Making a referral

Children:

Early support – This can be offered as soon as problems emerge. It aims to prevent statutory intervention.

Examples can include teachers being concerned about a child’s lack of lunch leading to an Early Help Assessment (EHA) where it's discovered a parent is struggling with financial struggles and anxiety. It could lead to referrals being made to charity groups who provide the extra support needed for the child to thrive. 

Child Protection Interventions –When the situation is such that the local authorities must intervene with or without the agreement of the family/individual to protect a child from harm.  An example includes a Child Protection Conference. From there, it may be decided that the child needs to be made subject to a child protection plan.

Risk is monitored, and outcomes could be the removal of the child, and long-term, either reunification or a permanent placement when no alternative is found.

Children may then become Looked after children (also known as Cared for Children or Care Experienced) or Previously looked after children, and future safeguarding concerns will be handled by specialist social work teams. 

Adults:

Early support – Often falling under the banner of: (i) Early Intervention, (ii) Prevention and Wellbeing Services and (iii) Strength-based or community-led support.

Examples could include that a recently bereaved older adult is referred for a community worker to help them find a bereavement group or a social club, as well as helping apply for a bus pass and practicing the route with them, so they can practically access that support. 

Mid-level: Multi-agency Risk Management (MARM):

This is a collaborative approach to manage and mitigate risks for adults who:

• have the capacity to make decisions but are at risk of serious harm or death due to factors like self-neglect, risk-taking behaviour, or refusal of services,
  but do not meet the criteria for statutory safeguarding but still require a coordinated response to address their risks. 

Examples of interventions can include arranging regular counselling sessions for an individual experiencing severe anxiety and depression, or attending community groups.

Safeguarding intervention – three criteria must be met: 

• the adult has care and support needs;
  are experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect;
• and
  are unable to protect themselves from that abuse or neglect.

Examples can include that an adult is at risk of abuse by their carer but wants to stay with them. After assessment, it’s decided they don’t have the mental capacity to make that decision, so the court decides he needs alternative accommodation. This intervention falls under the ‘court of protection’.

Children:

Early support – Also known as early help or family support this is usually delivered through Family Support Hubs - a multi-agency network of statutory, community and voluntary organisations that provide early intervention services, or work with families who need support. Family support hubs support access to early intervention family support services for families and children.

Putting in place a package of support may address the risks and prevent the risks from escalating.

A ‘Child in Need’ – Where a child has been assessed as being a ‘child in need’, there is a requirement to provide a range of personal social services appropriate to the child’s needs. The Understanding the Needs of Children in Northern Ireland (UNOCINI) framework is used to assess the child’s needs and the most appropriate forms of intervention. Services should be planned and provided, in consultation with families, by professional staff and voluntary organisations with the appropriate skills and resources to meet those needs.

Child protection intervention – This is when statutory intervention is believed necessary to protect the child. The first step is usually through Gateway services, which all safeguarding concerns should be passed on to. A Child Protection Case Conference may be held, and if there’s the belief that the risk is significant enough, they’ll be added to the Child Protection Register. The child is given a Child Protection Plan, and if risk continues statutory intervention such as a Care Order may be given by the courts.

Adults:

Safeguarding includes activity which prevents harm from occurring and activity which protects adults at risk where harm has occurred.

Early support – The tiered approach of early intervention and, if needed, intervention, comes from the Department of Health’s Adult Safeguarding Policy (2015). This applies to all organisations, including the voluntary and faith sector. The first step is to manage low-level concerns. Examples can include involving the community and voluntary sector, social prescribing and advice.

Statutory Safeguarding Intervention – are led by social workers within each of the Health and Social Care Trusts (HSCT) and/or PSNI officers.

This happens when an adult is ‘in need of protection’, meaning they are:

1. aged 18 or over,
2. exposed to harm through abuse, exploitation or neglect
   which may be increased by their:
3. personal Circumstances (such as age disability, special educational needs, illness etc), and/or
4. life Circumstances (such as isolation, socio-economic factors and living conditions, and,
5. who is unable to protect their own well-being, property, assets, rights or other interests; and,
6. where the action or inaction of another person or persons is causing, or is likely to cause him/her to be harmed.

This triggers an Adult Safeguarding Referral to the Adult Protection Gateway Service within each HSCT. The referral is screened and if it meets the threshold, there will be a case conference and investigation and, where needed, a Safeguarding Protection Plan.

Children:

Early support – In Scotland, child safeguarding is built around the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) model, which has a strong emphasis on early intervention.

A child’s Named Person (midwife, health visitor and later a teacher) will consult with the parents and other professionals and create a Child’s Plan.

Examples of interventions include mental health input, adaptations at school, and family support services. Child Protection Intervention – When the child is at risk of significant harm a Statutory intervention is triggered.

 Anyone can raise a safeguarding concern. An inter-agency Referral Discussion (IRD) takes place and an investigation is launched. A Case Conference may be held, and if there’s the belief that the risk is significant enough, they’ll be added to the Child Protection register. A child protection plan is developed and monitored.

Adults:

Early intervention – this focuses on supporting adults before harm occurs, or while they’re still at a ‘low level’. 
 
This can look like:

Advice, advocacy or guidance, help to connect with voluntary services and building protective factors to reduce risk – this includes befriending schemes and home adaptations. 

Statutory Safeguarding intervention -The three-part test for statutory intervention3 is:

• they are unable to safeguard their own wellbeing, property, rights or other interests;
• are at risk of harm; and
• because of disability, illness, or mental disorder, are more vulnerable to being harmed than others. 

If this threshold is met, there’s be a duty to inquire which will lead to an Adult Protection Case Conference and if there’s enough need, an Adult Protection Plan.

Examples of intervention can be a banning order preventing someone entering an ‘at risk’ adult’s home.

Children:

Early support – In Wales, The Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014, part 2 includes a duty to promote wellbeing and prevent the escalation of need. 
 
This low-level intervention can include multi-agency involvement, address what could be underlying issues, such as providing transport to school where absence is a recurring issue. Parenting classes are a common intervention, as is the inclusion of voluntary groups to support the child and families. Unlike other nations, Wales places a legal duty on local authorities to provide early help.

Child Protection Intervention – Working Together to Safeguard People requires statutory involvement when a child is at risk of abuse, harm or neglect, or their development is being significantly impaired, and there’s a need for care and support.

In Wales, there is a mandatory duty to report which can lead to a child protection conference, leads to the creation of a care and support protection plan and in cases of urgent need, there may be an emergency protection order or care order for the child. 

Adults:

Early support – Local authorities in Wales have a legal duty to provide information, advice and assistance as well as preventative services. There is a strong emphasis on promoting wellbeing. 
 
Examples include advice services, connection to voluntary services and even help with self-neglect if there is no immediate risk. Social prescribing is common.

Statutory safeguarding interventions – As with children in Wales, Working Together to Safeguard People requires statutory involvement when an adult is at risk of abuse, harm or neglect, or their development is being significantly impaired, and there’s a need for care and support.

There is a mandatory duty to report concerns, following which the local authority will run an enquiry into whether intervention is needed. This may lead to a Safeguarding strategy meeting and/or a protection plan. 
An example is a non-verbal adult with unexplained bruises. This would likely lead to a statutory safeguarding intervention.