Voice of the Child Guidance

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This chapter contains guidance on the Voice of Child feature which has been introduced in CASS as means of pulling together, in one central place, all information gathered during direct sessions with children and young people. The Voice of the Child feature can also pull through any sections from CASS where the child's voice has been entered (for example as part of a Child and Family Single Assessment). Information is also provided on the 'you can say' website which will enable children and young people to feed in their own views directly.

This guidance was added to the procedures manual in December 2014.

1. Introduction

The Voice of the Child has been designed in CASS to allow you to input any direct sessions you undertake with children and young people (as well as automatically pulling through any sections from CASS) in which the child's voice has been entered, for example the Child and Family Single Assessment.

This means that there will be one central location in the system where the child's voice can be found.

2. Process

  • The voice of the child will have two tabs when you click into it:
    • Voice of the child;
    • Voice of the child analysis.
  • In any form where you have recorded the voice of the child, the text will pull through into the Voice of the Child tab. This will be in chronological order. For example:
    • Statutory visits;
    • Child and Family Single assessment;
    • Child Protection plan;
    • Children Looked After reviews.
  • If you wish to record a direct session with a child you do so by clicking the button 'create a VOC record for a direct session'. Once you have entered in the details of the session and pressed save, you will be able to attach a document to this record such as a picture the child has drawn;
  • The voice of the child analysis tab enables you to analyse the information you have gathered from the child;
  • A new analysis record will be generated every three months, you will be able to review and analyse all the voice of the child records within that period;
  • As a result of the information you have gathered from the child, you will also be able to comment on the actions and outcomes;
  • You can create your own analysis at any point; however the system will generate a new analysis three months from the date of the last one.

3. Children Feeding their Views in Directly

This part of the system is not yet live. You will be advised when this development has been fully completed. However, the principle behind this is that a child or Young Person will be able to enter in their views directly through a website.

  • It can be done on a computer or a smart device (tablet, phone). An internet connection is required;
  • The website address is: www.youcansay.co.uk;
  • The child or Young person will enter the Pin and Token number that was provided;
  • Follow the instructions on the screen and use the Next button to go to the next question. All the questions need to be answered;
  • The results are saved automatically and an alert will sent to the Social Worker to advise them of the entry.