About the 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 and 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.
Because the work with children in need requires skilled use of detailed and 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.
The use of information required for recording the facts and events of
children's lives, for assessing the needs of children and monitoring their
developmental progress is fundamental to good, safe practice and better
outcomes. Central to many of the shortcomings in children's social services
has been the failure to record, retrieve and understand the significance of
information about children.
A consultation document published in 2002, sets out in more detail the
background to the development of the ICS, the knowledge base which
underpins it, and what work has been undertaken and is likely to be
required to implement it successfully.
Click to download the consultation
document.
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.
Objectives of ICS
- All authorities to have the ICT support for all new referrals in place by 1 January 2006
- All authorities for to have fully operational systems in place by 1 January 2007
What is required?
Each local authority is required to produce its own solution for ICS that delivers the business requirements set out in the local authority circular LAC(2005)3, making use of guidance documents that address practice, core information requirements, ICT functionality, information outputs and the learning from pilots.
Click to download LAC(2005)
3 or to go back to the main ICS
page on this website to see a list of the available guidance.
Please note: LAC (2005) 3 should be read in conjuction with
the ICS
Minimum Compliance Criteria.
Documents
Integrated
Children's System Factsheet - (March 2007)
An introduction to ICS including key features of the system, implementation and
pilot studies.
Integrated Children's System, the
Common Assessment Framework and ContactPoint - an overview
This page was last updated on 30 November 2007
