assessment to another; however, remain alert and responsive to points of difference between siblings. There are three sections of the assessment form that may be completed once and copied to the files of all children in the family: Family details Family genogram or eco-map Initial assessment. If the family has been subject to assessments by other professionals, it is preferable that these also inform your assessment. With the consent of the client, you can arrange for summaries of their records to be sent to you. It is your responsibility to judge the currency and relevance of other professionals' records. Stage 1: Gathering information What information to gather The amount and nature of the information you gather depends on the purpose of your assessment. There are prompts in the sample assessment form to indicate what information you might require. Practice Resources 6 to 8 offer suggestions about how you might enquire about these issues when working with women, men, children and young people. The assessment form provides prompts parenting capacity under each dimension of the Best Interests Framework. Always ensure you consider protective factors as well as risks; strengths as well as needs. Demographic data Always enquire and record the language, culture and identity of each child and adult family member. Never assume you know these, or that they will be the same for each family member. This information must inform all of your subsequent data gathering. See page 42 for information and practice tips relevant to assessing an Aboriginal child or family. See page 44 for information and tips relevant to assessing a child from a CALD community. Family context Obtain a clear picture of who is in the child’s family the assessment form includes fields — for family members’ names, and space for a genogram or eco-map. Always ask whether there are absent family members who are important to the child (such as siblings from whom the child is separated). Explore the family’s circumstances in regard to: access to services financial security employment housing security social and community connections whether any family members have a chronic illness, disability or serious mental illness whether any family members have an addiction
assessment to another; however, remain alert and responsive to points of difference between siblings. There are three sections of the assessment form that may be completed once and copied to the files of all children in the family: Family details Family genogram or eco-map Initial assessment. If the family has been subject to assessments by other professionals, it is preferable that these also inform your assessment. With the consent of the client, you can arrange for summaries of their records to be sent to you. It is your responsibility to judge the currency and relevance of other professionals' records. Stage 1: Gathering information What information to gather The amount and nature of the information you gather depends on the purpose of your assessment. There are prompts in the sample assessment form to indicate what information you might require. Practice Resources 6 to 8 offer suggestions about how you might enquire about these issues when working with women, men, children and young people. The assessment form provides prompts parenting capacity under each dimension of the Best Interests Framework. Always ensure you consider protective factors as well as risks; strengths as well as needs. Demographic data Always enquire and record the language, culture and identity of each child and adult family member. Never assume you know these, or that they will be the same for each family member. This information must inform all of your subsequent data gathering. See page 42 for information and practice tips relevant to assessing an Aboriginal child or family. See page 44 for information and tips relevant to assessing a child from a CALD community. Family context Obtain a clear picture of who is in the child’s family — the assessment form includes fields for family members’ names, and space for a genogram or eco-map. Always ask whether there are absent family members who are important to the child (such as siblings from whom the child is separated). Explore the family’s circumstances in regard to: access to services financial security employment housing security social and community connections whether any family members have a chronic illness, disability or serious mental illness whether any family members have an addiction