Transcript Early Years Safeguarding Briefing - November 2013

Early Years Safeguarding
Briefing
Autumn term 2013
Ceri McAteer – Early Years
Safeguarding Adviser
01793 465740
0774178011
Agenda
1.00 - Welcome and housekeeping arrangements
1.05 -1.35 – Renu Rana, Conferences and Core Groups
and the Signs of Safety
1.40 -2.25 – NSPCC - Leigh Ann Bowen and Jan
Davidson with information about support programmes
available for families in Swindon and nationally.
2.25 -2.45 - Comfort break
2.45 -3.30 – Ceri McAteer - National and Local Updates
including key messages from recent serious case
reviews and guidance for completing your annual EY
safeguarding audit.
Child Protection Conferences and
Signs of Safety
Child Protection Conferences
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Purpose
Expectations of Professionals
Provision of reports
What happens after the conference, Core
Groups.
• Signs of Safety Framework.
Purpose
• Bringing together and analysing information from all
agencies about child’s health and developmental needs and
how parents can ensure child’s safety.
• Making judgements about likelihood of child suffering
harm, continuing to do so and any future harm, due to
actions or inactions of parents.
• Consider the views of parents, carers and child/ren.
• What future action is required to safeguard and promote
the child's welfare. Action Plan devised.
• Decision – All agency participants make a decision based on
the information shared. Unacceptable to abstain.
• Legal planning
Expectations of Professionals
• A representative from each agency invited should attend.
• Remain for entire conference, until decision is made.
• Should share all relevant information about children,
parents and significant adults.
• Weigh up all of the information that has been shared at the
conference and form opinion about the risk to the child.
• Decisions at the conference, Child Protection Plan or a Child
in Need Plan. Chair takes the majority view, if there is a
split then Chair will make the final decision.
• Become a core group member and will attend core group
meetings.
• Check the accuracy of minutes and make a comment on
this.
Reports
• Typed report on SBC format, detailing
involvement with child, parents and significant
adults.
• Share your report with children and parents.
• Professionals to be aware that failure to share
any information of a child which leads to child
being harmed, is viewed as serious neglect of
duty to protect children.
Core group
• CPC will identify the membership of a core group of
professionals and family members, who will develop
and implement the child protection Plan.
• Lead social worker will chair the meeting, all members
have a joint responsibility for carrying out agreed tasks,
monitoring the effectiveness and refining the plan as
necessary. Check out what is working and not working.
• 1st core group is 10 days of Initial child protection
conference. Core group can decide when to have the
next one. 6-8 weeks after any review meeting.
Stuart
Carol
Natalie
Martin
Sally
Peter
Leon
8
Trudy
4
Jerry
1
Unbo
rn
Lisa
Recent serious case reviews
• Little Stars Nursery Birmingham 2010 - Paul
Wilson
Daniel Pelka-Coventry, Autumn 2011-March
2012
Little Stars
• Nov 2009-Student teacher reports
“inappropriate behaviour” by Wilson-nothing done.
• May 2010-Teacher files incident form after hearing 3
year old child screaming and finding Wilson alone
with her-No action taken.
• August 2010-Staff member reports concerns to
Ofsted treated as a “professional practice” issue.
Wilson not spoken to.
• August 2010-Wilson files a “smokescreen” complaint
about problems at the nursery.
• Jan 2011 – Wilson is finally caught, images on his
phone of him raping the girl at nursery.
Little Stars
Paul Wilson was jailed in July 2011 for 13 years 6
months
Eventually caught when a 13 year old girl reported
that an unidentified male was trying to engage her in
sexual activity over the internet.
Charged with 2 counts of rape, 16 counts of causing
or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, 25
counts of making indecent images and 3 counts of
distributing images of children.
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Little Stars - brief summary of findings from
Serious Case Review
‘Special relationships’ should be scrutinised
and particular attention paid to situations
where the child is considered to be
vulnerable.
Abuse would not have happened in another
setting because of ‘rules’ – enhance external
inhibitors
Robust recruitment procedures, close knit
community, no clear boundaries.
Importance of regular supervision
The layout of the nursery
Daniel Pelka
• School concerns-losing weight, scavenging for
food, physical injuries (13 recorded), poor
attendance
• No clear protocol for recording injuries
• No coherent overview of situation, each concern
treated individually instead of looking at the full
picture
• Poor child protection policy, no clear procedures.
• No enquiry into Daniel’s alleged medical problem
• Mum was very plausible
• Small school- assumption that all information was
being shared
Brief summary of findings from Daniel Pelka
Serious Case Review
• Daniel described as ‘invisible’. No professional
tried sufficiently hard enough" to talk to him, EAL
interpreter should have been used
• Roles of staff were not clear
• Staff were trained in safeguarding but didn’t
apply their knowledge
• Instances of concern considered in isolation.
• Health and behavioural issues were not linked
with abuse
• Not enough urgency by school in addressing
concerns
Brief summary of findings from Daniel Pelka
Serious Case Review
• Domestic abuse should always be considered
to be a child protection concern
• All injuries should be considered not just
serious ones such as broken arm.
• All settings need robust CP procedures, even
small settings
• Professionals must “ think the unthinkable”
and give consideration to abuse, linked with
professional optimism
Escalation Policy
Occasionally situations arise when workers within one
agency feel that the decision made by a worker from
another agency on a child protection or child in need
case is not a safe decision. Disagreements could arise
in a number of areas, but are most likely to arise
around:
• Levels of Need
• Roles and responsibilities
• The need for action
• Communication
5 stages
New
What happens when you call
466903?
Family Contact Point
5 advice and information officers
Initial information gathering
Child protection
cases
CHIN and lower level
concerns
Training update
• Change to ‘titles’
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Basic awareness – level 1
Foundation plus – level 2
Advanced / Intermediate –
level 3
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Updates for DCPCs / deputies – 2 yearly
Change to what qualifies as update
http://www.swindonlscb.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx
http://schoolsonline.swindon.gov.uk/eyc/Pages/Hom
e.aspx
Schoolsonline – New source for EY
safeguarding
• http://schoolsonline.swindon.gov.uk/Pages/H
ome.aspx
• Kathy MacDonald – invitations to launch
• Watch out for further EY training-CWD
website
Spring Term Dates
5th February AM
12th March PM
Thank you for coming. I hope you have found
the session useful.
Please fill out an evaluation form before you
leave.