completed by agreement by the outgoing and receiving Social Worker.

Court Social Workers will update a Child and Family Assessment within nine months of the child’s last Looked After Child Review.

Supervision Orders: when a Supervision is sought the relevant Family Support Team Manager will review the final evidence and attend the final hearing.