Assessment of wellbeing - draft statutory guidance: consultation

7 Who Should Contribute to an Assessment of a Child's Wellbeing?

7.1 Section 96(1) refers to "a person" assessing the wellbeing of a child. This term covers relevant staff from all those organisations to whom this guidance applies (local authorities; health boards; directing authorities; other service providers and related services as defined in Part 3; relevant authorities as listed in schedule 2; listed authorities as detailed in schedule 3; and corporate parents as listed in schedule 4 of the Act). The term may also relate to individuals working in third sector organisations and independent contractors delivering functions on behalf of any of the organisations listed above.

7.2 A wide range of practitioners are required to think about children's wellbeing in the course of their day-to-day activities. Practitioners who undertake a professional responsibility role for children, such as a named person^[4] or lead^[5] professional, and those with indirect responsibilities (for example, those delivering services to parents) may contribute to an assessment of a child's wellbeing. Any assessment should be carried out in partnership with the child and family where they are involved in decision-making.

7.3 Assessments of wellbeing will be required in many different circumstances. Local authorities, health boards, directing authorities, third sector organisations, other service providers and related services as defined in Part 3, the public bodies listed in schedules 2 and 3, and the corporate parents in schedule 4 of the Act must have local training, policies and procedures in place to make sure their employees can contribute effectively to wellbeing assessments using the National Practice Model.^[6]

7.4 Service providers in the community may have information^[7] relevant to children's wellbeing, which may be important to inform a wellbeing assessment.

7.5 Where a child requires the expertise of a specialist service, the specialist practitioner will have individual assessment tools to analyse information about a specific area of a child's needs. These specialist assessments form part of the holistic assessment of wellbeing where required, in collaboration with others and should be considered in the context of the child's life at home, learning environment and in the wider community.

7.6 Nationally available practice materials^[8] will give detail on how a wellbeing assessment should be completed in a range of circumstances.