Categorization and Assessment of Referrals

Every year, thousands of children at risk are referred to social services in Denmark. The referrals contain avariety of information concerning child well-being and municipalities handle the referrals in various ways.According to Danish law, the assessment of all referrals must take place within 24 hours, and immediate actionmust be taken if the child is in immediate danger and at risk of maltreatment or abuse. More than 95 % ofreferrals are assessed and categorized as non-acute. Subsequently, most referrals are not acute and it is up tothe discretion of the individual caseworker or team of social workers to assess when and how to react to thereferral.A qualitative study of how four municipalities in Denmark handle referrals is the foundation of this presentation.The study shows that despite acting under the same legislation, these four municipalities handle and assesreferrals very differently and this influences the assessment of referrals.The presentation will focus on the following main differences between the municipalities handling of referrals:1. Categorization of referrals and the meaning of particular categoriesThe four municipalities in this study have four different systems of categorization using numbers orletters to indicate the severity of the referral, which indicate the timeframe for action.2. The use of information from existing casesIn cases where a child has been the center of previous referrals, some municipalities look into formerreferrals or existing case material about the child, while other municipalities only look at the referral athand.3. Dilemmas when categorizing a non-acute referralOne dilemma concerns the timeframe in cases where it is difficult to assess the severity. Another dilemmaconcerns the wish for collaboration with the family.This presentation explores the consequences of the variation in practice in child protection services concerningcategorization and assessment of referrals. How do the differences in categorization affect the handling of thechild and the case? Do variations in categorization make a different as to when and what kind of assistance achild at risk receives? The data in this study show that the categorization makes a difference to the services providedand that it is important to include considerations the implications of how categorizations and municipalorganization affects the services provided to children at risk.