Although early years practitioners cannot personally investigate cases of possible abuse/neglect they must be vigilant at all times to the signs of such a case and any concerns should be passed on to childrens’ social care. However, the practitioner will have a duty to attend any meetings when requested, following the referral.
Once early intervention has taken place, an initial assessment must be undertaken to determine what route to take next to deal with the matter as effectively as possible. Specialist children’s social workers carry out the initial assessment, when they have been notified of the problem by early years settings, schools or doctors/nurses.
The result of the initial assessment is likely to be one of the following scenarios:-
1. If the situation is deemed to be not likely to cause the child immediate harm but may affect the child’s development in some way, then the child and their family will be referred to relevant services which can offer them support in the matter.
2. If it is considered that the child is at risk of immediate harm then urgent action must be taken.