Family Early Help
When to 'Step Up' to Statutory Social Work Intervention
If we are very worried about a family, we might think that the threshold has been met for statutory social care to become involved. If threshold for statutory intervention has been met and the family move from early help to social care, this is sometimes referred to as 'stepping up'.
Moving to statutory social care intervention can feel very distressing for the family, so please make sure you use your Resilient Families relational practice, and give compassion and support at all times.
'Stepping up' is jargon and is neither a nice term nor a family-friendly term. So please hold the family and children in mind at all times, and use language that helps them to feel as safe and contained as possible. This principle applies to the language you use when you speak to the family, and the language you use in your casenotes.
There are guidance notes about 'stepping up' in our General Policies and Procedures section here:
Daily Discussion
If you are very worried about a family, and think threshold may have been met for statutory social work intervention, you should discuss it first with your line manager. Your line manager and your service manager will decide whether to take it to the Daily Discussion or DD.
DD happens every day at 1.30pm. DD is a group of managers and senior practitioners from early help and social care who come together to consider risk and whether threshold has been met. Your manager will present the case on your behalf.
There is more information about DD in the 'stepping up' guidance notes link above.
To help you summarise your concerns before going to DD, you can use this template here
Threshold Documents
You and your manager should refer to the Camden and London threshold documents when you are deciding whether a family has reached threshold for statutory social work intervention and before you go to DD. It is very important you have a clear rationale in your decision making about why you believe threshold for statutory social work has been met, and that this is casenoted.
Here are Camden's threshold documents (one of which is the Pan London Children's Safeguarding Partnership document):
Summary-Thresholds-document-for-Childrens-Services-2023.pdf (cscp.org.uk)
Disagreements about Escalation - Process to Follow
It is rare that we can't find consensus on the most appropriate way forward regarding step up or step down. But on the rare occasion that we can't, please follow this procedure from Camden Safeguarding Children Partnership:
Escalation Policy - Camden Safeguarding Children Partnership CSCP