This resource is from the Scale-Up toolkit and should be used in conjunction with the other resources. You can access the Scale-Up toolkit here.
Applying Thresholds to Extra-Familial Harm
Learning from Hackney’s Child Wellbeing Framework
The issue of ‘thresholds’ in relation to access to children’s services presents particular challenges in
cases of extra-familial harm. Research has identified varying responses to threshold decisions regarding cases of extrafamilial harm. Child protection systems, that have been designed to intervene when parents/carers pose a risk of harm, or don’t have the capacity to safeguard children, are challenged when referrals for support feature protective parents but a child at risk of significant harm in an extra-familial setting. The result of this mis-match can be that young people at risk in extra-familial settings are either not referred into social care, or when they are, do not always have access to social work intervention or statutory oversight of a plan to keep them safe, especially if the family appears to be protective at the point of referral or assessment.
The London Borough of Hackney is the first local authority to have developed a thresholds
documents that relates to contexts in which harm occurs outside the family home. The resources on this page give an overview of the changes made an example thresholds document.
Find our thresholds briefing and example thresholds document here
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Briefing: Thresholds for extra-familial harmThis briefing outlines how Hackney revised its thresholds when responding to cases of extra-familial harm -
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Site example: Threshold documentThis framework provides guidance on discussing risk to individuals and in contexts, and what appropriate responses might be
Applying Thresholds to Extra-Familial Harm: Learning from Hackney’s Child Wellbeing Framework
Oct 2019
Carlene Firmin, Rachael Owens and Delphine Peace