Finalise the intake matter

Record the intake

If the concerns received have previously been received and recorded, refer to Record duplicate concerns.

For all intakes:

• Create an intake case in Unify and include person profiles for
  • each subject child (Refer to Record subject child or other child.)
  • the parents
  • the alleged person responsible for harm or risk of harm
  • all other relevant members of the child’s home
  • an unborn child (always record the unborn child’s first name as ‘Unborn’ and the surname as ‘the mothers surname’) if relevant, regardless of
    • the gestational period
    • whether the pregnancy has been confirmed
• Record or update relevant information in the person profile for each relevant party
• Only record the notifier’s identity in the notifier field. Do not identify the notifier elsewhere in the intake, to protect their identity (Child Protection Act 1999, section 186A).
• Record all relevant information provided by the notifier, focusing on
  • harm or risk of harm to the child
  • information about the child, family relationships, community, culture and existing supports 
  • family strengths and protective factors
  • relevant contextual information.
• Include any direct information about the alleged harm or risk of harm to the child or unborn child.
• Include information received through consultation with
  • a specialist services clinician
  • a person with cultural authority
• Record an analysis of any child protection history and respond to the cumulative harm questions, if prompted.
• Scan any hard copy documents, including handwritten notes, paper-based, email correspondence into the intake case in Unify and place original documents on the child’s paper file.
• Record information in a way that clearly explains the
  • family composition 
  • context 
  • decision-making process that has occurred.
• Select the appropriate outcome and response for each intake
• Record other actions taken, including
  • reporting a matter to the QPS, if relevant 
  • providing feedback to a notifier or SCAN team core member agency representative (Refer to Provide feedback to SCAN core member agencies and Provide feedback to government and non-government agencies.)
  • providing information about Victim Assist Queensland, if relevant. (Refer to Engage with the notifier.)
• Submit the intake case in Unify to the senior team leader for approval – unless it is a notification with a safety and support response – for a notification with a safety and support response, refer to Safety and support response.

Record subject child or other child

When completing the intake, record each child or unborn child who is the subject of the concerns as a ‘subject child’.

Record a child as an ‘other child’ in the intake if:

• they reside in the home but are not the subject of the concerns, and it is assessed that they are not at risk of harm, after careful consideration of cumulative harm and harm that is not able to be observed
• a child who was present in the home when harm occurred, does not reside there and has a parent able and willing to protect them from future harm. This does not refer to the situation where a young person chooses to stay at a location where they are at risk. In that circumstance, the assessment is about the ability and willingness of the parents to protect the child
• two families reside in the one home and concerns relate only to the children of one family.

Finalise a child concern report

Once all of the relevant information is recorded in Unify, submit the Intake case to the senior team leader. 

The senior team leader will:

• review the intake case in Unify 
• approve the child concern report in Unify within 5 business days of the decision to record a child concern report. 

Any subsequent concerns received are recorded as a new intake.

Finalise a notification

Once all of the relevant information is recorded in Unify, submit the Intake case to the senior team leader. 

The senior team leader will:

• review the intake case in Unify 
• approve the notification in Unify. 

Safety and support response

The safety and support response will remain open in Unify for 10 business days from the time the service receives the referral. The senior team leader will approve the safety and support response at the end of the 10 days. (Refer to Procedure 2 Undertake a safety and support response.)

Standard or priority response

The senior team leader will approve a standard or priority response in Unify in the following timeframes: 

• Priority response—as soon as possible and within 24 hours of the decision to record a notification. 
• Standard response—within 48 hours of the decision to record a notification.

Following approval:

• assign the approved notification to the relevant CSSC assessment team and leave the assigned user field blank so that it is visible in the unassigned cases grid
• for a 24 hour priority response, telephone the relevant CSSC senior team leader to advise them of the approved notification.