Children's Independent Assessments

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Dear Staffordshire County Council,

Please can you provide the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:
1. How many assessments were completed by independent practitioners or external organisations during the period 23/03/2020 and 22/03/2021 for:
A: PAMS assessments
B: Parenting risk assessments
C: SGO assessments
D: Form F assessments
E: Connected Person / Kinship Care assessments
F: Kinship Viability Assessments
G: Age assessment / unaccompanied minor assessments

2. What is the average price paid per:
A: PAMS assessment
B: Parenting risk assessment
C: SGO assessment
D: Form F assessment
E: Connected Person / Kinship Care Assessment
F: Kinship Viability Assessment
G: Age assessment / unaccompanied minors

3. Please provide the name, position and contact details of the person or team responsible for commissioning these assessments

Yours faithfully,

Dee Green

Staffordshire County Council

Dear Dee Green,
 
Thank you for your request for information received by Staffordshire
County Council on 29/04/2021.
Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be answered within twenty working days. 

**Coronavirus (COVID-19)**

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Yours sincerely,
 
Access Team

Portch, David (Corporate), Staffordshire County Council

Dear Dee Green

Thank you for your request for information.

Firstly, please accept my apologies for the delay in being able to provide you with a response.

Please find information provided by the relevant service team(s) below / attached.

A – There were 18 PAMS assessments in the period. The average price was £1,514.49

B – There were 4 parenting assessments in the period. The average price was £5,569.70.

C – There were 0 SGO assessments. But there were 3 fostering and SGO assessments (costs £2100 together).

D – There have been no assessments. There is no average price as such, but a form F costs £1800. Over the last financial period we had 3 fostering assessments completed. There were also 3 fostering and SGO assessments (see above).

E – Connected Person / Kinship Care assessments - 3 fostering (£1800) 3 fostering and SGO assessments (£2100) – 2019-20 - 15 fostering (£1800) – 11 fostering and SGO (£2100) (See C) above. Iam advised that the viability assessment will consider fostering and SGO and no separate data is available.

F – In 2020-2021, there were 11 viability assessments. They cost £500 each.

G – There have been no age assessments or other assessment funded independently regarding unaccompanied asylum seeking children in that period of time. Therefore, average price is not applicable

Re costs - Travel was £15 per hour
If assessment ends in the early stages and assessment is not written up - £30 per hour for work completed.

If you have any comments relating to how your request has been handled by our authority you should contact us in the first instance. Send your comment or complaint to:

Access Manager, Access Team, Staffordshire County Council, 2 Staffordshire Place, Stafford ST16 2DH or email [Staffordshire County Council request email]

If you then have any further comments relating to how your request has been handled by our authority, please contact the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Regards
  
David Portch

Access Team
Staffordshire County Council
1 Staffordshire Place
Stafford
ST16 2DH

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