Care proceedings initiated by the Local Authority involve a range of assessments to help the Court to determine what is in the best interests of the child or children subject to those proceedings. These assessments are critical to ensuring that decisions made by the Court prioritise the child[ren]'s welfare, safety, and developmental needs. Assessments can be undertaken by Children’s Social Care or external experts, including medical experts, depending on the circumstances of the case.

Below is an overview of the most common types of assessments undertaken in care proceedings.

Parenting Assessment

A parenting assessment evaluates a parent's ability to meet their child[ren]'s physical, emotional, and developmental needs. This assessment considers:

• Parenting capacity, including providing safety, stability, and nurturing.
• Past parenting history and any patterns of neglect or abuse.
• The parent's willingness to engage with support services and address concerns raised.
• The parents own support network, including family members and friends able to provide assistance in the community.

Parenting assessments are conducted by social workers, which can be either social workers employed internally within the Local Authority, or independent social workers instructed on behalf of the Local Authority themselves or jointly between the parties.

The parenting assessment will make recommendations as to whether the child[ren] can remain or return to one or both of the parents’ care; if so, whether this is with additional support and what that support is likely to look like.

If an assessment cannot recommend an immediate return to a parent’s care, then it will also consider whether any further work or support can be provided so that the child[ren] can return at a later date.

If the assessment concludes that the child[ren] cannot return to the parents care, then they can make recommendations around the frequency and length of contact that is in the child[ren]’s best interests and whether this should be supervised, supported or unsupervised.

Viability Assessment

This is an initial overview assessment of a family member or friend who is willing to be considered as either a short or long-term carer for the child[ren] subject to the proceedings.

These assessments will consider the proposed carers own circumstances, ability to safeguard the child[ren] from the risks identified by professionals and their ability to meet the child[ren]’s needs on a short or long-term basis.

If the initial viability assessment is positive, a more in-depth connected persons or special guardianship assessment will be recommended.

Connected Persons/Special Guardianship Assessment

When a child or children cannot remain with their parents, a connected persons/special guardianship assessment considers the suitability of family members or friends as long-term alternative carers. This involves:

• Examining the proposed carer’s relationship with the child.
• Assessing their ability to provide a safe, stable, and nurturing environment.
• Assessing their ability to encourage and promote and ongoing relationship with the child[ren]’s parents.
• Assessing their ability to manage ongoing contact between the child[ren] and their parents.

If this assessment is positive, the Local Authority will generally fund initial legal advice for the family member or friend to understand what it will mean to become a long-term carer and to consider the assessment in detail ahead of the Court being asked to make decisions about this.

Psychological Assessment

Psychological assessments are carried out by qualified psychologists to explore:

• A parent's mental health and its impact on their parenting.
• The child’s emotional and psychological well-being.
• The dynamics of the parent-child relationship.
• Familial relationships where there are complex family dynamics.

Psychological assessments are particularly useful in cases involving complex emotional or behavioural concerns.

The assessing psychologist can be asked to comment on whether any identified psychological difficulties may impact upon a parent’s ability to care for their child[ren] and, make recommendations about any support which may enable a parent to care for their child or to improve their psychological difficulties in the future.

Psychiatric Assessment

Psychiatric assessments are carried out by qualified psychiatrists to explore:

• A parent's psychiatric disorder, whether diagnosed or undiagnosed.
• Make recommendations for therapeutic support.
• Make recommendations in order to improve the stability of the parent or child’s psychiatric profile.

These types of assessment may be needed where, generally, a parent has a complex medical history, and their mental health conditions may impact upon their ability to meet their child[ren]’s needs or place them at risk of harm, including neglect.

Cognitive Assessment

Cognitive assessments evaluate a parent's intellectual functioning to determine whether they can understand and meet their child’s needs. These assessments help identify if the parent requires additional support or tailored interventions to support them to participate fully within the Court proceedings.

Cognitive assessments are undertaken by qualified psychologists and will make recommendations, where necessary, for a party to be supported by a lay advocate, an intermediary or for reasonable adjustments to be made within proceedings to enable their full participation. Such recommendations can include taking frequent breaks; asking questions in plain English; checking the party’s understanding of something before moving on to other matters etc. All recommendations are made based upon an individual’s assessment.

Support

The assessments conducted during care proceedings aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of a child’s needs and the family’s ability to meet those needs. These assessments help to ensure that court decisions are informed, fair, and centred on the child’s welfare.

At Porter Dodson, we have a dedicated Child Care Team who specialise in this area of law. Should you require any assistance, please contact our Child Care Team on 01935 424581.