Community Assessments
Community-based assessments are carried out in the family home over a period of around twelve weeks. These assessments are designed to minimise disruption to the child.
Tailored to each family
Programmes can take place with the child or children remaining at home, or if they are in alternative care. This includes working within the child’s placement during the assessment and reducing travel wherever possible. The assessment considers both the positive and negative aspects of returning the child to the care of their parents.
The exact programme of assessment is tailored to the individual needs and circumstances of each family. Our staff are qualified and experienced social work practitioners in child protection, and they are dedicated to providing intensive assessments, often in complex situations.
The assessment programme
Community-based programmes usually involve four or five days a week of interventions with parents, including observations of how they care for their children within agreed contact arrangements.
The assessment explores the parents’ capacity to provide safe, “good enough” parenting, and what reasonable support could be offered to help them achieve this. The aim is to see whether parents can put their focus on their children and demonstrate the ability to meet their needs consistently.
Providing a safe environment for you and your children
The assessment also looks at what support parents could receive from professionals, the community, and family or friends, assessing whether that support is appropriate, sustainable, and likely to benefit the child.
Where appropriate, the assessment may also include detailed interviews with extended family members and friends.
Community-based assessments are not limited to the steps listed here; they are flexible and can be adapted to cover everything needed to produce a comprehensive report that helps inform the best way forward.
AIM3
AIM3 Assessments and Interventions
Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) assessments
Oakvale Healthcare provides a range of tailored Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) assessments for children and young people up to the age of 18. These are delivered under the direction of our Service Manager and Responsible Individual, with input from our consultant psychologist and trained staff. Our Service Manager is a highly experienced social worker with many years of practice supporting vulnerable children, young people, and families in a variety of settings.
AIM3 Assessment Model
The AIM3 Assessment (2019) is a research and evidence-based model. It gives practitioners a structured framework for analysing harmful sexual behaviour in the wider context of a young person’s life. It is designed for young people aged 12–18 who have either committed harmful sexual behaviours, or where there is strong professional evidence or concern that this has taken place.
Harmful sexual behaviours include any sexual activity where there is no mutual consent, where there is an imbalance of power (for example, differences in age, intellectual ability, race, or physical strength), and where the behaviour has the potential to cause physical or emotional harm (G-Map, 2012).
Based on five domains
The AIM3 model is based on five domains:
Professional assessments
The model links with the Assessment Framework for Children in Need and Their Families (Department of Health, 2000) and the ASSET tool (Youth Justice Board, 2000) used within the youth justice system (AIM2, 2012).
AIM3 provides analysis of a young person across all domains of their life, examining the role of harmful sexual behaviour within each. This detailed analysis highlights both concerns and strengths, and considers their implications for immediate risk management, safety planning, and interventions with the young person and their carers.
Building knowledge
Gaining detailed knowledge of a young person is essential to understanding not only the reasons for their behaviours, but also what changes are needed and what could motivate change.
The AIM3 Assessment Model (2019) provides a framework for gathering, organising, and analysing information. This allows relevant, realistic, and targeted individual goals to be identified (G-Map, 2012).
AIM Initial Assessment and Intervention – Under 12 years
The AIM Assessment and Intervention model has also been developed to assess and address problematic and harmful sexual behaviours in children under the age of 12.
Make an enquiry
If you would like to find out more about our community-based assessments or AIM3 services, or if you have any general enquiries, please contact us today.