ABSTRACT
Social work assessments underpin the operation of child protection and safeguarding interventions, and also the operation of the Public Law Outline 2014 which sets out the process of public family law proceedings. Despite the policy intention to recast assessment as a safeguarding-focussed needs assessment, the statutory framework remains unchanged; assessment must therefore also be described as a forensic evidence-gathering process. Social work response to referral thus moved from a child protection focus, criticised as being harmful and often inappropriate which filtered out the majority of cases, to a more general safeguarding assessment to establish whether a child was in need. Assessment policy and practice has changed and developed since its introduction into social work practice. The Report promotes a drive towards a positive image for social work via the media.
