The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families--A Basis for a 'Therapeutic' Encounter?

Abstract

Does the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, implemented by local authorities in England in 2001, embody an ethos of bureaucratic regulation with stultifying effects on social work, or is there evidence, as was anticipated in the official guidance accompanying the framework’s introduction, that it has potential as a basis for therapeutic social work? These questions are considered in this paper, which analyses findings from a study of the use of the framework based on interviews with service users and social workers. Some service users found aspects of their assessment to be personally beneficial. This is discussed in detail, reaching the conclusion that using the framework can be therapeutic. Furthermore, it is argued that part of what some service users considered helpful was related to the format of the new framework, and not only to its use in the hands of skilful and experienced practitioners. This point is pursued to suggest that carefully balanced analysis is particularly important in the discussion of developments in assessment practice that might seem too ‘bureaucratic’.