safeguarding awareness jan blackburn lscb training and development officer bexley safeguarding...

Bexley Safeguarding Children Board 1

Safeguarding Awareness

Jan Blackburn LSCB Training and Development Officer

Aim: to raise awareness in 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 types 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.

Bexley Safeguarding Children Board


Bexley Safeguarding Childrens’ Board

Bexley Safeguarding Children Board

Working Together 2015

Safeguarding children and protecting them from harm is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play.3

5



No single professional can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances and, if children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action.


Barriers to Working Together

• With Families

• Between Professionals


Safeguarding and Promoting Welfare

Taking action to enable all children to

have the best outcomes

Ensuring children

grow up with the provision of safe and

effective care

Preventing impairment of children’s

health or development

Protecting children from maltreatment

London Child Protection Procedures 2015


For children who need additional help, every day matters.

Academic research is consistent in underlining the damage to children from delaying intervention. The actions taken by professionals to meet the needs of these children as early as possible can be critical to their future.

Working Together to safeguard Children 2015


Continuum Of Need

Everyday needs

Simple support needs

Child protection

needs

s47

Complex support needs /

Children in Need

s17Common

Assessment Framework


Safeguarding Children

Child Protection is a part of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. This refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm.

Working together to safeguard Children 2010.


Child Protection

Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on local authorities to make

enquiries if there is “reasonable cause to

suspect that a child who lives, or is found, in their

area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant

harm.”


Significant Harm ‘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)


Significant Harm

Under s31 (10) of the Children Act 2004, the question of whether harm suffered by a child is significant relates specifically to the child’s health and development. Their health or development should be compared with that which could reasonably be expected of a similar child.

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010,


Recognising Abuse

Children can be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting, by those known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger for example, via the internet. They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children.(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010, 1.32, p37)

NEGLECT

PHYSICAL ABUSESEXUAL ABUSE

EMOTIONAL ABUSE


Recognising Abuse

Exercise:

What are the signs of:

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Emotional Abuse

Neglect


Vulnerability

Children who may be more vulnerable to beingharmed

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)


Vulnerability 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


VulnerabilityDisabled children are:

3.8 time more likely to beneglected;

3.8 more likely to bephysically abused;

3.1 times more likely to beemotionally abused.


Children In Need

… vulnerability is such that they are unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or

their health and development will be

significantly impaired, without the provision of

services;those who are

disabled.

(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010, 1.25, p35)


Children in Need

Local authorities have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need.


Identifying Early Need

• Professionals should .. Be alert to the potential need for early help for a child who:

• Is disabled and has specific additional needs;• Has special educational needs;• Is a young carer;• Is showing signs of engaging in anti-social or criminal

behaviour;


Identifying Early Need (2)

• Is in a family circumstance presenting challenges for the child, such as substance abuse, adult mental health problems and domestic violence;

• Has returned home to their family from care

• Is showing early signs of abuse and / or neglect• Working Together 2015


Continuum of need exercise


Responding to a Concern

Take time to read

local C.P.

procedures and

guidelines

Listen carefully to what the child says without interrupting

Keep an open mind about what you are told.

Think about what you might say/do/how you present before it happens

Take any disclosure seriously, even if you cannot see any injury.

Try to be

available to be

spoken to. The

child may not be

ready when you

are.


Responding

Be sensitive -

arrange a safe and

private

environment for

the child to talk.

Acknowledge how difficult it was for the child to tell, explain what needs to happen next.

Be honest - don’t make promises that

you can’t keep.

Be supportive - put arrangements in place for initial support.

Stay calm - don’t show shock or horror.

Be reassuring - tell the child that they were

right to tell/have done nothing wrong.


Responding

Don’t promise

confidentiality.

Don’t be afraid of being wrong,

or be concerned about starting an investigation - you will be supported

Don’t delay

action in

response to a

disclosure

At the earliest

opportunity

make a written

record.

Don’t pre-judge what you are told or make assumptions.


Responding

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.


Legislation, Guidance and Procedure


Making a Referral

Always telephone children’s social care 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.


Making a Referral

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


Making a ReferralIf 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 children’s services.

This is sometimes made after assessment under the Common Assessment Framework has indicated that it is required.

An assessment under the Common Assessment Framework and/or referral for support for a ‘Child in Need’ should only occur with parental consent.


Making a referral

When referring a child to children’s social care, you should consider and include any information you have on the child’s development needs and their parents / carers ability to respond to these needs within the context of their wider family and environment.

What to do if you’re worried a child is being abusedMarch 2015


Assessment Framework

Family and Environmental Factors

Parenting CapacityCh

ild’s

Deve

lopm

enta

l Nee

ds

CH

CHILDSafeguarding

and Promoting

Welfare

Basic Care

Emotional Warmth

Stimulation

Guidance & Boundaries

Ensuring Safety

Stability

Health

Education

Identity

Emotional & Behavioural Development

Family & Social Relationships

Social Presentation

Self-care Skills

Family History

& functioning

Wider Fam

ily

Housing

Employm

ent

Income

Family &

Social

Integration

Comm

unity

Resources


Information Sharing

There are many situations in which professionals can share information legally without obtaining consent from a child or his carer …. When an assessment of the risk factors affecting a child or family is being undertaken, information will be shared without consent when consultation has taken place with a line manager or designated safeguarding professional.


Information Sharing

You should weigh up what might be happen if the information is shared against the consequences of not sharing the information. Early sharing of information is key to providing effective early help where there are emerging problems.

What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused 2015


Bexley Procedures

M.A.S.H.Front Door CAF


CAF Process

Plan progresses, CAF closed and CAF admin

notified

Smart Plan agreed and next TAF meeting agreed

TAF agreed with relevant agencies

Assessment on child / family completed

Basic details and consent sent to CAF admin

Child needing multi-agency support

Seek written consent from parent / young

person (16+)

Plan not achieved, consider referral for TF or

CSC


Responsibilities

• Serious case reviews alert us to the fact that once a referral is made, professionals often believe they have no further responsibility. Criticisms have been made of this.

• If you don’t hear about a referral, check out what decision has been made in respect of the child / family and if your concerns continue, consider escalating the case.

• LSCB website contains an escalation form.


Challenge

‘There had been plenty of opportunities to intervene in this child’s life, but this required the professionals involved to challenge the actions and decisions of other professionals, not to make assumptions about what others would do, and to take personal responsibility for following through on concerns about children’s safety and welfare’.

Brandon et al.


Case Study


Voice of the Child

Anyone working with children should see and speak to the child; listen to what they say; take their views seriously; and work with them collaboratively when deciding how to support their needs.


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

Voice of the Child


Voice of the Child

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)

Know your establishment’s child protection procedures.

Know how to recognise the signs that should cause

concern.

Discuss your concerns about a child with your

manager, a senior manager or the person with

responsibility for child protection.

Always make a referral to the local authority children’s

social care services department when you have cause

to believe that a child has suffered and/or may suffer

harm.Seek advice from the local authority children’s social

care services department if in any doubt about making

a referral.

Responsibilities


Useful Information

• http://www.bexleylscb.org.uk/

• http://www.londonscb.gov.uk/procedures

• https://www.education.gov.uk

• http://www.bexley.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=12619

http://www.bexleylscb.org.uk/

http://www.bexleylscb.org.uk/

http://www.londonscb.gov.uk/procedures

http://www.londonscb.gov.uk/procedures

https://www.education.gov.uk/

https://www.education.gov.uk/

http://www.bexley.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=12619



safeguarding awareness jan blackburn lscb training and development officer bexley safeguarding...

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