A Child Social Work Assessment will be completed without delay and within the statutory 45 working days of referral. Staffordshire Children’s Services will decide, within 10 working days of a young person being provided with temporary accommodation, if they are to be provided accommodation under Section 20 or Section 17 (Children's Act 1989).
Important to note: In considering accommodation options and other statutory guidance, if the young person was provided with emergency accommodation, for a continual period of 24 hours, they will become Looked After (see section 20 Children’s Act 1989).
Most homeless young people will be a ‘child in need’, unless they have previously lived independently successfully, or have the capacity to decide for themselves and have declined to be accommodated under Section 20 (Children’s Act 1989). The Social Worker will discuss the implications of being looked after with the young person using the checklist Staying Safe and Supported: Your Accommodation Choices at 16–17 (see Appendix 1) as a reference, and having provided the young person with impartial and balanced information about the support available and providing the opportunity for independent advocacy.
Important to note: Young people who are perceived to be resourceful, streetwise and able to stay with friends in an unsettled way, will not be considered to have been living independently.
Children’s Services will determine if services are to be provided under Section 20 (Children’s Act 1989) and will apply the following tests to determine this:
a. Is the young person a child? (i.e. under the age of 18).
b. Is the young person a child in need, according to the following criteria:
- Are they unlikely to achieve or maintain, or have a reasonable opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development within the provision of services by a Local Authority under Section 17, or
- Is their health or development likely to be significantly impaired or further impaired without the provision of such services, or
- Are they disabled?
c. Does the young person appear to require accommodation?
d. Is the need for accommodation the result of one of the following criteria:
- There being no person who has responsibility for the child.
- The child is lost or abandoned.
- The person who has been caring for the child is being prevented from doing so (permanently, and for whatever reason) from providing the child with suitable accommodation, or care, or
- Section 20 (3) Every Local Authority shall provide accommodation for any child in need in their area who has reached the age of sixteen and whose welfare the authority consider is likely to be seriously prejudiced if they do not provide them with accommodation. Importance must be given to the young person’s wishes and feelings (see Appendix 1).
The Child Social Work Assessment will confirm whether the criteria for providing the young person accommodation under Section 20 has been met. If a child chooses to become looked after this will be explained to the young person.
Suitable and safe accommodation provided must be appropriate to the young person’s needs; and the types of accommodation considered will be:
- Supported Accommodation
- Supported Lodgings
- A placement with foster carers
- A placement in residential accommodation
Staffordshire Children’s Services may work with other agencies to identify suitable accommodation and support options. This collaborative protocol requires that Children’s Services will discuss the young person’s circumstances with the Local Housing Authority before making an adverse decision (i.e. that no Section 20 duty is owed). This is to ensure a collaborative approach is supported discussion is completed around additional considerations or interventions might be relevant.
Young people who have been offered support through the Section 20 legislation must be assessed by their social worker, to have the capacity to make decisions and understand the positive or negative outcomes of their decision making. Information and guidance about the realities of living independently and the availability of alternative accommodation will be discussed to enable the young person to make an informed decision.
Every 16-17-year-old assessed as being a child in need, but who does not wish to be accommodated under Section 20 (Children’s Act 1989) should have a child in need plan setting out the services that will be provided to meet their needs as well as the option for an independent advocate.
The Child Social Work Assessment will confirm whether the criteria for providing the young person accommodation under Section 20 has been met. If a child chooses to become looked after this will be explained to the young person.
Suitable and safe accommodation provided must be appropriate to the young person’s needs; and the types of accommodation considered will be:
- Supported Accommodation
- Supported Lodgings
- A placement with foster carers
- A placement in residential accommodation
