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Contents

1. Legal Definition of Child in Need 
2. Categories of Children in Need 
3. Prioritisation Criteria

1. Legal Definition of Child in Need

Under Section 17 (10) of the Children Act 1989, a child is a Child in Need if:

1. He/she is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him/her of services by a local authority;
2. His/her health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision for him/her of such services; or
3. He/she is a Disabled Child.

2. Categories of Children in Need

These legislative definitions may be summarised into the following categories of children in need:

1. Significant Harm: Children who have suffered Significant Harm
2. Disabled Children: Children with physical disabilities, sensory disabilities, learning disabilities or emotional and behavioural disabilities
3. Parental Illness/Disability: Alcohol or drug misusing parents, Acutely ill parents (short term), Chronically disabled parents, Chronically mentally ill parents, Children assuming responsibility for chronically ill, addicted, or disabled parents
4. Family in Acute Stress: Homeless family, unsupported single parent, Death of carer
5. Family Dysfunction: Domestic violence, Inconsistent parenting, Family breakdown
6. Socially Unacceptable Behaviour: Disorderly behaviour, Offending, Truancy, Unsafe sexual behaviour
7. Low Income: Asylum seeking families, Non habitually resident status, Independent young people
8. Absent Parenting: Parents died, Unaccompanied child asylum seekers, Children Privately Fostered
9. Other: Step-parent adoptions, Inter country adoptions, Court Reports, Subject access to files, Historical allegations/complaints

3. Prioritisation Criteria

Prioritisation Criteria
The following summarises the Threshold Criteria for assessments and other services for children depending on need/risk.
Risk/Need	Type of Situation	Eligibility for Service
Low Risk or Need No Looked After responsibility Risk /need unlikely to escalate	Ongoing assistance is not required	LEVEL ONE Provide information about available universal services Signpost to another agency for more intensive support if appropriate
Moderate risk/need Unlikely to escalate to high risk/need	Children may need assessment and may benefit from extra help/short term intervention	LEVEL TWO Initial Assessment Provide information/advice about universal services Desirable to offer short term intervention, resources permitting. Signpost to another agency for more intensive support
Moderate risk/need May escalate to high risk/need Legal duty to assess Risk of Family Breakdown e) No immediate need to act Referred (but not assessed) more than 3 times in last 3 months or in the case of domestic violence, 3 referrals over any period. More than 3 Initial Assessments in the last 12 months	Children need assessment and likely to need intensive assistance.	LEVEL THREE Service Guaranteed Initial Assessment Child Protection Enquiries where indicated Core Assessment Planned intervention Possible specialist services
High risk/need Risk/actual significant harm Partnership not established/accepted Serious family dysfunction/breakdown/ collapsed family network No person has parental responsibility or parent is prevented from exercising parental responsibility Very challenging behaviour Early response required Legal intervention possible	Identifiable factors exist indicating children and families are in crisis/ in need of urgent intervention and/or children who are suffering or who have suffered significant harm or who are likely to suffer significant harm	LEVEL FOUR Service guaranteed Initial Assessment Core Assessment Child Protection Enquiries where indicated Planned intervention, Possible specialist

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