Developing a process for assessment of the emotional and behavioural needs of “looked after” children: the Five Rivers model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the development process of building an assessment model to assess the emotional and behavioural needs of “looked after children”. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a technical paper developing and evaluating a process for comprehensively assessing children ' s needs using a combination of three existing tools. Findings – The paper identifies a model to assess “looked after” children and highlights some of the early benefits and challenges which have been encountered using this model. Practical implications – This paper suggests a model and timeframe to ensure that detailed assessments of the mental health of “looked after” children are effectively carried out. Social implications – There is a potential for an improvement in assessment of looked after children that will lead to the identification of appropriate interventions and services. Originality/value – The paper is new in identifying a combination of assessment measures and a timeline to complete these.