Social Work Services

Assessment of Therapeutic Need

“It is not enough to be compassionate. You must act”.
– Dalai Lama

An assessment of therapeutic need is completed where there are worries about a child/ren that need further specialist assessment to consider the emotional/behavioural, cognitive, psychological and somatic needs of a child/ren.

A therapeutic assessor who has sound experience in child development, child psychopathology, attachment developmental trauma and assessing the holistic needs of child/ren and family will be allocated to the child.

Contact Assessment

“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right”.
– Rosa Parks

An assessment of contact can be part of comprehensive assessments, framework assessments of children in need and/or whole family assessments. They can also take place outside of these assessments were there has been identified changes in relationships, circumstances or previously unseen issues. They are undertaken to ascertain the benefits or otherwise of contact (direct or indirect) between parents, siblings, family members and sometimes other connected people.

Foster Care Assessments

“As one person I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person”.
– Nicolas G. Janovsky/Paul Shane Spear

Foster carer assessments or Form F assessments, are completed by a qualified social worker who is experienced in assessment work, who has a sound understanding of the legislation, policies and procedures underpinning the process of assessing applicants who wish to become a foster carer. Tiptoes has many dual qualified social work trained therapists experienced in this task.

Parenting Assessments

“Every generation offers to the next a handful of soil that contains all, the best and the worst and everything in between. We give to our children, the bits that shine and the bits that we should not, in hope”.
– Unknown

A parenting assessment is an assessment that considers the parenting capacity of parent/s to care for their child/ren.

A qualified social worker is allocated to a family where a parenting assessment has been requested to be undertaken. The social worker will be experienced in child development, parental and environmental issues that can impact on parenting capacity.

Together or Apart Assessments

“I don’t believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at.”
– Maya Angelo

“Our siblings push buttons that cast us in roles we felt sure we had let go of long ago – the baby, the peacekeeper, the caretaker, the avoider. It doesn’t seem to matter how much time has elapsed or how far we’ve travelled”.
– Jane Mersky Leder

Past research seemed to demonstrate that siblings do best when they are placed together. This outcome is true, and they do…except for when they don’t. Placements break down for a number of reasons and the quality and type of sibling relationship is one of those factors.

Our assessments are undertaken using a trauma lens. Within this vantage point we then look at sibling relationship within the context of the family home, the current placement(s) and what a future placement or placements may look like.