a) What number of children received early help services in the local authority in the periods:
i) April 1st 2015 to March 31st 2016
ii) April 1st 2016 to March 31st 2017
iii) April 1st 2017 to March 31st 2018
iv) April 1st 2018 to March 31st 2019
v) April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2020
| 01/04/2015 to 31/03/2016 | 01/04/2016 to 31/03/2017 | 01/04/2017 to 31/03/2018 | 01/04/2018 to 31/03/2019 | 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2020 |
| 447 | 569 | 1343 | 1608 | 2644 |
Devon County Council (DCC) have used cases logged on Right for Children, the multi-agency early help case recording system, where a, DCC operated early help service, is involved in a TAF (Team Around the Family) in those periods. Right for Children is a family based system not person specific, so identifying cases and then working out the ages of children in those time periods is time consuming. We migrated onto Right for Children in April 2017, from a legacy system.
b) For each of the periods in question (a), What number of children receiving early help were concurrently subject to a Child in Need Plan or a Child Protection Plan?
No children were receiving Early Help while subject to a Child in Need Plan or a Child Protection Plan
c) Does your local authority have a process to refer children to early help services when their case is closed after a Child in Need assessment?
Yes
d) For each of the periods:
- April 1st 2015 to March 31st 2016
- April 1st 2016 to March 31st 2017
- April 1st 2017 to March 31st 2018
- April 1st 2018 to March 31st 2019
- April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2020
In January 2019 DCC migrated case management systems. Prior to this time we were not able to identify from the assessment form alone, which assessments were initial Child in Need assessments and which were reassessments.
In order to get comparable information for the period 1st April 2015 to 31st March 2019 DCC would have to review completed assessments to ascertain which were an initial assessment and should be included above.
From our preliminary assessment, we estimate that compliance with this part of the request would exceed the appropriate costs limit under S12 of the Freedom of information Act 2000, which is currently £450 or 18 hours of officer time.
DCC are however able to answer the questions for the period 1st April 2019 – 31st March 2020, as this information comes from the new case management system.
i) How many children were subject to a Child in Need assessment?
April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2020 – 3790 children were subject to an initial Child in Need assessment
ii) For how many children was the case closed following the assessment?
April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2020 – 2031 children were closed to service within 45 days of completion of assessment
iii) How many of the children whose case was closed after assessment were then referred on to early help services?
April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2020 – 481 children were referred to Early Help after case was closed after assessment
iv) How many of the children whose case was closed after assessment were subsequently re-referred for a Child in Need assessment within 12 months of their initial referral?
April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2020 – 301 children were referred for a Child in Need assessment within 12 months of their initial referral
v) Of the group of children that had been referred on to early help services following the closure of their initial Child in Need Assessment, how many were re-referred for a Child in Need Assessment within 12 months?
April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2020 – 154 children