Appendix 10 - Wolverhampton Children & Young People's Service Guide to Recording in Child Protection Cases

1.0	What Must be Recorded and When
2.0	Uses of Recorded Information
3.0	Who May See Case Records
4.0	Retention of Records
5.0	Further Guidance

1.0 What Must be Recorded and When

In child protection, full and accurate recording is essential. The file should contain all relevant details of:-

What happened in the case
The action taken by the practitioner and/or manager
How and why it was decided to take such action.

The social worker should record all relevant facts in sufficient detail to enable someone reading the file to understand what has happened and how the actions taken by the Social Worker were decided upon:-

Visits

If the visit was ineffective, state the time and date of the visit, the fact that it was ineffective and what actions were taken pursuant to the non-effective visit
If the visit was effective, state the time and date of the visit, who was seen, describe the state of the house, the appearance of the children, the details of what was happening in the household during the visit and summarise what was said and done.

Telephone calls

State the time and date of the telephone call, who phoned and the telephone number of the contact person, and the details of the conversation

Discussions with Managers

The manager should record any key decisions and advice given on the case record, stating the time and date, and should sign the case record. If the discussion is recorded by the practitioner, state the time and date of the discussion, who the situation was discussed with, their job title, what was decided and why. The manager should countersign the case record entry of the discussion.

Meetings

State the date, time and location of the meeting, who attended, what was decided and why. The source of any information given by another person should be clearly stated. If that person is repeating information from someone else, the names of both parties involved should be recorded with a clear indication of the original source.

If the social worker forms an opinion about some matter connected with the case, then this should be recorded as an opinion and the facts and observations which led to the social worker forming that opinion should be stated.

Any information should be recorded contemporaneously or as soon as possible afterwards. If there are court proceedings, and the social worker or his/her successor has to give evidence (which may be two or three years later) it is permissible to refer to the file but the Court will need to be satisfied that the information was recorded "contemporaneously".

2.0 Uses of Recorded Information

The recorded information may be used in many different ways:

As an aide - memoire by the social worker
To provide information for a colleague who has to take action when the social worker is unavailable, or for a new social worker taking over the case,
By a line manager in supervision of the worker, or performance monitoring
To assist assessment and analysis
To provide the basis of statements for use in court proceedings.

3.0 Who May See Case Records

Case Records may, despite their confidential nature, be seen by many persons having a need to do so:

Line managers monitoring the case or supervising the social worker
A Children's Guardian appointed in Children Act Proceedings
The court and the legal representatives of all parties in Children Act Proceedings, when the case files are taken to court
Persons who are the subject of the case records, under the Data Protection Act 1998
By the court and legal representatives in Criminal proceedings, when a request for disclosure has been made by the Defence and has been granted by the court
In the event of a complaint, the officer(s) authorised to investigate the complaint
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, in the event of an Ombudsman enquiry about the case

In every case where a request for disclosure is made other than by a Children's Guardian, legal advice must be obtained.

4.0 Retention of Records

The record of an enquiry to a child's social care record will be deleted three years after the last recorded enquiry.

With the exception of enquiries, all records are retained for 75 years.

5.0 Further Guidance

For further guidance about recording in the Children & Young People's Service, please see the Service Policy on Case Recording.

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