Guidance

Knowledge and skills statement for child and family practitioners (use until 31 March 2027)

Updated 11 August 2026

Applies to England

Until 31 March 2027, use this ‘Knowledge and skills statement for child and family practitioners’.

From 1 April 2027, use the ‘Child and family social worker early career standards’.

From September 2027, the early career development programme based on the early career standards will replace the assessed and supported year in employment.

A child and family social worker should be able to do the following.

1. Relationships and effective direct work

Build effective relationships with children, young people and families, which form the bedrock of all support and child protection responses. Be both authoritative and empathic, and work in partnership with children, families and professionals, enabling full participation in:

• assessment
• planning
• review
• decision-making

Ensure child protection is always privileged.

Provide support based on best evidence, which is tailored to meet individual child and family needs, and which addresses relevant and significant risks. Secure access to services, negotiating and challenging other professionals and organisations to provide the help required. Ensure children and families, including children in public care, receive the support to which they are entitled.

Support children and families in transition, including children and young people:

• moving to and between placements
• returning home
• being adopted
• moving through to independence

Help children to separate from and sustain multiple relationships, recognising the impact of loss and change.

2. Communication

Communicate clearly and sensitively:

• with children of different ages and abilities
• with their families
• in a range of settings and circumstances

Use methods based on best evidence. Create an immediate rapport with people not previously known that facilitates engagement and motivation to participate in:

• child protection enquiries
• assessments
• services

Act respectfully even when people are angry, hostile and resistant to change. Manage tensions between parents, carers and family members in ways that show:

• persistence
• determination
• professional confidence

Listen to the views, wishes and feelings of children and families, and help parents and carers understand the ways in which their children communicate through their behaviour. Help them to understand how they might communicate more effectively with their children.

Promote speech, language and communication support, identifying those children and adults who are experiencing difficulties expressing themselves.

Produce written case notes and reports that are:

• well argued
• focused
• jargon free

Present a clear analysis and a sound rationale for actions, as well as any conclusions reached, so that all parties are well informed.

3. Child development

Observe and talk to children in their environment, including at home and at school, and with parents, carers, friends and peers, to help understand the physical and emotional world in which the child lives, including the quality of child and parent or carer interaction and other key relationships.

Establish the pattern of development for the child, promote optimal child development and be alert to signs that may indicate that the child is:

• not meeting key developmental milestones
• has been harmed
• is at risk of harm

Take account of typical age-related physical, cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural development over time, accepting that normative developmental tasks are different for each child, depending on the interactions for that child between health, environmental and genetic factors.

Assess the:

• influence of cultural and social factors on child development
• effect of:
  • different parenting styles
  • loss, change and uncertainty in the development of resilience

Explore the extent to which behavioural and emotional development may also be a result of communication difficulties, ill health or disability, adjusting practice to take account of these differences. Seek further advice from relevant professionals to fully understand a child’s development and behaviour.

4. Adult mental ill health, substance misuse, domestic abuse, physical ill health and disability

Identify the impact of adult mental ill health, substance misuse, domestic abuse, physical ill health and disability on family functioning and social circumstances and, in particular, the effect on children, including those who are young carers.

Access the help and assistance of other professionals in the identification and prevention of adult social need and risk, including:

• mental health
• learning disability assessment

Co-ordinate emergency and routine services, and synthesise multi-disciplinary judgements as part of ongoing social work assessment. Use a range of strategies to help families facing these difficulties.

Identify concerning adult behaviours that may indicate risk or increasing risk to children. Assess the likely impact on, and inter-relationship between, parenting and child development. Recognise and act on escalating social needs and risks, helping to ensure that:

• vulnerable adults are safeguarded
• a child is protected -the child’s best interests are always prioritised

5. Abuse and neglect of children

Exchange information with partner agencies about children and adults where there is concern about the safety and welfare of children. Triangulate evidence to ensure robust conclusions are drawn.

Recognise harm and the risk indicators of different forms of harm to children relating to:

• sexual abuse
• physical abuse
• emotional abuse
• neglect

Take into account the long-term effects of cumulative harm, particularly in relation to early indicators of neglect.

Consider the possibility of:

• child sexual exploitation
• grooming (online and offline)
• female genital mutilation
• enforced marriage
• the range of adult behaviours that pose a risk to children

Recognise too the potential for children to be perpetrators of abuse.

Lead the investigation of allegations of significant harm to children in consultation with other professionals and practice supervisors. Draw one’s own conclusions about the likelihood of, for example, sexual abuse or non-accidental injury having occurred and the extent to which any injury is consistent with the explanation offered. Commission a second professional opinion and take legal advice where necessary.

6. Child and family assessment

Carry out in-depth and ongoing family assessment of social need and risk to children, with particular emphasis on:

• parental capacity
• capability to change

Use professional curiosity and authority while maintaining a position of partnership, involving all key family members, including fathers. Acknowledge any conflict between parents’ and children’s interests, prioritising the protection of children as set out in legislation.

Use:

• child observation skills
• genograms
• ecomaps
• chronologies
• other evidence-based tools

Ensure active child and family participation in the process. Incorporate the contributions that other professional disciplines make to social work assessments.

Hold an empathic position about difficult social circumstances experienced by children and families, taking account of the relationship between poverty and social deprivation, and the effect of stress on family functioning, providing help and support. Take into account individual child and family history and how this might affect the ability of adults and children to engage with services.

Recognise and address behaviour that may indicate:

• resistance to change
• ambivalent or selective co-operation with services

Recognise when there is a need for immediate action, and what other steps can be taken to protect children.

7. Analysis, decision-making, planning and review

Establish the seriousness that different risks present and any harm already suffered by a child, balanced with family strengths and potential solutions. Set out the best options for resolving the difficulties facing the family and each child, considering the risk of future harm and its consequences, and the likelihood of successful change.

Prioritise children’s need for emotional warmth, stability and sense of belonging, particularly those in public care, as well as identity development, health and education, ensuring the active participation and positive engagement of the child and family. Test multiple hypotheses about what is happening in families and to children, using evidence and professional judgement to reach timely conclusions. Challenge any prevailing professional conclusions in the light of new evidence or practice reflection.

Make realistic child-centred plans within a review timeline that will:

• manage and reduce identified risks
• meet the needs of the child

Ensure sufficient multi-disciplinary input into the process at all stages. Apply twin- and triple-track planning to minimise chances of drift or delay, being alert to the effectiveness or otherwise of current support plans.

8. The law and the family and youth justice systems

Navigate the family and youth justice systems in England, using legal powers and duties to:

• support families
• protect children
• look after children in the public care system

This includes the regulatory frameworks that support the full range of permanence options. Participate in decisions about:

• whether to make an application to the family court
• the order to be applied for
• the preparation and presentation of evidence

Seek advice and a second opinion as required in relation to the wide range of legal issues that frequently face children and families involved with statutory services, including:

• immigration
• housing
• welfare benefits
• mental health and learning disability assessment
• education and support for children with learning difficulties

Use the law, and regulatory and statutory guidance to inform practice decisions. Take into account the complex relationship between:

• professional ethics
• the application of the law
• the impact of social policy on both

9. The role of supervision

Recognise one’s own professional limitations and how and when to seek advice from a range of sources, including:

• practice supervisors
• senior practice leaders
• other clinical practitioners from a range of disciplines such as:
  • psychiatry
  • paediatrics
  • psychology

Discuss, debate, reflect on and test hypotheses about what is happening within families and with children.

Explore the potential for bias in decision-making and resolve tensions emerging from, for example:

• ethical dilemmas
• conflicting information
• differing professional positions

Identify which methods will be of help for a specific child or family and the limitations of different approaches. Make use of the best evidence from research to inform the complex judgements and decisions needed to support families and protect children.

Reflect on the emotional experience of working relationships with parents, carers and children, and consciously identify where personal triggers are affecting the quality of analysis or help. Identify strategies to build professional resilience and management of self.

10. Organisational context

Operate successfully in a wide range of organisational contexts, complying with the checks and balances within local and national systems that are a condition of employment.

Maintain personal and professional credibility through effective working relationships with peers, managers and leaders both within the profession and throughout multi-agency partnerships and public bodies, including the family courts.

Act in ways that protect the reputation of the employer organisation and the social work profession while always privileging the best interests of children. Manage the specific set of organisational tasks relating to lead responsibility for children with the:

• support of an appropriately qualified supervisor
• use of the multi-agency support network

Contribute to the organisation’s role as corporate parent to children in public care, encouraging and advocating for organisational focus, resource and support so that children and young people can thrive and enjoy their childhood, and move into independence with confidence in and ambition for their futures.