n for any problems related to a child’s emotional well-being. The SDQ comprises a series of statements that require a judgement on how well it describes the child by ticking one or three or four boxes for each question.33 The SDQ provides information to help social workers form a view about the emotional well-being of individual looked-after children. For the purpose of the Department for Education’s SSDA903 data collection, the requirement is that local authorities must ensure that the looked-after child’s main carer (a foster carer or residential care worker) completes the two-page questionnaire for parents and carers. This is a simple questionnaire that does not require any training to interpret and can be completed in between five and ten minutes. If the SDQ completed by the carer suggests that the child’s total difficulties score is outside the normal range (i.e. a borderline score of 14-16 or a score of 17+, considered as giving cause for concern), the child may benefit from triangulating the scores from the carer’s SDQ with those of his or her teacher and (if he or she is aged 4 to 17) the self-evaluation. Social workers and Virtual School Heads should consider arranging for this to be done in order to provide more comprehensive information for the health assessment. If triangulation of those scores confirms the carer’s score, consideration should be given to using a diagnostic tool to enable an appropriate intervention to be identified. Other validated screening tools may be used in addition to the SDQ. 33 Further information on the SDQ. 35 The questionnaire can be completed at any point during the year, but to reduce the administration required it is recommended that it is completed around the time of a child’s health assessment. Local authorities, usually thro