Care assessment information for children and young people

• Well, it's not a test.
• It's not about a load of people giving you grief.
• It's about getting a clear understanding of what your life’s like, and what problems you’re having.
• It's about working with you to sort out your problems.
• To help you do this you’ll have a social worker.
• Your social worker will collect information about your life by talking and listening to you, your family and maybe your teacher, doctor or youth worker.
• Once this is done, you and your social worker will work together to decide what help you need.

Why is an assessment happening?

It’s happening because you or somebody else has asked us for help to sort out your problems.

How long will it take?

An assessment takes between two weeks and two months. Your social worker will tell you the kind of assessment you’re having and how long it will take.

What will happen?

You’ll meet a social worker, who will lead the assessment. Your social worker will ask your permission about sharing the information with other people.

The information you give will be kept confidential, but if your social worker believes someone is in danger they may have to tell others. They will talk to you before doing this.

Your social worker will put all the information in a written report. If you don’t agree with this report you can write what you feel on the bottom of it.

If you need it, help will be provided in your first language. If you have particular cultural needs, please tell us about them. Everyone is different. Everyone is important. The colour of your skin, your culture, religion, gender, the language you speak, your sexuality, whether you have special needs or a disability are some of the things that make you an individual.

Once the assessment has shown us what your needs are, we’ll draw up a plan of action. This shows what we can do to help you. We’ll give you a copy of this.

What you need to do

It’s important that you try to be open and honest about how you feel. We can help you better, if you tell us what’s good in your life and what you find difficult.

What you can expect from us

We’ll listen to what you have to say, answer your questions, and make sure you understand what’s going on. We’ll offer advice, and help you to deal with your problems. We won't tell others what you have told us, without asking your permission first, and we’ll try to help you and your family in the best way we can.

If you want more information about your assessment you can talk to your social worker.