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The
London Child Protection
Procedures
3rd Edition, 2007
The London Child Protection Procedures…
Are a joint initiative by:
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Metropolitan Police
London Directors of Children’s Services
Chairs of London LSCBs
NHS London
London Councils
London Probation
They are developed by:
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The London Safeguarding Children Board on behalf of the 32
London Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs)
Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility
Accordingly, the 3rd edition of the Procedures:
• Aims to translate government legislation and guidance into
practical procedures and advice to support everyone working
with children and/or parents (frontline practitioners or
professionals, volunteers and people involved with
community and faith groups) and their management, to
identify a child at risk of harm and explain what to do if a child
is in need of services to safeguard and promote his/her
welfare.
Agency responsibilities
• All agencies who work with or have contact with children must
review their child safeguarding procedures to ensure that they
comply with the London Child Protection Procedures.
• When additional policies are required, these must complement
the London Procedures.
• All agencies must ensure staff have awareness and
understanding of the procedures and recognise their relevance
• All workers must have access to a named person within their
agency who understands the procedures and is competent in
working with them
Using the procedures
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The procedures are intended to be used as a directory, with
professionals accessing the section they need as appropriate. This
requires that all staff are sufficiently familiar with the document to
know where to look
Aids to this are:
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A section called: ‘Quick Guide to using the Procedures’
Detailed contents pages at the front of each section
Cross-referencing
Easy electronic access and the facility to download each section
separately
User friendly
• The procedures are significantly expanded and cover a wide
range of issues that London Borough’s face. The largest area
of expansion is Chapter 5 – providing professionals with
procedures for Children in Specific Circumstances (C.I.S.C.)
• The procedures can be downloaded from
www.londoncsb.gov.uk
• hyperlinks make the procedures easily accessible and user
friendly
Procedures’ contents
5. Children in specific circumstances (cisc)
5.1 Introduction - new
5.7 Custodial settings for
children - new
5.2 Animal abuse and links to
abuse of children and
vulnerable adults - new
5.8 Custodial settings (children
visiting)
5.3 Begging
5.9 Diplomats families
5.4 Blood-borne viruses - new
5.10 Disabled children
5.5 Boarding school - new
5.11 Domestic violence
5.6 Bullying - new
5.12 Fabricated or induced
illness
Procedures’ contents
5. Children in specific circumstances (cisc)
5.13 Female genital mutilation
5.19 Historical abuse
5.14 Firesetting - new
5.20 Honour based violence
5.15 Forced marriage of a child
5.16 Foreign exchange visits
5.17 Foster care - new
5.21 Hospitals - new
5.22 Hospitals (specialist) - new
5.23 Information and
communication technology
(ICT) based forms of abuse new
5.18 Harming others
Procedures’ contents
5. Children in specific circumstances (cisc)
5.24 Left alone - new
5.29 Parental mental illness
5.25 Male circumcision - new
5.30 Parents with learning
disabilities
5.26 Missing families for whom
there are concerns for
children or unborn children
5.31 Parents who misuse
substances
5.27 Missing from care and
home
5.32 Pregnancy and
motherhood for a child
5.28 Not attending school new
5.33 Pre-trial therapy - new
Procedures’ contents
5. Children in specific circumstances (cisc)
5.34 Private fostering - new
5.39 Sexually active children
5.35 Psychiatric care for
children - new
5.40 Sexually exploited children
5.36 Psychiatric wards and
facilities (children visiting)
5.41 Spirit possession or
witchcraft - new
5.42 Surrogacy - new
5.37 Residential care - new
5.38 Self-harming and suicidal
behaviour
5.43 Trafficked and exploited
children
5.44 Young carers
Procedures’ contents
5. Children in specific circumstances (cisc)
Additional procedures:
5.45 Accessing information from abroad
5.46 Criminal injuries compensation
5.47 Working with interpreters / communication facilitators
Procedures’ contents
Supplementary procedures
These form part of the London Child Protection Procedures, and are
all summarised and cross-referenced in section 5 (cisc). They are
all new:
Safeguarding Children Abused through Domestic Violence
Safeguarding Children Missing from Care and Home
Safeguarding Trafficked and Exploited Children
Safeguarding Children Abused through Sexual Exploitation
Safeguarding Sexually Active Children
Safeguarding Children at Risk of Abuse through FGM
Safeguarding Children Missing from School
Procedures’ contents
6. Referral and assessment
Section 6 includes:
6.4 Indicator table - new
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This is a table providing a guide to the difference within LA
children’s social care between a s47 core assessment and an initial
assessment. The table is intended as a guide and is not exhaustive
6.9 Quick referral flowchart - new
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This flowchart shows the pathway for a referral, from a professional
having initial concerns through to the eventual referral to LA
children’s social care
Procedures’ contents
10. Working with Unco-operative Families
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Section 10 is new. Its incorporation into the procedures reflects
the finding from the review of London serious case reviews that
working with unco-operative families is a skill which professionals
need support with
Procedures’ contents
12. Unexpected death of a child
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Section 12 is new. It is taken from Working Together to Safeguard
Children 2006, and from April 2008 it will be replaced by a
supplementary procedure outlining the London response to all child
deaths
13. Risk management of known offenders
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Section 13 is new. It has been written with significant input from
the Youth Justice Board, London Youth Offending Teams, the
London Probation Service, the Met Police and LA children’s social
care
Procedures’ contents
14. Organised and complex abuse
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Section 14 has been significantly expanded, using information
from ‘Complex Child Abuse investigations: Inter-Agency Issues, HO
and DH 2002’
Procedures’ contents
Appendices
1: Statutory Framework - new
2: Children’s Safeguarding
Recommendations - new
5: Framework for the
Assessment of Need for
Children and their Families new
3: Voluntary Agencies Keeping
Children Safe - new
6: Use of Questionnaires and
Scales - new
4: Information Sharing Legal
Framework - new
7: Missing Persons’ Notification
Proforma - new
8: Acronyms - new
Procedures’ contents
Supplementary procedures
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The supplementary procedures are available electronically,
together with the main London Child Protection Procedures, from
the London Board’s website:
www.londonscb.gov.uk/procedures
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They, and the main London procedures, can also be posted onto
an agency’s intranet.
Contact Numbers
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Police
0208 3452927
Children’s Right Officers (NCH)
01708 554694 or 0773427163
Out of hours Social Care
01708 433999
Child Protection Officer
(Schools or Education settings)
01708 433842
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Child Protection Nurse Advisor
(Health)
01708 465000
Education Law advice line
0845 4566811
Children’s Legal Centre
Tel: 01206 872466
Fax: 01206 874026
email: [email protected]
The
London Child Protection
Procedures
3rd Edition, 2007
Roles and Responsibilities
Safeguarding children is everyone’s
responsibility’
Safeguarding Children
• Professionals in all agencies that work with
children and / or adults who have
parenting responsibilities share a
commitment to safeguard and promote
their welfare, and for many agencies this is
underpinned by a statutory duty or duties
Needs of the child
• Information from serious case reviews continues to highlight
that, when faced with the complex circumstances of a child’s
life, professionals find it difficult to keep the focus on the child
and the key elements which should contribute to ensuring his
/ her safety.
• Professionals should consider regularly checking their
actions against this checklist as a good practice prompt:
Good practice checklist
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Have you been able to speak to the child alone? Can you still do so?
Where will the child be for the next 24 hours? Is the child at immediate risk
of harm (physical, sexual, emotional)?
What information do you have about the child and their family?
Have you completed a CAF or equivalent?
Are there other children (siblings, peers) who could be at risk of harm?
Is the mother at risk of harm? Do she and the child/ren have a safety plan?
Is it safe to discuss your concerns with the child’s parents – or will doing so
put the child at greater risk of harm?
Good practice checklist
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Is there a reason that makes it likely that the child will resist efforts to safeguard
him/her (e.g. fear of a pimp, need for drugs)?
Have you recorded everything that has been said to you by the child, the parents /
family, and other professionals? Have you recorded everything you have said to
others?
Is there disagreement between health staff about the diagnosis of non-accidental
injury? If there is, it must be resolved before the child is allowed home.
Have you discussed your concerns with your agency’s nominated safeguarding
children adviser? If not, have you been able to reflect on your concerns with a
colleague (in your or another agency) who has appropriate expertise?
Have you complied with your agency’s child protection procedures?
Is there a need to inform the police because a crime has been committed?
Commitment to safeguard
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To fulfil their commitment to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, all
organisations that provide services for, or work with, children and / or adults who
have parenting responsibilities must:
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Set clear priorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children which are
explicitly stated in strategic policy documents;
Ensure there is a clear commitment by senior management to the importance of
safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare, e.g. in job descriptions and individual
performance targets;
Have in place clear lines of accountability within the agency for work on safeguarding
and promoting the welfare of children;
Have appropriate whistle blowing procedures and a culture that enables issues about
safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children to be addressed;
Maintain accurate records of decision making and actions.
Responsibility to protect
• All agencies whose staff come into contact with children in
their daily activities, and / or who provide services to adults
who are parents, must have systems and arrangements in
place to ensure that:
• Staff are recruited safely, (see section 17. Safer recruitment);
• Staff induction includes advice and instruction on the
individual professional’s responsibilities in relation to
promoting children’s welfare and safeguarding them from
harm
Agency training and supervision
provision
• Staff must receive child protection training which
is appropriate to their function within the agency,
• Staff must receive regular supervision, sufficient
to support staff to recognise children in need of
support and / or safeguarding,
Agency safeguarding policy /
procedures
• Agency must have internal safeguarding
children policies and procedures, which
comply with the London Child Protection
Procedures
Named safeguarding officer
• Each agency must have a named safeguarding
officer who has received appropriate child
protection training and knows of the London
Procedures and is competent in using them
• Staff must have easy access during service
delivery times to the agency’s nominated
safeguarding children adviser
Multi agency working
• Each agency must have arrangements for
effective multi-agency working to promote
children’s welfare and safeguard them
from harm.
Further information
• Information regarding individual agencies
rolls to safeguard children is set out in
Chapter 2 of edition 3 of the London Child
Protection Procedures 2007.
The
London Child Protection
Procedures
3rd Edition, 2007
Section 3 London Child Protection
Procedures
Information Sharing
Why share?
• A key factor in many serious case reviews
has been a failure to record information, to
share it, to understand the significance of
the information shared, and to take
appropriate action in relation to known or
suspected abuse or neglect.
Inter-agency working
• Information sharing is vital to safeguarding and
promoting the welfare of children and improving
information sharing practice is therefore a
cornerstone of the Government’s Every Child
Matters: Change for Children strategy to improve
outcomes for children
London Child Protection Procedures
• The London Child Protection Procedures
provide clear guidance and process for
professionals in relation to information
sharing.
• Agencies within Havering must comply
with these procedures
• In deciding whether there is a need to
share information, professionals need to
consider the legal obligations including:
– Whether the information is confidential;
– If it is confidential, whether there is a public
interest sufficient to justify sharing it
Confidential information is..
• sensitive, not already in public domain, shared in
confidence
• Can be shared if
• authorised by the person who provided it or to whom it
relates
• Can be shared unauthorised if justified in the
public interest..
• Evidence that the child is suffering or at risk of
suffering significant harm
• Reasonable cause to believe the child may be
suffering or at risk of suffering significant harm
Practitioners must weigh up their decision –
whether it is to share or not - and record the
reasons for it
Practitioners must:
• Always consider referring to children's
social care with concerns about harm
• Keep the child’s interests as the overriding
consideration in making any such
decisions
• Seek advice if unsure what to do
Consent is the key to successful information
sharing.
Even where the Data Protection Act does not
demand it, operating with consent is good
practice.
Consent:
• Must be informed
• Should normally be explicit but can be implied (written is
preferable but can be verbal)
• Must be willing and not inferred from a non response
• Must be sought again if things change significantly
• Can be withdrawn
• In some cases practitioners should not
seek consent
• What to share and how to share it
In deciding whether or not to
share information professionals
should use eight key questions:
1. Is there a legitimate purpose to share the information?
2. Does the information enable a person to be identified?
3. Is the information confidential?
4. If the information is confidential, has consent to share been obtained?
5. Is there a statutory duty or court order to share the information?
6. If consent has been refused, or there are good reasons not to seek consent
to share confidential information, is there a sufficient public interest to share
information?
7. If the decision is to share, is the right information being shared in the right
way?
8. Have the decision and the reasons for it, been recorded?
In particular, practitioners should:
• Share the information which is necessary for the purpose for
which it is being shared
• Share the information with those who need to know
• Check the information is accurate and up-to-date
• Share it in a secure way
• Establish with the recipient whether they intend to pass it on
to other people, and ensure they understand the limits of any
consent which has been given
• Inform the person to whom the information relates, and, if
different, any other person who provided the information, if
you have not already done so and it is safe to do so
• Record the reasons for deciding to share information.
• Legislation containing express powers or which imply
powers to share:
• The Children Act 2004 and 1989
• Local Government Act 2000
• Education Act 2002 and 1996
• Learning and Skills Act 2000
• Education (SEN) regulations 2001
• Leaving Care Act 2000
• Protection of Children Act 1999
• Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Crime and Disorder Act 1998
• National health Service Act 1977
• The Health and Social care Act 2003
Coffee / Tea Break
10 minutes
The
London Child Protection
Procedures
3rd Edition, 2007
The referral process
Responsibility to refer
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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 (see section 4. Recognition and
response and/or section 5. Children in specific circumstances);
Is likely to suffer significant harm (see section 4. Recognition and
response and/or section 5. Children in specific circumstances)
Has developmental and welfare needs which are likely only to be
met through provision of family support services (with agreement of
the child’s parent)
Referrals
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New referrals and referrals on closed cases should be made to the
LA children’s social care duty social worker. Referrals on open
cases should be made to the allocated social worker for the case
(or in their absence the manager or the duty social worker)
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All referrals from professionals should be confirmed in writing, by
the referrer, within 48 hours.
If the referrer has not received an acknowledgement of the referral
within three working days, they should contact LA children’s social
care again.
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Time scales
• For all referrals to LA children’s social care, the
child should be regarded as potentially a child in
need, and the referral should be evaluated on the
day of receipt (and no later than within one
working day), and a decision made regarding the
next course of action
Checks and information gathering
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When taking a referral, LA children’s social care must establish as much of
the following information as possible:
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Full names (including aliases and spelling variations), date of birth and gender of
child/ren;
Family address and (where relevant) school / nursery attended;
Identity of those with parental responsibility;
Names and date of birth of all household members;
Ethnicity, first language and religion of children and parents;
Any special needs of children or parents;
Any significant / important recent or historical events / incidents in child or family’s life;
Cause for concern including details of any allegations, their sources, timing and
location;
Information gathering
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Child’s current location and emotional and physical condition;
Whether the child needs immediate protection;
Details of alleged perpetrator, if relevant;
Referrer’s relationship and knowledge of child and parents;
Known involvement of other agencies / professionals (e.g. GP);
Information regarding parental knowledge of, and agreement to, the
referral;
The information held on ContactPoint, where available. If there is a
flag, establish the reasons for this.
This process should establish:
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The nature of the concern;
How and why it has arisen;
What the child’s and the family’s needs appear to be;
Whether the concern involves abuse or neglect; and
Whether there is any need for any urgent action to protect
the child or any other children in the household or community.
Information sharing
• A decision to discuss the referral with other agencies without
parental knowledge or permission should be authorised by a
LA children’s social care manager, and the reasons recorded.
• LA children’s social care should make it clear to families
(where appropriate) and other agencies that the information
provided for this assessment may be shared with other
agencies, and contribute to the exemplar completed at the
end of the assessment.
Information sharing
• Personal information about non-professional
referrers should not be disclosed to third parties
(including subject families and other agencies)
without consent.
• The parents’ permission should be sought before
discussing a referral about them with other
agencies, unless permission-seeking may itself
place a child at risk of significant harm.
Child Protection
• The LA children’s social care manager should be
informed of any potential s47 enquiries and
authorise the decision to initiate action.
• The threshold may be met for a s47 enquiry at
the time of referral, following checks and
information gathering or at any point of LA
children’s social care involvement.
• The police must be informed at the earliest
opportunity if a crime may have been committed.
The immediate response to
referrals may be:
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No further action at this stage;
Provision of services;
A fuller initial assessment of needs (which may be very brief if the
criteria for initiating a s47 enquiry are met);
A core assessment if indications exist that the case is particularly
complex or several initial assessments have previously been
completed;
Emergency action to protect a child;
A s47 strategy meeting / discussion (where child and/or family are
well known or the facts clearly indicate that s47 enquiry is
required).
Outcomes
• A LA children’s social care manager must
approve the outcomes of a referral and ensure
an ICS chronology has been commenced and/or
updated.
• LA children’s social care must acknowledge all
referrals within one working day
No further action
• Where there is to be no further LA children’s
social care action, feedback should be provided
to family and referrers about the outcome of this
stage of the referral.
• In the case of referrals from members of the
public, feedback must be consistent with the
rights to confidentiality of the child and their
family.
The
London Child Protection
Procedures
3rd Edition, 2007
The
London Child Protection
Procedures
3rd Edition, 2007
The Child Protection Conference
Changes to the Child Protection
Process
• From 12th December 2007 Havering Children’s
Social Care (C.S.C.) will cease to hold a Child
Protection Register
• When a Child Protection Conference decides that
a child is at risk of harm, the child will be referred
to as a Child subject to a Child Protection Plan.
What will change?
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There will not be a child protection register
A list of those children subject to a child protection plan will be held
within Children Social Care
Professionals with concerns for a child will be able to check
whether the child is known to C.S.C. by contacting the Quality
Assurance Unit 01708 433066 in the day time or the Emergency
Duty Team 01708 433999 during evenings, weekends and public
holidays
Professionals requesting information must give the reason for their
enquiry to the C.S.C. worker so that appropriate information can be
shared and timely action taken.
What stays the same?
• Changes do not effect threshold for significant harm or the
categories of harm but relate specifically to terminology and
process once the conference has decided that a child is at
risk of harm.
• Good practice remains - The change will support a clear,
focused and structured approach to working with all children
subject to a plan
• The Conference
The Outline Plan
• This will be drawn up at the conference
when a decision is made that the child is at
risk of harm
• The aim of the outline plan is to assist the
core group to form a more detailed plan
and ensure that it is implemented
Monitoring progress
• Review of progress on achieving the
outcomes set out in the child protection
plan and consideration as to whether
changes need to be made should be an
agenda item at each review conference.
Discontinuing the Plan
• Where appropriate the child protection plan can
be discontinued. This will be during a review
Child Protection conference and following the
chairs decision that the child no longer requires
the protection of a child protection plan.
• In these cases a child plan may be devised .
Core Groups
• The core group will develop the plan and monitor
implementation of the plan.
• The Core Group will be chaired by the social
worker unless the case has been identified to be
complex.
• In those circumstances the Core Group will be
chaired by a senior member of staff or IRO
Complex case
• A case is complex if any of the following are
present
• Frustrated access
• Superficial engagement
• Children returning home with a Child Protection
Plan.
• It will be the responsibility of the Conference
Chair to identify the level of complexity
Supervision
• Monitoring will occur within regular
supervision and it will be the responsibility
of the case worker to bring issues to the
attention of the manager.
Responsibility for the Plan
• All professionals working with the family
have a responsibility to bring concerns to
the attention of the social worker
Information for Professionals
• Further information regarding the changes
can be found on the information leaflet held
within your packs
The
London Child Protection
Procedures
3rd Edition, 2007
Children in specific circumstances