Integrated children's system
What is the Integrated Children's System (ICS)?
The ICS has been developed to improve outcomes for children defined as being in need, under the Children Act 1989.
It provides a conceptual framework, a method of practice and a business process to support practitioners. It helps managers in undertaking the key tasks of assessment, planning, intervention and review.
It is based on an understanding of children's developmental needs, in the context of parental capacity and wider family and environmental factors. It has full regard for current legislation.
Working with children in need requires skilled use of complex information. ICS is designed to be supported by an electronic case record system. A key aim of ICS is to provide frontline staff and their managers with the necessary help, through information communication technology (ICT), to record, collate, analyse and output the information required.
Why has it been developed?
ICS has been developed over a several years in response to the findings of inspections, research and inquiries.
These findings have demonstrated the need for conceptual systemisation in working with children in need.
For the use of information required for recording the facts and events of children's lives. Also for assessing the needs of children and monitoring their developmental progress. It is fundamental to good, safe practice and better outcomes.
One of the many shortcomings in children's social services has been the failure to record, retrieve and understand the significance of information about children.
The aims of ICS
- All practitioners and managers, responsible for children in need should work in accordance with the ICS conceptual framework, from case referral to case closure.
- Assessments of children in need should be completed with the necessary detail and within the required timescales.
- Case-based information should be aggregated through computer systems into management information, required for day-to-day service planning.
- All practitioners should feel they are supported in their work by working directly with ICT systems that support ICS.