Assessing Capacity What is your responsibility ? How do you do it ? Carly Houghton Team Leader Deprivation of Liberty Team LCC Helen Pearson Board Officer Safeguarding Boards (LSCB/SAB )

Capacity to do what?! Understand risk to a child Understand a Protection Plan Sustain change Be fit for interview Be criminally responsible Make decisions about where you live Understand that what is happening to them is harmful Refuse services

What affects decision making? Alcohol Drugs Learning Disability Alzheimer's/Dementia Mental Health diagnosis Domestic Abuse (coercion) Lack of empathy/egotism Personality disorders Cycles of abuse /Learnt behaviour

What ever the reason ! What is the impact ? On a persons ability to understand, retain and act on information On a persons ability to protect themselves and others Look beyond a diagnosis and consider how thinking and behaviour impacts

What do these statements mean ? They lack capacity ! They have a Learning Disability so dont understand They do not have a mental health diagnosis so there is nothing we can do I cant assess capacity because I know nothing about mental health.

Who assesses capacity YOU

We can all contribute Expertise in a particular area of work- Mental Health, Learning Disability, Child Development, Drugs and Alcohol Knowledge of the child or adult and their day to day experience – What they wake up to; Walking with them through the day Creative communication techniques Joint working

Not going into detail of Mental Capacity Act but use the principles as a guide to best practice how we might consider a persons capacity

Mental Capacity Act 2005 The key principles of the Mental Capacity Act are: Every adult assumed to have capacity unless demonstrated otherwise Person not to be treated as unable to make a decision simply because his or her decision is an unwise one Person must be empowered as far as possible to help them reach capacity Any act done for a person who lacks capacity must be done in that persons best interests Must consider if there is a less restrictive option

Adults can make decisions ( they may be unwise)

The test for capacity MCA s2 A person lacks capacity if he is unable to make a decision because of an impairment of or a disturbance in function of the mind or brain Impairment can be temporary Lack of capacity cannot be determined either by a persons age or appearance

Inability to make decisions MCA s3 A person is unable to make a decision for himself if he is unable:- To understand the information relevant to the decision To retain that information To use or weigh that information in the decision making process Communicate his decision

Asking the right questions Break it down Isolate decision Is it understood Test it out – Evidence through observations actions

Building confidence in Capacity assessments Use professional judgement Ask for assistance/expertise Think Whole Family Adult workers think child Childrens workers think adult Multi Agency decision making