Recording

  

On this page you will find policies and guidance to ensure accurate and meaningful record keeping in the Children's Social Care service. These include:

  • Policies, procedures and best practice guidance for recording
  • Guidance about using the Integrated Children's System (ICS)

****NEW for 2010**** ICS User Quick Guides in the section below: Using the Integrated Children's System

Policies, procedures and best practice guidance

The Suffolk policy Case Recording policy, procedures and best practice guidance. ( PDF 142Kb) covers all aspects of case recording in the Children's Social Care service in Suffolk.
Supporting information is: Use of COMPASS Headings ( PDF 41Kb ) to provide guidance about the information to record under each heading of COMPASS Observations.
Responsibility for completing templates on the Integrated Children's system (ICS) ( PDF 36Kb ) 
Guidance about the use of genograms ( PDF 32Kb )
The At a Glance Guide to case recording ( PDF 40Kb ) gives an overview of the policy and requirements for recording in the children's social care service
Paper case files should be maintained according to the Filing index and format for case files ( PDF 94Kb)


A chronology must be maintained for every child receiving a service from children's social care.This at a glance guide to chronologies (PDF, 29 kb) is a practical reminder about how to approach and complete a chronology. Here is the format for a chronology to use on paper files until the ICS version is available.

Access to Records: This Leaflet ( PDF 480 Kb ) explains how to access files

Recording in Children's Centres and services providing early intervention:
Staff in these services must follow this Guide to effective recording for staff providing Family Support Services

Using the Integrated Children’s System (ICS)

****NEW for 2010**** ICS User Quick Guides 

ICS User Quick Guide: Contacts and Referrals  ( PDF 26.5 Kb )

ICS User Quick Guide: Duplicating siblings  ( PDF 17.5 Kb )

ICS User Quick Guide: Recording an Initial Assessment ( PDF 17.5 Kb )

ICS User Quick Guide: Section 47 Enquiries  ( PDF 18.5 Kb )

ICS User Quick Guide: Recording a Core Assessment( PDF 20 Kb )

ICS User Quick Guide: Recording a Care Plan  ( PDF 24.5 Kb )

ICS User Quick Guide: Case Closure  ( PDF 16.5 Kb )

More detailed ICS User Guides and the ICS e-learning programmes are available on COLIN. Search on COLIN under ICS User Guides.

Here are some of the relevant guides:

To resolve issues with using CareFirst 6, staff should contact the IT Helpdesk.