| Abstract: | Correspondence to Dr Ray Jones, Director of Social Services, Wiltshire County Council, County Hall, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, Wilts BA14 8LE Summary A survey was undertaken of 701 decisions in ‘child protection’;and ‘child-care’ cases within one local authority.Decision making at four filter points in case career was analysed.Filter 1 was when the case was initially referred to socialservices, Filter 2 was when consideration was given to holdinga case conference, Filter 3 was when a case conference was held,and Filter 4 was the review case conference following the initialcase conference. The major risk factors which determined decisionswere highlighted, and these were different at each filter level.The percentage of children who remained within the ‘childprotection system’ after decisions were taken at eachfilter level was analysed and recorded. The research found that,based on the risk factor weightings given by the independentauditors, workers were appropriately discriminating between‘child protection’ and ‘child-care’cases. |
