Transcript Slide 1

Working Together to
Safeguard and Protect
Children
Delivered by BSCB Training Team
18th & 19th October 2012
Welcome and housekeeping
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Fire
Toilets
Mobile phones
Refreshments
Timetable
Learning Objectives
Learning Agreement
• Confidentiality: What is
shared in the room stays
in the room (few
exceptions)
• Knowledge: We all have
different experiences thus
different knowledge, (No
such thing as a silly
question.)
• Responsibility: You have
a role to play in training.
You will get out what you
put in
• Disagreement: it is ok not
to agree, but listen and
respect others point of
view
• Time keeping: Start on
time finish on time
• Networking: Talk to new
people
• Any Others?
• Look after yourself
The purpose of all BSCB
training is to improve
safeguarding practice,
thereby improving outcomes
for children.
Introductions
Get together in pairs with somebody that you do not know
Interview your partner, asking and answering the following
questions;
• Their name
• Their organisation and their role within it
• One thing that gives them satisfaction from their role
• Something about them, that not many people know
• What their main hope from attending the training is
Go back into the main group, and ‘introduce’ your partner to the
other delegates
Training Aim:
To provide participants from the Children’s
Workforce with an opportunity to learn in a
multi-agency environment about the key
principles of safeguarding and protecting
children.
Objectives:
• To be able to contribute to and promote children’s
welfare e.g. through assessment, planning, participation
in core groups, planning groups, conferences and
decision making.
• To acquire sound understanding of processes for
effective working together.
• To be able to communicate and develop working
relationships in the interests of children.
• Be aware of some of the key changes that are taking
place
Roles and responsibilities of
key professionals in the safeguarding
processes
The Common Assessment
Framework
Common assessment to be
considered from this point
I = Identification and action
T = Transition
N = Needs met
Child Protection is just one part of Safeguarding
Blackpool Safeguarding
Children Board
Objectives:
To coordinate what is done by each
person or body represented on the
Board for the purposes of safeguarding
and promoting the welfare of children in
the area of the authority by which it is
established;
To ensure the effectiveness of what is
done by each such person or body for
those purposes;
Sect 13 Children Act 2004
‘The focus is on children most at risk of serious harm’
The legal context for
Safeguarding Children
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Children Act 1989
Framework for Assessment 2000
Education Act 2002
Children Act 2004
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010
(Guidance)
• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
• Blackpool Child Protection Procedures
The Children Act 1989
The Act started from the principal that the responsibility
for raising children rests with families, and for most
children their interests are best served by enabling them
to grow up with that family.
• Local Authorities have a duty to safeguard and promote
the welfare of the child
• The Local Authority has a duty to protect children from
abuse or harm within the family
• Agencies are required to work together for the
protection and well-being of children (s.27)
A period of change
Victoria Climbie
• Died aged 8 in Feb 2000
• Physical, emotional, sexual abuse &
neglect
• Great Aunt & Partner were found guilty of
murder and sentenced to life
imprisonment
in 2001
• Victoria moved countries & areas, had
contact with many different agencies
• Haringay CSC Dept took Victoria off CP
Register on the day she died
• Laming identified 12 key occasions when
services could have successfully
intervened
Baby Peter
• Had a broken back, cracked ribs, numerous cuts
and bruises
• Not safeguarded despite the fact that he had been
put on the ‘at risk’ register and had 60 contacts
with health and social work professionals and
police over eight months
Baby Peter
Mother’s cooperation with professionals and
appointments, positive response to offers of help,
and her own frequent initiations of contact, led to a
high level of trust in her.
Need for:
• Constant vigilance
• Open and inquisitive approach, regardless of
any assumptions from previous assessments
‘Thinking the unthinkable’
‘Adults who deliberately exploit the
vulnerability of children can behave in
devious and menacing ways. They will often
go to great lengths to hide their activities
from those concerned for the wellbeing of
the child’.
‘Child Protection cases do not always come
labelled as such’.
Lord Laming
Lord Laming report into the
death of Baby Peter (2009)
• Keeping the child at the centre of your work
• Engaging in effective training and supervision (one to one)
• No need for further legislative change
• Practitioners to understand their roles and responsibilities
• Children and young people get support as early as possible
• Share information, assess risk and make decisions
effectively together
Working Together 2010
• Statutory guidance on the function of Local
Safeguarding Children Boards and how
the agencies should work together to
safeguard children
• Guidance on SCRs
• Functions relating to child deaths
Serious Case Reviews (SCR)
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010
Serious Case Reviews (SCRs)- a key
driver for child protection practice
Carried out when abuse & neglect are
known or suspected factors when a child
dies (or is seriously injured or harmed) &
there are lessons to be learnt about
interagency working to protect children
Serious Case Reviews - Local
These are managed by BSCB Case Review Sub Group
Child ‘B’ age almost 13 (atoi) Sexual messages - SCR completed 2008
Implications in respect of children and young people who display sexually harmful
behaviour. Potential ‘child on child’ abuse needs greater emphasis in training.
Child ‘F’ a baby who died whilst in the care of a family member; the cause of
death was established as overlay
There were a number of missed opportunities for agencies to work together and
share information
All agencies must ensure that assessments, monitoring and support include fathers
as routine.
Please refer to SCR PAN LANCASHIRE NEWSLETTER in your handout pack
Serious Case Reviews
Things we need to learn from
national studies
SCR’s and children with disabilities
• Support needs to be tailored to the needs of the child
• Closer links between the safeguarding workers and
workers specialising in working with children with disabilities
• Specific training for safeguarding children with disabilities
• Robust safeguarding training for organisations specialising
in working with children with disabilities
• Clear communication (with child and family and between
agencies)
• Learning lessons from SCR’s: Ofsted 2009
Munro Review 2011 Interim Report
Key points:
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Keep child at the centre of work
Early intervention
Reduce bureaucracy
Strengthen Supervision
Multi Agency teams
Unannounced inspections
SCR (Ofsted not to be used)
Strengthen LSCB
Summer 2012
New ‘Working Together’??
Uncertainty
Economic climate
‘Some of the worst failures of
the system have occurred
when professionals have
lost sight of the child…’
Keep the child in
focus
Coffee break
The Child’s Voice
Integrated Working
The Jigsaw!
Aims and Objectives
• To further develop a better understanding of
common language, which includes the
concept of ‘a team around the child’
(integrated working).
• To improve the common understanding of the
different professional responsibilities within
the Common Assessment Framework.
• To enhance the importance of sharing
information. This information might be specific
only to you or your agency and thus vital to
the completion of the ‘jigsaw’.
Activity:
• What are the significant key
indicators and events for the given
discipline?
• What further information would you
require to meet the needs of the
child and family?
Jigsaw
Extended
Family
Voluntary
Agencies
Health
Social
Care
Police
Education
“…it is only when information from
a range of sources is put together
that a child can be seen to be in
need or at risk of harm.”
Information sharing
Information sharing
Recognising the uncertainty many of you have
about sharing information, particularly outside
your own setting, the first cross government
guidance on this subject has been published,
Information Sharing: Practitioner’s Guide 2006
‘…it is only when information from a range of
sources is put together that a child can be seen
to be in need or at risk of harm.’
www.ecm.gov.uk/informationsharing
What happens if information
is not shared?
• Victoria Climbie
• Ian Huntley
• Lauren Wright
• Gary Glitter
Significant Harm
• The Children Act 1989 uses the concept of
significant harm to justify the compulsory
intervention in family life in the best
interests of the children.
• The local authority is under a duty to
make enquiries where it has reasonable
cause to suspect a child is suffering
significant harm.
“Data Protection Disaster”
Police chief admits Huntley error”
The Chief Constable of Humberside
has told the Bichard Inquiry he
was "wrong" to claim Ian
Huntley's police record was
deleted because of the Data
Protection Act.
Humberside police did not share with Cambridgeshire
police four accusations of rape against Huntley, and one of
indecent assault on an 11-year-old girl, because of data
protection
Lauren Wright
• Lauren was starved and physically abused for months
and eventually died
• This abuse was in full view of various professionals
(including doctors and school staff)
• Moved from Hertfordshire were she was on the Child
Protection Register, to Norfolk, but Norfolk SSD not told
of her arrival in their area
• As a result of the failings in this case section 175 of the
Education Act 2002 was implemented, clearly defining
the responsibilities of all professionals to safeguard
children
International arrangements
A campaign led by NSPCC has resulted in a
government crackdown which restricts the
movement of sex offenders overseas and allows
the authorities to remove their passports.
Under the MAPPA arrangement
convicted sex offenders (such as Gary
Glitter) are required to sign the sex
offenders register and remain under
supervision for the rest of their lives,
including notifying police if they leave the
area for more than a few days. This
information will need to shared to reduce
the abuse of children both here and
overseas.
Sharing Information
Knowing when and how to share information is not always easy –
but it is important get it right
“the data protection act is not a barrier to sharing
information, but is in place to ensure that personal
information is shared appropriately. This guidance is
welcome as it sets out a framework to help practitioners
share information both professionally and lawfully”
Richard Thomas, Information Commissioner
How and when do we share
information?
Confidential information is:
Personal information of a private or sensitive
nature; and
• Information that is not already lawfully in the
public domain or readily available from
another public source; and
• Information that has been shared in
circumstances where the person giving the
information could reasonably expect that it
would not be shared with others.
Information Sharing: Guidance for practitioners and managers 2009:p15
Consent
Consent must be ‘informed’. The person
giving consent should understand:
• why information needs to be shared
• who will see their information
• the purpose to which their information will be
put
• the implications of sharing that information
HM Government (2006) What To Do If You’re Worried A Child Is Being Abused.
Department for Education and Skills, London. Appendix 3
Consent
Consent can be:
• explicit – obtaining explicit consent is good
practice; can be expressed orally or, preferably,
in writing
• implicit e.g., when a patient agrees to a GP
making a referral to a specialist, the patient is
also agreeing to the sharing of information with
that specialist. (also a Common Assessment)
HM Government (2006) What To Do If You’re Worried A Child Is Being Abused.
Department for Education and Skills, London. Appendix 3
Seven key questions about
information sharing
1. Is there a clear and legitimate purpose
for sharing information?
2. Does the information enable the person
to be identified?
3. Is the information confidential?
4. If so, do you have consent?
Information Sharing: Guidance for practitioners and managers 2009:p12
Seven key questions about
information sharing
5. If consent is refused, is there sufficient
public interest to share the
information?
6. Are you sharing the information
correctly and securely?
7. Have you properly recorded your
information sharing decision?
Information Sharing: Guidance for practitioners and managers 2009:p12
You could…
• contribute a vital piece
of the jigsaw to prevent
the death of a child
• be the first link in the chain to offer support
to a family in crisis
Jack’s Story
Do you think Jack is a child in need or a
child in need of safeguarding?
What is Safeguarding
• Protecting children from maltreatment.
• Preventing impairment of children’s health
or development.
• Ensuring that children are growing up in
circumstances consistent with the
provision of safe and effective care.
Every Child Matters Outcomes
• These aspects of safeguarding contribute to the
five outcomes:
• Stay safe
• Be Healthy
• Enjoy and achieve
• Make a positive contribution
• Achieve economic well being
Maltreatment
• A person may abuse or neglect a child by
inflicting harm or failing to act to prevent
harm
• Children and young people may be
abused in a family or an institutional or
community setting by those known to them
or, more rarely by a stranger
Significant Harm
• There is no absolute criteria for identifying
significant harm. It is necessary to
consider:
• The nature of the harm
• The impact on the child’s development
• The child’s development within the context
of their family and wider environment.
Significant Harm
• Harm is defined in the Children Act 1989 as:
• Ill treatment( including sexual abuse and
physical abuse)
• Impairment of health(physical or mental) or
development as compared to that of a similar
child
• Harm now includes the impairment of a child’s
health or development as a result of witnessing
the ill treatment of another person(Adoption and
Children Act 2002)
Significant Harm - 2
• Any special needs such as a medical condition,
communication impairment or disability that may
affect the child’s development and care within
the family
• The capacity of the parents to adequately meet
the child’s needs
• The wider environmental context
• The child’s reactions, wishes, feelings according
to age and understanding.
Children in Need
• Children whose vulnerability is such that
they are unlikely to reach or maintain a
satisfactory level of health or development
or
• That their health or development will be
significantly impaired, without the provision
of services
• Do you think Jack is a child in
need or a child in need of
safeguarding?
• Watch DVD
Groupwork Activity
• Do you think Jack is a child in need or a
child in need of safeguarding?
• Why have you decided this?
• What do you think should happen next?
Remember Recording
• Recommendation 12
Frontline staff in each of the agencies which regularly
come into contact with families with children must ensure
that in each new contact, basic information about the
child is recorded. This must include the child’s name,
address, age, the name of the child’s primary carer, the
child’s GP and the name of their school if they are school
age. Gaps in this information should be passed on to the
relevant authority in accordance with local arrangements.
The Victoria Climbie Inquiry 2003
Coffee break
Blackpool Children, Adult and
Family Services
FROM REFERRAL TO CHILD
PROTECTION
Diane Pennington
Group Manager, Central Localities, Children, Adult & Family Services
Restructure of the Service May
2011
Still have 3 localities.
Teams are:
• Duty & Assessment 1 & 2
• South 1& 2
• North 1&2
• Central 1&2
• Catalyst
• Awaken
Thresholds for referrals to
Social Services
• Child in Need (Section 17, Children Act 1989)
• Child Protection (Section 47, Children Act 1989)
See revised Blackpool Child Protection procedures
on line
‘Thresholds’ now often referred to as ‘Eligibility for
Intervention’
Section 17, Children Act 1989
Child in Need:
• Unlikely to achieve a reasonable standard
of health and development without the
provision of additional services by the
Local Authority
• Health or development likely to be
impaired without services
• Disabled
Duty of every Local Authority:
• To safeguard and promote the welfare of
children within their area who are in need
• So far as is consistent with that duty, to
promote the upbringing of such children by
their families
By providing a range of services
REFERRALS and Parental
Consent Section 17
• Honesty and transparency
• Members of public (only) have right to
confidentiality
• The assessment will address your
concerns
• Ongoing work will require consent
• Must seek consent before making a
referral
Parental consent (cont)
• You do not need to seek consent if there is
evidence to suggest risk to the child which
may result in further harm, OR –
• To do so may prejudice a potential criminal
investigation (physical abuse, sexual
abuse or criminal neglect)
What if consent is refused
Section 17
• Continue to support and monitor under the
CAF
• Refer if concerns suggest possible
significant harm
• Discuss way forward with the locality Duty
Social Worker and your own supervisor
• Request joint visit with the locality team
• Climbie enquiry highlighted the importance
of the above
Section 47, Children Act 1989
• Duty to investigate possible significant
harm (see online procedures)
• Possibly in conjunction with the Police
• Decision to undertake a section 47
investigation taken at a strategy
meeting/discussion
• Outcomes
• May lead to Child Protection Conference
Section 47, Children Act 1989
• Duty to investigate possible significant
harm (see online procedures)
• Possibly in conjunction with the Police
• Decision to undertake a section 47
investigation taken at a strategy
meeting/discussion
• Outcomes
• May lead to Child Protection Conference
CONTINUED
• State what kind of referral it is
• Be specific about current concerns
• Distinguish between fact and hearsay
• Use bullet points
• Record carefully any disclosure but do not
question the child
•Explain action taken to date in relation to the CAF
process
What to do when the CAF is
completed
• Child in Need referral: Post or fax to
Football Stadium, Seasider’s way
• Child Protection referral: Telephone
then follow up in writing using the
CAF
• If unsure telephone Duty Social
Worker for advice
CAF FORM
• Give as much detail as possible about
household members (who has PR?)
• Dates of birth are essential if available
• If referring more than one child please fill in
a form for each of them
• The CAF is the only mechanism for referral
Response sheet
Allocated – section 47
Allocated – Initial Assessment
Awaiting allocation
Referred direct to…
Family sent details of relevant support services
Family been offered a duty appointment
Information been logged but no action taken
Unable to action referral due to not discussing with
parents
Recommendation that the referrer undertakes a CAF
Initial assessment:
•Gathers information about a child’s development needs
•Parents’ capacity to meet these needs
•Family and environmental factors
•Information analysed
•Decision made as to action needed
•Contributing to an Assessment
•You may be asked for information about the family,
including personal/sensitive data
Analysis of information gathered
Recommendations:
• Services required, e.g. Children’s Centre,
housing or benefits assistance – a child and
young persons plan is drawn up identifying
actions
• Emergency accommodation required
• Begin a Section 47 inquiry if is felt that the child
may be at risk of significant harm.
• Direct to other agencies
• No further action
Core Assessment
• In depth assessment
• Is the means by which a section 47
investigation is completed
• May incorporate specialist information
• Normally completed in 35 days
• Is triggered by a section 47 enquiry
Ongoing Work with Families
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Child becomes ‘looked after’ LAC
Family support Section 17 basis
Referral to other agencies
Strategy meeting
Care proceedings
Convene a Child Protection Conference
And Finally – Child Protection in
Blackpool
• Referrals – 2923 for one year
(from 01/11/2010-31/10/2011)
• Blackpool has one of the highest rates of
referrals in the country
• Children LAC 417 in November 2011
• Children currently subject to CP Plans 268
• Neglect is the highest category for
referrals
CONTINUED
• Assessments – 2565 Initial Assessments
(over 95% of all referrals lead to IA)
• 1061 Core Assessments
• Section 47 investigations 990
(All figures for one complete year from 01/11/2010-31/10/2011)
Referral Forms
Link on the BSCB website for the referral
forms and where to send them to.
http://www.blackpoollscb.blackpool.org.uk
Tea break
Back in 15 minutes
Police Role in Child Protection
Detective Inspector
Tony Baxter
Public Protection Unit (PPU)
Child Protection Team
Domestic Abuse Team (Catalyst)
Child Sexual Exploitation Team (Awaken)
Dangerous and Sexual Offenders Team
Missing Persons
Child Protection Team
INVESTIGATE
Sexual Abuse
Physical Abuse
Neglect
WHERE THERE IS:
A family relationship
A carer relationship
A position of trust relationship
BETWEEN THE VICTIM AND THE OFFENDER
AT THE TIME OF THE OFFENCE
Child Protection Team
Do not investigate
Financial Abuse
Stranger Abuse of Children
Child on child abuse/assault
Physical Abuse
May involve hitting, shaking, throwing,
poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or
otherwise causing physical harm to a child.
Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer
fabricates or induces illness, or deliberately causes ill
health to a child in their care.
Medical Examination
Why are the necessary?
• To ensure the child’s condition is medically
assessed and treatment given as appropriate.
• To re-assure the child as to their well being.
• To obtain an assessment about possible
indications of abuse.
• To ensure that any injuries or signs of neglect or
abuse are noted for evidential purposes.
• To secure forensic evidence.
Medical Consent
• Forensic medical examination only carried
out with consent of child – if capacity to
give.
• Or with consent of parent/carer with
parental responsibility.
• If refuse consider Child Assessment
Order/EPO.
Referral Process
Strategy Discussion
Joint Decision
Joint Investigation
Interview with child
PPO/EPO
Targeted Services
Family Background
Assessments
Family Court
Liaison with Other agencies
Key worker
Core group
Police
Medical/forensic evidence
Arrest/interview offender
Charge/RIC/Bail
Bail pending further enquiries
Court
Conviction/Acquittal
Who Is Managed Through MAPPA?
• Category 1
– Registered Sexual Offenders
• Category 2
– Violent Offenders (and other Sexual
Offenders)
• Category 3
– Other Dangerous Offenders
Managing Allegations
Amanda Quirke
Allegations of abuse against
professionals
Procedures for dealing with allegations should be be followed where
it has been alleged that a member of staff has:
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behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have
harmed a child;
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possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a
child;
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behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates
s/he is unsuitable to work with children.
(Safeguarding Children & Safer Recruitment in Education – 2007)
E-Safety
How safe are you when working
and socialising with new
technologies?
LADO contact details
• Contact details are published on
website http://www.blackpool.org.uk
• Amanda Quirke is the LADO for BSCB.
• Tel:
• Email:
[email protected]
Children Missing Education
Clause 436A of Education and Inspection Bill 2006
“Duty to make arrangements to identify
children not receiving education.”
……..this duty is placed on all Local Authorities
The definition of CME is a child
• Not on a school roll
• Not educated otherwise i.e. home educated or
privately
• Out of education for 4 weeks or more.
Child Abuse:
Identification of child abuse is almost always
arrived at through the piecing together of a
number of factors. Therefore abuse can not
be identified by ticking a check list.
‘Some of the worst failures of the system
have occurred when professionals have lost
sight of the child…’
Working Together 2006
Working Together to Safeguard Children
provides a framework for all professionals
to protect children and promote their
welfare.
Keeping children safe and promoting their
wellbeing is clearly a responsibility for us
all ………..
Lord Laming 2009