Pan Sussex LSCB Manual - Volume 2 |
Volume 2 - Contents
Preface
The responsibility for safeguarding children belongs to everyone. Children will only be safe if families, communities and professionals work together to promote their welfare.
All children should be safe and able to develop to their full potential. The protection of vulnerable children is vital and child protection procedures must be effective and work consistently across organisational boundaries.
Three Local Safeguarding Children Boards (Brighton and Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex) commissioned the policies and procedures in this manual.
The Sussex Procedures Sub-Group will continue to keep these procedures under review to take account of changes in legislation, government policy, research findings and professional experience.
Proposals for additions or amendments should be directed to the chair of the Sussex Procedures Sub-Group.
Acknowledgments
This document reflects materials, advice and information provided by central and local government, police, health services, probation, as well as many other voluntary organisations and individuals.
Thanks are also due to the steering group who supported and advised on production of this manual.
The Procedures Group would also like to thank Children Act Enterprises for their significant contribution to the development of these procedures.
8. Specific circumstances
8.1 Child abuse and information technology
ABUSIVE IMAGES |
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Definition |
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| 8.1.1 |
For the purposes of child protection, abusive images of children can be divided into:
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Unlawful material |
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| 8.1.2 | Legally, an abusive image of a child is defined by reference to an 'indecent photograph'. This is any indecent photograph of a child under the age of 18 years old. |
| 8.1.3 | The term 'photograph' includes film, copies of photographs or films, negatives, video tape, data stored on computers that can be converted into a photograph and 'pseudo-photographs' (images made by computers graphics, or other means, which appear to be a photograph). This also covers electronic images used by video phones and through texting. |
| 8.1.4 | It is for a court to decide what is 'indecent' by application of recognised standards of propriety. |
| 8.1.5 | Possession of such material is an offence. Taking, showing or distributing such material amounts to a more serious offence. |
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| 8.1.6 | Lawful material falls outside the above definition, but may involve children in an indecent or sexual context. This could include pictures, cartoons, literature or sound recordings e.g. books, magazines, audio cassettes, tapes, CD's |
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| 8.1.7 | Abusive images material may be found in the possession of those who use it for personal use or distributed to children as part of the grooming process. |
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| 8.1.8 | The Internet has become a significant tool in the distribution of abusive images of children, enabling ready access to such material. It may be downloaded and printed off in picture form or stored electronically on the hard drive of a computer, CD Rom, floppy disc etc. |
| 8.1.9 | Some adults use it to establish contact with children with a view to grooming them for inappropriate or abusive relationships. This may be accomplished through 'chat rooms' or contact by e-mail and may constitute an offence under The Sexual Offences Act 2003. |
| 8.1.10 | Children may be encouraged to access abusive images of children themselves through using apparently innocent words in an Internet search engine. |
| 8.1.11 | Parents may wish to seek advice from their Internet service provider of software programmes to limit access to sites that may be unsuitable for children. |
| 8.1.12 | See contact details in Appendix 5 for sources of advice on Internet safety. |
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| 8.1.13 | Parents should inform police if they are aware that a child has been the recipient of any suspicious contact through the internet or in receipt of abusive images, as described above. |
| 8.1.14 | Police must be informed of any information that a person may be in possession of abusive images of children or have placed / accessed abusive images of children on the internet. |
| 8.1.15 | Any information that a child may have been inappropriately contacted or approached, directly or via the internet, should also be passed to the police. |
| 8.1.16 | The police CPT can provide advice generally on matters of abusive images of children to other agencies. |
| 8.1.17 | Whenever the police are informed of concerns that an individual may be involved in the creation, distribution or possession of abusive images of children, consideration must be given to the possibility that the individual might also be involved in the active abuse of children and her/his access to children should be established, including family and work settings. |
| 8.1.18 |
The police must inform Children's social care and a strategy discussion held whenever it is suspected that a parent or carer of children or someone with access to children in other context/s e.g. employment:
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| 8.1.19 | The strategy discussion must consider all access the individual has to children. |
| 8.1.20 | The strategy discussion must initiate a S.47 enquiry whenever it is confirmed that a parent or carer of child/ren, or someone with access to child/ren has been involved in one or more of the activities detailed in Paragraph 8.1.1 to 8.1.6 above. |
8.2 Children involved in prostitution
DEFINITION |
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| 8.2.1 | Prostitution of children is a form of sexual exploitation of those under the age of 18 whose ability to provide informed consent may be compromised for a variety of reasons and children involved must be viewed as potential victims of abuse. |
| 8.2.2 | This exploitation takes the form of the exchange of sexual activities by these children for commodities such as money, drink, drugs, shelter, protection, accommodation etc. and is often perpetrated by an adult through coercion, violence or threats of violence. |
| 8.2.3 | The involvement of a child in prostitution, whether a boy or girl, is abuse in itself and must be responded to accordingly. |
| 8.2.4 | See ‘Safeguarding children involved in prostitution’ (DH 2000), for further guidance on the management of young people involved in prostitution. |
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| 8.2.5 | Prostitution is not of itself illegal, though there are offences that make the selling or buying of sexual services on a street or in a public place illegal. |
| 8.2.6 | Girls and boys under the age of 16 cannot, by law, consent to sexual intercourse and anyone engaging in sexual activity with a child under the age of 16 is committing an offence and liable to prosecution. |
| 8.2.7 | The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced a range of new offences and measures designed to address all inappropriate activity with children including:
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| 8.2.8 | Children involved in prostitution may be found on the streets, but many are kept in rooms and flats against their will. Consequently such children will not be readily identifiable. |
| 8.2.9 | Parents, carers, including foster carers and staff in children’s homes, must be alert to the following behaviours that may indicate a child’s involvement (or ‘grooming’ for involvement), but are not conclusive signs in themselves:
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| 8.2.10 | Common predisposing factors associated with a child becoming involved in prostitution are low self esteem and a history of being a victim of abuse, in particular sexual abuse. |
| 8.2.11 | Health professionals may become aware of children suffering sexually transmitted diseases, or requesting contraception advice or termination in circumstances that may indicate an involvement in prostitution. |
| 8.2.12 | Police officers executing warrants or investigating drug offences may encounter children involved in prostitution, and need to be aware that immediate action may have to be taken to protect a child. |
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Principles |
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| 8.2.13 | The main priority for all agencies concerned is securing the welfare of the child. |
| 8.2.14 | A child involved in prostitution and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation should be:
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| 8.2.15 | Concerns that a child may be involved in prostitution should be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. |
| 8.2.16 | Primary law enforcement should be against abusers and coercers, not the child involved in prostitution. The identification and prosecution of those adult offenders involved in the procurement of, or sexual activity with children, is of secondary concern to the welfare of the child. |
| 8.2.17 | Only rarely will it be appropriate for the child to enter the criminal justice system and then only if aged sixteen and over, when all attempts to divert the child have failed and in full knowledge of her/his circumstances after inter-agency discussion. |
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| 8.2.18 | The aims of intervention by agencies are to:
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| 8.2.19 | All agencies should establish whether those who are known to pay for sex with children are themselves parents or carers of children. If this is the case an assessment of the needs of those children should be considered, including whether they are at risk of, or are suffering, significant harm. |
| 8.2.20 | Parents should report concerns to Children’s social care or CPT. |
| 8.2.21 | Foster carers should report concerns to their supervising social worker or the child’s social worker. |
| 8.2.22 | Staff in children’s homes must report concerns to the manager of the home, who must refer the concern to the child’s social worker. |
| 8.2.23 | Uniformed police and CID may become aware that a child is involved in prostitution through the course of their duties. Unless immediate action is required to provide protection they should inform the CPT, who will inform Children’s social care. |
| 8.2.24 | Health professionals, youth workers and teachers should consult the designated/named child protection adviser and subsequently refer to Children’s social care. |
| 8.2.25 | Professionals and volunteers involved with young people may have developed a trusting relationship with the child and be concerned that a referral to Children’s social care will result in the child withdrawing from support services which may be providing some protection for the child, e.g. contraception, counselling or substance misuse treatment. |
| 8.2.26 | The professional must share their dilemma with the lead child protection professionals within their own agency (some agencies may have officers specifically nominated to lead on child prostitution). In making a final decision, the welfare of the child must be considered, together with their vulnerability and the level of coercion they are likely to be experiencing. |
| 8.2.27 | The decision making process must be recorded. |
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| 8.2.28 | Whenever there is a suspicion that a child is involved in prostitution or commercial sexual exploitation a referral should be made to Children’s social care or the CPT (See also Section 8.28, Sexual activity). Health staff should consider Fraser guidelines to assist in making judgements about referrals. |
| 8.2.29 | The professional identifying concerns should seek consent from the child or her/his parents unless this may:
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| 8.2.30 | All referrals must be shared between Children’s social care and the CPT and should be regarded as ‘children in need’ who may be at risk of significant harm. This discussion will determine within 24 hours of the referral whether:
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| 8.2.31 | The threshold for child protection enquiries is:
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| 8.2.32 | The younger the child the more likely it is that child protection procedures will be appropriate. |
| 8.2.33 | As with all referrals child protection procedures should be initiated at any point that it is recognised that the threshold has been met. |
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| 8.2.34 | Where the threshold for child protection enquiries is met, a strategy discussion (usually a meeting) must be held involving Children’s social care, CPT, the community paediatrician and other relevant professionals. |
| 8.2.35 | In planning any intervention the strategy discussion / meeting must:
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| 8.2.36 | At the conclusion of the enquiry a further strategy discussion / meeting should be held. Where the child is aged between 16 to 18 years, a member of the YOT should be invited. |
| 8.2.37 | The discussion/meeting should:
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| 8.2.38 | Where the child involved in prostitution is difficult to engage and / or suspicious of contact with Children’s social care or the police, the investigating agencies will need to consider other strategies e.g. the possibility of informal contact with a health or voluntary sector worker to develop a child’s trust prior to the involvement of statutory agencies. |
| 8.2.39 | An initial child / young person’s plan should be agreed and reviewed within three months. If an initial child protection conference is to be held, the decision about the plan should be taken at the conference. |
| 8.2.40 | If an adult abuser is identified as a result of the investigation, enquiries must be made to establish his / her contact with children in other settings, including if s/he is a parent, grandparent, etc. |
| 8.2.41 | A strategy discussion / meeting must be held in relation to any children with whom the identified abuser has regular contact and a S.47 initiated if s/he is a parent or carer of child/ren. |
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| 8.2.42 | When a referral is received regarding a looked after child, the social worker must immediately inform their line manager. |
| 8.2.43 | The S.47 strategy discussion must consider the additional factors:
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| 8.2.44 | The discussions must consider and record the appropriateness and method of informing the child’s parents. |
| 8.2.45 | Any decision that has implications for restriction of liberty or confiscation of property must have the written agreement of the service manager. |
| 8.2.46 | The support plan will form part of the care plan for the child and pathway plan in the case of care leavers. |
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| 8.2.47 | Where knowledge or suspicion exists that looked after children are involved together or being controlled by the same person there must be:
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| 8.2.48 | The police have the lead in the investigation and detection of crime in relation to the abuse of children through their involvement in prostitution. The primary law enforcement effort will be against those who coerce, exploit and abuse children, not the child involved in prostitution. |
| 8.2.49 | Police must also consider any need to take urgent action to secure the immediate safety of a child who may be involved in prostitution e.g. use of police protection under Section 46 of The Children Act 1989 may be appropriate. |
| 8.2.50 | In cases where a child persistently returns to prostitution, and in doing so commits an offence, police will consider whether criminal prosecution is necessary. This action will only be considered following a strategy discussion, when all diversion work has failed over a period of time, and a judgement made that further diversionary work will not prove effective in the foreseeable future. |
8.3 Children who significantly harm other children
| 8.3.1 | Severe harm may be caused to children by the abusive and bullying behaviour of other children, which may be of a physical, sexual or emotional nature. |
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| 8.3.2 | Bullying is a common form of deliberately hurtful behaviour, usually repeated over a period of time, where it is difficult for the victims to defend themselves. |
| 8.3.3 | The damage inflicted by bullying is often underestimated and can cause considerable distress to children to the extent that it affects their health and development. In the extreme it can cause significant harm, including self-harm. |
| 8.3.4 | It can take many forms, but the three main types are physical (e.g. hitting, kicking, theft), verbal (e.g. racist or homophobic / religious remarks, threats, name calling) and emotional (e.g. isolating an individual from social activities). |
| 8.3.5 | Schools are required to adopt policies to combat bullying and in the first instance cases should be dealt with under such policies. |
| 8.3.6 | Where there are concerns about sexual abuse or serious or persistent physical or emotional abuse, referrals should be made to Children's social care or the police child protection team. |
| 8.3.7 | Bullying may involve an allegation of crime (assault, theft, harassment) and this must be reported to the police at the earliest opportunity. |
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| 8.3.8 | The same signs and symptoms of abuse that pertain to the abuse of children by adults are applicable to the abuse of children by other children (see Section 3, Recognition and referral). |
| 8.3.9 | The effect on the victim of intimidation and peer pressure by their abuser may make disclosure difficult for the victim. |
| 8.3.10 |
Professionals must decide in the circumstances of each case whether or not behaviour directed at another child should be categorised as abusive or not. It will be helpful to consider the following factors:
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| 8.3.11 | In sexual abuse between children it is important to determine what is developmentally normal sexual experimentation and what is coercive (see also Section 8.32, Vulnerability of children living away from home). |
| 8.3.12 | When there is suspicion or an allegation of a child having been sexually abused or being likely to sexually abuse another child, it should be referred immediately to Children's social care or the police CPT. |
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| 8.3.13 | Concerns about possible abuse by one child of another are frequently first considered within a school environment and it may frequently be unclear if the circumstances should be considered under child protection procedures or not. |
| 8.3.14 | Where it is clear that the concern is one of child protection there should be no delay in the referral to Children's social care e.g. disclosure or witnessing of sexual abuse. |
| 8.3.15 |
Where further assessment is required prior to deciding the extent and nature of the concerns, the school should:
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| 8.3.16 | These procedures are additional to those that apply to all children. |
| 8.3.17 | The interests of the identified victim must always be the paramount consideration. However, whenever a child may have abused another, all agencies must be aware of their responsibilities to both individuals and multi-agency management of the case must reflect this. |
| 8.3.18 | It is likely that the abuser may pose a significant risk of harm to other children, have considerable needs themselves and may also be or have been the victim of abuse. |
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| 8.3.19 | On receipt of a referral to Children's social care, an initial strategy discussion must take place between Children's social care and the CPT to share the information and determine whether the threshold for s.47 enquiries has been reached. |
| 8.3.20 | The CPT will also decide whether a criminal offence is alleged. |
| 8.3.21 | Where the decision is reached that the alleged behaviour does not constitute abuse or the child is under the age of criminal responsibility, and there is no need for further enquiry or criminal investigation, the details of the referral and the reasons for the decision must be recorded. |
| 8.3.22 | In all cases where the suspected abuser is a young person, CPT and Children's social care must convene a strategy discussion (usually meeting) within the S.47 time-scales |
| 8.3.23 | When the young people concerned are the responsibility of different local authorities, each must be represented at the strategy discussion, which will usually be convened and chaired by the authority in which the victim lives. |
| 8.3.24 | The strategy discussion must consider the needs of both children. Best practice would be for separate meetings to be convened for victim and alleged abuser. |
| 8.3.25 | A different social worker should be allocated for the victim and the abuser, even when they live in the same household, to ensure that both are supported through the process of the enquiry and that both their needs are fully assessed. |
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The strategy discussion will be convened and chaired by Children's social care and a record made. The following individuals should be invited to the meeting:
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| 8.3.27 |
The meeting must plan in detail the respective roles of those involved in enquiries and ensure the following objectives are met:
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| 8.3.28 |
In planning the investigation the following factors should be considered:
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| 8.3.29 | Where there is suspicion that the child is both an abuser and a victim of abuse, the strategy meeting must consider the order in which interviews will take place. |
| 8.3.30 | The conduct of any investigation will be discussed within a strategy meeting and at the interview planning meeting to ensure the requirements of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 and Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings (2002) guidance are met. |
| 8.3.31 | Where police decide to conduct a separate 'offender' interview, Children's social care will not normally be involved other than in performing any statutory responsibilities to the child e.g. as appropriate adult. |
| 8.3.32 | Throughout the enquiry, the immediate protection of the child/ren must be ensured if that is necessary. |
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| 8.3.33 | The outcome of enquiries is as described in Section 5, Child protection enquiries. However, the position of the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator must be considered separately. |
| 8.3.34 | If the information gathered in the course of enquiries suggests that the perpetrator is also a victim, or potential victim, of abuse including neglect, a child protection conference must be convened. |
| 8.3.35 | Where there are no grounds for a child protection conference, but concerns remain regarding the child's sexually abusive behaviour, s/he will be considered as a child in need. In such cases, a multi-agency planning meeting should be held (see below paragraph 8.3.41 ) |
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| 8.3.36 | Consideration should be given to inviting a youth offending team representative to the conference of alleged abusers aged 10 or over, and informing YOT of the meeting in the case of younger children. |
| 8.3.37 | As well as carrying out all of its normal functions the child protection conference must consider how to respond to the child's needs as a possible abuser. |
| 8.3.38 | Where the alleged perpetrator is not registered, consideration should be given to the need for services to address any abusive behaviour and the multi-agency responsibility to manage any risk, through the use of multi-agency planning meetings. |
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| 8.3.39 | The decision as to how to proceed with the criminal aspects of a case will be made by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). This decision will take into account any recommendations of the youth offending team and the views of other professionals. |
| 8.3.40 |
Best practice suggests that criminal proceedings should not be taken where:
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| 8.3.41 | Where there are insufficient grounds for holding a child protection conference, or where one has been held but registration did not occur as a result, a multi-agency approach will still be needed if the young abuser's needs are complex. |
| 8.3.42 | In such cases a multi-agency planning meeting should be convened by Children's social care to pool information, allocate roles and set a time-table for an assessment of the needs of the child and the risk posed by them, as well as co-ordinate any other interim intervention. |
| 8.3.43 | Those invited should include participants of the strategy meeting and representatives from health (including child and adolescent mental health services), school and any other appropriate service provider, the child and her/his parents / carers. |
| 8.3.44 | In cases where the young abuser is also looked after by the local authority consideration should be given to the need for a plan to minimise risk of future offending, agreed with carers and their agency. |
| 8.3.45 | On completion of the assessment, the same forum will be reconvened to consider the outcome, to review and co-ordinate roles of relevant agencies in providing any identified intervention, including specialist input with regard to service users with special needs. Care must be taken to provide services culturally appropriate to the needs of the child and the family. |
| 8.3.46 | Intervention should be reviewed at regular multi-agency meetings at intervals of no more than 6 months. At the point of closure, the review will consider the possible need for long-term monitoring and the availability of advice and other services. |
| 8.3.47 | Young people with inappropriate sexual behaviour who are re-entering the community following a custodial sentence or time in secure accommodation, or who move into an area from another local authority also require such a multi-agency assessment / intervention. |
8.4 Child witnesses in criminal prosecution and pre-trial therapy support
DEFINITION OF CHILD WITNESS SUPPORT |
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| 8.4.1 | A service available to children and young people required to give evidence in criminal proceedings, either in relation to their own abuse, or as a witness to crimes committed against another person. |
| 8.4.2 | This service will seek both to prepare the witness in practical terms to give evidence in criminal proceedings, and provide support to witnesses during the period leading up to any trial, which is bound to be a time of high anxiety and stress. |
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| 8.4.3 | The service will be offered to every child who is a victim of an offence that is subject to criminal proceedings or is to be called as a witness at such proceedings. |
| 8.4.4 | In such cases the police will make referrals to the young witness service, who will then liaise with Children's social care to identify a support worker to undertake the appropriate work with the witness. |
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| 8.4.5 | All staff from Children's social care, the young witness service, and police officers involved in supporting children through the court process, must have undergone the appropriate training as provided by each agency. They must have been evaluated to be competent in providing the service. |
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Identifying children who wish to receive therapy |
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| 8.4.6 | Where a child is a witness in criminal proceedings and therapy is being considered for that child or young person, contact should be made with the police officer in charge of the case before therapy commences. This will allow the Crown Prosecution Service to be contacted to ascertain whether the therapy will have any bearing on the criminal trial. It should however be stressed that the child's needs for therapy will always be paramount even if this is likely to prejudice the criminal case. |
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| 8.4.7 | For those children who are subject to the CPC process, it will be the responsibility of the CPC to identify therapeutic needs and make the necessary link to the police if they are not in attendance at the Conference. |
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| 8.4.8 | In these cases the child witness supporter will highlight the need for parents/carers to inform them if they are considering therapy for their child in advance of it commencing. The child witness supporter will then alert the officer in charge of the case so that negotiations may take place with the police. |
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| 8.4.9 | There is a clear distinction between the use of therapy by qualified practitioners, and the formal preparation of a witness to give evidence in court. |
| 8.4.10 | Therapeutic work can broadly be placed in two categories: Counselling and Psychotherapy. |
| 8.4.11 |
Counselling will address a number of issues, including:
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| 8.4.12 |
Psychotherapy will address issues including:
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| 8.4.13 | Therapists may work within the Health Service, Children's social care, the voluntary sector or privately. |
| 8.4.14 | When it has been agreed that such services will be provided to a child witness, it is imperative that the therapist/counsellor has had the appropriate training for the type of work to be undertaken. Membership of an appropriate professional body or other recognised competence may be an indication of their suitability. |
| 8.4.15 | In addition they should have a clear understanding of the effects of abuse on children, together with knowledge of the rules of evidence, and how these may be affected by any therapy provided to a child. They should have read the practice guidance Provision of Therapy for Child Witnesses Prior to a Criminal Trial, published by the Home Office, CPS and the DoH. |
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| 8.4.16 | All people who work with children before a criminal trial must be aware of the possible impact of their work upon subsequent evidence in the trial. Some types of therapeutic work are more likely to undermine the credibility of a child witness than others. Any discussion by a child of their evidence during therapy must carefully be considered. This could lead to allegations of coaching, and the likely failure of the criminal case, and should be avoided if at all possible. |
| 8.4.17 | A balance must be struck between the needs of the child and the resultant impact of any therapy on the criminal proceedings. However, where this balance becomes critical, the best interests of the child are paramount. |
| 8.4.18 | Before commencing therapy, the therapist should be made aware of any pending criminal proceedings. |
| 8.4.19 | Although the decision to commence therapy with a child is not one for the police or CPS, they should be informed that any therapy is proposed or has been undertaken. The CPS will then be able to advise, if requested, on the likely impact of the therapy on the evidence. |
| 8.4.20 | If there is a demonstrable need for therapeutic work that is likely to jeopardise the criminal proceedings, consideration may need to be given to abandoning those proceedings in the interests of the child's well being. |
| 8.4.21 | If during the course of any therapy, new allegations of abuse are made, or any information is received that is inconsistent with the original allegation, the police or Children's social care must be informed. |
| 8.4.22 | In all cases where an allegation of abuse is received prior to any therapy taking place, the evidence should be recorded by means of a video recorded interview before any therapy commences. Where an allegation arises from the therapy itself, then any decision as to how to proceed should be made during a strategy meeting, which should include the therapist. |
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| 8.4.23 | It is vital that a comprehensive record is made of any therapeutic work undertaken, and that any such records are preserved. |
| 8.4.24 | The Police have a duty to reveal the existence of any information or evidence that may undermine the prosecution case or assist the defence. Accordingly, any records kept by therapists may become part of the evidence in the case. At any time during the proceedings the police, CPS, defence or the Court, may make a request for these records. Therapists should consider obtaining legal advice before releasing any such material. |
| 8.4.25 | Therapists may be called as witnesses themselves in any proceedings, and should be prepared for this possibility. |
| 8.4.26 | In light of this, therapists should not guarantee confidentiality in advance of any therapeutic work with a child. An understanding should be reached at the outset with a child and their carers about the requirement for any records to be disclosed. |
8.5 Complex abuse
DEFINITION |
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| 8.5.1 | Complex (organised or multiple) abuse may be defined as abuse involving one or more abusers and number of children (related or non-related). |
| 8.5.2 | The abusers concerned may be acting in concert to abuse a child or children, or may be acting in isolation. One or more of the adults involved may be using an institutional framework or position of authority to recruit children for abuse. |
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It reflects, to a greater or lesser extent, an element of organisation on the part of the adult/s involved and may involve:
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| 8.5.4 | Complex abuse investigations will encompass not only the reporting of current abuse on children, but also the reporting of childhood abuse by adults, commonly referred to as historical abuse. |
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| 8.5.5 | Cases of organised abuse are often highly complex because of the number of children involved, the very serious nature of the allegations of abuse, the need for therapeutic input and the complex and time consuming nature of any consequent legal proceedings |
| 8.5.6 | Each investigation is different and complex abuse may occur in day care, in families and in other provisions such as youth services, sports clubs and voluntary groups. The emergence of cases of children being abused by the use of the Internet is a new form of complex abuse (see also Section 8.1, Child abuse and information communication technology). |
| 8.5.7 | Complex abuse investigations require thorough planning and may require the formation of dedicated teams of professionals from both the police and Children's social care for the purpose of the investigation. |
| 8.5.8 | It is recognised those who commit sex offences against children often operate across geographical and operational boundaries and the procedure reflects the involvement of more than one local authority. |
| 8.5.9 | Where an allegation involves a post holder who has a specified role within these procedures, the referral must be reported to an alternative (more senior) manager. |
| 8.5.10 | In all investigations of organised abuse, it is essential that staff involved maintain a high level of confidentiality in relation to the information in their possession without jeopardising the investigation or the welfare of the children involved |
| 8.5.11 | The protection of any children identified as being at risk of harm remains paramount, but the needs of the alleged offender should be treated with sensitivity and the investigation should aim to minimise the disruption and damage to the alleged offender's private and professional life. |
| 8.5.12 | Subsequent information generated throughout the investigation should only be shared on a 'need to know' basis. |
| 8.5.13 | These procedures must be implemented in conjunction with the procedures on allegations against carers, staff, and volunteers where appropriate (see Section 8.21, Procedures for managing allegations against people who work with children) |
| 8.5.14 | For further guidance see also Complex Child Abuse Investigations: Inter-Agency Issues, HO & DH 2002. Further advice for the police can be found in Appendix I to the Force Child Protection Policy. Detailed guidance for senior investigating officers is also contained in the ACPO document The Investigation of Historical / Institutional Child Abuse - The Senior Investigating Officers Handbook. |
| 8.5.15 | In the event of a complex abuse investigation being confirmed, key staff must be aware of the content of these documents. |
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| 8.5.16 | Where there is a suspicion of complex abuse, the social / duty worker or police officer receiving the referral should immediately inform their line manager. |
| 8.5.17 | Further advice is available from second tier managers. If managers agree that the referral constitutes a complex abuse allegation, the senior child protection manager and the detective chief inspector should be informed and consulted. |
| 8.5.18 | Investigations of complex abuse will be carried out under the auspices of the LSCB, which should be kept informed of its progress. |
| 8.5.19 | The Sequence of Events Flowchart describes the sequence of events in responding to concerns about potential complex abuse. |
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| 8.5.20 |
In order to assist the decision whether a complex abuse investigation is commenced, there should be a 'scoping' meeting involving the:
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| 8.5.21 | The meeting needs to take account of the likely impact on the victim/s, the suspected offender/s and the community in deciding whether the investigation or any course of action, is proportionate to the aim. |
| 8.5.22 |
Factors to be considered include the:
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| 8.5.23 |
The scoping meeting must:
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| 8.5.24 | If the meeting decides that the case is likely to be sufficiently complex and resource intensive, then a full meeting of the strategic management group should be convened. |
Click here to view the Sequence of Events Flowchart.
| 8.5.25 | If the case does not meet this threshold, then the investigation will be managed under the normal arrangements described in Section 5, Child protection enquiries. If, after further enquiries are made, it becomes clear that the situation is more complex, the scoping meeting should be re-convened. |
| 8.5.26 | Where the extent of the complexity is unclear, there should be a further scoping meeting arranged to review the progress of the case. |
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| 8.5.27 | Once the decision has been taken at the scoping meeting to initiate a complex investigation, the lead officer for Children's social care must be informed. S/he must inform the LSCB chairperson, the director of children's services, head of the media / press office and senior managers of relevant agencies e.g. designated child protection professionals. |
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| 8.5.28 | To ensure a co-ordinated response, a strategic management group (SMG) meeting, chaired by either Children's social care or the police, must be convened as early as possible. The agency initiating the meeting will provide the administrative support. |
| 8.5.29 |
The membership of the group should comprise senior staff able to commit resources and will normally include the following:
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| 8.5.30 | Line managers of any staff implicated in the allegations of abuse must not be included in the strategic management group or the investigation team (see Section 8.21, Procedures for managing allegations against people who work with children). The terms of reference of the SMG should be minuted at the first meeting. All subsequent meetings held in accordance with this procedure must be minuted, classified as 'confidential' and all copies individually numbered. Any copying of minutes should be agreed with the chairperson. |
| 8.5.31 |
The minutes should be arranged in the following format:
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| 8.5.32 | Decisions and explanatory reasoning should be recorded in the policy book, a document used by the senior investigating officer to record strategic and tactical decisions, who should also ensure the production of an action list for subsequent monitoring purposes. |
| 8.5.33 |
The meeting must consider a wide range of issues and agree a plan that includes:
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| 8.5.34 | The SMG must ensure that any current risks to children are acted upon immediately, whenever they emerge during the investigation and should consider developing a risk management protocol as described at appendix C of Complex Child Abuse Investigations: Inter-Agency Issues, HO & DH 2002. |
| 8.5.35 |
The SMG must make arrangements to convene regularly during the investigation to:
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| 8.5.36 | The SMG should remain in existence at least until the crown prosecution service has made a decision about the alleged perpetrators. |
| 8.5.37 | The SMG must inform the LCSB of the investigation and consideration given to the need for a serious case review. |
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| 8.5.38 | This group led by the police senior investigating officer or her / his deputy should include representatives of Children's social care, education, health and local authority legal services. Other agencies should be invited as appropriate. |
| 8.5.39 |
The role of this group will vary, but should include:
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| 8.5.40 | The SMG should identify individuals within and outside their organisation with the required expertise. This may include experience of investigating allegations of abuse, compiling profiles, understanding methods of abusers, child protection processes, disciplinary proceedings and working with victims, survivors and their families. |
| 8.5.41 | In selecting staff, consideration should be given to requirements arising from the individual needs of the relevant child/ren - e.g. gender, culture, race, language, and where relevant, disability. |
| 8.5.42 | The team members must be trustworthy and display sensitivity, honesty, empathy and personal maturity. They must all be wholly independent from any of the parties that are the subjects of the investigation. |
| 8.5.43 | Personnel seconded to the investigative team should be dedicated to the investigation and have no other responsibility. |
| 8.5.44 | The location of the group must take account, both geographically and organisationally, of the need to maintain confidentiality, especially crucial where the investigation concerns staff or carers. |
| 8.5.45 | Appropriate facilities must be available for video interviews and paediatric assessment. |
| 8.5.46 | Administrative support, information technology and accommodation requirements must be addressed at the outset, including the storage of confidential records. |
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| 8.5.47 | One of the most difficult issues in complex abuse investigations relates to the tracing, use, management and disclosure of documentary information relevant to the investigation. The investigative team should consider what information is required and where it is likely to be, and take immediate steps to secure it within each agency. |
| 8.5.48 | A vast range of documentary information will exist on personal files, personnel files, e-mails, general establishment records and registers. Clear protocols and procedures for investigative access to this material will need to be established at an early stage. |
| 8.5.49 | Where vital information may have been lost, damaged or destroyed over a period of time, consideration should be given to the establishment of a database containing details of known or potential witnesses and victims. |
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| 8.5.50 | These investigations rely critically on sensitive or highly confidential information being made available, including any information known about alleged perpetrators identified in the investigation. The principles of Section 2, Information sharing and confidentiality should be applied to all complex abuse investigations and team members should be familiar with its provisions. |
| 8.5.51 | The need to maintain the integrity of shared information is vital, and all investigative staff must be aware and comply with the principle of a 'need to know basis'. Consideration should be given to the use of confidentiality agreements with regard to individuals employed to undertake the investigation. |
| 8.5.52 | In addition to the issues regarding access to files and information sharing, consideration must be given for the need to share information about any known or suspected offender identified in the investigation. |
| 8.5.53 | Whenever a statement of complaint is received in respect of an alleged perpetrator, a risk assessment must be immediately undertaken with regard to what current risk that person may pose to other young children. |
| 8.5.54 | Members of the investigation team should not undertake this task, but ensure that the appropriate information is shared with the multi agency risk panel situated in the area where it is believed the perpetrator is currently residing (see Section 10, Risk management of known offenders). |
| 8.5.55 | Further detailed guidance on this issue, together with advice on disclosure of material is contained in Complex Child Abuse Investigations: Inter-Agency Issues, HO & DH 2002. |
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| 8.5.56 | It may be recognised at the outset, or during the investigation, that there are suspected or potential victims in more than one geographical area. |
| 8.5.57 | At the outset, the responsibility for managing the investigation lies with the Children's social care where the abuse is alleged to have occurred/ where the alleged perpetrator/s are alleged to operate. |
| 8.5.58 | Once it is recognised that there are suspected or potential victims in other areas a joint approach should be made by the SMG to the appropriate police and Children's social care. |
| 8.5.59 | The initiating investigation management group and investigation team should undertake the investigation on behalf of the other geographical areas. |
| 8.5.60 | A senior manager from each area should join the initiating SMG to discuss this and agree any resource implications involved |
| 8.5.61 | If the number of victims outside the geographical boundaries of the original joint investigative team increases to the extent that it cannot respond, then an investigation management group and / or an investigation team in the new geographic area should be established. |
| 8.5.62 | It is essential that there is a joint SMG to provide overall planning. If it is necessary to have more than one investigative team, there must be close working between co-ordinators and processes for full information sharing. |
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| 8.5.63 | There must be a clearly defined exit strategy not only in relation to the closure of the investigation, but also with regard to the victims and witnesses, who may require on-going support at the conclusion of any trial or investigation. |
| 8.5.64 | Staff involved directly in the investigation as well as other operational staff who have kept day to day services running where colleagues have been seconded into the investigation team, need to be thoroughly debriefed. |
| 8.5.65 | At the conclusion of the investigation each agency should undertake a review, with a view to identifying any changes to policy, practice or disciplinary processes that may be necessary. Such a review will complement any serious case review that may be concurrent or have been completed. |
| 8.5.66 | The SMG should have a final meeting where concluding information and debriefing can be shared. An overview report should be compiled and presented to the LCSB. |
| 8.5.67 | Consideration must also be given to the storage and security of the files relating to the investigation. Access to such records may well be necessary in relation to any on-going appeals, civil proceedings or applications for compensation. |
| 8.5.68 | Best practice is for the files to be centrally archived at a single location, and retained for a minimum period of 6 years from the completion of the investigation, or six months beyond the completion of any sentence, whichever is the longer. |
8.6 Criminal injuries compensation scheme
| 8.6.1 | Children who are victims of offences of violence (committed within or outside the family) may be entitled to criminal injuries compensation whether or not there has been a prosecution or conviction and even where there is no physical injury as in cases of sexual assault. |
| 8.6.2 | The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (the Authority) has a duty to compensate fairly all those who suffer personal injuries directly attributable to a crime of violence (legal aid may be available to assist in submitting applications and deciding whether or not to accept awards). |
| 8.6.3 |
Conditions of the Scheme are as follows:
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| 8.6.4 | Where the local authority holds parental responsibility Children's social care should help the child make the claim or should initiate the claim on the child's behalf. The form should be completed by the social worker and approved by her/his manager. |
| 8.6.5 | The local authority has no power to make a claim on behalf of a child unless they are subject to a Care Order. |
| 8.6.6 | Where the child is looked after, but the local authority does not have parental responsibility, the person with parental responsibility should be approached about the making of a claim. |
| 8.6.7 | If this is inappropriate e.g. because that person caused the injuries, is cohabiting with the person who did or declines to initiate the claim, Children's social care should consider referring the child to an appropriate agency e.g. a solicitor or victim support. |
| 8.6.8 | A child who has been the subject of a child protection conference may be eligible to apply. Advice and guidance therefore should be given to parents of the child about criminal injuries compensation. |
| 8.6.9 | When a child is not looked after or where the offence did not give rise to a child protection conference, the responsibility for advising that an application be made rests with the police. |
| 8.6.10 | Further information about the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and an application form can be obtained from:
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, |
8.7 Disabled children
DEFINITION |
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| 8.7.1 | The Children Act 1989 states that 'A child is disabled if he is blind, deaf or dumb or suffers from mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed'. |
| 8.7.2 | Any child with a disability is by definition a 'child in need' under S. 17 of the Children Act 1989. |
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| 8.7.3 | A disabled child, if abused, suffers the same consequences as any other. |
| 8.7.4 |
Research indicates though, that the incidence of emotional neglect and sexual abuse is much higher for disabled children. The level of risk may be raised by:
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| 8.7.5 |
In addition to the universal indicators of abuse / neglect listed in Section 3, Recognition and referral the following abusive behaviours must be considered:
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| 8.7.6 | The procedures in Section 2, Information sharing and confidentiality, Section 3, Recognition and referral, Section 4, Response and assessment and Section 5, Child protection enquiries apply equally to disabled children. |
| 8.7.7 | Where a child is unable to tell someone of her/his abuse s/he may convey anxiety or distress in some other way, e.g. behaviour or symptoms and carers and staff must be alert to this. |
| 8.7.8 | Each child should be assessed carefully and supported where relevant to participate in the child protection and criminal justice system. Agencies must consider how best to enable a disabled child to give credible evidence and to withstand the rigours of the court process (see also Section 8.30 Use of interpreter, signer or others with special communications skills). |
8.8 Domestic violence
DEFINITION |
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| 8.8.1 | Domestic violence within these procedures is defined as any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between adults who live in the same household or where one adult lives in the household and the other is a regular visitor. This includes adults who are married, partners, ex-partners, family members, boyfriends and girlfriends. |
| 8.8.2 | The amendment introduced by the Adoption and Children Act to S.31 A recognises that a child may suffer significant harm through witnessing domestic violence (see paragraph 5.1.3). |
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| 8.8.3 | Abuse resulting from domestic violence may manifest itself in a variety of ways including physical violence, emotional or psychological abuse, sexual violence, financial control and the imposition of social isolation or movement deprivation. |
| 8.8.4 | Where there is domestic violence the implications for the children in the household must be considered because research evidence indicates a strong link between domestic violence and all types of abuse and neglect. |
| 8.8.5 | Significant harm may result from the adverse psychological effect on children of being aware of threats or actual violence between adults, as well as the extra risk of physical injury, either by accident in the midst of a violent incident or by design from a violent adult. |
| 8.8.6 | Any agency assessment should consider the possibility of domestic violence and ensure the response safeguards both child and non-abusing parent. |
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| 8.8.7 |
Police and health are often the first point of contact and they (or any other agency that becomes aware of domestic violence) should safeguard the safety of the victim and:
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| 8.8.8 | In addition the police will notify Children's social care whenever they become aware of an incident of domestic violence, including details and information about the family in the referral. |
| 8.8.9 | On notification of an incident of domestic violence within a family, the minimum response by Children's social care must be to consult existing records and consider what else is known of the family. |
| 8.8.10 | For any serious incidents of domestic violence between adults, where there is a child in the household, an initial assessment must be undertaken. |
| 8.8.11 | Lesser incidents should be considered individually, but no more than three minor incidents should be allowed to occur without the completion of at least an initial assessment. |
| 8.8.12 | If a child has experienced significant harm during any domestic violence incident, a child protection enquiry must be undertaken. |
| 8.8.13 | Whenever an initial assessment is undertaken, or at any time thereafter, all agencies involved with the family should be informed of any domestic violence incidents. |
| 8.8.14 | Where the family refuse to co-operate with an initial assessment, consideration should be given to the justification for a S.47 enquiry. |
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| 8.8.15 | Intervention in families where there is domestic violence should give careful consideration to the wording of any letters sent out to the family and provide opportunities for both partners to be interviewed separately, and in a safe setting. |
| 8.8.16 |
Many victims of domestic violence feel unable to disclose its existence or severity. The following issues should be discussed with the alleged victim as part of any assessment:
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| 8.8.17 | The alleged victim of violence should be advised of the availability of legal advice and options available through the Protection from Harassment Act, 1997 and the Family Law Act 1996 Part IV. |
| 8.8.18 | The interview with the alleged perpetrator of the violence should be planned carefully between the worker and their line manager. Care must be taken not to collude with the alleged perpetrator such as disclosing addresses, making unsafe contact arrangements etc. |
| 8.8.19 | If there is an acknowledgement of violence, the interview should clarify the points above (see paragraph 8.8.16). Where there is no acknowledgement of violence and it is not possible to share the victim's account, there should be general discussions about the children's welfare. |
| 8.8.20 | The children should be interviewed (if sufficient age and understanding) and their experiences explored. It is important to consider the possibility that the child may have experienced direct abuse themselves and /or may be inhibited from disclosing concerns due to fear of (further) domestic violence or abuse to themselves. |
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| 8.8.21 | If a child protection conference is held, consideration should be given to any need to exclude the violent partner for part or all of the meeting |
| 8.8.22 |
The local authority may pursue legal options of:
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| 8.8.23 | Women with children fleeing domestic violence may receive support from the housing department. Children's social care should be included in planning the course of action if relocation is necessary. |
8.9 Fabricated or induced illness
INTRODUCTION |
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| 8.9.1 |
This rare and potentially dangerous form of abuse has also been known as:
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| 8.9.2 | This section outlines the procedures to follow when professionals are concerned that the health or development of a child is likely to be significantly impaired by the actions of a carer having fabricated or induced illness. |
| 8.9.3 | Further guidance is provided in DH 2002 document Safeguarding Children in Whom Illness is Fabricated or Induced. |
| 8.9.4 | The Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health 2001 Fabricated or Induced Illness by Carers provides further guidance for medical clinicians. |
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| 8.9.5 | Fabricated or induced illness in a child is a condition whereby a child suffers harm through the deliberate action of her/his main carer and which is duplicitously attributed by the adult to another cause. |
| 8.9.6 |
There are 3 main ways of the carer fabricating or inducing illness in a child:
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| 8.9.7 | The above methods are not mutually exclusive. |
| 8.9.8 | Harm to the child may be caused through unnecessary or invasive medical treatment, which may be harmful and possibly dangerous, based on symptoms that are falsely described or deliberately manufactured by the carer, and lack independent corroboration. |
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| 8.9.9 |
Doctors / paediatricians may be concerned at the possibility of a child suffering significant harm as a result of having illness fabricated or induced by her/his carer. These concerns may arise when:
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| 8.9.10 | Concerns may be raised by other professionals e.g. nurses, teachers or social workers who are working with the child and who may notice discrepancies between reported and observed medical conditions, such as the incidence of fits. |
| 8.9.11 | Professionals working with the child's parents may also note these concerns e.g. mental health professionals, may identify a child being drawn into the parents illness. |
| 8.9.12 |
Features that may be associated with this form of abuse, but none of which are themselves indicative, are:
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| 8.9.13 |
Generally, some indicators of abuse mentioned in Section 2, Information sharing and confidentiality may (or may not) be associated with this form of abuse, such as:
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| 8.9.14 | Concerns about a child's health should be discussed as early as possible with the appropriate professional involved with the child e.g. GP, paediatrician. If any professional considers their concerns are not responded to appropriately, these should be discussed with the designated doctor or nurse. |
| 8.9.15 | Professional staff may wish to consult or seek support from their designated or named professional. |
| 8.9.16 | If any concerns relate to a member of staff, see Section 8.21 Procedures for managing allegations against people who work with children |
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| 8.9.17 | The signs and symptoms require careful medical evaluation for a range of possible diagnoses. |
| 8.9.18 | All tests and their results should be fully and accurately recorded. It is important that the child's record is not altered in any way, e.g. through tampering with test results. |
| 8.9.19 | The name of the person reporting any observations should be legibly recorded and dated. |
| 8.9.20 | Where a reason cannot be found for the signs and symptoms, specialist advice and tests may be required. |
| 8.9.21 | Normally, the doctor would tell the parent/s that s/he has not found the explanation and record the parental response. |
| 8.9.22 | Parents should be kept informed of further assessments / investigations / tests required and of the findings. |
| 8.9.23 | Concerns about the reasons for the child's signs and symptoms should not be shared with parents, if this information is likely to jeopardise the child's safety. |
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| 8.9.24 | When a possible explanation for the signs and symptoms is that they may have been fabricated or induced by a carer, and as a consequence the child's health or development is or is likely to be impaired, a referral should be made to Children's social care (Safeguarding Children in Whom Illness is Fabricated or Induced paragraph 3.12). |
| 8.9.25 | The referral may follow a medical evaluation or be the result of concern by professionals or members of the public. |
| 8.9.26 | Whilst professionals should in general, discuss any concerns with the family and, where possible, seek agreement to making referrals to Children's social care, this should only be done where such discussion and agreement-seeking will not place a child at increased risk of significant harm or prejudice an investigation. |
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| 8.9.27 | As with all other referrals, Children's social care should decide, within 1 working day, the response required. |
| 8.9.28 | The decision must be taken in consultation with the consultant paediatrician responsible for the child's health care and the police child protection team (CPT). |
| 8.9.29 | This decision making process must agree the action to be taken, by whom and within what time frame. |
| 8.9.30 | All decisions about what information is shared with parents should be agreed between the CPT, Children's social care, consultant paediatrician and referring professional, bearing in mind the safety of the child and the conduct of any police investigations. |
| 8.9.31 | Possible outcomes of referrals are the same as any other |
| 8.9.32 | If emergency action is required e.g. if a child's life is in danger through toxic substances being introduced into the blood stream, an immediate strategy discussion should take place, where possible, between Children's social care, CPT, health and other agencies as appropriate. However this should not delay the use of immediate protection if required (see Section 5.6 Immediate protection) |
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| 8.9.33 | An initial assessment should usually be undertaken as with all referrals following the guidance set out in the Assessment Framework. |
| 8.9.34 | This should be undertaken in collaboration with the consultant paediatrician responsible for the child's health care. |
| 8.9.35 | The outcomes of the initial assessment are as for other referrals. The decision should be made in consultation with the paediatric consultant and police, with agreement reached regarding what the parents should be told. 'Concerns should not be raised with a parent if it is judged that this action will jeopardise the child's safety.' (see paragraph 3.18 'Safeguarding Children in Whom Illness is Fabricated or Induced') |
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| 8.9.36 | If there is reasonable cause to suspect the child is suffering, or likely to suffer significant harm, Children's social care should convene and chair a strategy meeting involving all the key professionals. A meeting is advisable when considering this complex form of abuse. |
| 8.9.37 | A strategy meeting must be chaired by, at a minimum level, the first line manager or child protection adviser. If operational managers chair the discussion a child protection adviser or manager should be informed and consulted. |
| 8.9.38 |
This meeting requires the involvement of key senior professionals responsible for the child's welfare. At a minimum this must include Children's social care, police and the paediatric consultant responsible for the child's health. Additionally the following should be invited as appropriate:
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| 8.9.39 |
When it is decided that there are grounds to initiate a S.47 enquiry, decisions should be made about how the enquiry, as part of the core assessment, will be carried out. In addition to the decisions usually taken at a strategy meeting additional factors to address are:
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| 8.9.40 | Investigating this specific circumstance is complex and disturbing for practitioners and one worker should not undertake the investigation in isolation. The strategy meeting should recognise the need to ensure multi-agency co-ordinated working and good supervision. |
| 8.9.41 | If at any point there is medical evidence that the child's symptoms are being fabricated or induced, action may be required to ensure the child's life is not put at risk. |
| 8.9.42 | It may be necessary to have more than one strategy meeting. This is likely where the child's circumstances are complex and a number of discussions are required to consider whether and, if relevant, when to initiate S.47 enquiries. |
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| 8.9.43 | Be prepared for the carer to present as very plausible and well informed as to the nature of the child's medical problems. |
| 8.9.44 | Avoid early confrontation with the suspected carer until adequate evidence is obtained and a protection plan for the child is constructed. |
| 8.9.45 | Keep a focus on the impact of the carer's behaviour on the child when assessing levels of risk. |
| 8.9.46 | Children under the age of 5, especially pre-verbal children and children with an existing bone fide illness, disability and/or communication difficulties are at greatest risk because of their inherent vulnerability. |
| 8.9.47 | When confronting the suspected abuser ensure that all information is available and thoroughly documented and provisions have already been made for the care of the children. |
| 8.9.48 | Before placing children with members of either extended family, be sure that a thorough assessment of them has taken place. Illness induction may be a feature of the family behaviour in previous generations. Any alternative carer should demonstrate an ability to believe that the suspected abuser may have posed a risk to the child. This may be hard to ascertain if the alternative carer is a relative. |
| 8.9.49 | An adult psychiatrist should be involved at the point at which there is moderate to high suspicion that a parent has been inducing symptoms or a court has made a finding of fact that such behaviour has occurred. |
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| 8.9.50 | Any evidence gathered by police should be available to other relevant professionals, to inform discussions and decisions about the child's welfare and contribute to the S.47 enquiry and core assessment, unless this would be likely to prejudice criminal proceedings. |
| 8.9.51 | It is important that suspects' rights are protected by adherence to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which would normally rule out any agency other than the police confronting any suspect persons. |
| 8.9.52 | Covert video surveillance is a legitimate investigative tool, but its use should only be considered when a multi-agency strategy discussion has agreed there is no other available way of obtaining information that will explain the child's signs and symptoms. |
| 8.9.53 | The primary aim of covert video surveillance is to identify if a child is having illness induced. Obtaining criminal evidence is of secondary importance. |
| 8.9.54 | Once this decision has been made, the police will be responsible for applying for the appropriate authority under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. If that authority is granted, the police have sole responsibility for implementing and undertaking any such surveillance. Good practice advice for police officers is available from the National Crime Faculty. |
| 8.9.55 | The safety and health of the child is the over-riding factor in the use of covert video surveillance, and the medical consultant responsible for the child's care should ensure that the necessary medical and nursing staff support the police operation. |
| 8.9.56 | All non-police staff involved will receive appropriate training from the police, and understand the need for strict secrecy during the operation. |
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| 8.9.57 | As with all S.47 enquiries, the outcome may be that concerns are not substantiated e.g. tests may identify a medical condition, which explains the signs and symptoms. |
| 8.9.58 | It may be that no protective action is required, but the family should be provided with the opportunity to discuss what further help it may require. |
| 8.9.59 | Concerns may be substantiated, but an assessment made that the child is not judged to be at continuing risk of harm. |
| 8.9.60 | Where concerns are substantiated and the child judged to be suffering or at risk of suffering significant harm, a conference must be convened. All evidence should be thoroughly documented by this stage and the protection plan for the child already in place. |
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| 8.9.61 | The conference should be held within 15 working days from the last strategy meeting. |
| 8.9.62 |
Attendance at this conference should be as for other initial conferences, with the additional experts invited as appropriate:
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8.10 Female genital mutilation
DEFINITION |
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| 8.10.1 | Female genital mutilation is a collective term for procedures which include the removal of part or all of the external female genitalia for cultural or other non therapeutic reasons. |
| 8.10.2 | This practice is not required by any major religion and medical evidence indicates that female genital mutilation causes harm to those who are subjected to it. |
| 8.10.3 | Girls may be circumcised or genitally mutilated illegally by doctors or traditional health workers in the UK, or sent abroad for the operation. |
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| 8.10.4 | Female circumcision, excision or infibulation (female genital mutilation) is illegal in this country by the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, except on specific physical and mental health grounds. |
| 8.10.5 |
It is an offence to:
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| 8.10.6 | Any medical provision for a pregnant woman who has herself been the subject of female genital mutilation provides the opportunity for recognition of risk and preventative work with parents. |
| 8.10.7 | A child may be considered to be at risk if it is known that older girls in the family have been subject to the procedure. Prepubescent girls of 7 to 10 are the main subjects, though the practice has been reported amongst babies. |
| 8.10.8 |
Possible indicators are similar to other forms of abuse, especially sexual abuse, including:
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| 8.10.9 | Any suspicion of intended or actual female genital mutilation must be referred to Children's social care, in accordance with child protection procedures in Section 2, Information sharing and confidentiality and Section 3, Recognition and referral. |
| 8.10.10 |
Children's social care must inform the police CPT at the earliest opportunity and convene a strategy meeting within 2 working days if:
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| 8.10.11 | A Children's social care manager who has attended female genital mutilation training or a child protection adviser / senior manager should chair the strategy meeting. Health providers or voluntary organisations with specific expertise should be invited. Consideration may be given to inviting a legal adviser. |
| 8.10.12 | In planning any intervention it is important to consider the significance of cultural factors. Female genital mutilation is generally performed because of the significance it has in terms of cultural identity. Any intervention is more likely to be successful if it involves workers from, or with a detailed knowledge of, the community concerned. |
| 8.10.13 | If necessary, legal advice must be taken on the options which could be considered to protect a child. |
| 8.10.14 | Under the Children Act 1989, possible legal proceedings could include a Prohibited Steps Order (S. 8) with or without a Supervision Order (S.35). Removal from home should be considered only as a last resort. |
| 8.10.15 | If the child has already suffered female genital mutilation the meeting will need to consider carefully whether to continue enquiries or whether to assess the need for support services. |
| 8.10.16 | Female genital mutilation is a one-off event of physical abuse (albeit one that may have grave permanent sexual, physical, and emotional consequences), not an act of repeated abuse and organisational responses need to recognise this. |
| 8.10.17 | A second strategy meeting should take place within 10 working days of the first meeting, with the same chair. This meeting must evaluate the information collected in the enquiry and recommend whether a child protection conference is necessary. |
| 8.10.18 | A girl who has already been genitally mutilated should not normally be the subject of a conference or subject to a Child Protection Plan unless additional protection concerns exist, though she should be offered counselling and medical help. Consideration must however be given to any other female siblings at risk. |
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| 8.10.19 | A girl believed to be in danger of genital mutilation may be made the subject of a child protection plan under the category of risk of physical abuse, if the criteria for registration are applicable including the need for the future protection of the child. |
| 8.10.20 | The main emphasis of work in cases of actual or threatened genital mutilation should be through education and persuasion. This approach will be reflected in the child protection plan. |
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| 8.10.21 | Agencies should work together to promote a better understanding of the damaging consequences to health (physical and psychological) of female genital mutilation. |
| 8.10.22 | Wherever possible the aim must be to work in partnership with parents and families to protect children through parents' awareness of the harm caused to the child. |
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| 8.10.23 |
Useful contacts are:
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8.11 Forced marriage of a child
DEFINITION |
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| 8.11.1 | A 'forced' marriage (as distinct from a consensual 'arranged' marriage) is defined as one conducted without the full consent of both parties and where duress is a factor. |
| 8.11.2 | Duress cannot be justified on religious or cultural grounds. |
| 8.11.3 | Forced marriages of children may involve non-consensual and/or underage sex, emotional and possibly physical abuse and should be regarded as a child protection issue and referred to Children's social care. |
| 8.11.4 | Although there is no specific criminal offence of a forced marriage, the forced marriages of children (and vulnerable adults) may involve one or more criminal offences e.g. common assault, cruelty to persons under 16, child abduction, rape, kidnapping, false imprisonment and even murder. |
| 8.11.5 | Forced marriage is primarily, but not exclusively, an issue of violence against girls and young women: "Most cases involve young women aged between 13 and 30, although there is evidence to suggest that as many as 15% of victims are male" Young people & vulnerable adults facing forced marriage: Practice Guidance for Social Workers ADSS 2004. |
| 8.11.6 | Whilst the majority of cases encountered in the UK involve South Asian families, partly reflecting the composition of the UK population, there have been cases involving families from East Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. |
| 8.11.7 | Some forced marriages take place in the UK with no overseas element, whilst others involve a partner coming from overseas or a British citizen being sent abroad. |
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| 8.11.8 |
Victims of existing or prospective forced marriages may be fearful of discussing their worries with friends and teachers, but may come to the attention of professionals for various behaviours or circumstances consistent with distress. These may include:
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| 8.11.9 | Staff should not make assumptions that a child is at risk solely on the basis of an imminent extended family holiday. All efforts should be made to establish the full facts from the child at the earliest opportunity, without making assumptions. |
| 8.11.10 | The child must be provided with the opportunity to speak on her / his own, in a private place. S/he may face significant harm if her/his family learn that s/he has sought help or advice and mediation should not be attempted. |
| 8.11.11 | The needs of victims of forced marriage vary. They may need help to avoid a threatened forced marriage or dealing with the consequences of a forced marriage that has already taken place. |
| 8.11.12 | Staff should seek consultation and advice from the designated / named professional and the Forced Marriage Unit (see paragraph 8.13.28, Further Guidance and Advice). |
| 8.11.13 | Where there is information of an existing or prospective forced marriage of a child aged less than 18 years, child protection issues should be addressed by referral to Children's social care, without prior discussion with the family or community. |
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| 8.11.14 | All referrals involving suspected forced marriage (either actual or prospective) can involve complex and sensitive issues and social workers should inform their first line manager and consult the senior child protection manager. |
| 8.11.15 | Allegations received by the police should be dealt with by the CPT. |
| 8.11.16 |
Information to obtain in these cases includes:
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| 8.11.17 | In all cases efforts should be made to see the child immediately, on their own, in a secure and private place, even if the child is with others or the police have been called to the home. |
| 8.11.18 |
Information to be obtained in discussion with the child include:
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| 8.11.19 | The child should be reassured of confidentiality and the allegations must not be shared with the child's family, friends or influential people within the community without the express consent of the child (and even then with due consideration of the implications to her / his safety). |
| 8.11.20 | The social worker and / or police officer should not attempt to act as a mediator with the family. |
| 8.11.21 |
Young people & vulnerable adults facing forced marriage: practise guidance for social workers, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, March 2004 and Dealing With Cases of Forced Marriage: Guidance for Police Officers Home Office 2005 provide advice including:
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| 8.11.22 |
If the individual is going overseas and there is concern that they may be forced into a marriage the following information is required:
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| 8.11.23 | If the child does not want Children's social care to intervene, the social worker will have to consider whether the child's safety (or that of others) requires that further action be taken. |
| 8.11.24 | Where there are concerns for an individual under 18 (or for their children) a strategy discussion / meeting with the CPT and other relevant agencies must be initiated to decide whether the young person is suffering, or at risk of suffering significant harm and if a S.47 enquiry should be initiated. |
| 8.11.25 | Where a child spouse has come to the UK from overseas without their family and states they were forced into marriage and do not want to remain with their spouse, Children's social care should consider the young person in the same manner as an unaccompanied asylum-seeking minor, and should accommodate them, unless the needs assessment reveals an alternative response would be more appropriate. |
| 8.11.26 | If the risk of forced marriage is immediate, it may be necessary to take emergency action to protect the child. |
| 8.11.27 | If there is an overseas dimension Children's social care and police should liaise closely with the Forced Marriage Unit. |
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| 8.11.28 |
Professionals working in this field should be familiar with their respective professional guidance:
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| 8.11.29 | The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) is the Government's central unit dealing with forced marriage casework, policy and projects. The FMU provides confidential information and assistance to potential victims and concerned professionals (see Appendix 2). |
| 8.11.30 |
FMU staff can offer advice and assistance to individuals who:
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8.12 Foreign exchange visits
| 8.12.1 | Children on foreign exchange visits typically stay with a family selected by the school in the host country and are vulnerable for reasons comparable to others living away from home. |
| 8.12.2 |
Schools should not place a pupil from an overseas school with a:
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| 8.12.3 | Schools should take reasonable steps to ensure that relevant schools abroad take a comparable approach. |
| 8.12.4 | Where a professional is aware of a child, under 16 (or under 18 if disabled), has or it is proposed will stay in a family for more than 27 days, s/he should make a referral to Children's social care because the child will be considered to be 'privately fostered'. This imposes significant duties on both the providers of care and Children's social care. |
8.13 Historical abuse allegations
SIGNIFICANCE |
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| 8.13.1 |
Organisational responses to allegations by an adult of abuse experienced as a child must be of as high a standard as a response to current abuse because:
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| 8.13.2 | As soon as it is apparent that an adult is revealing childhood abuse, the member of staff must record what is said by the service user and the responses given by the staff member. A chronology should be undertaken and all records must be dated and the authorship made clear by a legible signature or name. |
| 8.13.3 | If possible, staff should establish if the adult is aware of the alleged perpetrator's recent or current whereabouts and contact with children. |
| 8.13.4 | An adult service user should be asked whether s/he wants a police investigation and must be reassured that police child protection team (CPT) is able and willing to undertake such work even for those adults who are vulnerable as a result of mental health or learning difficulties. |
| 8.13.5 | Consideration must be given to the therapeutic needs of the adult and reassurance given that, even without her/his direct involvement, all reasonable efforts will be made to look into what s/he has reported. |
| 8.13.6 |
The social worker should inform the:
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| 8.13.7 | The CPT must be informed about allegations of crime at the earliest opportunity. Whether police become involved in an investigation will depend of a number of factors including victims' wishes and the public interest. |
| 8.13.8 | Institute a child protection enquiry if the alleged perpetrator is known currently to be caring for, or has access to children (including making the necessary referral to the area where the alleged perpetrator is now known to live). |
8.14 Learning disabled parent or carer
DEFINITION |
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| 8.14.1 |
Some people with "learning disabilities" prefer to refer to themselves as having learning difficulties; other people have difficulties in learning but do not meet the core criteria for an individual to be described as "learning disabled". The term "learning disability" does not describe a homogenous group: for the purposes of these child protection procedures, "parental learning disabilities" refer to adults who are or may become parents / carers for children and who meet the 3 core criteria which describe an individual as "learning disabled":
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| 8.14.2 | Additionally these procedures apply in circumstances where parents / carers lack mental capacity and decision making abilities as a result of injury or disease e.g. brain injury, presenile dementia. |
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| 8.14.3 | Where a parent with learning difficulties appears not to be able to meet her/his child's needs, a referral should be made to Children's social care, which has a responsibility to assess need and where justified, offer supportive or protective services. |
| 8.14.4 | The response is the same as for any other child, using the Assessment Framework to consider the extent of vulnerability of the child/ren. Additional specialist assessments may be helpful in determining how best to help support parents. The paramount consideration will be the welfare of the child/ren. |
| 8.14.5 | The Assessment Framework for Children in need/children in need of protection remains the primary tool for assessing the vulnerability of children living in households with parents/carers who have learning difficulties. |
| 8.14.6 | Additional support to child protection professionals in the way of consultation and/or supervision may also be available from specialist adult services both within Children's social care and health in particularly complex cases. |
| 8.14.7 | Assessments of families with parents / carers with "learning disabilities" will need to integrate specialist assessment functions provided by Adult Services with the Children and Families Division. Where evidence of a learning disability is present in one or both parents, the paramount consideration of all the agencies will be the welfare and protection of the child/ren with each service providing assessment and support directed at the family members identified as the primary focus of that service's provision. Assessment planning, implementation and evaluation, and the provision of services to the family, when and where necessary, will be undertaken with regard to the principles outlined in 'Working Together to Safeguard Children'. |
| 8.14.8 | When a child is deemed to have suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm, or there are detrimental effects on the health or development of a child, a referral must be made to the children's Children's social care. A decision will be made if an initial assessment is undertaken, a strategy meeting held and/or immediate action required. |
| 8.14.9 |
The strategy meeting will then decide whether the threshold has been met for:
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8.15 Looked after children
CHILD PROTECTION ENQUIRY |
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| 8.15.1 | In any situation in which there is reason to suspect that a 'looked after' child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, formal child protection enquiries must be initiated. |
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| 8.15.2 | A looked after child who remains subject to a child protection plan will still be subject to child care review procedures and the timing should be arranged so as to follow the child protection conference. |
| 8.15.3 | Child care reviews and child protection conferences are separate meetings with different purposes. The plans made at child care reviews must be consistent with the protection plan. |
| 8.15.4 | Where a looked after child review or other local authority planning meeting proposes the return of a child subject to a child protection plan to their parents or carers - or any other change which might significantly affect the level of risk - the decision (unless this formed part of the original protection plan) must not be implemented until it is considered by a review conference. |
| 8.15.5 | Where there is disagreement within the subsequent child protection conference the situation must be brought to the attention of the operational service manager, who in consultation with the senior child protection manager, will decide whether or not to proceed with the plan made at the child care review. |
| 8.15.6 | Where a child subject to a child protection plan is removed from accommodation by parents or where a child in care is returned to parents or carers in court proceedings, against the recommendation of the local authority, a review child protection conference must be convened to consider the risks to the child and the implications for the protection plan. |
| 8.15.7 | If necessary the local authority must take action to protect a child prior to a conference. This must not be delayed until a child protection review is convened if an enquiry or assessment indicates it is required sooner. |
| 8.15.8 |
For relevant related procedures see:
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| 8.15.9 | When a looked after child is no longer living in the situation which gave rise to the child protection concerns that resulted in the child protection plan, and there is no current plan for them to be returned, the child protection plan may be discontinued by the decision of the child protection conference. This would automatically apply if the child is subject to a full care order. |
| 8.15.10 | Should the care plan subsequently include returning the looked after child to the situation that previously resulted in the child protection plan, a child protection conference must be held first to consider if a protection plan is required. |
8.16 Missing and transient child, adult or family
DEFINITION |
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Missing and transient families |
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| 8.16.1 | Some families in which children are harmed move home frequently and there is a danger that they avoid contact with caring agencies through this process and no single agency has a complete picture of the family. |
| 8.16.2 | Local agencies and professionals, working with children and families where there are outstanding child welfare concerns, must bear in mind that unusual non-school attendance, missed appointments, or abortive home visits, may indicate that the family has moved out of the area. |
| 8.16.3 | This possibility must also be borne in mind when there are concerns about an unborn child who may be at future risk of significant harm. |
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| 8.16.4 | Children may go missing on their own or with friends. They are vulnerable to harm whilst away from their home, but they may also have chosen to leave their home due to problems within the households they live, which may indicate the existence of child welfare issues. |
| 8.16.5 | The missing child may be one who lives with their family or is looked after by the local authority. The child may or may not be subject to a child protection plan. |
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| 8.16.6 |
These procedures apply if a child in the following circumstances goes missing or cannot be traced:
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| 8.16.7 | For all missing children not covered by above, the additional procedures below (contribution of schools apply). |
| 8.16.8 |
These procedures also apply to adults whose whereabouts become unknown in the following circumstances:
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Agencies to be informed |
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| 8.16.9 | In the circumstances described in paragraph 8.16.6 and paragraph 8.16.8 above the Children's social care key worker, social worker or duty officer must be notified immediately. |
| 8.16.10 | Children's social care must then inform the relevant police station and CPT. |
| 8.16.11 | The Senior child protection manager must be informed if a child subject to a child protection plan goes missing. |
| 8.16.12 | If the child is the subject of court proceedings or a court order, legal services must also be informed. |
| 8.16.13 | Children's social care must contact all local agencies who know the child to inform them of the situation. |
| 8.16.14 | Existing records in these agencies must be checked to obtain any information, which may help to trace the missing child, e.g. details of friends and relatives, and this information should be passed to the police officer undertaking the missing person enquiry. |
| 8.16.15 | The designated nurse for child protection must be notified about a missing child, family or a pregnant woman. S/he will make appropriate contact with other local or national health trusts. |
| 8.16.16 | Education welfare services should inform colleagues in other authorities and request return notification should the pupil show up on the roll of a school in another area. |
| 8.16.17 | The social worker must ensure that all those with parental responsibility are informed that the child is missing. |
| 8.16.18 | The social worker must discuss with her/his manager whether to notify members of the extended family and if so, how. |
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| 8.16.19 | If, following the above procedures, the child has not been traced a strategy discussion, preferably a meeting should be convened within 5 working days of the child going missing. |
| 8.16.20 | Where a family is known to have moved regularly to avoid agency involvement the meeting should be held earlier to consider intervention strategies. The police may be able to assist in the search. |
| 8.16.21 | Participants of the strategy discussion will need to consider whether to circulate other local authorities and other agencies in the area in which the child and family are thought to have gone. |
| 8.16.22 | Consideration should be given to national notification of authorities and agencies including social security, the benefits agency and child benefit agency. |
| 8.16.23 | A senior member of Children's social care should seek assistance from the Department for Work and Pensions if the police have not already contacted them. |
| 8.16.24 | If there is any suspicion that the child may be removed from UK jurisdiction, appropriate legal interventions should be considered and legal services consulted about options. |
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| 8.16.25 |
If the strategy meeting agreed that the details of the child or family are to be circulated to other local authorities, the key worker should draft a short letter giving details of:
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| 8.16.26 | The letter should be sent to the Senior child protection manager for distribution to her/his peers nationally, who in turn should circulate within Children's social care and local agencies. |
| 8.16.27 | The Manager should inform the director of Children's social care and the council's press office. |
| 8.16.28 | If the subject to a child protection plan and is not found within 20 working days, the review child protection conference must be brought forward to consider whether any other action should be taken. |
| 8.16.29 | A decision to discontinue the child protection plan may only be following the decision of a child protection conference. |
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| 8.16.30 |
When a child is found, there should, if practicable, be a strategy discussion within the working day, between previously involved agencies to consider:
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| 8.16.31 | Any child who is found following a period missing should, regardless of whether s/he is suspected to have suffered, or be at risk of suffering, significant harm, be interviewed by a social worker and/or a police officer or an independent person. |
| 8.16.32 | This interview should provide a safe opportunity for the child to discuss any concerns regarding her/his care including if they chose to run away from an abusive situation. It must take place without parents, foster carers or residential staff either present or in close proximity. |
| 8.16.33 | If the child indicates a wish to be interviewed by an alternative professional, all reasonable efforts must be made to accommodate the child's wishes. |
| 8.16.34 | If the child has been found outside of the local authority and is not likely to return, representatives of the 'receiving' authority must be involved in this strategy discussion and the transfer of the case must be discussed. |
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| 8.16.35 | Where a S.47 enquiry has taken place, the Children's social care and CPT must have a final strategy discussion to agree the outcome, as for any child protection enquiry, including the need for a child protection conference. |
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| 8.16.36 | If the child is looked after, the Children's social care first line or locally defined manager must decide and record whether to bring forward the next child care review. |
| 8.16.37 | If the child is subject to a child protection plan the senior child protection manager must decide, and record, whether to bring forward the next review conference. |
| 8.16.38 | The social worker and first line or locally defined manager must give explicit consideration on the need for legal action, and record the reasons for their decision. |
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| 8.16.39 | The senior child protection manager must ensure that all duty systems provide a system for keeping and monitoring the notifications of children and/or families who are missing. |
| 8.16.40 | If, after 2 years there is no communication from the authority where the child and/or family went missing, the child and/or family's details may be removed from the list. |
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| 8.16.41 | As a result of daily registration schools are particularly well placed to notice when a child has gone missing. |
| 8.16.42 | In the event of a child/children being left behind at the end of the school day, schools should make every attempt to contact the parent/carer or emergency contact person who is able to collect the child. |
| 8.16.43 | Schools must ensure that parents/carers are informed as a matter of routine that should a child be left at school for an unreasonable amount of time after the school day has ended that Children's social care will be contacted. In these circumstances Children's social care may treat the matter under child protection procedures as an issue of abandonment/neglect. |
| 8.16.44 |
Where a child remains uncollected and all efforts to contact the parent or carer have been exhausted the following action should be taken:
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| 8.16.45 | In the particular circumstances in paragraphs 8.16.6 to 8.16.7 head teachers should follow the above procedures and inform the education welfare officer and social worker immediately a child subject to a child protection plan is missing. |
| 8.16.46 | In the more general circumstances not covered by paragraph 8.16.6 the head teacher should inform the education welfare officer of any child who has not attended for 10 consecutive days without provision of reasonable explanation. |
| 8.16.47 | The education welfare officers should make reasonable enquiries - e.g. home visit, liaison with Children's social care, housing and notify the school if it appears that the child has moved out of the area. |
| 8.16.48 | If no information is forthcoming within 2 days, the education welfare officer should alert her/his manager, who should inform Children's social care and the CPT in writing. |
| 8.16.49 | Where the child's name has been removed from the school roll, but s/he has not been located, the head teacher must send the pupil's common transfer file (CTF) to the DfES School to School (S2S) website and any paper records to the education welfare service, to retain until the child is located. |
| 8.16.50 | If the education welfare service becomes aware the child has moved to another school s/he should ensure all relevant agencies are informed and arrangements made to forward records from the previous school. |
8.17 Parental mental health
DEFINITION |
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| 8.17.1 | For the purposes of safeguarding children the mental health or mental illness of the parent should be considered in the context of the impact of the illness on the care provided to the child. |
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| 8.17.2 | The majority of parents who suffer significant mental ill-health are able to care for and safeguard their child/ren and / or unborn child. |
| 8.17.3 | In some cases, especially with regard to enduring and / or severe parental mental ill health, the parent's condition will seriously affect the safety, health and development of children. Where professionals believe that this may be the case a referral must be made to Children's social care. |
| 8.17.4 |
The following parental risk factors may justify a referral to Children's social care for an assessment of the child's needs:
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| 8.17.5 |
The following factors may lead to the conclusion that a child might have suffered or is at risk of suffering significant harm:
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| 8.17.6 | If a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering significant harm as the result of commission or omission on the part of the parent/ carer, then the welfare of the child must be paramount. |
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Importance of Working in Partnership |
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| 8.17.7 | Adult and child mental health professionals, child care social workers, health visitors and midwives, school nurses and education services must share information in order to be able to assess risks. |
| 8.17.8 | Care programme meetings about parents who have mental health difficulties must include consideration of any needs or risk factors for the children concerned. Children's social care along with other relevant agencies should be involved in planning discharge arrangements. |
| 8.17.9 | Where a parent,/ carer, of a child is deemed to be a danger to self or others by agency professionals, a referral must be made to children's Children's social care, who should be invited to any relevant planning meetings. |
| 8.17.10 | Strategy discussions and child protection conferences must include any psychiatrist, community psychiatric nurse, psychologist and adult mental health social worker involved with the parent / carer. |
| 8.17.11 | Children's social care may be requested to assess whether it is in the best interests of a child to visit a parent or family member in a psychiatric hospital. (see Section 10, Risk management of known offenders for procedures regarding high secure hospitals (Broadmoor, Ashworth and Rampton). |
| 8.17.12 | Psychiatric hospitals should have written policies drawn up in consultation with Children's social care regarding visiting of patients by children, which should only take place following a decision (regularly reviewed) that such a visit would be in the child's best interests. |
| 8.17.13 | Where there are child welfare concerns regarding visits to patients detained under the Mental Health Act, the appropriate trust may ask Children's social care to assess whether it is in the child's best interests. |
8.18 Parent or carer involvement in prostitution
| 8.18.1 | Involvement of family members in prostitution does not necessarily mean children will suffer significant harm. |
| 8.18.2 |
The risks to the children in these circumstances come from the following potential sources:
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| 8.18.3 | The child protection procedures described in Section 3, Recognition and referral, Section 4, Response and assessment and Section 5, Child protection enquiries apply in these circumstances. |
8.19 Parental substance misuse
DEFINITIONS |
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| 8.19.1 | Substance misuse may include experimental, recreational, poly-drug, chaotic and dependent use of alcohol and / or drugs. |
| 8.19.2 | Parental misuse of drugs or alcohol becomes relevant to child protection when misuse of substances impacts on the care provided to child/ren. |
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| 8.19.3 | Misuse of drugs and/or alcohol is strongly associated with significant harm to children, especially when combined with other features such as domestic violence, mental illness. |
| 8.19.4 |
The risk to child/ren may arise from:
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Importance of Working in Partnership |
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| 8.19.5 | Working in partnership across agencies and services is vital for an effective assessment of risk and to ensure the safety of child/ren. |
| 8.19.6 | Professional staff in drug and alcohol services must exchange information with child care social workers, health visitors, school nurses and midwives to be able to assess risks for the unborn baby and child. |
| 8.19.7 | Care programme meetings regarding drug or alcohol abusing parents must include consideration of any needs or risk factors for the children concerned. Children's social care must be given the opportunity and should contribute to such discussions. |
| 8.19.8 | Strategy discussions and child protection conferences must include workers from any drug and alcohol service involved with the family in question. |
8.20 Pre-birth child protection procedures
| 8.20.1 | UK law does not legislate for the rights of the unborn baby. In some circumstances, agencies or individuals are able to anticipate the likelihood of significant harm with regard to an expected baby. |
| 8.20.2 |
Such concerns should be addressed as early as possible to maximise time for:
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| 8.20.3 | Where agencies or individuals anticipate that prospective parents may need support services to care for their baby or that the baby may be at risk of significant harm, a referral to Children's social care must be made at the earliest opportunity. |
| 8.20.4 |
Referrals must always be made in the following circumstances:
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| 8.20.5 | Where the concerns centre around a category of parenting behaviour e.g. substance misuse, the referrer must make clear how this is likely to impact on the baby and what risks are predicted. |
| 8.20.6 |
Delay must be avoided when making referrals in order to:
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| 8.20.7 | Concerns should be shared with prospective parent/s and consent obtained to refer to Children's social care unless this action in itself may place the welfare of the unborn child at risk e.g. if there are concerns that the parent/s may move to avoid contact. |
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| 8.20.8 | All pre-birth referrals to Children's social care must be subject to an initial assessment and a multi-agency strategy meeting must be held in the circumstances described at paragraph 8.20.4. |
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| 8.20.9 |
This discussion should be in the form of a meeting chaired by a Children's social care line manager and involve:
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| 8.20.10 |
The purpose of the meeting is the same as that of other strategy discussion and should determine:
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| 8.20.11 | The assessment plan must be consistent with standards required for possible court proceedings, including clear letters of instruction. |
| 8.20.12 | Parents should be informed as soon as possible of the concerns and the need for assessment, except on the rare occasions when medical guidance advice suggests this may be harmful to the health of the unborn baby and/or mother. |
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| 8.20.13 |
The overall aim of the pre-birth assessment is to identify and understand:
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| 8.20.14 | A concluding risk assessment must make recommendations regarding the need, or not, for a pre-birth child protection conference which should wherever possible be held at least 10 weeks prior to the expected delivery date or earlier if a premature birth is likely. |
8.21 Procedures for managing allegations against people who work with children
The procedures relating to ‘Managing allegations against people who work with children’ have been amended. In due course, we will add a web based version. In the interim, please read an attached PDF version; click here to view Managing Allegations Against People who Work With Children.
8.22 Racial and religious harassment
| 8.22.1 | Children and families from black or ethnic minority groups are likely to have experienced harassment, racial discrimination and institutional racism. |
| 8.22.2 | Experience of racism is likely to affect how a child behaves, in particular when being assessed by a worker, or being cared for by a carer of a different ethnic origin. |
| 8.22.3 | All agencies have a responsibility to recognise racial harassment. Children's social care and the police must respond effectively when incidents of racial harassment and attacks place a child at risk of significant harm. |
| 8.22.4 | Failure to protect a child from racism (whether it originates from within or outside of the family) or take action when racism is being alleged is likely to undermine all other efforts being made to promote the welfare of the child. |
| 8.22.5 | Families may suffer religious and/or racial harassment sufficient in frequency and seriousness to undermine parenting capacity. In responding to concerns about children in the family, full account needs to be taken of this context and every reasonable effort made to end the harassment. |
8.23 Safeguarding children from abroad
INTRODUCTION |
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| 8.23.1 |
Large numbers of children arrive into this country from overseas every day. Many do so legally in the care of their parents and raise no concerns for statutory agencies. However, recent evidence indicates that some children are arriving into the UK:
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| 8.23.2 | Evidence shows that unaccompanied children, or those accompanied by someone who is not their parent, are particularly vulnerable. The children and many of their carers will need assistance to ensure the child receives adequate care and accesses health and education services. |
| 8.23.3 | The possibility that some of these children are, in fact, privately fostered should be borne in mind. |
| 8.23.4 | A small number of these children may be exposed to the additional risk of commercial, sexual or domestic exploitation. |
| 8.23.5 | Immigration legislation impacts significantly on work under the Children Act 1989 to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people from abroad. |
| 8.23.6 | The regulations and legislation in this area of work are complex and subject to constant change through legal challenge etc. Social workers will usually require legal advice on individual cases. |
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| 8.23.7 |
The purpose of this guidance and procedures is to assist staff in all agencies to:
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| 8.23.8 | Whilst these procedures do touch on the wider safeguarding agenda, the focus is primarily on child protection, and on those children who are unaccompanied or who are accompanied or met by adults who have no documents to demonstrate their relationship with the child. See also Section 8.24 Safeguarding children at risk of trafficking and exploitation where there is concern about trafficking. |
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| 8.23.9 |
The key principles underpinning practice within all agencies in relation to unaccompanied children from abroad or those accompanied by someone who does not hold parental responsibility are:
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| 8.23.10 | Children who arrive in the UK alone or who are left at a port of entry by an agent invariably have no right of entry and are unlawfully present. They are likely to be in a position to claim asylum and this should be arranged as soon as possible if appropriate. |
| 8.23.11 | Such children are the responsibility of Children's social care to support until they are 18 years of age, under S.17 or S.20 of the Children Act 1989. If their asylum claim is not resolved before they reach 18 years old, support after that age is provided jointly by National Asylum Support Services (NASS) and Children's social care. |
| 8.23.12 | Children who arrive in the UK with, or to be with carers without parental responsibility may have leave to enter or visas, or may be in the UK unlawfully. Children's social care may have responsibilities towards them under the private fostering regulations. If the child is assessed to be in need, support can be provided by Children's social care for the child, and for the family, if this is not excluded by S. 54 of the National Immigration Act 2002. If relatives care for the child, private fostering regulations may not apply. |
| 8.23.13 | Some children who arrive in the UK with their parents belong to families of EEA nationals migrating into the UK. Such families cannot be supported by Children's social care except for the provision of return travel (and associated accommodation). |
| 8.23.14 | If such families decide to stay and seek further help, Children's social care still has responsibilities towards any child who is in need, including to provide accommodation for the child alone. |
| 8.23.15 | Department of Work and Pension practice is to declare such families ordinarily resident after 3 months and to pay benefits. Housing Department practice is to consider housing after 6 months. Children's social care remains in the position that services may only be provided direct to the child alone. |
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| 8.23.16 |
Whenever any professional comes across a child who they believe has recently moved into this country, confirmation of the following basic information should be sought (in an unthreatening way as possible):
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| 8.23.17 | If this information indicates that the child has come from overseas and is being cared for by an unrelated adult or one whose relationship is uncertain, Children's social care should be notified in order that an assessment can be undertaken. |
| 8.23.18 | The immigration status of a child and his/her family has implications for the statutory responsibilities towards the family. It governs what help, if any, can be provided to the family and how help can be offered to the child. Appendix 3 provides information about the most relevant aspects of this legislation. |
| 8.23.19 | Where families are subject to immigration legislation that precludes support to the family many will disappear into the community and wait until benefits can be awarded to them. During this interim period the children may suffer particular hardship - e.g. live in overcrowded and unsuitable conditions and with no access to health or educational services. They are particularly vulnerable to exploitation because of their circumstances. |
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| 8.23.20 | Age is central to the assessment and affects the child's rights to services and the response by agencies. In addition it is important to establish age and development so that services are appropriate. |
| 8.23.21 | Unaccompanied children very rarely have possession of any documents to confirm their age or identity and physical appearance may not necessarily reflect her/his age. |
| 8.23.22 | Assessment of age is a complex task, often relying on professional judgement and discretion. The advice of a paediatrician with experience in considering age may be needed to assist. |
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| 8.23.23 | In some cultures child rearing is a shared responsibility between relatives and members of the community. Adults may bring children to this country whom they have cared for most of their lives, but who may be unrelated or 'distantly' related and for whom they do not have 'parental responsibility'. |
| 8.23.24 | An adult whose own immigration status is unresolved cannot apply for a Residence Order to secure a child for whom s/he is caring. |
| 8.23.25 | Children, whose parents' whereabouts are not known, have no access to their parents for consent when making important choices about their life. Whilst their parents still have parental responsibility they have no way of exercising it. |
| 8.23.26 | Children who do not have someone with parental responsibility caring for them can still attend school, and schools should be pragmatic in allowing the carer to make most decisions normally made by the parent. |
| 8.23.27 | Such children are entitled to health care and have a right to be registered with a GP. If there are difficulties in accessing a GP, the local Patient's Services should be contacted to assist. |
| 8.23.28 | Emergency life-saving treatment should be given if required. Should the child need medical treatment such as surgery or invasive treatment in a non life-threatening situation, the need for consent would become an issue and legal advice required. |
| 8.23.29 | Children's social care have statutory duties where the child is deemed privately fostered. |
| 8.23.30 | Carers / parents are not eligible to claim benefits for their child unless they have both been granted some form of 'leave to remain' in this country by the Home Office. |
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| 8.23.31 | Seeking information from abroad should be a routine part of assessing the situation of an unaccompanied child. Professionals from all key agencies should request information from their equivalent agencies in the country/ies) in which a child has lived, in order to gain as full as possible a picture of the child's preceding circumstances. |
| 8.23.32 | It is worth noting that agencies abroad tend to respond quicker to e-mail requests / faxed requests than by letter and the internet may provide a quick source of information to locate appropriate services abroad (see Appendix 5 for possible sources of information). |
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| 8.23.33 | Any unaccompanied child or child accompanied by someone who does not have parental responsibility should receive an initial assessment in order to determine whether they are a child in need of services, including the need for protection. |
| 8.23.34 | Such children should be assessed as a matter of urgency as they may be very geographically mobile and their vulnerabilities may be greater. All agencies should enable the child to be quickly linked into universal services, which can begin to address educational and health needs. |
| 8.23.35 | Assessment of children from abroad can use the Assessment Framework, provided that it is recognised that the assessment has to address the barriers that arise from cultural, linguistic and religious differences and particular sensitivities arising from their own individual experiences. |
| 8.23.36 | The needs of the child have to be considered based on an account given by the child or family about a situation which the professional has not witnessed, experienced and is often presented in a language. |
| 8.23.37 | An interpreter in the child's first language must be employed and care taken to ensure the interpreter knows the correct dialect. If also professionally trained, the interpreter may be a source of information about traditions, politics and history of the originating area. They may be able to advise on issues like the interpretation of body language and emotional expression. |
| 8.23.38 | The first task of the initial contact is engagement. Open questions are most helpful, with a clear emphasis on reassurance and simple explanations of the role and reasons for assessment. |
| 8.23.39 |
Particular sensitivities which may be present include:
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| 8.23.40 | In such circumstances reluctance to divulge information, fear, confusion or memory loss can easily be mistaken for lack of co-operation, deliberate withholding of information or untruthfulness. |
| 8.23.41 | Within the first contact with the child and carer/s, it is vital not to presume that the child's views are the same as their carer, or that the views and needs of each child are the same. Seeing each child alone is crucial, particularly to check out the stated relationships with the person accompanying them. |
| 8.23.42 | The ethnicity, culture, customs and identity of the child, must be a focus whilst keeping the child central to the assessment. The pace of the interviewing of a child should aim to be at the pace appropriate to the child, although the need to ensure that the child is safe may become paramount in some circumstances. |
| 8.23.43 |
Assessment of the child's developmental needs should take into account:
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| 8.23.44 |
The assessment of parenting capacity should take into account:
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| 8.23.45 |
Where a child is being cared for by carers who do not have clear parental responsibility it is important to establish:
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| 8.23.46 | The possibility that some of these children are, in fact, privately fostered should be borne in mind. |
| 8.23.47 |
The assessment of family and environmental factors should take into account:
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| 8.23.48 |
Where assessment indicates that a child may be in need of protection, normal child protection procedures apply, but additional factors need to be taken into account including:
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| 8.23.49 | It has been increasingly recognised that children arriving in the UK from abroad are especially vulnerable to trafficking and sexual exploitation (See Section 8.24, Safeguarding children at risk of trafficking and exploitation) |
| 8.23.50 |
A number of factors identified by the initial assessment may indicate that a child has been trafficked:
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| 8.23.51 | Children are also trafficked for the purpose of domestic labour. These children may be less obvious, and their use to the family may be more likely to be picked up during a private fostering assessment, or because someone notices that they are living at a house, but not in school etc. |
| 8.23.52 | Children, who enter the country, apparently as part of re-unification arrangements, can be particularly vulnerable to domestic exploitation. |
| 8.23.53 | As soon as it is identified that a child may be trafficked for either sexual or commercial exploitation immediate action is required. Planning of the investigation must be undertaken within a strategy meeting to ensure that both the safety of this individual child and the investigation of organised criminal activity are addressed. |
| 8.23.54 | See Section 8.24, Safeguarding children at risk of trafficking and exploitation and Section 8.2, Children involved in prostitution |
8.24 Safeguarding children at risk of trafficking and exploitation
This chapter is to follow
8.25 Self-harm and suicidal behaviour
DEFINITION |
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| 8.25.1 | Self harm, self mutilation, eating disorders, suicide threats and gestures by a child must always be taken seriously and may be indicative of a serious mental or emotional disturbance. |
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| 8.25.2 | In most cases of deliberate self harm the young person should be seen as a child in need and offered help via the school counselling service, the GP, child & adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) or other therapeutic services e.g. paediatric or psychiatric services. |
| 8.25.3 | The possibility that self-harm, including a serious eating disorder, has been caused or triggered by any form of abuse or chronic neglect should not be overlooked. |
| 8.25.4 | The above possibility may justify a referral to Children's social care for an assessment as a child in need and/or in need of protection. |
| 8.25.5 | Consideration must also be given to protect children who engage in high risk behaviour which may cause serious self injury such as drug or substance misuse, running away, partaking in daring behaviour i.e. running in front of cars etc. All of which may indicate underlying behavioural or emotional difficulties or abuse. |
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| 8.25.6 | It is good practice, whenever a child or young person is known to have either made a suicide attempt or been involved in self harming behaviour, to undertake a multi-disciplinary risk assessment, along with an assessment of need. |
| 8.25.7 | Any child aged under 12 reported to be self harming must be the subject of a comprehensive paediatric assessment leading to a possible referral to CAMHS. |
| 8.25.8 | This must be undertaken as a matter of urgency for any child aged under 5. |
| 8.25.9 | In addition to the normal child protection procedures the following procedures may apply. |
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| 8.25.10 | All school personnel who come into contact with a child who is self harming should inform the school's designated member of staff. |
| 8.25.11 | Information should also be passed to the school nurse who can liaise with the child's GP where necessary. |
| 8.25.12 | The school should make arrangements to interview the child and ascertain whether the difficulties presented can be resolved with her/him and their parents within the school environment or whether outside help from other professionals is required. However, if aged under 12 see 8.25.7 above. |
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| 8.25.13 | In all cases where self harm or attempted suicide is suspected or known the child should be seen by a physician at the local A&E department. |
| 8.25.14 | For cases where self harm has been reported but the child is not in immediate danger, an initial assessment should be undertaken to determine what course of action should follow. This will include consideration as to whether a referral to CAMHS is necessary and if a S.47 enquiry should be initiated. For younger children paragraphs 8.25.7 and 8.25.8 apply. |
| 8.25.15 |
In all cases an assessment should consider whether:
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| 8.25.16 | Where the child has presented at hospital, the doctor should undertake a preliminary examination and decide what further assessment is required. For younger children paragraphs 8.25.7 and 8.25.8 apply. |
| 8.25.17 | In cases of attempted suicide a hospital admission will usually be arranged to enable a psycho - social assessment, which should consider whether or not the child is at risk of significant harm and the need to refer to Children's social care for assessment. |
| 8.25.18 | Where a child has been hospitalised as a result of self-harm, any discharge should involve co-ordinated planning with community services, including Children's Services (Social Care) and CAMHS. |
8.26 Surrogacy
| 8.26.1 | If hospital staff become aware that a baby about to be, or just born, is the product of commissioning and have grounds to doubt the commissioners identity / suitability to care for the baby, or the degree of voluntarism (payment beyond reasonable expenses is unlawful), they should contact Children's social care. |
| 8.26.2 | Children's social care responses should be proportionate to what are likely to be very individual circumstances and legal advice will probably be required. |
8.27 Uncooperative or hostile parents
INTRODUCTION |
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| 8.27.1 | A feature in some local and national serious case reviews has been the lack of co-operation and or hostile attitude of parents / carers. |
| 8.27.2 | When there are child care / protection issues, a failure to engage with the family may have serious implications and non-intervention is not an option. |
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| 8.27.3 | Parents may present in a number of ways and the behaviour can be demonstrated on a continuum from hostility, threats and violence through to superficial and ineffective compliance. |
| 8.27.4 |
This behaviour includes:
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| 8.27.5 | Where there are actual threats or incidents of violence please also refer to Section 8.31, Violence towards staff below. |
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Good practice |
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| 8.27.6 | It is helpful to be clear from the outset what is known about the family and parents / carers, so as to assess both the risks involved and the potential strategies e.g. parents with learning difficulties or mental illness may need to have information, advice and expectations conveyed in an alternative way, possibly working with specialist colleagues. |
| 8.27.7 | Use of a written multi-agency plan reviewed regularly e.g. child's plan, reviewed at regular multi-agency meetings or child protection plan if the child is subject to a child protection plan. This must use measurable objectives within timescales and specific outcomes, with a contingency plan |
| 8.27.8 | Communication should be clear, so as to ensure that non compliance is not caused by any misunderstanding. |
| 8.27.9 | Where there are child protection concerns parents / carers will need to understand that lack of co-operation is unacceptable, although there may be some flexibility of the degree and type of co-operation. |
| 8.27.10 | It will be helpful to establish trust through active engagement, acknowledgement that the family may see things differently and demonstrating a respect for their views, whilst challenging inappropriate attitudes. |
| 8.27.11 | All decisions and communications must be recorded clearly and shared. |
| 8.27.12 | Staff must recognise when the family are not engaging so as to avoid collusion or avoidance - early recognition of family resistance and failure to achieve progress with plans and agreements for the child is critical. |
| 8.27.13 | Supervision should be used to explore the dynamics of any hostility or non-compliance and plan how best to address the situation including possible specialist assessments. |
| 8.27.14 | A manager must be consulted if access is ever denied. |
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| 8.27.15 | Where non co-operation is an issue, it is important to appreciate the significance for the child living in the family i.e. it will enhance the parent / carer's power and control and the child may fear reprisals if s/he were to speak to professionals. |
| 8.27.16 | Workers may feel extremely vulnerable when visiting hostile families, especially those who challenge effectively and are perceived as a threat. |
| 8.27.17 | Professional may end up putting more effort into dealing with the resistance, than addressing the real problems for the child/ren. |
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| 8.27.18 | If they become aware of non-compliance or hostility, the line manager should convene a multi-agency meeting. Sharing strategic approaches across agencies may assist in forming an action plan, in accordance with information sharing arrangements (see Section 2, Information sharing and confidentiality). |
| 8.27.19 |
The multi-agency meeting should address the non co-operation in the context of the child's written plan. Depending on the circumstances the meeting could be:
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| 8.27.20 |
Possible strategies may include:
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| 8.27.21 | Where there is a threat of violence, or an actual incident/s, please refer also to Section 8.31, Violence towards staff. |
8.28 Sexual activity
| 8.28.1 | Research has shown that more than a quarter of young people are sexually active before they reach 16 years. Young people under 16 are the group least likely to use contraception and concern about confidentiality remains the biggest deterrent to seeking advice. |
| 8.28.2 | The major task for child protection agencies is to ensure that all children and young people are given appropriate protection from sexual abuse whilst ensuring that they are also able to access advice and treatment about contraception, sexual and reproductive health including abortion. |
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The Sexual Offences Act 2003 |
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| 8.28.3 | The legal age for young people of either gender to consent to have sex is 16 years irrespective of their sexual orientation. |
| 8.28.4 | Sexual activity with children under 13 is always illegal as children of this age can never legally give their consent. There should always be a referral made to Children's social care or the police in cases involving children aged less than 13. |
| 8.28.5 | Although the age of consent is 16 years, there is no intention to prosecute young people of a similar age involved in mutually agreed consensual sex unless it involves abuse or exploitation. |
| 8.28.6 | Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, young people still have a right to confidential advice on contraception, condoms, pregnancy and abortion even if they are less than 16 years old. Working within the Sexual Offences Act Home Office May 2004 SOA / 4 |
| 8.28.7 |
The Act states that a person is not guilty of aiding, abetting or counselling a sexual offence against a child where they are acting for the purpose of:
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| 8.28.8 | This exception, in statute, covers not only health professionals, but anyone who acts to protect a child, for example teachers, school nurses, Connexions personal advisers, youth workers, Children's social care practitioners and parents. |
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| 8.28.9 | In assessing the nature of any particular behaviour, it is essential to look at the facts of the actual relationship between those involved. |
| 8.28.10 |
The following factors in the sexual activity indicate a risk to the child:
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| 8.28.11 | See Section 8.2, Children involved in prostitution if at this stage there are concerns that the young person may be at risk of Sexual Exploitation Through Prostitution or Section 8.1, Child abuse and information communication technology if concerns about Abusive Images Of Children & The Internet. |
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Confidentiality |
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| 8.28.12 | The duty of confidentiality owed to a person under 16 in any setting is the same as that owed to any other person, but the right to confidentiality is not absolute. |
| 8.28.13 | Where there is a serious child protection risk to the health, safety or welfare of a young person or others this outweighs the young person's right to privacy. In these circumstances professionals should act in accordance with Section 3, Recognition and referral of this manual. |
| 8.28.14 | Research and experience have shown repeatedly that keeping children safe from harm requires professionals and others to share information. Such information sharing must be in accordance with legal requirements and professional guidance (see Section 4, Response and assessment). |
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| 8.28.15 | All staff working for member agencies of the LCSB have a responsibility to ensure all children and young people are appropriately safeguarded. Where staff have concerns that a child or young person is being sexually abused this must be referred to the police and social services in accordance with procedures in this manual. |
| 8.28.16 | Cases involving under 13s should always be discussed with a nominated child protection lead in the organisation. There should be a presumption that the case will be reported to children's social care and that a strategy discussion will be held in accordance with Section 5, Child protection enquiries. All cases involving under 13s should be fully documented including detailed reasons where a decision is taken not to share information. |
| 8.28.17 | Professionals working with young people have different statutory responsibilities both with regard to advice given to young people and the actions they take when aware of under-age sexual activity. These differences are detailed below: |
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| 8.28.18 | Doctors and other health professionals should consider the following issues when providing advice or treatment to young people under 16 on contraception, sexual and reproductive health. |
| 8.28.19 |
If a request for contraception is made, doctors and other health professionals should establish rapport and give a young person support and time to make an informed choice by discussing (Best practice guidance for doctors and other health professionals on the provision of advice and treatment to young people under 16 on contraception, sexual and reproductive health - DH gateway reference 3382):
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| 8.28.20 |
Additionally they should follow the Fraser Guidelines and establish that:
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| 8.28.21 | Young people need to be able to talk to a trusted adult about sex and relationship issues. Although it is desirable that this person is their parent or carer, this is not always possible. The law allows staff to respect young people's rights to confidentiality when discussing sex and relationship issues and a disclosure of under-age sex is not of itself a reason to break confidentiality. |
| 8.28.22 | Young people should be made aware that confidentiality might be breached if they or another young person is at risk. In these circumstances staff should consult the young person and endeavour to gain their co-operation to a child protection referral but if that is not possible they should be advised that their confidentiality would be breached. |
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| 8.28.23 | Whilst police and Children's social care staff may provide advice and guidance to a young person involved in under-age sexual activity both agencies have specific responsibilities with regards to criminal activities. |
| 8.28.24 | Children's social care staff should inform police of criminal offences at the earliest possible opportunity in order to consider jointly how to proceed in the best interests of the child. Any decisions not to do so must be made at a senior level and recorded on the child's file. |
| 8.28.25 | Recent guidance for Children's social care staff indicates that as Working Together is issued under S.7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 the decision not to inform the police where an offence has been committed against a child should only be made where 'exceptional circumstances justify a variation' (LASSL (2004) 21). |
| 8.28.26 | This is likely to be where the sexual relationship is considered consensual and not abusive and may be most relevant in respect of 'looked after' children where the social worker is also acting as the 'corporate parent' for the child. |
| 8.28.27 | In those circumstances it may be more important that the child receives appropriate advice regarding sexual health and contraception. This may be difficult if the young person is concerned that the police will be involved. Such a decision should always be made following consultation with line managers and be recorded. |
| 8.28.28 | The police must investigate all criminal activities even if they may decide that there is no need for prosecution. |
| 8.28.29 | The priority for the police is the identification and investigation of under age sexual activity where the relationship is abusive, either by being intra-familial in nature, or where there is a significant age / power gap between the parties involved. |
| 8.28.30 | Where young people of similar age are involved in consensual sexual activity, or in other sensitive cases, the police role may be confined to the undertaking of information checks only. In such cases police will not become directly involved in the investigation unless enquiries by the police or other agencies indicate the relationship is in fact abusive. |
| 8.28.31 | Both police and Children's social care staff together may decide that there is no need for prosecution but young people should be advised that their confidentiality cannot be maintained if staff from these agencies are involved. |
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Best practice guidance for doctors and other health professionals on the provision of advice and treatment to young people under 16 on contraception, sexual and reproductive health - DOH gateway reference 3382
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8.29 Unexplained child death protocol
INTRODUCTION |
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| 8.29.1 | The third and latest version of the Sussex Joint Agency Protocol for Unexplained Child Deaths, which was originally published in 1999, is dated 2006. The latest version takes account of ‘Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy’ published in September 2004 by the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 published by the Department of Health. These reports contain further detail on this subject and recommendations relating to the investigation of such deaths. These reports can be accessed via Royal College websites: the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health website or the Royal College of Pathologists and the Department of Health website respectively. |
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| 8.29.2 | The aim of the full protocol is to combine thorough investigation and support when children die unexpectedly and the cause is either unknown or raises concern about possible abuse. The protocol should be applied to all unexplained deaths of children up to the age of 2 years, and followed with discretion to unexplained deaths between 2 and 17 years. |
| 8.29.3 | At present the protocol will not be implemented following a diagnosed disease, road traffic collision, birth complications etc., nor if, with the agreement of the Coroner, the cause of death can be certified by the attending doctor. If, after appropriate initial investigation it is clear that the remainder of the protocol is no longer relevant, then with the agreement of all the professionals involved, its further implementation will cease. |
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| 8.29.4 | The Coroner must be informed at the earliest opportunity of any violent or unnatural death, sudden death of unknown cause, or death within 24 hours of admission to hospital. |
| 8.29.5 | Individual cases can always be discussed with a Coroner’s Officer or, in an emergency, with the Coroner directly. The Coroner should normally be contacted via the Coroner’s Officer. |
| 8.29.6 | The Coroner has control of what happens to the child’s body in these circumstances and decides which pathologist will complete the postmortem. |
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| 8.29.7 | The majority of unexplained child deaths have natural causes and are unavoidable tragedies. The incidence of unexplained child deaths is highest in infancy. About 300 babies die suddenly and unexpectedly each year in the UK. A minority of unexplained deaths will be the consequence of abuse or neglect, or be found to have abuse or neglect as an associated factor. It is as important to identify medical causes and hereditary disorders, and to absolve a family from blame, as to identify unnatural deaths or homicides. |
| 8.29.8 | Professionals from a number of different agencies and disciplines will become involved following an unexplained child death to try to establish the cause of the death and support the family. The protocol is intended to provide guidance to the professionals confronted with one of these tragic events. It is acknowledged that each death has unique circumstances and each professional has their own experience and expertise to draw on in their handling of individual cases. There are, however, common aspects to the management of unexplained child deaths and it is important to achieve good practice and a consistent approach. |
| 8.29.9 | All professionals need to strike a balance between managing the sensitivities of a bereaved family and identifying and preserving anything that may help to explain why a child has died. A minority of unexplained deaths will be the consequence of abuse or neglect, or be found to have abuse or neglect as an associated factor. It is as important to identify medical conditions and hereditary disorders, and to absolve a family from blame, as to identify unnatural deaths or homicides. |
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| 8.29.10 | The protocol contains general guidance about responding to unexplained child deaths and information about individual agency responsibilities. It describes some of the factors that may raise concern about a death. |
| 8.29.11 | The key events described in the protocol are:
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| 8.29.12 | When dealing with an unexplained child death all agencies need to follow five principles:
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| 8.29.13 | These are of equal importance. |
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| 8.29.14 | This is a very difficult time for everyone. The time spent with the family may be brief but events and words used can greatly influence how the family deals with their bereavement in the long term. It is essential to maintain a sympathetic and supportive attitude, whilst objectively and professionally seeking to identify the cause of death. |
| 8.29.15 | Remember that people are in the first stages of grief. They are likely to be shocked and may appear numb, withdrawn, angry or very emotional. |
| 8.29.16 | The child should always be referred to and handled as if he or she were still alive and his or her name used throughout. |
| 8.29.17 | Professionals need to take account of any religious and cultural beliefs that may have an impact on procedures. Such issues must be dealt with sensitively, whilst maintaining a consistent approach to the investigation. |
| 8.29.18 | All professionals must record any history and background information given by parents or carers in detail. Initial accounts about circumstances, including timings, must be recorded verbatim. |
| 8.29.19 | It is normal and appropriate for a parent or carer to want physical contact with his or her dead child. In all but very exceptional circumstances this should be allowed with discreet observation by an appropriate professional. |
| 8.29.20 | Parents/carers should always be allowed time to ask questions and be provided with information about where their child will be taken and when they are likely to be able to see him or her again. |
| 8.29.21 | Parents should always be made aware that Her Majesty’s Coroner will be involved and that a post-mortem will be necessary. |
| 8.29.22 | Staff from all agencies need to be aware that on occasions in suspicious circumstances the early arrest of parents or carers may be essential in order to secure and preserve evidence and to conduct the investigation. Professionals must be prepared to provide statements of evidence promptly in these circumstances. |
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| 8.29.23 | All unexplained child deaths must be treated as a multi-agency child protection investigation. Surviving siblings may be the subject of enquiry under section 47 of the Children Act 1989. |
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| 8.29.24 | A multi-agency strategy discussion will be convened by social services within 72 hours of the child’s death to share information relevant to the investigation of the death, and support of the parents. The police officer responsible for investigating the child’s death or their representative must be present at this meeting. |
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| 8.29.25 | The purpose of this discussion is:
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| 8.29.26 | Contributors to the strategy discussion must include:
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| 8.29.27 | Relevant information will need to be shared with the pathologist(s) and Coroner. |
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| 8.29.28 | Following the death of a young child all families should be visited at home within 24 to 48 hours by a police officer responsible for investigating the child’s death and an appropriate Paediatrician. The Police are responsible for arranging this with the duty Consultant Paediatrician. This joint visit may also be appropriate following the unexplained death of an older child. |
| 8.29.29 | Aims:
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| 8.29.30 | 8 to 12 weeks after death a detailed post-mortem report should be available and the investigation completed. A multi-agency professionals meeting should then be organised by the police / social services, ideally at the GP’s surgery. This should include the health visitor, police, GP, paediatrician, coroner’s officer and other relevant agencies. The meeting should be chaired by the paediatrician. |
| 8.29.31 | Aims:
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| 8.29.32 | At this meeting all the relevant information concerning the death, the child’s history, family history and subsequent investigation should be reviewed. |
| 8.29.33 | During the course of the meeting there should be an explicit discussion of whether abuse or neglect could have been a contributory factor to the child’s death, and any decisions recorded. |
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| 8.29.34 | Some factors in the history or examination of the child may give rise to concern about the circumstances surrounding the death. If any of these are identified it is important that the information is documented and shared with senior colleagues and relevant professionals in other key agencies involved in the investigation. the following list is not exhaustive and is intended only as a guide.
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Introduction |
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| 8.29.35 | It is important for police officers to remember that most unexplained child deaths have natural causes. Police actions therefore need to be a careful balance between consideration for the bereaved family, and the possibility that a crime has been committed. |
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| 8.29.36 | Police attendance should be kept to the minimum required. Several Police officers arriving at the house can be distressing, especially if they are uniformed officers in marked police cars. Whenever possible consideration should be given to the initial response being from plain clothed specialist officers, but this may not be possible if a speedy response is necessary. Officers maintaining the integrity of any scene should use unmarked cars where possible. |
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| 8.29.37 | The provision of medical assistance to the child is obviously the first priority. If an ambulance is not present ensure one is called immediately, and consider attempting to revive the child unless it is absolutely clear that the child has been dead for some time. Ensure that the DI/DS is informed of any resuscitation attempts in order that they can inform the pathologist. |
| 8.29.38 | The first officer at the scene must make a visual check of the child and his/her surroundings, noting any obvious signs of injury. Handle the child as if he or she were alive; ascertain and use the child’s name whenever referring to the child. |
| 8.29.39 | Normally the first officer attending the scene will be responding to an emergency call relating to a child’s death. This officer will assume control of the situation and ensure that the appropriate following specialist officers are contacted and attend:
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| 8.29.40 | A Coroner’s Officer from the relevant Coroner’s Office will attend in most areas of Sussex. (However, there are still some areas where this does not happen.) They will:
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| 8.29.41 | Officers should at all times be sensitive in the use of personal radios and mobile phones, etc. Whenever possible, the officers liaising with the family, whilst remaining contactable, should have such equipment turned off. Remember not to use Police jargon or phrases like “crime scene” and “scenes of crime officer” within the hearing of the parent or carer. These terms can be very distressing for parents who have done nothing wrong. |
| 8.29.42 | Explain to the parents or carers that your attendance at such deaths is routine, and that you are trying to determine how the child died. Consider the general advice given for professionals when dealing with the family (see paragraph 8.29.14) |
| 8.29.43 | It must be established whether the child’s body has been moved and the current position (of the child) should be recorded. All other relevant matters should also be recorded |
| 8.29.44 | An early record of events from the parent or carer is essential, including details of the child’s recent health. All comments should be recorded. Any conflicting accounts should raise suspicion but it must not be forgotten that any bereaved person is likely to be in a state of shock and possibly confused. Repeat questioning of the parent/carer by different police officers should be avoided at this stage if at all possible. |
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| 8.29.45 |
The preservation of the scene and the level of investigation will be relevant and appropriate to the presenting factors. |
| 8.29.46 |
Officers initially attending the scene should ensure it is preserved until the DI attends. Any relevant items should be drawn to their attention, but the DI will decide what items will be retained and removed from the scene. |
| 8.29.47 |
Consideration should be given to:
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| 8.29.48 |
The above is NOT an exhaustive list of considerations and should be treated only as a guide. They will not be necessary in every case. Refer to the earlier section "Factors which may arouse suspicion" |
| 8.29.49 |
If it is necessary to remove items from the house, do so with consideration for the parents. Explain that it may help to find out why their child has died. Ask the parents if they want the items returned. |
| 8.29.50 |
Record any environmental features which may indicate neglect or could have contributed to the death such as temperature of scene, condition of accommodation, general hygiene and the availability of food/drink. |
| 8.29.51 |
At home, unless the death is clearly unnatural, there is no reason why parents cannot hold their dead child. This should however take place under the discreet observation of a police officer. |
| 8.29.52 |
Offer to contact friends or relatives who might support parents, and employers to explain absence. |
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| 8.29.53 |
A G5 (Report of death form) must be completed at an early stage. This will be completed by the Coroner's Officer if they are in attendance. However, in order to avoid delay, it may be appropriate for the police officer present to complete the form. |
| 8.29.54 |
Questions regarding the child's recent health can be recorded on the G5 under the appropriate heading. These questions should include the basic medical history of the child and family. Other relevant details which are thought to be pertinent to the child's death should also be included, an example of this could be when the child was last fed. |
| 8.29.55 |
The issues of the continuity of identification must be considered. This will preferably be done by the Coroner's Officer but could be done by a police officer and should be carried out appropriately and sensitively. |
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| 8.29.56 |
In all cases where the body is taken directly to a hospital or a mortuary, arrangements must be made for a consultant paediatrician to be informed of the child's death, in order that an examination of the body can be made, tests arranged and medical information collated. |
| 8.29.57 |
If the parents/carers wish to accompany the child's body from the home to the mortuary, then this should be facilitated, unless the death is viewed as unnatural. Ensure that they are accompanied by police or coroner's officer. On rare occasions a parent/carer may insist on physically holding the child whilst going to the hospital. Again this should be allowed, but they must be in car under the control of a Police officer. |
| 8.29.58 |
Police officers need to be aware of other professionals' responsibilities, i.e. resuscitation attempts, taking details from the parents, examination of the dead child and looking after the welfare needs of the family. Officers may need to wait until some of these things have happened and take details from these professionals before being introduced to the parents. This is where liaison and joint working is essential as there may be urgent evidential reasons why the police need to take immediate action. It is strongly advised that the CPT is utilised for such liaison wherever possible. |
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| 8.29.59 |
Continue to maintain contact with the family and keep them informed of any developments. |
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| 8.29.60 | See paragraph 8.29.8 |
| 8.29.61 |
Following the death of a young child all families should be visited at home within 24 to 48 hours by a paediatrician together with the police officer responsible for investigating the child's death or their representative. The purpose is to gather more information about the child, family and circumstances of death and to offer initial support. The police are responsible for contacting a local paediatrician to arrange this visit. |
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| 8.29.62 | See paragraph 8.29.30 |
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| 8.29.63 |
Around 8 to 12 weeks after the child's death a further inter-agency meeting should be held to review the findings of the post-mortem report and any other information gained about the child, their family and the circumstances leading to the death. When appropriate, this meeting will mark the closure of the investigation into the child's death. |
| 8.29.64 |
This meeting should be arranged by the police/social services. The precise timing will depend on the progress of the police/coroners investigations. |
| 8.29.65 |
This meeting should include the paediatrician involved, the GP, health visitor, whenever possible the pathologist, other relevant health professionals, social services, police and any other appropriate agencies. Whenever possible, the meeting should be held at the family GP's surgery. |
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| 8.29.66 |
When enquiries are completed, and unless they are required to be retained for any inquest, at the earliest opportunity, any articles taken from the scene that the family wish to retain should be returned to them. |
| 8.29.67 |
Ensure that all police documentation is removed, and that the property is returned in new and appropriate bagging. Appropriate bags are retained in the CPT offices. If soiled articles were taken, ask the parents about their return, and if they would like them cleaned. If so, arrange for any items to be cleaned before their return. |
| 8.29.68 |
Always make an appointment with the parents to return any property, and remember this could be a significant event for them. |
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| 8.29.69 |
Ensure all the relevant documentation is contained in the C5 family file, which should be clearly marked "child death in family". An overview report concerning the investigation must be completed by the CPT DS, and submitted to the SIU DI. |
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| 8.29.70 |
The ambulance service communication centre will immediately notify the police control room when there is a call to the scene of an unexplained child death |
| 8.29.71 |
The recording of the initial call to the ambulance service should be retained in case it is required for evidential purposes. |
| 8.29.72 |
Ambulance staff should follow the Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee Guidelines and the Sussex Ambulance Service Child Protection Procedures.
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| 8.29.73 |
Any suspicions should be reported directly to the police and the receiving doctor at the hospital as soon as possible. |
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| 8.29.74 |
There are times when a GP is called to the child first. In such circumstances the GP should adhere to the same general principles as the ambulance staff (see above). |
| 8.29.75 |
It is essential for the GP to contact the police or Coroner's officer if they are the first on the scene, after taking into account their primary responsibility of saving life or declaring death. the best route is the Police Call Centre. |
| 8.29.76 |
A GP may not issue the death certificate in these circumstances. Children who have died without explanation should be seen in the Accident & Emergency Department by a paediatrician and not sent directly to the mortuary. This enables the clinical history, examination and any initial investigations to be completed and information given to parents. |
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| 8.29.77 |
Ensure that the child is taken to the appropriate area of the Accident & Emergency Department even if they appear to have been dead for some time. The child should not be taken straight to the mortuary. |
| 8.29.78 |
Call the duty paediatrician and the resuscitation team. Find out the identity of the people with the child and their relationship to the child. Use the child's first name. |
| 8.29.79 |
Allocate a nurse to look after the family to keep them informed about what Is happening. The nurse should record any medical or other information they obtain. |
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| 8.29.80 |
A detailed history and examination are extremely important in the process of trying to identify the cause of death. Appendix 1 provides a pro-forma. |
| 8.29.81 |
A paediatrician should take a detailed verbatim history of events leading up to the death, past and recent symptoms, any resuscitation attempts at home and any family history of childhood deaths or serious illness. |
| 8.29.82 |
A full examination should be undertaken by a paediatrician and a careful record of any findings made on a body chart, including:
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| 8.29.83 |
During attempted resuscitation, various investigations may be initiated including urea and electrolytes, full blood count, blood sugar, blood culture\and gases, blood, and in young children urine for metabolic studies. |
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| 8.29.84 |
In children under 2 years - samples for medical investigations should be taken routinely as soon as possible. The recommended samples in Table 1 have been agreed by the Sussex Coroners. If there is definite external evidence of injury early samples should only be taken after discussion with the Coroner/ Coroner's officer, as this could interfere with the interpretation of injuries at post mortem. However, the only opportunity to identify or exclude some medical conditions is by taking samples at or shortly after death and this should not be missed. |
| 8.29.85 |
Routine minimum samples to be taken immediately after Sudden Unexpected Deaths in children under 2 years - 2004 National Working Party Recommendations. |
| 8.29.86 |
Take blood from a venous / arterial site if possible, e.g. femoral vein. See checklist opposite. Cardiac puncture can make PM findings difficult to interpret |
| 8.29.87 | Delays can compromise or invalidate cultures and metabolic tests |
| 8.29.88 | Virology samples must be sent to an appropriate laboratory |
| 8.29.89 |
Skin biopsy for fibroblast culture if post mortem to be delayed by more than 24 hours. This could be taken in the local mortuary by a pathologist, but paediatrician will have to request this. |
| 8.29.90 |
In children over the age of 2 years, the Paediatrician should consider which of the investigations listed above are indicated on the basis of the medical history and findings. If the Paediatrician feels that medical investigations are indicated, the Sussex Coroners have given permission for appropriate samples to be taken without prior consultation unless there is evidence of injury. |
Samples checklist
| Taken | Sample | Send to | Handling | Test | Results |
| Blood cultures - aerobic and anaerobic 1ml | Microbiology, locally | If insufficient blood, aerobic only | Culture and sensitivity | ||
| Blood from syringe on to 2 Guthrie cards | Paediatric Clinical Biochemistry lab at Guys Hospital | In usual Guthrie envelopes - do not put into plastic bag. | Acyl carnitines | ||
| Blood 5ml lithium heparin | Paediatric Clinical Biochemistry lab at Guys Hospital | Normal | Amino acids and other tests for inborn errors of metabolism | ||
| Blood EDTA 1ml | Genetics, Guys Hospital |
Do not freeze | DNA extraction | ||
| Blood (serum) 1 to 2ml |
Biochemistry, locally | Spin, store serum at -20°C | Toxicology | ||
| Blood 1 to 2 ml Lithium heparin |
Cytogenetics Guys Hospital |
Normal - keep unseparated | Chromosomes if dysmorphic or save | ||
| CSF a few drops. Consider cisternal tap |
Microbiology, locally | Normal | M.C.S. | ||
| Clinical biochemistry, locally | Freeze and save | Inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) | |||
| Urine SPA sterile pot 2 to 10mls |
Paediatric Clinical Biochemistry lab at Guys Hospital | Spin, store supernatant -20°C | Organic acids | ||
| Urine SPA sterile pot 2 to 10mls |
Biochemistry, locally | Normal | Toxicology | ||
| Swabs from any identifiable lesions | Microbiology | Normal | Culture and sensitivity | ||
| Nasopharyngeal aspirate /swabs |
Virology and microbiology | Normal | Viral cultures, immunofluorescence, DNA amplification. |
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| Nose and throat swabs | Microbiology | Normal | Culture and sensitivity | ||
| Skin biopsy | Biochemical genetics lab, Guy's Hospital | See below | Fibroblast culture for IEM / chromosomal abnormalities |
| 8.29.91 |
If it is clear that the death is unnatural, then investigations should be discussed with the Coroner's Officer. |
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The following guidance about medical investigations following the death of an older child has been given by the Depts of Histopathology Great Ormond Street Childrens' Hospital and of Paediatric Metabolic Medicine Guy's Hospital 2006.
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| 8.29.92 | A full skeletal survey will be arranged at post mortem. However if there is particular concern that the death of a young child may have unnatural causes, an early full skeletal survey, not a "babygram", and an urgent opinion from a specialist radiologist may be appropriate. Abnormal findings may affect the management of any siblings. Individual Coroners have their own arrangements for skeletal surveys |
| 8.29.92 |
For all children keep all clothing removed from the child in labelled specimen bags and give to the senior police officer. The clothing may assist the pathologist and occasionally be required for forensic examination. Clothing may not be returned to the parents until the Coroner agrees. |
| 8.29.93 |
The child's body should not be washed or "cleaned up" as this may interfere with the pathologist's investigation. How well the baby has been cared for and the presence of secretions or substances on the face may be important. |
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| 8.29.95 |
Mementos should be offered routinely. If there are marks on the child's body which might be masked by taking mementos these areas must be avoided. Details must be sent to the pathologist (e.g. lock of hair cut or palm or sole prints taken).If mementos are not taken in A&E the Coroner's officer should be notified and a request made for them to arrange these after the post mortem. |
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| 8.29.96 |
The doctor who declares death cannot issue a death certificate and must inform the Coroner or Coroners' Officer about the death. |
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| 8.29.97 |
The paediatrician should send the pathologist details of the child's recent and past medical history, resuscitation attempts at home and hospital including needle sites, any physical findings and any investigations. A proforma for this is available in Appendix 1 - to follow. A copy of this should also be sent to the Coroner. |
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| 8.29.98 |
The Accident and Emergency department should check if any of the family are subject to a child protection plan. |
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| 8.29.99 | A member of staff should keep the parents informed about what is happening. |
| 8.29.100 |
When the child has been pronounced dead, the paediatrician should break the news to the parents and review all the information. The paediatrician should explain that investigations will be done into possible medical causes of the death, that the Police and Coroner also have to investigate the death and that the Coroner will order a post mortem by a pathologist with special expertise. |
| 8.29.101 |
Parents should be informed that sometimes there is a delay of several days before the post mortem and that their child may need to be transferred to another hospital for this. They should be told that the Coroner's Officer is the Coroner's representative and will keep them informed. Parents should be given a copy of the DoH leaflet on postmortems. they need to know that a police officer and paediatrician will visit at home. |
| 8.29.102 |
Parents should be encouraged to hold and spend time with their baby/child. If resuscitation has been attempted, intravenous and intra-arterial lines and endotracheal tube should be removed (checking the tube had been correctly placed). Professional presence should be discreet during parents' time with their child. |
| 8.29.103 |
Accident & Emergency staff will discuss how the parents are getting home and will inform all relevant professionals and agencies about the death, (i.e. GP, health visitor, records departments etc.) and discuss contacting friends, family, employers, etc. |
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| 8.29.104 |
An early joint home visit usually by a consultant paediatrician and a police officer will be organised by the police. See paragraph 8.29.37. This is particularly relevant in cases after the death of a young child. the aim is to review the medical history and circumstances of the death, address parents' early questions, establish future communication with them and identify sources of support. The paediatrician should inform the GP and health visitor about their involvement and follow up plan. |
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| 8.29.105 |
The Coroner's Officer will provide the Paediatrician with preliminary post-mortem results. they will send them a copy of the final post-mortem report together with confirmation from the Coroner that they can discuss this with the family. |
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| 8.29.106 |
Around 8 to 12 weeks after the child's death, the police/ social service will arrange a further inter-agency meeting including the GP, health visitor, paediatrician , police and other relevant professionals to review the outcome of the investigation and follow up. |
| 8.29.107 |
The paediatrician is responsible for chairing the meeting and producing a summary for all the agencies. The paediatrician should advise the family about any further investigations for metabolic or genetic conditions in surviving or future children. |
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| 8.29.108 |
Any child whose death is unexplained should be taken to the Accident and Emergency Department to confirm that no resuscitation is possible and to address medical, child protection and bereavement issues. If, for some reason, a child's body is taken directly to the mortuary, the mortuary will inform the police. |
| 8.29.109 |
The police child protection team will then be informed and will contact the duty consultant paediatrician. |
| 8.29.110 |
The paediatrician's role includes taking a full medical history and if possible conducting a brief clinical examination and arranging any appropriate initial investigations and an early joint home visit. The aim is to help identify at an early stage possible underlying medical conditions or child protection concerns. |
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| 8.29.111 |
Most acute life threatening events have a medical or physiological basis, although a precise explanation is not always found. Some have unnatural causes and assessment should always include consideration of these through careful history taking, examination and investigation similar to the list for unexplained deaths. |
| 8.29.112 |
Child protection checks must be initiated for the child and any siblings. Any suspicions must be reported immediately to the duty social worker. |
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| 8.29.113 |
If there are no suspicious circumstances, after an evaluation of initial information; from the ambulance service, hospital and previous records, primary care, police and social services records - the post-mortem should be conducted by a pathologist with special expertise in paediatric pathology. If possible the post-mortem should be completed within 48 hours of the infant's death. If during the post-mortem the pathologist becomes at all concerned that there may be suspicious circumstances, they must halt the post-mortem and inform the Coroner. |
| 8.29.114 |
If the Coroner has any concerns, having been made aware of all the facts, that the death may be of suspicious nature, then a Home Office pathologist will be used in conjunction with a paediatric pathologist. Where a pathologist is qualified both as a forensic and paediatric pathologist they may complete the post-mortem on their own. |
| 8.29.115 |
Both the Coroner and the pathologist must be provided with a full history at the earliest possible stage. This will include a full medical history from the paediatrician, any relevant background information concerning the child and the family and any concerns raised by any agency. The Investigating Officer is responsible for ensuring that this is done. A pro-forma is available for the paediatrician. The medical notes will also usually be sent/taken to the pathologist by the police officer attending the post-mortem |
| 8.29.116 |
The Coroner's Officer should inform all relevant professionals of the time and place of the post-mortem, including the Senior Investigating Police Officer and consultant paediatrician. the family should also be informed. |
| 8.29.117 |
The Investigating Officer should attend the post-mortem. If this is not possible, then he/she must send a representative who is aware of all of the facts of the case. A full Scenes of Crime Officer team, including a photographer, must attend all postmortems conducted by a Home Office pathologist. |
| 8.29.118 |
A number of investigations will be arranged by the Pathologist at postmortem. If the paediatrician has arranged any medical investigations before or after death, the pathologist and Coroner must be informed and the results forwarded. |
| 8.29.119 |
All professionals must endeavour to conclude their investigations expeditiously. This should include the post-mortem results such as histology. The funeral of the dead infant must not be delayed unnecessarily. |
| 8.29.120 |
The interim or final findings of the post-mortem should be provided immediately after the post-mortem examination is completed. The interim result may well be "awaiting histology/virology/toxicology" etc. |
| 8.29.121 |
The final result must be notified in writing to the Coroner as soon as it is known. The final report should then be sent to the Coroner within seven to fourteen days of the final result being known. |
| 8.29.122 |
When a Home Office Pathologist has been used, the pathologist should provide an interim report within two working days of the post-mortem, either orally or in proforma. A full written report should be provided to the Investigating Officer, normally via the Coroner, within 15 days or receipt of the exhibited photographs. Where the scientific examination extends beyond 20 days of the post-mortem, the Investigating Officer should be informed. |
| 8.29.123 |
The Coroner's Officer will arrange the release of a copy of the report to the paediatrician, A&E consultant, and police with the permission of the Coroner. In cases where an inquest is to be held, the Coroner may not be prepared to release a copy of the report until the Inquest is concluded. |
| 8.29.124 |
The Investigating Officer should ensure that a copy is forwarded to the child protection team for inclusion on file for future reference. The report must not be shared with other agencies without the permission of the Coroner. |
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Leaflets
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The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths has a 24 hour helpline offering support and information to anyone who has suffered the sudden death of an infant. The helpline is also available for family and friends and those professionals involved with the death. the telephone advisors personally answer the telephone every day of the year. The Foundation has a wide range of leaflets and information for bereaved families and professionals. It also has a network of befrienders who are previously bereaved parents. Arrangements can be made for a befriender to contact the bereaved family to offer additional support.
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8.30 Use of interpreters, signer or others with special communication skills
| 8.30.1 | All agencies need to ensure they are able to communicate fully with parents and children when they have concerns about child abuse and neglect and ensure that family members and professionals fully understand the exchanges that take place. |
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| 8.30.2 |
The use of accredited interpreters, signers or others with special communication skills must be considered whenever undertaking enquiries involving children and/or family:
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| 8.30.3 | When taking a referral social workers must establish the communication needs of the child, parents and other significant family members. Relevant specialists may need to be consulted e.g. a language therapist, teacher of hearing impaired children, paediatrician etc. |
| 8.30.4 | Family members should not be used as interpreters within the interviews although can be used to arrange appointments and establish communication needs. |
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| 8.30.5 | The particular needs of a child who is thought to have communication problems should be considered at an early point in the planning of the enquiry (strategy discussion stage). |
| 8.30.6 | Professionals should be aware that interviewing is possible when a child communicates by means other than speech and should not assume that an interview, which meets the standards for purposes of criminal proceedings, is not possible. |
| 8.30.7 | All interviews should be tailored to the individual needs of the child and a written explanation included in the plan about any departure from usual standards. |
| 8.30.8 | Every effort should be made to enable such a child to give her/his account directly to those undertaking enquiries. |
| 8.30.9 | It may be necessary to seek further advice from professionals who know the child well or are familiar with the type of impairment s/he has e.g. paediatrician at the child development centre or for child's school, social worker from the deaf services team or disabled children's team. |
| 8.30.10 | When the child is interviewed it may be helpful for an appropriate professional to assist the interviewer and child. Careful planning is required of the role of this adviser and the potential use of specialised communication equipment. |
| 8.30.11 |
Suitable professionals are likely to be drawn from the following groups:
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| 8.30.12 | Achieving Best Evidence (HO 2001) provides guidance on interviewing vulnerable witnesses, including learning disabled (p.53 Chapter 3) and on the use of interpreters and intermediaries (Achieving Best Evidence HO 2001 2.36 -2.41; 2.77) |
| 8.30.13 | Interviews with witnesses with special communication needs, may require the use of an interpreter or an intermediary (Achieving Best Evidence HO 2001 2.36 -2.41; 2.77), and are generally much slower. The interview may be long and tiring for the witness and might need to be broken into two or three parts, preferably, but not necessarily held on the same day. |
| 8.30.14 | A witness should be interviewed in the language of their choice and vulnerable or intimidated witnesses, including children, may have a supporter present when being interviewed. |
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| 8.30.15 | If the family's first language is not English and even if they appear reasonably fluent, the offer of an interpreter should be made, as it is essential that all issues are understood and fully explained. |
| 8.30.16 | Interpreters used for child protection work should have been subject to references, CRB checks and a written agreement regarding confidentiality. Wherever possible they should be used to interpret their own first language and not have any significant links to the community in which the family lives. |
| 8.30.17 |
Social workers need to first meet with the interpreter to explain the nature of the investigation, the aim and plan of the interview, and clarify:
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| 8.30.18 | Family members may choose to bring along their own interpreter as a supporter. |
| 8.30.19 | Invitations to child protection conferences and reports must be translated into a language / medium that is understood by the family. |
8.31 Violence towards staff
DEFINITION |
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| 8.31.1 | Any incident where a member of staff is verbally abused, threatened or assaulted by a service user or member of the public in circumstances relating to her / his employment. |
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| 8.31.2 | Actual or threatened abuse, assault directed towards an employee of an LCSB agency. |
| 8.31.3 |
Predisposing indicators include:
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| 8.31.4 |
The risk of violence may increase when:
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| 8.31.5 | Violence towards staff is an inter-agency problem. If one agency has information that a parent / carer is known to be violent they have a responsibility to alert other agencies of the risks posed by that person. |
| 8.31.6 |
Each agency must ensure the health and safety of its own staff and there should be implemented general safe working practice when working in a community setting including:
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| 8.31.7 | The threshold for responding to violence towards staff is not related to the presence or absence of identified 'significant harm' indicators in the child. However, the experience of violence or threats to staff should be used as evidence of the situation of the family and included in assessments of the child's circumstances. |
| 8.31.8 |
The response should always take account of;
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| 8.31.9 | Both these factors should be considered at an inter-agency strategy meeting that involves the referring agency, Children's social care, police child protection team, health visitor and school nurse. |
| 8.31.10 |
The purpose of the meeting is to:
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| 8.31.11 | All threats must be documented in the child's file as well as reported in accordance with the internal agency procedures. |
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| 8.31.12 | There should always be a de-brief session following any incidents. |
| 8.31.13 | Violence towards staff will have a potentially detrimental effect both personally and professionally, including escalating levels of stress, physical injury / illness, professional judgement and behavioural responses. |
| 8.31.14 | Levels of personal and case management supervision should be adjusted to provide organisational support and consultation to staff working in these conditions. Therapeutic services, specialist supervision or training may need to be provided. |
8.32 Vulnerability of children living away from home
| 8.32.1 | Children in alternative care settings such as boarding schools, children's homes or with foster carers may be vulnerable to abuse. Disabled children are particularly vulnerable when living / staying in such settings (see Section 8.7, Disabled children). |
| 8.32.2 | In addition to sexual and physical abuse, such children may experience emotional abuse and neglect, including peer abuse, bullying and substance misuse, which are a particular threat in institutional settings. |
| 8.32.3 | Practice with respect to reporting of concerns, conducting of enquiries as well as recruitment of staff or carers is described elsewhere in this manual. |
8.33 Young carers
DEFINITION |
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| 8.33.1 | A young carer is a young person under 18 who has a responsibility for caring on a regular basis for a relative (or very occasionally a friend) who has an illness or disability. This can be primary or secondary caring and leads to a variety of losses for the young carer. |
RECOGNITION & RESPONSE |
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| 8.33.2 |
Many young carers experience:
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| 8.33.3 | All agencies in contact with young carers should consider if they are in need of support services in their own right. |
| 8.33.4 | The local authority should consider whether any provisions of the Children Act 1989 or Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 should be applied. |
| 8.33.5 | The extent and effect of caring responsibilities may satisfy the criteria of S.17 (1) Children Act 1989 for 'children in need' (particularly where a child is unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development because of those responsibilities). |
| 8.33.6 | If any agency is concerned that the young carer is at serious risk of neglect, abuse or harm, this must be referred to Children's social care, and if appropriate a strategy discussion held. |
| 8.33.7 | Unless there is reason to believe that it would put the child at risk, young carers should be told if there is a need to make a referral, in order that their trust in a worker is retained. |
| 8.33.8 | If possible, the young carer's consent should be sought through a discussion of why the referral must be made and possible outcomes. |
| 8.33.9 | In those situations where the child does not give consent, but it is still considered necessary to make a referral, s/he should be kept informed of all decisions made, and offered support throughout. |
| 8.33.10 | The response should be the same as for any other child and no additional procedures are required. |
9. Roles and responsibilities
| 9.1 | All agencies |
| 9.2 | Armed forces |
| 9.3 | British Transport police |
| 9.4 | Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) |
| 9.5 | Connexions |
| 9.6 | Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) |
| 9.7 | Faith communities |
| 9.8 | Fire and rescue authority |
| 9.9 | Health services |
| 9.10 | Immigration |
| 9.11 | Local authorities |
| 9.12 | NSPCC |
| 9.13 | Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) |
| 9.14 | Police |
| 9.15 | Prison service and high secure hospitals |
| 9.16 | Probation service |
| 9.17 | RSPCA |
| 9.18 | Refugee council |
| 9.19 | Schools and further education institutions |
| 9.20 | Secure training centres |
| 9.21 | Sports clubs |
| 9.22 | Voluntary agencies or groups |
| 9.23 | The wider community |
| 9.24 | Young offender institutions |
| 9.25 | Youth Offending Team |
9.1 All agencies
| 9.1.1 |
S.11 Children Act 2004 imposes a duty on specified persons and bodies to ensure that:
|
| 9.1.2 | The above duty sits within the wider context of the Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme based on a shared commitment between central and local government and all those working with children to ensure every child has the opportunity to fulfil her/his potential. |
| 9.1.3 |
S. 11 adds to and significantly widens existing responsibilities to protect children, and applies to each:
|
| 9.1.4 | Part 1 of current draft statutory Guidance on Making Arrangements under S. 11 Children Act 2004 emphasises the shared responsibilities likely to be common to most or all of the agencies to which the duty applies. Part 2 deals with the particular agency responsibilities. |
| 9.1.5 |
Key features which will help all agencies create and maintain an effective organisational culture and ethos are:
|
| 9.1.6 |
Reflecting the intentions of the above guidance, the aims of this chapter are therefore to:
|
| 9.1.7 |
All specified agencies and relevant professionals should:
|
| 9.1.8 |
Those listed below, whose primary responsibility is to provide services to adults or the wider community should always consider the safety and welfare of any dependent or vulnerable children (including unborn):
|
9.2 Armed forces
| 9.2.1 | Responsibility for the welfare of Armed Forces families is vested in the employing service and specifically in the commanding officer. |
| 9.2.2 | The frequency of moves makes it imperative that Armed Forces authorities are fully aware of any child deemed at risk. |
| 9.2.3 | All three Services provide professional welfare support to augment that provided by the local authority. When Service personnel (or civilians working with the Armed Forces) are based overseas, the Service responsibility is widened to include the protection of their children. |
| 9.2.4 | The Service authorities should co-operate with statutory agencies and support Service families where child abuse or neglect occurs or is suspected. |
| 9.2.5 | The information they hold on any family can help in the assessment and review of child protection cases. |
| 9.2.6 | Service authorities may also hold information on ex-Service families, which may help with current enquiries |
|
|
| 9.2.7 | Service authorities, through their internal instructions, are made aware that the primary responsibility for the protection of children is with the local authority and that assistance should be given to enable it to fulfil its statutory obligations. |
| 9.2.8 | Incidents of child abuse and neglect, indicating serious harm or injury, should be referred to Children's social care for enquiries and if appropriate conference and registration. |
|
|
| 9.2.9 | The provision of secondary welfare support to Army families in the UK is the responsibility of the Army Families Welfare Service (AWS). |
| 9.2.10 | Where a child from an Army family is subject of a child protection enquiry, contact should be made immediately with the local AWS Personal Support (see Appendix 5 for contact details). |
|
|
| 9.2.11 | The station's personnel department, usually the Officer Commanding Personnel Management Squadron (OCPMS), generally manages welfare support in the RAF. |
| 9.2.12 | The department liaises and works closely with the Soldiers, Sailors, Air Force Association - Forces Help (SSAFA -FH )social work assistant, and a professionally qualified social work adviser. |
| 9.2.13 | In the event of a child protection enquiry Children's social care liaison should be with the OCPMS and the SSAFA - FH social work adviser for the area (see Appendix 5). |
|
|
| 9.2.14 | All child protection matters are handled by the Naval Personal and Family Service (NPFS), the Royal Navy's own social work department. |
| 9.2.15 | In the event of a child protection enquiry Children's social care' liaison should be with the NPFS, who are able to discuss and facilitate service action on behalf of families (see Appendix 5). |
|
|
| 9.2.16 | Local authorities should ensure that SSAFA is made aware of any Service child subject to a Child Protection Plan whose family is about to move overseas. |
| 9.2.17 | SSAFA can confirm the existence of appropriate resources in the proposed overseas location to meet identified needs. Full documentation should be provided to SSAFA. |
| 9.2.18 | SSAFA - FH provides, at the request of the Ministry of Defence (MOD), a qualified social work and health visiting service to families of all Services overseas. |
| 9.2.19 | Procedures exist in all three Services for the registration and monitoring of the protection of children, and the usual rules of confidentiality are observed. |
| 9.2.20 | When it appears a child is in need of emergency protection a designated person may make an application for a Protection Order [SS.19-22 Armed Forces Act 1991] to a Commanding Officer. This Order may last up to a maximum of 28 days, subject to review every 7 days by a senior officer. |
| 9.2.21 | If a case conference decides, whilst the Order is in force, that it is not in the child's best interests to return to her/his parents, the child will be removed to the care of an appropriate local authority in the UK. |
| 9.2.22 | Assistance will be given to parents to return to the UK so they can be involved with all proceedings and decisions affecting their child. |
| 9.2.23 | The Protection Order, made in the overseas command, remains in effect for 24 hours following the arrival of the child in the UK. During this period the local authority must decide whether to apply to the UK court for an Emergency Protection Order (EPO). |
| 9.2.24 | When a Service family with a child in need of protection is about to return to the UK, SSAFA or the NPFS is responsible for informing the relevant local authority and for ensuring that full documentation is provided to assist in the management of the case. |
9.3 British Transport Police
GENERAL DUTY |
|
| 9.3.1 | The British Transport Police (BTP) is the national police force for railways providing a service to rail operators, their staff and passengers. |
| 9.3.2 |
In practical terms, BTP's contribution to fulfilling S. 11 duties is with respect to those children who are:
|
| 9.3.3 |
The detailed guidance for the BTP is contained in the following policy documents:
|
9.4 Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS)
| 9.4.1 | CAFCASS has the responsibility to advise the courts on the needs and interests of children who are the subject of family court proceedings, on issues such as applications for residence or contact orders, adoption and disputes about specific issues such as preventing a child being taken abroad. |
| 9.4.2 | Staff employed by CAFCASS undertake the roles of children's guardian, reporting officer, children and family reporter and parental order reporter. |
| 9.4.3 |
The functions of the service in respect of family proceedings in which the welfare of children is or may be in question, are to:
|
| 9.4.4 | CAFCASS staff should be informed of any S.47 enquiries or domestic violence incidents, on cases in which they have an involvement, and be kept informed of and, where appropriate, invited to strategy meetings, child protection conferences and child care reviews. |
| 9.4.5 | CAFCASS staff should also report any concerns without delay to Children's social care or CPT. |
| 9.4.6 | Pro-forma requests from CAFCASS seeking information in private law matters about a child or family known to Children's social care should be responded to promptly. |
| 9.4.7 | Where necessary, a summary report which highlights the extent of Children's social care' involvement and any ongoing welfare concerns about a child and/or adults should be provided. |
9.5 Connexions
| 9.5.1 | The Connexions Service makes available information, advice, guidance and support to all children and young people aged 13 -19 years, according to their needs. It brokers access and signposts individuals to opportunities and support from other organisations. |
| 9.5.2 |
Connexions awards particular priority to meeting the needs of those who are vulnerable or at risk especially:
|
| 9.5.3 | Connexions is one of the agencies to which S.11(4) Children Act 2004 applies and the draft statutory guidance is directed at leaders, managers and staff of organisations providing Connexions services including sub contractors. |
9.6 Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI)
| 9.6.1 |
CSCI has a responsibility for the registration and periodic inspection of:
|
| 9.6.2 | CSCI will require such providers to meet national standards with respect to child protection, relevant to the service they offer. |
| 9.6.3 | Providers will also be expected to have knowledge of child protection, including signs and symptoms and what to do if abuse or neglect is suspected |
| 9.6.4 | CSCI must contact Children's social care about any child protection issues and, in consultation with them, consider whether any action needs to be taken to protect children attending registered provision. |
| 9.6.5 | CSCI must be informed when a child protection referral is made to the Children's social care about a person who works in any of the services regulated by CSCI. |
| 9.6.6 | CSCI should be invited to any strategy meetings convened due to concerns or allegations about staff or carers in regulated settings (see Section 8.21, Foreign exchange visits). |
9.7 Faith communities
| 9.7.1 |
Faith communities have an important role to play in child protection which reflects children's:
|
| 9.7.2 | All faith communities should, with support from nominated individuals in the local LSCB, develop and maintain their own child protection procedures, consistent with those in this manual. |
| 9.7.3 |
Faith communities should ensure that all clergy, staff and volunteers who have regular contact with children:
|
| 9.7.4 |
The faith communities should:
|
| 9.7.5 | Whenever there is concern that a child has been abused or neglected the concern should be referred, without delay, to the duty social worker for the area in which the child lives (see Appendix 5) |
| 9.7.6 | The duty social worker may also be contacted for consultation. |
9.8 Fire and rescue authority
| 9.8.1 | In relation to child protection, the approach for East and West Sussex Fire Authorities is based upon and reflects the principles of both UK legislation / guidance. |
| 9.8.2 |
Whilst the Fire and Rescue Authorities have no direct duties towards children beyond those owed to the public at large, enshrined within their policies are 2 key principles:
|
| 9.8.3 | It is the responsibility of every manager within the Authorities to ensure that all staff form whom they are responsible are aware of and understand the importance of child protection and related procedures and have read the Authorities' child protection policy. |
| 9.8.4 | All activities that involve working with children will be designed so as to eliminate unnecessary sustained access to children. |
| 9.8.5 |
It is expected that staff will always act upon any suspected or potential case of abuse, or when it is believed that a child may be at risk of abuse by:
|
| 9.8.6 | The designated person for child protection in East Sussex is the 'Head of Personnel Service' and in West Sussex is the 'Youth Initiatives and Schools Education Manager'. These individuals can offer advice in and out of office hours. |
9.9 Health services
| 9.9.1 | All health professionals, in the NHS, private sector, and other agencies, play an important part in ensuring that children and families receive the care, support and services they need in order to promote children's health and development. Due to the universal nature of health provision, health professionals are often the first to be aware that families are experiencing difficulties in looking after their children. |
| 9.9.2 | All Health Service organisations have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (S. 11, Children Act 2004). |
| 9.9.3 | The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 includes a duty on each NHS body 'to put and keep in place arrangements for the purpose of monitoring and improving the quality of health care provided by and for that body' (S.45) and gave the secretary of state the power to set out standards to be taken into account by every NHS body in discharging that duty (S.46). |
| 9.9.4 | The Children's National Service Framework (NSF) states that the government expects health services to meet the standards set in this document. Standard 5 of the NSF is about safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; but safeguarding is also an integral part of other standards in the NSF. In discharging their roles and responsibilities, NHS organisations will therefore need to meet core standard C2 (National Standards, Local Action DH 2004) and take account of the NSF. |
| 9.9.5 | All Health Service organisations must ensure they have in place safe recruitment practices, including CRB checks, for all staff, including agency staff, students and volunteers, working with children. |
| 9.9.6 |
The involvement of health professionals is important at all stages of work with children and families:
|
|
|
| 9.9.7 | Each health agency /service is responsible for ensuring that systems are in place to enable staff to comply with the LSCB (LSCB) child protection procedures including training and updating and access to clinical supervision and/or professional support. Practitioners / clinicians are responsible for identifying their own needs for training and updating and for accessing supervision and support. |
| 9.9.8 |
In responding to a child protection concern, health practitioners, clinicians and managers will consider the need for following actions and will document their decision-making and actions accordingly. Discussion with supervisors, managers and/or advisers will ensure the appropriate actions have or are being taken. The order in which actions are taken will depend upon the urgency of the situation and the degree of perceived immediate risk / threat to the child.
|
| 9.9.9 | Confidentiality and standards/regulations regarding the disclosure of health information and access to health records will be maintained except where disclosure is indicated for the protection of child/ren. In which case information will be shared with others who need to know including carers and children where appropriate and indicated and agencies with lead / statutory responsibilities for protecting children (e.g. Children's social care, police, courts). |
| 9.9.10 | Whenever possible appropriate consent to disclosure must be sought (except where detrimental to the child's interests). Disclosure must be clearly documented. All health professionals must be aware and take account of current guidance on accountability and confidentiality produced by their professional bodies (e.g. GMC, NMC, BPS etc.). Further advice is available from the professional body or the 'named professionals'. |
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| 9.9.11 | The SHA is responsible for performance management of Primary Care Trusts' arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. |
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| 9.9.12 | Each PCT is responsible for identifying a senior paediatrician, and senior nurse to undertake the role of designated professionals for child protection across the health economy and for identifying a named doctor(s) and nurse(s) (or midwife(s)) who will take a professional lead within the PCT on child protection matters. |
| 9.9.13 |
PCT responsibilities include:
|
| 9.9.14 | PCTs should ensure that all health staff have easy access to paediatricians trained in examining, identifying and assessing children and young people who may be experiencing abuse or neglect, and that local arrangements include having all the necessary equipment and staff expertise for undertaking forensic medical examinations. |
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|
| 9.9.15 | This includes mental health trusts, acute trusts, foundation trusts, children's trust and other health partners who are responsible for providing acute and community health services in hospital and community settings. |
| 9.9.16 | They are expected to participate in LSCB activities and have a duty to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. |
| 9.9.17 |
All NHS and Foundation Trusts should identify a named nurse/midwife and a named doctor for safeguarding children who have a co-ordinating role to ensure arrangements for the provision of:
|
| 9.9.18 |
Each trust is accountable for appropriate provision and quality health services of which safeguarding and child protection is a key element including:
|
| 9.9.19 | Each trust will have an identified child protection office providing a central focus for child protection information and inquiries. |
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|
| 9.9.20 | Health visitors offer/provide a universal service for all preschool children. Every child is offered a core surveillance and advice programme with monitoring of health and growth, plus physical, emotional and social development. |
| 9.9.21 | Health visitors play a unique role in promoting child and family health, providing advice about the prevention of ill health or harm and the early detection of health and safety risks. They work closely with both midwives and school nurses, offering individualised care plans for children in families demonstrating additional or enhanced health needs or for children defined as 'in need'. |
| 9.9.22 | Their experience means that they have an important part to play in all stages of family support and child protection. Health visitors are often the starting point for child protection referrals and their continuing work in supporting families places them in a key position as enquiries progress. |
| 9.9.23 | Services are provided within the home, in GP surgeries, health clinics or community project centres. |
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|
| 9.9.24 | School nurses have contact with school age children. Their skills and knowledge of child health and development enables a comprehensive range of work with children in promoting, assessing and monitoring health and development. School nurses have an important role in all stages of the child protection process and they are well placed to assist in identifying vulnerable children, those 'in need' and those at risk of significant harm. |
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| 9.9.25 | Maternity services provide midwifery and obstetric care to women and their babies in both acute and community settings. Midwives are involved with parents from the confirmation of their pregnancy throughout the antenatal period to the birth. Post natal care of the mother and baby by the midwife may continue for up to 28 days after the birth. |
| 9.9.26 | As well as working with their clients to ensure a healthy pregnancy and offering education on parenting skills, midwives are uniquely placed in the early identification of vulnerable families and risk factors for the unborn baby and new-born infants, including domestic violence. |
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| 9.9.27 | The General Practitioner (GP) and other members of the Primary Healthcare Team (PHCT) are well placed to recognise when a child is potentially in need of extra help or services to promote health and development, or is at risk of harm. Surgery consultations, home visits, child health surveillance clinics, information from the health visitor, midwife, school nurse and practice nurse may all help to build up a picture of the child's situation and can alert the team if something is amiss. |
| 9.9.28 | PHCT members should know when it is appropriate to refer a child to Children's social care for help as a "child in need" and how to act on concerns that a child may be at risk of significant harm through abuse or neglect. When other members of the PHCT, including practice nurses and reception staff become concerned about the welfare of a child, the GP should be involved straight away. |
| 9.9.29 | The importance of professional support cannot be over-emphasised. PHCT members should know how to contact colleagues who have experience in child protection matters, e.g. designated professionals, community paediatricians or Children's social care in cases where there is uncertainty. |
| 9.9.30 | The GP and the PHCT are also well placed to recognise when a parent or other adult has other problems which may affect their capacity as a parent or carer, or which may mean that they pose a risk of harm to a child. While GPs have responsibilities to all their patients, the child is particularly vulnerable and the welfare of the child is paramount. If the PHCT has concerns that an adult's problems or behaviour may be causing or putting a child at risk of significant harm, they should ensure that this information is shared with the statutory agencies responsible for child protection, i.e. Children's social care, the NSPCC or the police. |
| 9.9.31 | Because of their knowledge of children and families, GPs have an important role in all stages of child protection processes, from sharing information with Children's social care when enquiries are being made about a child, to involvement in a child protection plan to safeguard a child. GPs should make available to child protection conferences relevant information about a child and family, whether or not they - or a member of the PHCT - are able to attend. |
| 9.9.32 | It is good practice to have a discreet means of identifying in notes those children who are vulnerable especially those subject to a child protection plan, to be recognised by the partners of the practice and any other doctor, practice nurse or health visitor who may be involved in the care of those children. There should be communication between GPs, health visitors, practice nurses, school nurses and midwives in respect of all children about whom there are concerns, or adults who may pose a risk of harm to children. |
| 9.9.33 | It is good practice to identify within the GP / PHCT an identified professional who takes the lead role with regards to child protection concerns. |
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| 9.9.34 | GPs should ensure that they are familiar with local child protection procedures and have received appropriate training and updating. |
| 9.9.35 | As employers, GPs are responsible for their staff and should ensure that practice nurses, practice managers, receptionists and any other staff whom they employ, are given the opportunity to attend local child protection courses or undergo such training within the practice team. |
| 9.9.36 | Each GP and member of the PHCT should have access to an up-to-date copy of the Pan Sussex Area Child Protection Procedures. |
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| 9.9.37 | It is essential that whenever a general practitioner becomes suspicious that a child may be at risk of, or is the subject of abuse of whatever nature, the information is shared with the statutory agencies responsible for child protection, i.e. Children's social care or the police. |
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| 9.9.38 | General Medical Council Advice: "If you believe a patient to be a victim of neglect or physical or sexual abuse and that patient cannot give or withhold consent to disclose, you should give information to the appropriate responsible person or statutory agency, where you believe that the disclosure is in the patient's best interests. Such circumstances may arise in relation to children; here concerns about possible abuse need to be shared with other agencies such as Social & Caring Services. It will usually, but not necessarily, be appropriate for those with parental responsibility to be informed. |
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| 9.9.39 | While professionals should seek in general to discuss any concerns with the family and where possible seek their agreement to making referrals to Children's social care, this should only be done, where such discussions and agreement seeking will not place the child at increased risk of significant harm. |
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| 9.9.40 |
Injured children/young people attend for accident and emergency services at a variety of settings including:
|
| 9.9.41 | They may attend services / departments outside the home area either because they are away from home when the injury / trauma occurs or because they want to seek treatment where they are unknown. |
| 9.9.42 | Clinicians and practitioners responding to children with injuries have a vital role in recognising and referring child protection concerns. |
| 9.9.43 | When an injured child attends for accident and emergency services the medical and nursing staff should always at least consider the possibility of child abuse. |
| 9.9.44 |
Indicators of possible child abuse include:
|
| 9.9.45 |
If child protection concerns exist/arise clinicians and practitioners should:
|
| 9.9.46 | It is important that good communication is maintained at all times both between the health professionals involved in the management of the case, and with other agencies including Children's social care and police. |
| 9.9.47 | Health professionals should endeavour to explain the child's injuries in clear language avoiding the use of excessive medical terminology and should be prepared to accept questioning of their opinion by non-medical professionals. |
| 9.9.48 | Arrangements should be made to routinely notify the child's GP of all visits made by children under 18 years of age in full-time education to the A & E Department. Details of the child's school should be routinely gathered as part of the assessment process and where a child is said not to be attending school the education welfare service should be advised. |
| 9.9.49 | All delays in the passage of information should be minimised and it is important that all staff maintain accurate, factual and clear records of these attendances. |
|
|
| 9.9.50 | Community child health doctors specialise in child development and growth, educational issues and child protection. Some have additional areas of expertise such as audiology, neurodisability, immunisation, epilepsy, etc. Many community paediatricians have forensic training and provide expert opinions on possible child sexual abuse and neglect, in particular, as well as on other child protection issues. |
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| 9.9.51 | Staff working in these facilities will be involved in a time of crisis and may be in a position to identify initial concerns regarding a child's welfare. |
| 9.9.52 | NHS Direct should have a named professional for safeguarding children. |
| 9.9.53 | All staff should be aware of local procedures in line with LSCB policies. |
|
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| 9.9.54 | Ambulance crews, who in the course of their duties, come across children who appear to be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect should document their concerns as fully as possible on the patient report form. |
| 9.9.55 | In addition to documenting any child protection concerns, this information should be discussed at the time with the Duty Communications Officer (DCO) at the emergency control room, who will clarify the details of the situation and establish what level of response is required. |
| 9.9.56 | If an immediate response is indicated the DCO will contact the police and the Help Desk Advisor of the locality Children's social care offices for that area. Out of hours referrals should be passed to the police and (local procedure). |
| 9.9.57 | Where concerns do not require an immediate response, the DCO will make a referral to Children's social care at the earliest opportunity. If concerns arise at the weekend which cannot wait until Monday morning then (local procedure) should be contacted. |
| 9.9.58 | The DCO should keep a record of any telephone referrals that are made and to whom the details were passed. |
| 9.9.59 | Phone referrals should be followed up in writing as soon as possible, and ideally by the end of the shift. |
| 9.9.60 | In cases where the DCO is uncertain about what level of response is required, the concerns should be discussed with Children's social care or if out of hours with (local procedure). |
| 9.9.61 | Ambulance personnel should also ensure that they are familiar with the Sussex Unexplained Child Death protocol, particularly the sections which relate directly to ambulance staff (see Section 8.29, Unexplained child death Protocol). |
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| 9.9.62 |
Hospital staff see children in the course of their normal duties and need to be alert to indications of child abuse. Abused children may attend hospital accident and emergency departments as a consequence of injuries inflicted on them. All hospital staff should be alert to carers who may seek a variety of medical services in order to conceal the repeated nature of their child's injuries.
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| 9.9.63 | Medical and nursing staff should always consider the possibility of new incidents of abuse or ongoing patterns of abuse or neglect. Child protection referral procedures should be followed accordingly. |
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| 9.9.64 | Child and adolescent mental health professionals have a role in the initial assessment and therapeutic process for children and young people with severe behavioural and emotional disturbance, such as eating disorders or self-harming behaviour; young mentally disordered offenders; children and adults with significant learning difficulties, a disability, or sensory and communication difficulties, or where the abused child or abuser have severe communication problems; and where multiple victims are involved. |
| 9.9.65 | In the course of their work, child and adolescent mental health professionals will inevitably identify or suspect instances where a child may have been abused and/or neglected. |
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| 9.9.66 | Speech and Language Therapists, physiotherapy, occupational therapists, dieticians, and podiatrists can contribute a detailed opinion of specific aspects of a child's development. They may become aware of child protection issues during the therapeutic process with the child or family. They should work in conjunction with other children's services to identify and meet the child's needs. Therapists provide specialist interventions and rehabilitation programmes. |
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| 9.9.67 | Community dental services see vulnerable children both within health care settings and by undertaking domiciliary visits. They are likely to identify injuries to the head, face, mouth and teeth, as well as potentially identifying other child welfare concerns. |
| 9.9.68 | Dentists and their staff should have knowledge and skills to identify concerns regarding child protection, know how to refer to children's social services, and who the named professionals within the trust are. |
| 9.9.69 |
Alerting signs might be:
|
| 9.9.70 | Other factors such as dental history need to be taken into consideration when making a decision regarding child protection. |
| 9.9.71 |
General Dental Practitioners should follow the procedural guidelines set out below in the case of actual or suspected abuse and/or neglect:
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| 9.9.72 | The Children Act 1989 makes the child's welfare paramount and it is therefore an essential consideration for health clinicians / practitioners working in adult services. They may hear admissions or disclosures from adults or recognise the indicators of risk or harm and should liaise with primary care, child health and children and families services accordingly. Assessment and treatment services are also provided to the adult victims / survivors of child abuse. |
| 9.9.73 | Adult Mental Health services, including those providing general adult and community, forensic, psychotherapy, alcohol and substance misuse and learning disability services, have a responsibility in safeguarding children when they become aware of or identify a child at risk of harm. This may be as a result of the (add) service's direct work with those who may be mentally ill, a parent, a parent-to-be, or a non-related abuser, or in response to a request for the assessment of an adult perceived to represent a potential or actual risk to a child or young person. Close collaboration and liaison between the adult mental health services and children's welfare services are essential in the interests of children. This may require the sharing of information to safeguard a child from significant harm. |
| 9.9.74 | Drug Services should have arrangements in place which enable child protection and substance misuse referrals to be made in relevant cases. Where children may be suffering significant harm because of their own substance misuse, or where parental misuse may be causing such harm, referrals will need to be made by drug services in accordance with LSCB procedures. Where children are not suffering significant harm, referral arrangements also need to be in place to enable children's broader needs to be assessed and responded to. |
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| 9.9.75 | PCTs should ensure through their contracting arrangements that independent sector providers deliver services that are in line with PCT obligations with respect to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. |
| 9.9.76 | Health professionals working in the independent sector provide help and support to promote children's health and development, and many work with vulnerable families who may experience problems in looking after their children. They should be able to recognise and act upon child welfare concerns, and to respond to the needs of children. |
9.10 Immigration services
| 9.10.1 | Immigration officers who have contact with children on arrival in the country and staff at the asylum screening (ASU) in Croydon to whom 'post entry' applications for asylum are made, must refer to the relevant Children's social care if they have concerns about the future safety of any child. In particular, all unaccompanied asylum seeking children must be referred to Children's social care. |
9.11 Local authorities
LOCAL AUTHORITIES THAT ARE CHILDREN'S SERVICES AUTHORITIES |
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| 9.11.1 | County level or unitary authorities are defined as children's services authorities in the Children Act 2004, section 63 of the Act sets out the full definition. |
| 9.11.2 | The safety and welfare of children is the responsibility of the local authority, working in partnership with other public organisations, the voluntary sector, and service users and carers. All local authority services have an impact on the lives of children and families, and local authorities have a particular responsibility towards those children and families most at risk of social exclusion. |
| 9.11.3 | A key objective for these authorities is to ensure that children are protected from harm. They provide a wide range of care and support for adults, children and families, including: children at risk of harm; disabled children; unaccompanied asylum seeking or refugee children; older people; people with physical or learning disabilities; people with mental health or substance misuse problems; ex-offenders and young offenders; families, especially where children have special needs, and/or where children are growing up in special circumstances as set out in the National Service Framework for Children Young People and Maternity Services, and for children who need to be accommodated or looked after by the local authority, through fostering or residential care; and children who are placed for adoption. Local Authorities also have a duty under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to do all they reasonably can to prevent crime and disorder in the exercise of their functions. |
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| 9.11.4 | The agency with lead responsibility for child protection within the local authority is the children's / children and families services. In Brighton and Hove this is the Children and Young People's Trust |
| 9.11.5 |
Children's social care have responsibilities to:
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| 9.11.6 | The primary duty of all staff, whatever their nominated role, is to protect children from significant harm. |
| 9.11.7 | These local authorities also have responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children who are excluded from school, or who have not obtained a school place, for example children in Pupil Referral Units or being educated by the authority's home tutor service. They will also ensure that maintained schools give effect to their responsibilities for safeguarding: make available appropriate training, model policies and procedures: provide advice and support; and facilitate links and cooperation with other organisations. Authorities will normally extend these functions to any non-maintained special schools in their area. |
| 9.11.8 | Children's social care staff and LSCBs should offer the same level of support and advice to independent schools and Further Education colleges in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils and child protection as they do to maintained (state) schools. It is particularly important that children's social care staff and LSCBs establish channels of communication with local independent schools (including independent special schools), so that children requiring support receive prompt attention and any allegations of abuse can be properly investigated. |
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| 9.11.9 |
In their direct welfare work with families, EWOs may recognise child protection issues and must refer these to children's social care.
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| 9.11.10 |
Staff working in EDTs (sometimes referred to as out of hour's services) must distinguish carefully, often on the basis of inadequate and/or unreliable information:
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| 9.11.11 | EDT staff should ensure that all relevant information obtained and actions taken out of office hours are transmitted without delay to the relevant sections within children's social work services and other agencies as appropriate. |
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| 9.11.12 |
These local services include:
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| 9.11.13 |
Each local authority has responsibility for the provision of:
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| 9.11.14 | The above responsibilities are discharged in co-operation with the local Early Years Development & Childcare Partnership (EYDCP). |
| 9.11.15 | Early years providers must ensure that clear safeguarding procedures (based upon What to Do If You're Worried a Child is Being Abused (2003) are in place and that staff are aware of possible signs of children at risk of harm. |
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Social work for adults |
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| 9.11.16 | Those who work with adults within social services must consider the implications of service users' behaviour for the well being and safety of any dependent children and/or children with whom those adults are in contact. |
| 9.11.17 |
Child protection issues may in particular arise amongst parents, carers or pregnant women who are in receipt of the following:
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| 9.11.18 |
Social work services must establish and maintain systems so that:
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| 9.11.19 | Adult services staff who receive referrals about adults who are also parents should consider if there is a need to alert children's services to a child who may be 'in need' or 'at risk of significant harm'. |
| 9.11.20 | Once action is taken under child protection procedures (and regardless of whether the work is undertaken jointly or separately) children's services become responsible for its co-ordination. |
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| 9.11.21 | Housing authorities / associations often hold significant information about families which contain a child at risk. In the case of transient or mobile families they may have more information that most other agencies. |
| 9.11.22 | Housing authorities / associations have an obligation to share information relevant to child protection with social work services (see Appendix 4) |
| 9.11.23 |
Housing authorities / associations can help reduce risk to children by:
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| 9.11.24 | Housing staff should also be alert to child protection issues when dealing with reports of anti-social behaviour by young people that might reflect parental neglect or abuse. |
| 9.11.25 | Environmental health officers inspecting conditions in private rented housing may become aware of conditions that impact adversely on children particularly. Under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 authorities will take account of the impact of health and safety hazards in housing on vulnerable occupants including children when deciding the action to be taken by landlords to improve conditions. |
| 9.11.26 | In many areas, local authorities do not directly own and manage housing, having transferred these responsibilities to one or more RSLs. Housing authorities remain responsible for assessing the needs of families under homelessness legislation and managing nominations to registered social landlords who provide housing in their area. They continue to have an important role in safeguarding children because of their contact with families as part of assessment of need, and because of the influence they have designing and managing prioritisation, assessment and allocation of housing. |
| 9.11.27 | RSLs are independent organisations, regulated by the Housing Corporation under its Regulatory Code and are not public bodies. RSLs are not under the same duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children as are local authorities. However the Housing Corporation supports the principle of RSLs working in partnership with a range of organisations to promote social inclusion, and its Regulatory Code states that housing associations must work with local authorities to enable the latter to fulfil their duties to the vulnerable and those covered by the Government's Supporting People policy. |
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| 9.11.28 | Children are intensive users of leisure services, including parks, swimming pools, leisure centres and theatres. Leisure services also organise courses for young children e.g. cycling proficiency. |
| 9.11.29 | In addition to their shared responsibility to provide staff with child protection training, leisure services must ensure that managers take responsibility for briefing casual and temporary members of staff of the need to be aware of child protection issues. |
| 9.11.30 | Working practices should be adopted which minimise unobserved contact with children. |
| 9.11.31 | Leisure services must also ensure that any organisations contracting to use leisure premises have adequate child protection procedures. |
| 9.11.32 | It may be useful to identify a member of staff who can take a lead role for child protection. |
| 9.11.33 | Library staff have a great deal of informal contact with children and parents using their services. This provides opportunities for recognising those who are experiencing difficulties. |
| 9.11.34 | If young children are left unattended within the library for lengthy periods of time, staff should intervene with parents and inform social work services if concerns are not allayed. |
| 9.11.35 | Through the facility for homework helpers and holiday groups, some library staff have direct unsupervised contact with children and all must be familiar and comply with child protection procedures. |
| 9.11.36 | Because libraries provide opportunities for anonymous access to the Internet, staff must be aware and take reasonable precautions to prevent access to pornography and chat rooms in which children may be drawn into risky relationships. |
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| 9.11.37 | Youth services should have their own child protection policies, which are consistent with this document. |
| 9.11.38 | The above provides opportunities for recognising those who are experiencing problems and offering them support whilst referrals to police or social work services are made |
| 9.11.39 | Where the local authority funds local voluntary group organisations or other providers through grant or contract arrangements, the authority should ensure that proper arrangements are in place to safeguard children. |
9.12 NSPCC
| 9.12.1 | The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a charity with a duty to protect children from abuse and neglect and has the statutory power to bring care proceedings in its own right. |
| 9.12.2 | The NSPCC operates a national 24 hour child protection line (see Appendix 5), which accepts referrals and passes the information to the relevant Children's social care. |
| 9.12.3 | Children's social care may commission the NSPCC to undertake specific child protection related work, including S.47 enquiries and, 'special investigations' |
| 9.12.4 | The NSPCC also provides services for children and families and has the same responsibilities in this respect as other voluntary agencies. |
9.13 Offices for standards in education (OFSTED)
| 9.13.1 | Registered childminders and group day care providers must satisfy explicit criteria in order to meet the national standard with respect to child protection . Ensuring that they do so is the responsibility of the early years directorate of OFSTED. |
| 9.13.2 |
OFSTED requires that:
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| 9.13.3 |
OFSTED will seek to ensure that day care providers:
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| 9.13.4 | OFSTED must contact the relevant SSD about any child protection issues and, in consultation with SSD, consider whether any action needs to be taken to protect children attending the provision. |
| 9.13.5 |
OFSTED must be informed when a child protection referral is made to the SSD about:
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| 9.13.6 | OFSTED must be invited to any strategy meeting where an allegation might have implications for other users of the day care service and/or the registration of the provider (See Section 8.21, Procedures for managing allegations against people who work with children) |
| 9.13.7 | OFSTED must seek to cancel registration if children are at risk of significant harm by being looked after in childminding or group day care settings. |
| 9.13.8 | Where warranted OFSTED will bring civil proceedings or criminal proceedings against registered or unregistered day care providers. |
| 9.13.9 | OfSTED will also inspect the extent to which LEAs, schools and FE institutions discharge their duties under section 175 of the Education Act 2002. |
9.14 Police
| 9.14.1 | The police have a primary responsibility to protect life, prevent crime and bring offenders to justice. |
| 9.14.2 |
The role of the police in incidents of alleged abuse is to:
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| 9.14.3 |
This will assist in complying with the objective of the Sussex Police Child Protection Policy: Together with the other agencies of the Local Safeguarding Children Board:
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| 9.14.4 | During the course of any police action the welfare of the child will remain paramount, and the police will work in co-operation with all other LSCB agencies. |
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| 9.14.5 | Wherever possible, all referrals of alleged abuse will be received and investigated by officers from child protection teams, who have received specialist training in joint working and the interviewing of children. |
| 9.14.6 | There will always be occasions when officers from other disciplines become involved in child protection investigations, and on such occasions they should ensure close liaison at the earliest practical opportunity with the child protection team |
| 9.14.7 | In most cases officers from such departments will only be involved in the initial stages of an investigation. |
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| 9.14.8 | Whenever there is the need for emergency action to protect a child, contact should be made with the police via the 999 system. In such cases the attendance of uniformed response officers will normally occur. |
| 9.14.9 | All police officers have a power under S.46 of the Children Act 1989 to remove a child from their parents or carers and place them in police protection. This power can be exercised when an officer believes a child would be likely to suffer significant harm. |
| 9.14.10 | The use of this power can involve removing a child from their home or a public place to suitable accommodation, or ensuring their removal from a place like a hospital is prevented. When the police use this power they must inform Children's social care, who are responsible for accommodating the child, and commencing a S.47 investigation. |
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| 9.14.11 | The investigation of child abuse allegations will be undertaken by officers from the CPTs. Routine referrals and information about children can be passed to CPTs by the police non-emergency number 0845 60 70 999. CPT officers are available 24 hours day, 365 days per year. |
| 9.14.12 |
The prime responsibility of CPTs is the investigation of all intra-familial abuse. In addition they will normally undertake the following investigations:
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| 9.14.13 | CPTs work closely with other police officers responsible for the investigation domestic violence, adult protection, race and hate crime, and the monitoring of registered sex offenders. |
| 9.14.14 | In most cases the CPTs will jointly investigate allegations of abuse with social workers. |
| 9.14.15 | Any referrals and other information concerning children received by CPTs will automatically be passed to Children's social care. |
| 9.14.16 | Any decision to prosecute will be taken in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, and will where possible take account of the views of other agencies. In all cases the wishes and feelings of any child will be considered, and their welfare will remain paramount. |
9.15 Prison service and high secure hospitals
| 9.15.1 | When there are plans to release a prisoner convicted of an offence against children, prisons are required to notify the Children's social care and probation service in the area in which the offender intends to be resettled on release. |
| 9.15.2 | This notification enables enquiries to be made regarding the potential risks posed to children. |
| 9.15.3 | High secure hospitals have a duty to implement child protection policies, liaise with their local LSCBs, provide safe venues for children's visits and provide nominated officers to oversee the assessment of whether visits by specific children would be in their best interests (directions and associated guidance to Ashworth, Broadmoor and Rampton hospitals. |
| 9.15.4 | Children's social care may assist by assessing if it is in the best interests for a particular child in need / at risk to visit a named patient. |
| 9.15.5 | Many prisons now operate a similar system in relation to sex offenders and other dangerous offenders |
9.16 Probation service
| 9.16.1 |
The key aims of the national probation service (NPS) are:
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| 9.16.2 |
The National Probation Service must act in accordance with:
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| 9.16.3 | The S.11 duty in the Children Act 2004 will serve to reinforce practice that is informed by a commitment safeguarding and promoting children's welfare. |
| 9.16.4 |
Probation staff may become involved with cases relevant to child protection:
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| 9.16.5 | Probation staff must refer a child to Children's social care if concerned that s/he may be in need or at risk of significant harm. |
| 9.16.6 | All offenders referred to the probation service are assessed in terms of their risk level and needs by use of a standard assessment tool (OASys). Those assessed as high or very high risk are dealt with by means of multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) (see Section 10.2 Multi-agency public protection meetings (MAPPA)) |
| 9.16.7 | The probation service victim liaison officer should consult Children's social care in cases where the victim is a child. |
| 9.16.8 | Probation staff have both statutory and non-statutory contact with sex offenders following release from prison and work with a range of offenders with less serious convictions against children. |
| 9.16.9 | When working with any member of a family where child abuse is known, or thought to have occurred and where the child remains in the care of, or has contact with the abuser, the probation officer must liaise closely with Children's social care and any other relevant agencies (except where a child has been removed and has no planned contact). |
9.17 RSPCA
| 9.17.1 | In the light of increased awareness of the possible links between child abuse and neglect and animal cruelty, the RSPCA introduced written reporting procedures in November 2001. |
| 9.17.2 | A protocol agreed with RSPCA includes reciprocal reporting by Children's social care of animal welfare issues. |
| 9.17.3 | If an RSPCA inspector notices anything which they consider to be child abuse or a concern about the welfare of a child, as described in Section 2, Information sharing and confidentiality, s/he will report it to police or Children's social care as outlined below. |
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| 9.17.4 | In an emergency situation the RSPCA inspector should report the concerns directly to the police using the '999' system. |
| 9.17.5 | The inspector should record the information in their pocket book and pass it to the chief inspector. Form A (RSPCA referral form to Children's social care) is completed and faxed to the child protection unit, marked 'POLICE DEALT' from where it is passed to the local Children's social care for appropriate action. |
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| 9.17.6 | The RSPCA inspector should note the concerns in her/his pocket book and pass the information orally to the chief inspector, or in their absence the deputy chief inspector. |
| 9.17.7 | The information is to be recorded on Form A and submitted to the chief inspector as soon as possible, within 3 working days. |
| 9.17.8 | The referral is then sent to the child protection unit, who will ensure that it is passed to the local office for appropriate action. |
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| 9.17.9 | Where Children's social care staff have concerns about the welfare of an animal, they should report this to the RSPCA by completing Form B, (Children's social care referral form to RSPCA). |
| 9.17.10 | Once completed the form should be sent to the child protection unit who will forward it to the relevant RSPCA chief inspector for appropriate action. |
9.18 Refugee council
| 9.18.1 | The Refugee Council assists families into the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) through the provision of advice about available options and help with paperwork. |
| 9.18.2 | Unaccompanied asylum seeking children are provided with support and advice through the Refugee Council's Children's Panel. |
| 9.18.3 | The Refugee Council has its own child protection policy and procedures and all staff receive basic induction training, with further input for those directly working with children. |
| 9.18.4 | If a child is identified as in need of support or in need of protection a referral will be made to relevant Children's social care. |
9.19 Schools and further education institutions
| 9.19.1 |
Schools (including independent schools and non-maintained special schools) and Further Education (FE) institutions should give effect to their duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of their pupils (students under 18 years of age in the case of FE institutions) under the Education Act 2002 and where appropriate under the Children Act 1989 (see paragraph 2.5) by:
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| 9.19.2 | Schools also contribute through the curriculum by developing children's understanding, awareness, and resilience. |
| 9.19.3 | Creating a safe learning environment means having effective arrangements in place to address a range of issues. Some are subject to statutory requirements, including child protection arrangements, pupil health and safety, and bullying. Others include arrangements for meeting the health needs of children with medical conditions, providing first aid, school security, tackling drugs and substance misuse, and having arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children on extended vocational placements. |
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| 9.19.4 | Through their daily contact with children, teachers and other staff in maintained, foundation, voluntary aided and independent schools, sixth form and further education colleges are well placed to observe signs of abuse, changes in behaviour or a failure to develop. |
| 9.19.5 |
Schools should contribute in practical terms to child protection by:
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| 9.19.6 |
All schools must have policies and procedures which reflect the roles of staff and parents regarding:
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| 9.19.7 | The vast majority of cases will be effectively dealt with within the context of the establishment's policy. |
| 9.19.8 | There will be circumstances in which a referral to children's social care or police is required, such as when the bullying involves criminal behaviour or initial steps taken to combat it effectively have failed (see Section 8.14 Learning disabled parent or carer) |
| 9.19.9 | Staff should take advice from the designated member of staff for child protection or education welfare service. |
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| 9.19.10 | Educational curricula, teaching materials and methods must reflect the diversity of the authorities' population and seek to promote an anti-discriminatory environment. |
| 9.19.11 | All schools and colleges must have a system in place to deal with racist incidents. |
| 9.19.12 | There will be occasions when the impact of racist incidents is so severe that it constitutes significant harm for the victim. In such instances a referral to social work services or police must be made (see Section 8.23 Safeguarding children from abroad). |
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| 9.19.13 |
The head teacher / principal should ensure that:
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| 9.19.14 | The main role of the 'designated' member of staff is to refer cases of suspected abuse or allegations to the relevant investigating agencies according to the procedures established by the local LSCB. |
| 9.19.15 |
To be effective, designated members of staff must:
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| 9.19.16 | Proprietors of independent schools also have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of their pupils under Section 157 Education Act 2002 and the Education (Independent Schools Standards) Regulations 2003 (as amended). |
| 9.19.17 |
Proprietors of independent schools should ensure that:
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| 9.19.18 | Section 175 (2) EA 2002 states that the governing body of a maintained school shall make arrangements for ensuring their functions relating to conduct of the school are exercised with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils at the school. |
| 9.19.19 | Section 175(3) states the governing body of an institution within the further education sector shall make arrangements for ensuring that their functions relating to the conduct of the institution are exercised with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children receiving education or training at the institution. |
| 9.19.20 |
Guidance states that governing bodies and FE corporations should ensure that:
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| 9.19.21 | A member of the governing body / corporation is nominated to be responsible for liaising with the CSA and/or partner agencies, as appropriate in the event of allegations of abuse being made against the he head teacher or principal |
9.20 Secure training centres
| 9.20.1 | Secure Training Centres (STCs) are provided under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Their primary function is to accommodate young persons sent there by the court in a safe environment within secure conditions in a manner that maintains high standards of care, control, good order and discipline and protects vulnerable and disruptive young persons from themselves and each other. |
| 9.20.2 | Directors and Governors of STCs have comparable responsibilities to those in YOIs |
9.21 Sports clubs
| 9.21.1 | Many children regularly attend sports clubs and all such organisations should have their own child protection procedures and training for relevant staff and volunteers. |
| 9.21.2 | The NSPCC Child Protection in Sport (CPSU) works in partnership with Sport England and other major sports organisations to develop safeguards for children in sport. |
| 9.21.3 | In partnership with Ladbrokes, the NSPCC has issued a free leaflet and checklist of questions (Have Fun Be Safe) that parents and carers should be asking for, from organisations offering sports activities for children (available from NSPCC and Ladbrokes shops). |
| 9.21.4 | The Football Association (FA) for example has its own child protection policy and procedures and provides mandatory training for coaches, referees and volunteers involved in local football clubs. |
| 9.21.5 | The child protection procedures instruct individuals to seek advice or make referrals to the NSPCC help-line, Children's social care or the police. |
| 9.21.6 | Where suspected abuse occurs within a football setting, the FA Head of Education & Child Protection should be informed of the concerns and will provide information for any relevant child protection enquiries and strategy discussions. |
9.22 Voluntary agencies and groups
| 9.22.1 | All voluntary agencies and groups (some of which undertake work commissioned by local authorities) should be encouraged and supported by local authorities to develop child protection procedures consistent with these procedures. |
| 9.22.2 |
The agency / group should ensure that all staff and volunteers:
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| 9.22.3 |
The agency /group should:
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| 9.22.4 | Where independent agencies have a formal relationship with statutory ones, e.g. subject to registration and inspection or contracted to provide services, the statutory agencies may reasonably be expected to provide clear advice and assistance. |
| 9.22.5 | Whenever there is concern that a child has been abused or neglected a referral must be made without delay to the duty social worker for the area in which the child lives (see Section 3, Recognition and referral) |
| 9.22.6 | The duty social worker may also be contacted for informal advice. |
9.23 The wider community
| 9.23.1 | It is important that all members of the community understand that child protection is a concern for everyone and that effectiveness of professional agencies will depend on the awareness and support of the public. |
| 9.23.2 |
If any member of the public is concerned that a child may be at risk of abuse or neglect they should either telephone:
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| 9.23.3 | Contact numbers for the above and other national and local agencies are provided in Appendix 5. |
9.24 Young offender institutions
| 9.24.1 |
Governors of young offender institutions (YOIs) have a:
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| 9.24.2 | With the above context, S.11 of the Children Act 2004 gives Governors / Directors a legal responsibility to make arrangements to ensure that they exercise their functions having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in custody and those with whom they have contact. |
| 9.24.3 |
In essence, the practical contribution to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is the development and implementation of policies and arrangements designed to:
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| 9.24.4 | The High Court has confirmed (Howard League for Penal Reform - V. Secretary of State for Home Department November 2002) that the Children Act 1989 does apply to children in prison establishments and in particular, the responsibilities of local authorities under S.17 and S.47 Children Act 1989 (subject to the necessary requirements of imprisonment). |
| 9.24.5 | The above judgement also confirmed that prisons have a legal obligation to safeguard the well-being of children in their care by virtue of S.6 (1) of the Human Rights Act 1998 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. |
| 9.24.6 |
In order to meet the S.11 duty Governors / Directors should have regard to the policies agreed by the Prison Service and the YJB in Prison Service Order 4950 (Juvenile Regimes) which require a:
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| 9.24.7 | If a formal referral is made to Children's social care, a strategy discussion / meeting must take place within 7 working days at which the governor or her/his representative and, if possible the supervising officer from the young person's YOT will attend. |
| 9.24.8 |
The strategy discussion / meeting must agree:
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| 9.24.9 | Governors and Directors of women's establishments which have mother and by units must meet their S.11 responsibilities by having regard to Prison Service Order 4801 which requires them to prioritise staff working in such units for child protection training and ensuring that there must be a member of staff on duty who is proficient in child protection, health and safety and first aid including resuscitation. |
| 9.24.10 | Each baby must have a childcare plan setting out how the best interests of that child will be maintained and promoted whilst s/he is resident. |
9.25 Youth offending team
| 9.25.1 |
Youth offending teams (YOTs) are multi-agency teams the member ship of which is specified in S.39(5) Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and which consists of at least one:
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| 9.25.2 | All YOT members must understand their responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and in practice such responsibilities will be discharged through observance of National Standards on Assessments and Interventions, the Key Elements of Effective Practice guidance issued by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) as well as Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 guidance |
| 9.25.3 | Whether or not the full 'Asset' process is used, all children and young people in contact with YOTs will need to be assessed for welfare, risk of harm to others or self and other needs. |
| 9.25.4 | Any intervention must take account of any existing children protection plan. |
| 9.25.5 | Where an assessment identifies that there is a risk of serious harm to self or others, a full Risk of Serious Harm assessment must be completed and Children's social care alerted. |
| 9.25.6 | The YOT should participate fully in subsequent enquiries and planning. |
| 9.25.7 | In the case of a serious incident involving a child within the youth justice system, especially a death in custody, YOTS must co-operate with any enquiry led by a LSCB (as well as one led by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman as outlined in the 'Serious Incident Guidance to be issued by the YJB in June 2005). |
| 9.25.8 | It may be helpful to identify a YOT officer who can take a lead role for child protection. |
10. Risk management of known offenders
10.1 Register of sexual offenders
| 10.1.1 |
Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, those offenders who are cautioned or convicted of specific, sexual offences against a child or an adult, are made subject to the Sex Offenders Register. This registration requires the offender by law, to notify the Police of the following:
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| 10.1.2 | All agencies must inform the police if they are aware of a sex offender who has changed their address, or who is planning to move or travel abroad, without first, informing the police. |
| 10.1.3 | The above also applies to offenders under the age of 18 if they have been convicted, reprimanded, given a final warning or cautioned. |
10.2 Multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA)
| 10.2.1 | The Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) were introduced in the Criminal Justice & Court Services Act 2000. The Act placed a statutory duty on each of the 42 Police and Probation areas and more recently the Prison Service, to work together to assess and manage the risks posed by convicted, sexual, violent and other dangerous offenders living within every community. |
| 10.2.2 | In addition, the Act placed a Duty to Co-operate on other partner agencies, such as Children's social care, Youth Offending Teams, Housing Departments and Mental Health Teams. |
| 10.2.3 |
In accordance with the National MAPPA Guidance, each MAPPA is required to:-
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| 10.2.4 |
MAPPA works on a clear offender categorisation process:-
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| 10.2.5 |
Offenders who will become subject to MAPPA will be:
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| 10.2.6 |
Offenders will be removed from MAPPA when:-
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| 10.2.7 | There are three levels under which all MAPPA offenders, depending on their current risk levels, are managed. Should an offenders risk level increase or decrease, then the management level can be amended accordingly:- |
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| 10.2.8 | Used when the risks posed by the offender can be managed by one agency without significantly involving other agencies. |
| 10.2.9 | This level can only be used for Category 1 & 2 offenders (RSOs and violent offenders), because by definition, Category 3 offenders pose a serious risk of harm to the public and would therefore require active inter-agency management. |
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| 10.2.10 | Used where the active involvement of more than one agency is required but where either the level of risk or the complexity is not so great as to require a referral to Level 3. |
| 10.2.11 | A referral at this level must be based upon information that demonstrates that the offender poses a high to very high risk of serious harm to others and that the delivery of an effective risk management plan requires the active collaboration of a number of agencies. |
| 10.2.12 | Cases are reviewed and a risk management plan is agreed at Risk Assessment Meetings (RAMs) which are held monthly, on each of the 5 Police Divisions. |
|
|
| 10.2.13 | Used for the management of the 'Critical Few'. |
| 10.2.14 | A referral to this level must be based upon information that demonstrates that the offender poses a high to very high risk of serious harm to others and that the risks posed can only be managed by a plan which requires the close co-operation at a senior level due to the complexity of the case and/or because of the unusual resource commitments. |
| 10.2.15 | Cases are reviewed at Multi Agency Public Protection Meetings (MAPPPs), which are held monthly in both East and West Sussex and Brighton & Hove. |
10.3 Developing intelligence about organised or persistent offenders
| 10.3.1 | CPTs develop intelligence about organised or persistent offenders who pose a risk to children. |
| 10.3.2 |
Each CPT has a dedicated 'intelligence officer' responsible for the:
|
10.4 Release of prisoners convicted of offences against children
| 10.4.1 | When a prisoner convicted of offences against a child is to be released at the end of her/his sentence the director of social services and chief probation officer must, prior to the release date, be informed by the prison probation officer. |
| 10.4.2 | If there are children at the household where the prisoner intends to live, a child protection enquiry must be initiated (see Section 10.7, Identified offenders and others who may pose a risk to children). |
10.5 Parole or temporary release of prisoners convicted of offences against children
| 10.5.1 | When a prisoner convicted of offences against a child is being considered for parole or is to be released from custody on a temporary basis, the prison probation officer must, in writing inform the director of social services of the area where the prisoner is expected to reside on release, with a copy sent to the chief probation officer for the area concerned. |
| 10.5.2 | Where the prisoner is being considered for parole, the prison /probation officer must request comments from the director of social services on the prisoner's release with particular reference to the effects which release could have upon any children at the address at which the prisoner is expected to live. |
| 10.5.3 | Probation staff must interview those living at the address to assess the home circumstances and, if appropriate authorise the provision of accommodation to the prisoner. |
| 10.5.4 | Depending on the risk involved, probation staff may conduct a home visit jointly with the police |
| 10.5.5 | The significance of the relevant offence/s for any child living or likely to visit the address must be established and Children's social care informed. |
| 10.5.6 | For any child identified by the probation officer as either living or likely to visit the address, the social worker must undertake an assessment of potential risk in relation to the release of the prisoner. |
| 10.5.7 | The social worker must identify in writing any child protection issues arising from the proposed release of a prisoner to a specified address and indicate any action that Children's social care may need to undertake to protect the child/ren in the household. |
| 10.5.8 | The probation officer for the local area must share her/his report with the appropriate Children's social care. |
| 10.5.9 | If the prisoner is to be released to an address with a child/ren, a child protection enquiry must be initiated. |
10.6 Assessment of young people accused, finally warned about, or convicted of offences against children
| 10.6.1 | These procedures should be considered along with those in Section 8.3, Children who significantly harm other children . |
| 10.6.2 | There is a need to distinguish between those young people under the age of 18 who are designated as offenders who pose a significant risk to children and those who do not and where the circumstances of the offence do not indicate ongoing child protection concerns e.g. unlawful consensual sexual intercourse between children of a similar age. |
| 10.6.3 | Both the police and the appropriate worker from YOT must notify Children's social care whenever a young person is accused of, or convicted of an offence against a child/ren, and assess if there is immediate risk to any child/ren in the household or community. |
| 10.6.4 | Children's social care first line manager must decide whether there is any immediate action necessary to protect the children. |
| 10.6.5 |
Within 10 working days of conviction, the YOT worker must:
|
| 10.6.6 | The first line Children's social care manager must consider whether a child protection enquiry or initial assessment should be commenced. |
| 10.6.7 | If the first line manager concludes further assessment is not required, a recommendation must be made to the service manager that the procedures not be applied and the young person not be treated by Children's social care as a person identified as presenting a risk, or potential risk, to a child. If authorised, the decision must be recorded on both Children's social care and YOT files. |
| 10.6.8 | Where there are convictions for sexual offences, there may be a requirement for registration on the sex offenders' register. In these circumstances, the YOT report and any Children's social care assessment and recommendations will be considered at the MAPPP. |
10.7 Identified offenders and others who may pose a risk to children
| 10.7.1 | This section provides procedures in relation to the response required to individuals who are known or suspected to have caused significant harm to children. |
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|
| 10.7.2 | Home Office Circular 16 / 2005 reported on progress to date, of a multi agency working group convened during 2004 to review Schedule 1 and associated procedures and to consider whether a more effective method of identifying those who might pose a known risk to children is necessary. |
| 10.7.3 | It confirmed that the term 'Schedule 1 Offender' used by a variety of agencies, is ill defined and, to a certain extent, unhelpful since it defines people by their offending history rather than the ongoing risks they pose. |
| 10.7.4 | The Home Office propose the term should be replaced with 'a person identified as presenting a risk, or potential risk, to children'. |
| 10.7.5 | Offending history is an important factor in such assessments but it is not the only one and because a variety of child protection legislation has been enacted since the 1933 Act many practitioners are unsure of which offences are included in Schedule 1, and whether there are other offences, not included which may still indicate a person poses a risk to children. |
| 10.7.6 | The Home Office has therefore issued a consolidated list of offences, which all agencies can use to identify a person identified as presenting a risk, or potential risk to children'. |
| 10.7.7 | Each LSCB agency has a copy of the list, though in its application ? practitioners need always to exercise professional judgement and remember that there are also other types of offences where a child may be the intended victim but where the primary offence is not a child specific offence e.g. telecommunications offences, harassment etc. |
| 10.7.8 | Further guidance is anticipated when the working group concludes its work. |
|
|
| 10.7.9 |
Indicators of people who may pose a risk to children include:
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| 10.7.10 | On notification or discovery of a person identified as presenting a risk, or potential risk, to children, Children's social care must treat this information as a child protection referral. |
| 10.7.11 | A S.47 enquiry must be instigated if the offender / person who poses a threat, is living in a household with children, has contact with children or poses a risk to children in the area. |
| 10.7.12 |
Checks (including the prison service that may hold important information) must be undertaken to establish:
|
| 10.7.13 |
All assessments of risk must consider the:
|
| 10.7.14 | A child protection conference must be convened if the threshold criteria are and if any child/ren require continuing protection, therapeutic intervention or family support services. |
10.8 Disclosure of information by the local authority
| 10.8.1 | This procedure applies when disclosure to third parties of an offender/ suspected offender's previous history is being considered. |
| 10.8.2 |
Subject to the conditions set out in Section 2, Information sharing and confidentiality, the general presumption is that information should not normally be disclosed, except if one of the following applies:
|
| 10.8.3 | Legal advice should be sought where doubt exists as to the lawfulness of disclosure. |
| 10.8.4 | The absence of a conviction for child abuse in a criminal court does not prevent a local authority from informing parents or carers of the potential risk posed by someone who is honestly believed on reasonable grounds to have abused other children. |
| 10.8.5 |
Generally the risk assessment for disclosure of information on convicted abusers will be led by the police and probation service (see MAPPA), but Children's social care may need to consider the risk also of those alleged abusers who:
|
| 10.8.6 | In view of the possibility of legal challenge, by an offender, potential / suspected offender or future victim, all agencies must, in addition to seeking any legal advice required maintain a written audit trail of events, actions, discussions, decisions and the reasons for them. |
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|
| 10.8.7 | Prior to any decision by Children's social care to disclose information, a risk assessment must be undertaken, in order to establish what risks the alleged offender or suspected offender poses to children in the prevailing circumstances and the risks associated with disclosure. |
| 10.8.8 | The risk assessment and management of alleged / suspected offenders will usually be through MAPPA. Children's social care have a particular role to play when an offender or suspected offender is setting up home with a new partner who has children. |
| 10.8.9 |
The risk assessment must consider both enduring and changeable factors and take account of:
|
| 10.8.10 |
The risk assessment must also consider the following risks:
|
| 10.8.11 | Where possible, the alleged / suspected offender should be consulted to provide information to assist the risk assessment. |
| 10.8.12 | The suspected / alleged offender should be given the opportunity to challenge the information on which the decision to disclose is being made, and the response considered as part of the risk assessment. |
| 10.8.13 | The senior child protection manager and legal department must be consulted regarding the possibility of disclosure and the decision taken by the service manager, in consultation with police and probation at a strategy meeting. |
| 10.8.14 | If the police do not support any planned disclosure based on the potential risk to an identified child, further legal advice must be taken. |
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| 10.8.15 | Each decision to disclose must be justified on the likelihood of harm which non-disclosure might otherwise cause and the pressing need for such a disclosure. |
| 10.8.16 |
Consideration must be given to other, less intrusive methods that might achieve any required objectives:
|
| 10.8.17 |
Where a decision to disclose is agreed, the risk management process must consider at a strategy meeting:
|
| 10.8.18 |
Following disclosure, the social worker, police or probation officer must note:
|
10.9 Visit by child to high secure hospitals and prisons
| 10.9.1 | High secure (formerly known as special) hospitals have a duty to implement child protection policies, liaise with their local LSCB, provide safe venues for children's visits and provide nominated officers to oversee the assessment of whether visits by specific children would be in their best interests. |
| 10.9.2 | Many prisons now operate a similar system in relation to sex offenders and other dangerous offenders. |
| 10.9.3 | Children's social care must assist staff in high secure hospitals to carry out their responsibilities in relation to the assessment [LAC (99) 23 amended by LAC (2000)18]. |
| 10.9.4 | With respect to visits by children to patients who have mental health difficulties and are in local non-special hospitals (including those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983), the onus for risk assessments lies with the Mental Health Trust . |
| 10.9.5 | Patients who are schedule 1 offenders or those found unfit to be tried, or not guilty by reasons of insanity, in respect of murder, manslaughter or a schedule 1 offence will only be eligible for a visit if within the permitted categories of relationship. |
| 10.9.6 |
The nominated officer of the relevant hospital must contact a person with parental responsibility for the child to:
|
| 10.9.7 | A clinical assessment of the patient must be undertaken by the hospital. |
| 10.9.8 | If the clinical findings are supportive of the visit and the person with parental responsibility is in agreement, the local authority must be asked to undertake an assessment about whether the visit is in the child's best interests. The clinical assessment will be provided to the local authority. |
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| 10.9.9 |
On receiving the request for an assessment, the social worker must:
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| 10.9.10 |
The Children's social care assessment provided should establish:
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| 10.9.11 | The assessment must be completed within 1 month of the referral and the report sent to the nominated officer at the high secure hospital stating whether, in the opinion of Children's social care, the visit would be in the best interests of the child. A copy must be sent to the senior child protection manager. |
| 10.9.12 |
The decision should take account of the:
|
| 10.9.13 | If the person with parental responsibility refuses to co-operate with the assessment and no information is known about the child, the nominated officer must be informed that a report cannot be provided. |
| 10.9.14 | Where the child is known to Children's social care, information from records may be supplied with the agreement of the person with parental responsibility. |
| 10.9.15 | If the social worker concludes that the visit would not, or may not, be in the child's best interests then the hospital must not allow the visit. |
| 10.9.16 | If the social worker advises that the visit would be in the child's best interests, then the hospital nominated officer should make the decision, following discussion with the social worker and after taking account of all available information. |
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| 10.9.17 | All requests for assessments and their outcomes will be reported to the LSCB on a quarterly basis. |
11. Strategic management
11.1 Definition of safeguarding and promoting welfare
| 11.1.1 |
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in Working Together to Safeguard Children as follows:
|
11.2 The establishment of Local Safeguarding Children Board
| 11.2.1 | The Children Act 2004 requires each Local Authority to establish a Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB). The LSCB is the key statutory mechanism for agreeing how the relevant organisations in each area will co-operate to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children within the Authority, and for ensuring the effectiveness of what they do. |
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| 11.2.2 |
The core objectives of the LSCB are set out in section 14(1) Of the Children Act 2004 as follows:
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| 11.2.3 | The scope of LSCB role includes safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in three broad areas of activity. |
| 11.2.4 |
First, activity that affects all children and aims to identify and prevent maltreatment, or impairment of health or development, and ensure children are growing up in circumstances consistent with safe and effective care. For example:
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| 11.2.5 |
Second, proactive work that aims to target particular groups. For example:
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| 11.2.6 |
Thirdly, responsive work to protect children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering harm, including:
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| 11.2.7 |
The core functions of the LSCBs are set out in regulations (Note: The Local Safeguarding Children Boards Regulations 2006, Statutory Instrument no. 2006/90) further detail is given in Working Together and outlines that the functions of the LSCB include:
|
| 11.2.8 | An LSCB may also engage in any other activity that facilitates, or is conducive to, the achievement of its objective. |
11.3 Specific arrangements in each LSCB
| 11.3.1 |
There are specific arrangements for each LSCB in East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove with regard to
|
| 11.3.2 | These are determined locally by each board and are covered in their terms of reference. These are available as appendices to these procedures. |
11.4 Arrangements regarding children subject of a child protection plan
RECORDING THAT A CHILD IS THE SUBJECT OF A CHILD PROTECTION PLAN |
|
| 11.4.1 | Each Authority is required to have in place a IT system which meets Working Together guidance requirements of supporting the Integrated Children's System (ICS) and being capable of producing a list of all the children resident in the area (including those who have been placed there by another local authority or agency) who are considered to be at continuing risk of significant harm, and for whom there is a child protection plan. |
| 11.4.2 | The principal purpose of having the IT capacity to record that a child is the subject of a child protection plan is to enable agencies and professionals to be aware of those children who are judged to be at continuing risk of significant harm and who are the subject of a child protection plan. |
| 11.4.3 | It is equally important that agencies and professionals can obtain relevant information about other children who are known or have been known to the Local Authority. Consequently, agencies and professionals who have concerns about a child should be able to obtain information about a child that is recorded on the Local Authorities ICS IT system (see Department for Education website). Arrangements are to be in place for legitimate enquirers such as police and health professionals to be able to obtain this information both in and outside office hours. |
| 11.4.4 |
Children should be recorded as having been abused or neglected under one or more of the categories of
according to a decision by the chair of the child protection conference. These categories help indicate the nature of the current concerns. |
| 11.4.5 | Recording information in this way also allows for the collation and analysis of information locally and nationally and for its use in planning the provision of services. |
| 11.4.6 | The categories selected should reflect all the information obtained in the course of the initial assessment and core assessment under S.47 or the Children Act 1989 and subsequent analysis and should not just relate to one or more abusive incidents. |
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| 11.4.7 |
Each local authority should designate a manager, normally an experienced social worker, who has responsibility for:
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| 11.4.8 | This manager should be accountable to the Director of Children's Services. |
| 11.4.9 | Information on each child known to LA children's social care should be kept up-to-date on the Local Authorities ICS IT system, and the content of the child's record should be confidential, available only to legitimate enquirers. |
| 11.4.10 | This information should be accessible at all times to such enquirers. The details of enquirers should always be checked and recorded on the system before information is provided. |
| 11.4.11 | If an enquiry is made about a child and the child's case is open to LA children's social care, the enquirer should be given the name of the child's key worker and the key worker informed of this enquiry so that they can follow it up. If an enquiry is made about a child at the same address as a child who is the subject of a child protection plan, this information should be sent to the key worker of the child who is the subject of the child protection plan. |
| 11.4.12 | If an enquiry is made but the child is not known to LA children's social care, this enquiry should be recorded on a contact sheet together with the advice given to the enquirer. In the event of there being a second enquiry about a child who is not known to children's social care, not only should the fact of the earlier enquiry be notified to the later enquirer, but the designated manager in LA children's social care should ensure that LA children's social care consider whether this is or may be a child in need. |
| 11.4.13 | The Department for Education and Skills holds lists of the names of designated managers and should be notified of any changes in designated managers. |
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| 11.4.14 |
Management systems including effective team workload management and information systems should be implemented to ensure:
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| 11.4.15 | All children subject to a child protection plan must be allocated to a named social worker and this allocation should be awarded the highest priority in all authorities. |
| 11.4.16 | Directors and heads of services for children and families are professionally accountable for ensuring that there are sufficient human resources to provide the required services and for alerting the LSCB and elected Members to any systemic inability to allocate child protection cases. |
| 11.4.17 | Any period without a named social worker arising from staff vacancies or sick leave must be kept to a minimum and monitored for purposes of local management and formal returns to the DH. |
| 11.4.18 |
All professionals relevant to the 'outline' or 'agreed' protection plan as well as family members must be informed in writing by a first line manager if there is no allocated social worker and advised of routine and emergency professional contact arrangements, pending allocation. Unallocated cases must be:
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| 11.4.19 |
The first line manager remains accountable for:
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| 11.4.20 |
To ensure that children are protected agencies should ensure that:
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| 11.4.21 | Senior managers should ensure the provision of a well-publicised 'whistle blowing' or 'speak out' procedure that provides alternative methods of reporting concerns, using a direct specialist telephone line. |
| 11.4.22 | Staff, through fears about repercussions, may find it difficult to raise child protection concerns about colleagues or managers. |
| 11.4.23 | A leaflet should be available to publicise the whistle blowing procedure. This should provide information about 'Public Concern At Work', an independent charity whose lawyers can give free confidential advice about how to raise a concern about malpractice at work (see Appendix 5). |
11.5 Arrangements regarding recruitment and selection
| 11.5.1 |
So as to minimise the risk of employing or engaging an individual who poses a predictable risk to them, all agencies should consider, with respect to candidates who will be working with children:
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| 11.5.2 |
Agencies should develop detailed internal procedures which clarify allocation of 'human resource' tasks outlined below.
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| 11.5.3 | All stated requirements must be expressed in terms sufficiently explicit to allow a candidate's experience, achievements or capabilities to be evidenced. |
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| 11.5.4 | All agencies committed to these procedures should have explicit arrangements for provision within reasonable time-scales, of properly structured references which should ordinarily be issued in the name of the head of service (though they may be drafted by a more junior member of staff who has the necessary knowledge and experience). |
| 11.5.5 |
Any reference being sought should wherever possible should
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| 11.5.6 | An employer reference should also be obtained in respect of internal candidates for posts involving direct contact with children. |
| 11.5.7 | So that information of comparable weight is obtained for all candidates, references on all short-listed candidates should wherever possible be obtained prior to final selection. |
| 11.5.8 | Offers a full and frank disclosure of all matters considered relevant by the author - e.g. candidate's reason for planning to or actually leaving her/his post |
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| 11.5.9 | Given the proportion of staff currently engaged via specialist employment agencies, it is important that there are systems in place to ensure that only those which can offer safe selection processes are used by those organisations committed to these procedures. |
| 11.5.10 |
References from any previous substantive employers should be sought as described above and requests to agencies should seek confirmation:
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| 11.5.11 |
The agency should also be asked to confirm:
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| 11.5.12 | Interviews may usefully be underpinned by practical exercises, which simulate the working environment e.g. anonymised real-life situation (with precautions taken to ensure no unfair advantage to internal candidates). |
| 11.5.13 |
Such practical exercises may include:
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| 11.5.14 | Final interview panels should be balanced wherever possible by gender and race and may benefit from the inclusion of independent person/s as well as immediate line managers and more senior staff. |
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| 11.5.15 | With effect from April 1 2002, Protection of Children Act 1999 (POCA) checks and referrals have been handled by the 'disclosure service' of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). |
| 11.5.16 | The CRB now provides two sorts of certificates, which are of relevance to employers (standard and enhanced disclosures), and one or other must be sought with respect to all candidates who seek to work with children. |
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| 11.5.17 | A standard disclosure is available for posts involving regular contact with children (and vulnerable adults), certain professions in health, pharmacy and the law. |
| 11.5.18 |
Standard disclosures indicate if there is nothing on record or show details drawn from the police national computer of:
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| 11.5.19 | Standard disclosures are issued to the individual and copied to the body registered to seek them. |
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| 11.5.20 | The enhanced disclosure in addition to the information provided by a standard disclosure may contain non-conviction information from local police records, which a chief police officer thinks, may be relevant to the position sought. |
| 11.5.21 | The enhanced disclosure is available for positions involving regular caring for, training, supervision or being in sole charge of children (or vulnerable adults). |
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| 11.5.22 | Both standard and enhanced disclosures will show whether under schedule 4 Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2000, the person is prohibited from working or seeking work with individuals under the age of eighteen. |
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| 11.5.23 | For organisations registered with the CRB applications by potential employers who can provide a reference number may be made by phone on 0870 90 90 844. |
| 11.5.24 | Registered organisations with 'payment on account status' can order paper disclosure application forms through the registration line on 0870 90 90 822. (also available for general enquiries). Requests must include name, address and date of birth of the applicant. |
| 11.5.25 | If a disclosure reveals that an applicant is prohibited from seeking or working with under eighteens, it is an offence to employ her/him and the CPT must be informed without delay of the individual's attempt to seek employment. |
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| 11.5.26 | Each agency must have a nominated 'human resource' or service manager whose responsibilities include reporting, to the 'disclosure service' of the CRB / relevant professional body, any member of staff who (following an enquiry) it concludes to be unsuitable to work with children |
11.6 Arrangements for training staff
CHILD PROTECTION TRAINING |
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| 11.6.1 | All professionals including staff in the private and voluntary sectors, require a general awareness of known indicators and pre-disposing factors of abuse as well as (role specific) detailed knowledge of agreed policies and procedures. |
| 11.6.2 | All front line staff must be trained to pass calls about the safety of children to the appropriate professional staff. This includes reception and switchboard operators and administrative staff. |
| 11.6.3 |
LSCB training for staff engaged in child protection work must include:
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| 11.6.4 | For staff working with adults, sufficient training to inform and enable recognition of concerns about any dependent children which require referral to Children's social care/CPT |
| 11.6.5 |
The LSCB is accountable for:
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| 11.6.6 | GPs are expected to participate in child protection training and are also responsible, as employers, for ensuring their staff are provided with opportunities to attend relevant training. |
| 11.6.7 | All staff who have any contact with children must be included in their agency's training programme on child protection at basic or more advanced level according to their role. |
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| 11.6.8 | All operational staff must routinely be provided with opportunities for basic and comprehensive anti-discriminatory training. |
| 11.6.9 |
Such training must
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11.7 Relationship of policy, procedure and guidance
POLICY |
|
| 11.7.1 |
Policy statements set out:
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| 11.7.2 | If necessary, agencies may develop supplementary 'internal' policies which represent higher standards or which reflect an agency-specific contribution to child protection. |
| 11.7.3 | In order to maintain the strategic advantage of a Sussex approach, any such supplementary policies should be consistent with those in this manual. |
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| 11.7.4 | Procedures indicate what must or may be done in specified circumstances and define the limits of professional discretion. |
| 11.7.5 | For staff in those agencies that formally adopt them, these procedures have the status of instructions and any inability or failure to comply with them should be accompanied by a brief explanation. |
| 11.7.6 | Any supplementary internal procedures developed by agencies should also refer to, and comply with these procedures. |
| 11.7.7 | It is anticipated that these procedures will also inform and support effective collaboration with the large number of non-statutory agencies and organisations and individual professionals whose contributions also assist in safeguarding children in Sussex. |
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| 11.7.8 | Guidance provides contextual information or addresses the question of 'why' specified actions may be required. |
| 11.7.9 | This manual has included guidance only to the extent that it is required to understand a procedure and facilitate day-to-day practice. |
| 11.7.10 | The inter-relationship of law, policy, guidance and procedures is represented diagrammatically below. |
12. Serious case reviews
12.1 Purpose of a serious case review
| 12.1.1 |
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 sets out the circumstances in which an LSCB should initiate a case review in chapter 8 of that guidance, and the procedures for how it is to be conducted. The purpose of serious case reviews is to:
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| 12.1.2 | Serious case reviews are not inquiries into how a child died or who is culpable; that is a matter for Coroners and Criminal Courts respectively to determine, as appropriate. |
12.2 Criteria
| 12.2.1 | The LSCB should always conduct a serious case review when a child dies, (including suicide) and abuse or neglect are known or suspected to be a factor in the death, local organisations should consider immediately whether there are other children at risk of harm who require safeguarding (For example siblings, other children in an institution where abuse is alleged). The same criteria apply to disabled children as to non-disabled children. |
| 12.2.2 |
Additionally, LSCBs should always consider whether a serious case review should be conducted:
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| 12.2.3 | Any professional may refer such a case to the LSCB if it is believed that there are important lessons for inter-agency working to be learned from the case. In addition, the Secretary of State for the Department for Education and Skills has powers to demand an inquiry be held under the Inquiries Act 2005. |
| 12.2.4 |
Questions to help decide whether or not a case should be the subject of a serious case review in circumstances other than when a child dies include:
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| 12.2.5 |
If the answer 'yes' to several of these questions is likely to indicate that a review could yield useful lessons: |
Children known to more than one LSCB |
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| 12.2.6 | Where more than one LSCB has knowledge of a child, the LSCB for the area in which the child is/was normally resident should take lead responsibility for conducting any review. |
| 12.2.7 | Any other LSCBs that have an interest or involvement in the case should be included as partners in jointly planning and undertaking the review. In the case of looked after children, the responsible authority should exercise lead responsibility for conducting any review, again involving other LSCBs with an interest or involvement. |
| 12.2.8 |
Where a serious case review involves staff from other LSCB areas, using the above guidance, agreement will need to be reached between the Chairs of the LSCBs on:
|
| 12.2.9 | In these circumstances, it will be important that the overview report considers any lessons for cross boundary working as well as local agency working. |
| 12.2.10 | Where the Chair of the LSBC is unable to mutually agree the process of review with other LSCB's, the Chair will inform the regional Commission of Social Care office who will then assist in agreeing a way forward. |
12.3 Decision to hold a serious case review and notification
| 12.3.1 | All LSCB member agencies are responsible for identifying the need for a serious case review and notifying the Senior Child Protection Manager. |
| 12.3.2 | The Senior Child Protection Manager informs LSCB Chair of potential for serious case review. |
| 12.3.3 | Individual organisations secure case records promptly (as soon as case gives rise to serious concerns, or on the decision to proceed whichever sooner). |
| 12.3.4 | Serious Case Review Panel should meet or hold discussions within one month of incident, to consider whether to recommend a serious case review to the LSCB Chair, or to conduct individual management review or a smaller scale audit of cases which give rise to concern but do not meet the criteria, results being fed back to panel. |
| 12.3.5 | The Chair of LSBC has responsibility for deciding to hold a Serious Case Review following the recommendations of the Serious Case Review Panel. The Director should decide within a month of the case coming to their attention whether or not to conduct the serious case review. If proceeding then the regional Commission of Social Care Inspection should be informed. |
12.4 Determining the scope of the review
| 12.4.1 |
The Serious Case Review Panel will produce draft terms of reference, propose membership of the Serious Case Review Group and identify Chair.
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| 12.4.2 | Some of these issues may need to be re-visited as the review progresses and new information emerges. |
| 12.4.3 | The initial scoping of the review identifies contributors, though it may emerge, as information becomes available, that the involvement of others would be useful. In particular, information of relevance to the review may become available through criminal proceedings. |
12.5 Individual agency reports
| 12.5.1 | Each relevant service should undertake a separate management review of its involvement with the child and family. This begins as soon as a decision is taken to proceed with a review, or sooner if a case gives rise to concerns within individual organisations. |
| 12.5.2 | Relevant independent professionals (including GPs) should contribute reports of their involvement. Designated professionals should review and evaluate the practice of all involved health professionals and providers within the PCT area. Where a children's guardian contributes to a review, prior agreement of courts should be sought. |
| 12.5.3 | Those conducting management reviews of individual services should not have been directly concerned with the child or family, or the immediate line manager of the practitioner(s) involved. |
| 12.5.4 | Once it is known that a case is being considered for review, each organisation should secure records relating to the case to guard against loss or interference. |
| 12.5.5 | The aim of management reviews should be to look openly and critically at individual and organisational practice to see whether the case indicates that changes could and should be made, and if so, to identify how those changes will be brought about. |
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| 12.5.6 | The following outline format should guide the preparation of management reviews, to help ensure that the relevant questions are addressed, and to provide information to LSCBs in a consistent format to help with preparing an overview report. |
| 12.5.7 | The questions posed do not comprise a comprehensive check-list relevant to all situations. Each case may give rise to specific questions or issues which need to be explored, and each review should consider carefully the circumstances of individual cases and how best to structure a review in the light of those particular circumstances. |
| 12.5.8 | Where staff or others are interviewed by those preparing management reviews, a written record of such interviews should be made and this should be shared with the relevant interviewee. |
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| 12.5.9 | Recommendations contained within reports to include either proposed action or the action already taken, who is responsible and the timescales involved. |
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| 12.5.10 | The report should be signed with name printed underneath and dated by the reviewing person. |
| 12.5.11 | The findings from the management review reports should be accepted by the senior officer in the organisation who has commissioned the report and who will be responsible for ensuring that recommendations are acted upon and then sent, marked STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL to the Chair of the Serious Case Review Group specifying the name of the agency and the name and date of birth of the child/ren the report relates to. |
| 12.5.12 | Upon completion of each management review report, there should be a process for feedback and de-briefing for staff involved, in advance of completion of the overview report by the LSCB. There may also be a need for a follow-up feedback session if the LSCB overview report raises new issues for the organisation and staff members. |
| 12.5.13 | Serious case reviews are not a part of any disciplinary enquiry or process, but information that emerges in the course of reviews may indicate that disciplinary action should be taken under established procedures. Alternatively, reviews may be conducted concurrently with disciplinary action. In some cases (for example, alleged institutional abuse) disciplinary action may be needed urgently to safeguard and promote the welfare of other children. |
| 12.5.14 | Where a child dies in a custodial setting (prison, young offender institution or secure training centre) the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman investigates and reports on the circumstances surrounding the death of that child. The investigation examines the child's period in custody, including an assessment of the clinical care they received. The report would normally be made available to assist any serious case review process. |
12.6 LSCB review group overview report
| 12.6.1 | The LSCB Review Group to commission an overview report. The overview report should be commissioned from a person who is independent of all the agencies/professionals involved. |
| 12.6.2 | The overview report should bring together, and draw overall conclusions from the information and analysis contained in the individual management reviews, information from the child death review processes, together with reports commissioned from any other relevant interests. |
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Overview reports should be produced according to the format outlined below although, as with management reviews, the precise format will depend upon the features of the case. This outline will be most relevant to abuse or neglect which has taken place in a family setting. |
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12.7 LSCB action on the overview report
| 12.7.1 |
On receiving an overview report the LSCB should:
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12.8 Timing
| 12.8.1 | Individual Management Review Reports should be completed within 28 days from the request. |
| 12.8.2 | Serious Case Reviews should be completed within four months of the LSCB Chairs decision to initiate, unless alternative timescale initially agreed with Commission of Social Care Region. |
| 12.8.3 | If it emerges during the review that it cannot be completed within timescale, there needs to be a discussion with the Commission of Social Care Region agreeing timescales. |
12.9 Communication with staff
| 12.9.1 |
It is the responsibility of Individual agencies to inform the staff involved in the early stages of the serious case review process of the terms of reference/parameters of the review.
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| 12.9.2 | Upon completion of the single agency management review report each agency will need to ensure that staff involved receive feedback and de-briefing in advance of the completion of the overview report of the LSCB. |
| 12.9.3 | The findings of the overview report together with what are considered by senior agency managers as relevant extracts of the report (the full report, wherever possible) should be made available to involved and directly affected agency staff prior to the report being presented to the full LSCB meeting. |
| 12.9.4 | Neither copies of single agency reports or the overview report may be given to individual staff members for them to retain. |
12.10 Accountability and disclosure
| 12.10.1 |
LSCBs should consider carefully who might have an interest in reviews, for example, elected and appointed members of authorities, staff, members of the child's family, the public, the media - and what information should be made available to each of these interests. There are difficult interests to balance, among them:
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| 12.10.2 | It is important to anticipate requests for information and plan in advance how they should be met. For example, a lead agency may take responsibility for de-briefing family members, or for responding to media interest about a case, in liaison with contributing agencies and professionals. |
| 12.10.3 | In all cases, the LSCB overview report should contain an executive summary which will be made public. The LSCB should ensure that the SHA and the CSCI are briefed, so that they can work jointly to ensure that the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills respectively are fully briefed in advance about the publication of the executive summary. |
12.11 Learning lessons locally
| 12.11.1 |
Reviews are of little value unless lessons are learned from them. At least as much effort should be spent on acting upon recommendations as on conducting the review. The following may help in getting maximum benefit from the review process:
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Day to day good practice can help ensure that reviews are conducted successfully and in a way most likely to maximise learning:
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12.12 Concurrent processes
| 12.12.1 | Serious Case reviews are not a part of any disciplinary enquiry or process but information which emerges in the course of reviews may indicate that disciplinary action should be taken under established procedures. Alternatively reviews may be conducted concurrently with disciplinary action. |
| 12.12.2 | In some cases (e.g. alleged institutional abuse) disciplinary action may be needed urgently to safeguard other children. |
12.13 Reviewing institutional abuse
| 12.13.1 | When serious abuse takes place in an institution, or multiple abusers are involved, the same principles of review apply but reviews are likely to be more complex, on a larger scale, and may require more time. |
| 12.13.2 | Terms of reference need to be carefully constructed to explore the issues relevant to the specific case. For example, if children had been abused in a residential school, it would be important to explore whether and how the school had taken steps to create a safe environment for children, and to respond to specific concerns raised. |
| 12.13.3 | There needs to be clarity over the interface between the different processes of investigation (including criminal investigations); case-management, including help for abused children and immediate measures to ensure that other children are safe; and review, i.e. learning lessons from the case to reduce the chance of such events happening again. |
| 12.13.4 | The three different processes should inform each other. Any proposals for review should be agreed with those leading criminal investigations, to make sure that they do not prejudice possible criminal proceedings. |
Appendices
| 1. | Assessment framework | |
| 2. | Flowcharts | |
| 3. | Statutory framework | |
| 3.1 | Introduction | |
| 3.2 | Children Act 2004 | |
| 3.3 | Education Act 2002 | |
| 3.4 | Children Act 1989 | |
| 3.5 | Homelessness Act 2002 | |
| 4. | Glossary of terms | |
| 5. | National and local contacts | |
| 6. | Bibliography | |
1. Assessment framework
Click here to view Assessment Framework Chart.
2. Flow charts
Click here to view Flowchart One - Referral
Click here to view Flowchart Two - What Happens After Initial Assessment?
Click here to view Flowchart Three - Urgent Action to Safeguard Children
Click here to view Flowchart Four - What Happens After the Strategy Discussion?
3. Statutory framework
3.1 INTRODUCTION
| 3.1.1 | All organisations that work with children and families share a commitment to safeguard and promote their welfare, and for many agencies that is underpinned by a statutory duty or duties. |
| 3.1.2 | This Appendix briefly explains the legislation most relevant to work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. |
3.2 CHILDREN ACT 2004
| 3.2.1 | Section 10 requires each Local Authority to make arrangements to promote co-operation between the authority, each of the authority's relevant partners (see; Table: Bodies Covered by Key Duties below) and such other persons or bodies, working with children in the local authority's area, as the authority consider appropriate. The arrangements are to be made with a view to improving the well being of children in the authority's area - which includes protection from harm or neglect alongside other outcomes. This Section of the Children Act 2004 is the legislative basis for children's trust arrangements. |
| 3.2.2 | Section 11 requires a range of organisations (see Table: Bodies Covered by Key Duties) to make arrangements for ensuring that their functions, and services provided on their behalf, are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. |
| 3.2.3 | Section 12 enables the Secretary of State to require local authorities to establish and operate databases relating to the section 10 or 11 duties or the section 175 duty, or to establish and operate databases nationally. The section limits the information that may be included in those databases and sets out which organisations can be required to, and which can be enabled to, disclose information to be included in the databases. |
| 3.2.4 | Section 13 of the Children Act 2004 requires a range of organisations (see Table: Bodies Covered by Key Duties) to take part in Local Safeguarding Children Boards. Sections 13-16 set out the framework for LSCBs, and the LSCB regulations, issued for consultation alongside this document, set out the requirements in more detail in particular on LSCB functions. |
3.3 EDUCATION ACT 2002
| 3.23.1 | Section 175 puts a duty on local education authorities, maintained (state) schools, and further education institutions, including sixth form colleges, to exercise their functions with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children - children who are pupils, and students under 18 years of age, in the case of schools and colleges. |
| 3.23.2 | And the same duty is put on Independent schools, including Academies, by regulations made under s157 of that Act. |
Table: Bodies Covered by Key Duties
| Body (in addition to Local Authorities) | CA 2004 Section 10 (duty to co-operate) | CA 2004 Section 11 (duty to safeguard & promote welfare) | Ed Act 2002 Section 175 (duty to safeguard & promote welfare and regulations) | CA 2004 Section 13 (statutory partners in LSCBs) | CA 1989 Section 27 (help with children in need) | CA 1989 Section 47 (help with enquiries about significant harm) |
| District councils | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Police authority | X | X | ||||
| Chief officer of police | X | X | X | |||
| Local probation board | X | X | X | |||
| Youth offending team | X | X | X | |||
| Strategic Health Authority | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Primary Care Trust | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Connexions Service | X | X | X | |||
| Learning and Skills Council | X |
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| Special Health Authority | X (as designated by the Secretary of State) | X | X | |||
| NHS trust | X | X | X | X | ||
| NHS foundation trust | X | X | X | X | ||
| British Transport Police | X | |||||
| Prison or secure training centre | X | X (which detains children) | ||||
| CAFCASS | X | |||||
| Maintained schools | X | |||||
| FE colleges | X | |||||
| Independent schools | X | |||||
| Contracted services | X | X | X |
3.4 CHILDREN ACT 1989
| 3.24.1 | The Children Act 1989 places a duty on Councils with Social Services Responsibilities (CSSRs) to promote and safeguard the welfare of children in need in their area.
Section 17(1) of the Children Act 1989 states that: It shall be the general duty of every local authority -
Section 17(10) states that a child shall be taken to be in need if:
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| 3.24.2 | The primary focus of legislation about children in need is on how well they are progressing and whether their development will be impaired without the provision of services. |
| 3.24.3 | It also places a specific duty on other local authority services and health bodies to co-operate in the interests of children in need in s27. Section 322 of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on social services to assist the local education authority where any child has special educational needs.
Where it appears to a local authority that any authority or other person mentioned in sub-section (3) could, by taking any specified action, help in the exercise of any of their functions under this Part, they may request the help of that other authority or persons, specifying the action in question. An authority whose help is so requested shall comply with the request if it is compatible with their own statutory or other duties and obligations and does not unduly prejudice the discharge of any of their functions. The persons are:
Children Act 1989 s27 |
| 3.24.4 | Under s47 of the Children Act 1989, the same agencies are placed under a similar duty to assist local authorities in carrying out enquiries into whether or not a child is at risk of significant harm. |
| 3.24.5 | Section 47 also sets out duties for the local authority itself, around making enquiries in certain circumstances to decide whether they should take any action to safeguard or promote the welfare of a child. |
| 3.24.6 |
Every local authority:
Children Act 1989 s17(5) |
| 3.24.7 | Section 53 of the Children Act 2004 amends both section 17 and section 47 of the Children Act 1989, to require in each case that before determining what services to provide or what action to take, the local authority shall, so far as is reasonably practicable and consistent with the child's welfare:
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| 3.24.8 | There are a range of powers available to local authorities and their statutory partners to take emergency action to safeguard children:
Emergency Protection Orders The court may make an emergency protection order under s44 of the Children Act 1989 if it is satisfied that there is reasonable cause to believe that a child is likely to suffer significant harm if:
An emergency protection order may also be made if s47 enquiries are being frustrated by access to the child being unreasonably refused to a person authorised to seek access, and the applicant has reasonable cause to believe that access is needed as a matter of urgency.
Exclusion Requirement The court may include an exclusion requirement in an emergency protection order or an interim care order (section 38A and 44A of the Children Act 1989.) This allows a perpetrator to be removed from the home instead of having to remove the child. The Court must be satisfied that:
Police Protection Powers Under s46 of the Children Act 1989, where a police officer has reasonable cause to believe that a child would otherwise be likely to suffer significant harm, s/he may:
No child may be kept in police protection for more than 72 hours. |
3.5 HOMELESSNESS ACT 2002
| 3.25.1 | Under section 12, housing authorities are required to refer homeless persons with dependent children who are ineligible for homelessness assistance or are intentionally homeless, to social services, as long as the person consents. If homelessness persists, any child in the family could be in need. In such cases, if social services decides the child's needs would be best met by helping the family to obtain accommodation, they can ask the housing authority for reasonable assistance in this and the housing authority must respond. |
4. Glossary of terms
| Glossary of Terms | |
| A&E | Accident & Emergency Department |
| AF | Assessment Framework |
| LSCB | Local Safeguarding Children Board |
| ASSET | An assessment instrument used by probation and YOTs |
| CAF | Common Assessment Framework |
| CAFCASS | Children & Families Courts' Advisory & Support Service |
| CAMHS | Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service |
| CSCI | Commission for Social Care Inspection |
| CID | Criminal Investigation Division |
| CPC | Child Protection Conference |
| CPN | Community Psychiatric Nurse |
| CPS | Crown Prosecution Service |
| CPT | Police child protection team |
| CPSU | NSPCC Child Protection Sports Unit |
| CRB | Criminal Records Bureau |
| CSU | Community Safety Unit |
| DfES | Department for Education & Skills |
| DH | Department of Health |
| DI | Detective Inspector |
| DS | Detective Sergeant |
| EDT | Emergency Duty Team, Children's social care |
| EPO | Emergency Protection Order |
| EWO | Education Welfare Officer |
| FME | Forensic Medical Examiner |
| FORM 78 | Police form used for recording details of children who come to the attention of police; copies are routinely passed to partner agencies |
| HOME AUTHORITY | The authority which holds case responsibility, or if not known to Children's social care, where the child is living - this could be either an originating or receiving authority |
| HOST AUTHORITY | The authority where a child may be found, is visiting for a short break or in receipt of specified services (e.g. education) - this could be either a receiving authority without case responsibility or an entirely different authority |
| ICS | Integrated Children's System |
| JOINT INVESTIGATION | A shared responsibility for the conduct and decision making process of a S.47 enquiry between police, Children's social care and where appropriate other caring agencies |
| LAC | Looked After Child |
| LIARMM | Local Inter Agency Risk management Meeting |
| MAPPA | Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements |
| MERLIN | A police database |
| MHT | Mental Health Trust |
| MISPER | Police acronym for missing persons |
| MIT | Police Serious Crime Group Major Investigation Team |
| NAI | Non-accidental injury |
| NASS | National Asylum Support Service |
| NMC | Nursing & Midwifery Council |
| NPFS | Naval Personal & Family Services |
| NSPCC | National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children |
| OFSTED | Office for Standards in Education |
| OOH | Out of Hours (Children's social care) |
| ORIGINATING AUTHORITY | The authority where the child/ family previously lived |
| PCHR | Personal Child Health Record |
| PCT | Primary Care Trust |
| PPU | Public Protection Unit |
| PROtect | A police database |
| RECEIVING AUTHORITY | The authority where the child / family has moved |
| RMP | Risk Management Plan |
| SINGLE AGENCY | Following consultation between agencies, Children's social care undertaking a S.47 enquiry OR police undertaking a criminal investigation, without the other agency |
| SMG | Senior Management Group: plan and oversee complex investigations |
| CHILDREN'S SOCIAL CARE | Social Services Departments, Children & Families Social Services, Children, Families & Schools |
| SOCO | Scene of Crime Officer |
| SSAFA-FH | Soldiers, Sailors, Air Force Association - Forces Help |
| TERRITORIAL POLICE | Those who have generic or non child protection related roles |
| YOT | Youth Offending Team |
5. Local Contacts
In an emergency |
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| Police/Fire/Health | 999 |
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| Children and Young People's Services offices | |
| Adur | 01273 268800 |
| Arun | 01903 738905 |
| Chichester | 01243 752999 |
| Crawley | 01293 895100 |
| Horsham | 01403 213100 |
| Mid Sussex | 01444 446100 |
| Worthing | 01903 839100 |
| Out-of-Hours Service | 01903 694422 |
| Register for children subject to a child protection plan | 01243 642476 |
| Police | 0845 60 70 999 |
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| Strategic Health Authority | |
| Carol Maddocks | 01293 778828 |
| County Child Protection Advisor | |
| Brian Relph | 01243 642420 |
| Independent Reviewing Service | |
| Jenny Clifton | 01243 753680 |
| Probation/NOMS | |
| Nick Smart | 01273 227979 |
| Police | |
| Eddie Hick | 01273 859086 |
| Health | |
| Lorraine Smith (Designated Nurse) | 07770 800247 |
| Anne Wallace (Designated Doctor) | 01243 815443 |
| Education | |
| Neil Holden | 01243 752049 |
| NSPCC | |
| Area Children’s Service Manager | 01293 651842 |
| District / Borough* Councils (Lead officers) | |
| Adur (Natalie Brahma–Pearl) | 01273 263347 |
| Arun (Frank Hickson) | 01903 737718 |
| Chichester (Steve Hansford) | 01243 534789 |
| Crawley* (Phil Rogers) | 01293 438462 |
| Horsham (Chris Dier) | 01403 215250 |
| Mid Sussex (Karen Picksley) | 01444 458166 |
| Worthing* (Tim Everett) | 01903 221302 |
6. Bibliography
Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings HO 2001 - Home Office link
Best practice guidance for doctors and other health professionals on the provision of advice and treatment to young people under 16 on contraception, sexual and reproductive health - DOH gateway reference 3382
Children & Families : Safer from Sexual Crime Home Office 2004-08-23
Children in Need and Blood-borne Viruses: HIV and Hepatitis DH January 2002
Choosing with Care - The Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Selection, Development and Management of Staff in Children's Homes (1992) HMSO (also referred to as Warner)
Children Visiting Special Hospitals Local Authority Circular (99)23, amended LAC (2000)18
Complex Child Abuse Investigations: Inter- Agency Issues, HO & DH, 2002
Confidentiality: Protecting and Providing Information GMC (2000)
Confidentiality and Young People RCGP&B 2000
Dealing With Cases of Forced Marriage: Guidelines for the Police Home Office 2002
Every Child Matters - Department for Education website
Guidance on Paediatric Forensic Examination in Relation to Possible Child Sexual Abuse - Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health & Association of Police Surgeons April 2002
Guidelines for GPs, Health Visitors and Midwives, A&E Departments, Police Officers and Coroners' Offices, Foundation for Study of Sudden Infant Deaths (FSID)
Handling allegations of sexual offences against children LASSL (2004) 21
Making An Impact - Children and Domestic Violence NSPCC, Barnardos and Bristol University School for Policy Studies 1998
Personal Guide to Children Act 1989 in the Context of the Human Rights Act 1998 Fergus Smith & Professor Tina Lyon, Children Act Enterprises 2004
Police Responsibilities in Cross Border Enquiries HO 52/1988 and 36/2002
Protocol between OFSTED and Area Child Protection Committees OFSTED 2001
Safeguarding Children from Abroad ACPC guidance developed by The East Midlands Child Protection Network
Safeguarding Children Involved in Prostitution, DH2000
Safeguarding Children in Whom Illness is Fabricated or Induced supplementary guidance to Working Together to Safeguard Children DH, HO, DfES Welsh Assembly Government 2002
'Sex and relationship Education Guidance' DfEE 0116/2000
Sudden unexpected death in infancy The Royal College of Pathologists and The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, September 2004
The Child in Mind Judy Barker & Deborah Hodes, City and Hackney PCT
The Directions and Associated Guidance to Ashworth, Broadmoor and Rampton Hospital Authorities HSC 1999/160
The Guidance on the Visiting of Psychiatric Patients by Children HSC 1999/222: LAC (99)32
What To Do If You're Worried A Child Is Being Abused DH, 2003
Working Together to Safeguard Children, HM Government 2006
Working within the Sexual Offences Act Home Office May 2004 SOA/4
Young people & vulnerable adults facing forced marriage: practise guidance for social workers, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, March 2004
Young people & vulnerable adults facing forced marriage: Guidance for Education Professionals, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, January 2005
End.