The aim of this brief training session is to raise awareness regarding the safeguarding of children and to remind you of your responsibilities whenever you have a concern about a child.

By the end of this session you will be aware of:



what is meant by the term safeguarding children;



the various levels of intervention and their thresholds;

 

some signs and symptoms of possible abuse; what you should do if you have a concern for a child’s welfare or safety.

‘Ultimately, effective safeguarding of children can only be achieved by putting children at the centre of the system and by every individual and agency playing their full part, working together to meet the needs of our most vulnerable children.’

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013)

Professionals in all agencies have a responsibility to refer a child to LA children's social care when it is believed or suspected that the child:



Has suffered significant harm;



Is likely to suffer significant harm.

(Source: London Safeguarding Children Board Child Protection Procedures, 5 th Edition)

Professionals in all agencies have a responsibility to refer a child to LA children's social care when it is believed or suspected that the child:



Has a disability, developmental and welfare needs which are likely only to be met through provision of social work led family support services (with agreement of the child's parent) under the Children Act 1989;



Is a Child in Need whose development would be likely to be impaired without provision of services.

(Source: London Safeguarding Children Board Child Protection Procedures, 5 th Edition)

In this establishment, the person you should talk to whenever there is a concern about a child’s welfare is: or, in their absence:



Who could become involved in supporting the family and what might they be able to offer?



Who would become involved in response to this situation (by making child protection enquiries, by contributing information and opinion to any enquiries/assessment or by offering the family support as part of any plan?)



Note that this is the same family as in the earlier case. The difference is that 8 months have passed with little or no support for the family.

Every assessment should be focused on outcomes, deciding which services and support to provide to deliver improved welfare for the child.

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013)

Five key themes about the voice of the child have been identified …. In too many cases:



the child was not seen frequently enough by the professionals involved, or was not asked about their views and feelings



agencies did not listen to adults who tried to speak on behalf of the child and who had important information to contribute



parents and carers prevented professionals from seeing and listening to the child

Five key themes about the voice of the child have been identified …. In too many cases:



practitioners focused too much on the needs of the parents, especially vulnerable parents, and overlooked the implications for the child



agencies did not interpret their findings well enough to protect the child.

(Source: The voice of the child: learning lessons from serious case reviews, Ofsted 2011)

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined for the purposes of this guidance as:



protecting children from maltreatment;



preventing impairment of children's health or development;



ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and



taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013)

Where need is relatively low level individual services and universal services may be able to take swift action. For other emerging needs a range of early help services may be required, coordinated through an early help assessment ….

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013)

A child in need is defined under the Children Act 1989 as a child who is unlikely to achieve or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health and development will be significantly impaired, without the provision of services; or a child who is disabled. In these cases, assessments by a social worker are carried out under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013)

If at any time it is considered that the child may be a child in need as defined in the Children Act 1989, or that the child has suffered significant harm or is likely to do so, a referral should be made immediately to local authority children’s social care.

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013)

Where there are child protection concerns (reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm) local authority social care services must make enquiries and decide if any action must be taken under section 47 of the Children Act 1989.

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013)



‘harm’ means ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development, including, for example, impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another;



‘development’ means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development;



‘health’ means physical or mental health; and



‘ill-treatment’ includes sexual abuse and forms of ill-treatment which are not physical.

(Source: Children Act 1989 as amended by the Adoption and Children Act 2002)

Where the question of whether harm suffered by a child is significant turns on the child’s health or development, his health or development shall be compared with that which could reasonably be expected of a similar child.

(Source: Children Act 1989)

Child protection needs s47 s17 Common Assessment Framework Complex support needs Additional support needs Everyday needs

Child protection needs s47 Complex support needs s17 Assessment Framework Additional support needs Common Everyday needs

Child protection needs s47 Complex support needs s17 Assessment Framework Additional support needs Common Everyday needs

Child protection needs s47 Complex support needs s17 Assessment Framework Additional support needs Common Everyday needs

Child protection needs s47 Complex support needs s17 Assessment Framework Additional support needs Common Everyday needs

Child protection needs s47 Complex support needs s17 Assessment Framework Additional support needs Common Everyday needs

Child protection needs s47 Complex support needs s17 Assessment Framework Additional support needs Common Everyday needs

Child protection needs s47 Complex support needs s17 Assessment Framework Additional support needs Common Everyday needs

NEGLECT SEXUAL ABUSE PHYSICAL ABUSE EMOTIONAL ABUSE

Physical Abuse 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 the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013, p85)

Sexual Abuse Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013, p86)

Neglect Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse.

Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:



provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment);



protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger;



ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or



ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013, p86)

Emotional Abuse Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate.

cont. ….

Emotional Abuse (cont.) It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

(Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010, p85)

Exercise: What are the signs of:



Physical Abuse



Sexual Abuse



Emotional Abuse



Neglect

Children who may be more vulnerable to being harmed



babies and younger children



disabled children



children who are isolated



children who are already thought of as a problem (e.g. children in care; children in secure accommodation, children with emotional/behavioural difficulties)



Over two thirds (68%) of children killed at the hands of another person in England and Wales are aged under five years.



Infants aged under one year are more at risk of being killed at the hands of another person than any other single year age group in England and Wales.

Source: NSPCC, 2014 

42% of children who are the subject of a child protection plan are under 4 years old.

Source: Department for Education, 2013

Disabled children are:



3.1 times more likely to be sexually abuse;

 

3.8 times more likely to be neglected; 3.8 time more likely to be physically abused;



3.9 time more likely to be emotionally abused.

(Source: Sullivan and Knutson, 2000)

Professionals must take special care to help safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people who may be living in particularly stressful circumstances. These include families:



living in poverty;

     

where there is domestic violence; where a parent has a mental illness; where a parent is misusing drugs or alcohol; where a parent has a learning disability; that face racism and other forms of social isolation; living in areas with a lot of crime, poor housing and high unemployment.

Questions should be:



Necessary – the purpose of questions at this stage is to establish whether or not there is a concern, not to interrogate the child or conduct an investigation.



Non-leading – do not use questions that suggest an answer.



Open – avoid questions that invite only a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.

Always report any concern about the welfare of any child.

Always telephone the local authority children’s social care services without delay if you suspect that a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering harm.

Parents should be told of your concern and that you intend to refer (unless informing parents would place the child at risk of harm) – see London Procedures – if in doubt, seek advice.

You do not need parental agreement to make a referral in respect of a child at risk of harm.

Whenever you make a telephone referral, always back this up in writing (within 48 hours) using your local authority’s referral form.

If your referral is in respect of support for a Child-in Need where the threshold of significant harm has not been reached, a written referral can be submitted to the local authority children’s social care services. This is sometimes made after assessment under the Common Assessment Framework has indicated that it is required.