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A chronology sets out details of key events in a child’s / young person’s life in sequential date order using a specified format and is used to inform assessment, analysis, decision making and planning.
Care Inspectorate define chronologies as:
“Chronologies provide a key link in the chain of understanding needs/risks, including the need for protection from harm. Setting out key events in sequential date order, they give a summary timeline of child and family circumstances, [or those of an individual using adult services], patterns of behaviour and trends in lifestyle that may greatly assist any assessment and analysis. They are a logical, methodical and systematic means of organising, merging and helping make sense of information. They also help to highlight gaps and omitted details that require further exploration, investigation and assessment”
Care Inspectorate Practice Guide to Chronologies 2017
When assessing neglect, there is often no single ‘trigger incident’ that moves a case to child protection. Without a chronology, individual incidents can appear isolated and disconnected. A well-maintained chronology helps identify patterns over time and records evidence of change, or lack thereof. Analysing a chronology provides valuable insight into both the immediate and long-term impact of events on a child’s physical, emotional, and educational needs.
For further information, examples of significant events and chronology template, practitioners should access Fife Partnership’s Single and Multiagency Chronologies Good Practice Guidance 2024
The Iriss Leading Chronology Improvement tool aims to help leaders assess their current understanding of and practices related to chronologies. Challenges with chronologies are complex and connected, so this tool supports leaders to recognise readiness for change and find a place to start. It will support leaders to identify incremental, manageable changes and take meaningful actions for improvement. The tool poses questions across a number of themes to support reflection and help leaders think through the supports and barriers in their own context. It also offers prompts from research and ideas for activities. It can be used flexibly, to support individual reflection, team discussions, supervision, or as part of training.
