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Assessment policy and practice

Assessment policy and practice

Assessment is a key process that allows social workers to make sense of the child’s situation and the nature and extent of their needs, so they can make a professional judgement on the best intervention to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare.

The following scales and questionnaires are available to social workers for use in the assessment process.

Signs of safety framework

Adolescent wellbeing scale

Adult wellbeing scale

Alcohol use questionnaire

Ante-natal attachment scale (maternal)

Ante-natal attachment scale (paternal)

Ante-natal attachment scoring guidance

Depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS)

C Change assessment of parenting capacity 

Prochaska and Di Clementi model of change (assessing parenting capacity to change)

DASS scoring guidance

E-DUST (drug use)

Emotional regulation questionnaire (ERQ)

Family activity scale

Home conditions assessment

Multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS)

MSPSS scoring guidance

Parenting daily hassles scale

Recent life events questionnaire

Strengths and difficulties questionnaire

Risk assessment tools for child criminal exploitation and child sexual exploitation are available on MOSAIC.

Risk assessment tools for domestic abuse are available in the Domestic Abuse and Family Violence section.

The pre-birth risk assessment tool is available.

Last updated: 23 February 2026