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SET Procedures 2011
Update briefings
Purpose of briefing
• To give practitioners in the local children’s workforce an understanding of what has changed in the latest SET procedures
• Identify how the Procedures can now be accessed
Latest SET Child Protection Procedures available at:
www.escb.co.uk
How to use the SET Procedures
• These procedures are a reference document
• Paper copies will not be available (under review nationally-Munro review)
• The pdf document is searchable and the index will allow users to jump to specific sections
So what has changed?
• All sections have been reviewed by a multi-agency group comprising of the three LSCBs within Essex in line with latest guidance and best practice.
• Some new additions to Agency roles and responsibilities reflecting the wider involvement of agencies in child protection
So what has changed?
• Sections 5 and 10 in the old 2006 Procedures have been amalgamated in one section (Section 9) to avoid duplication
• Section 9 – Additional Procedures is the area where guidance on protection in specific circumstances is now given
Some new additions for 2011
• Animal abuse and links to abuse of children and domestic abuse (9.3)
• Child abuse linked to belief in spirit possession (9.5)
• Child victims of trafficking (9.6)
• Children missing from education (9.7)
• Hate crime /harassment (9.14)
• Honour based abuse (9.17)
Some new additions for 2011
• Safeguarding children and young people affected by gangs (9.31)
• Unaccompanied children and young people arriving in the UK (9.38)
• Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (12.7)
Animal Abuse
Recognition of links between animal abuse and child abuse.
Protocol developed to work with RSPCA.
A child displaying intentional cruelty to animals could indicate that the child has been a victim of neglect and/or abuse
9.3 SET Procedures 2011
Child Abuse and Spirit Possession
• Defined as the belief that an evil force has entered a child and is controlling him or her (9.5.1)
• Whilst the number of identified cases is currently small, the nature of child abuse is disturbing and impact on child is substantial and serious
• Procedures give advice on how best to respond to this form of abuse
Child Victims of Trafficking
• Defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat, or use of force or other forms of coercion for the purpose of sexual or commercial exploitation or domestic servitude (9.6.1)
• Procedures outline a list of risk indicators and appropriate way to respond if trafficking is suspected
Gangs
• All practitioners who have contact with children and young people should be able to recognise when a child is vulnerable to, or at risk of harm from, gang involvement or activity (9.31.1)
• Range of risk factors identified and appropriate response for different situations – this may be initially at CAF level or in more serious cases, requiring emergency protective action
Specific areas strengthened for 2011
In addition to those new sections, some existing areas have been revised and strengthened in the new Procedures.
These include:• Domestic Abuse• MAPPA• Serious Case Reviews • Child Death Reviews
Guidance for Threshold of Need and Intervention
Local authorities have a statutory duty to publish guidance on thresholds for access to Children’s Social Care
The guidance is regularly reviewed and updated
Please ensure that you are using the most up to date guidance – January 2011
Guidance for Threshold of Need and Intervention
Level OneUniversalChildren with noadditional needs
Level TwoVulnerableChildren with additional needs
Level ThreeComplexChildren withcomplexneeds
Level FourAcuteChildren whose needsare complex, prolongedor critical
Duty to Refer
Everybody who works or has contact with families (or pregnant women) should be able to recognise and know how to act upon, evidence a child’s health or development (or that of an unborn baby) is being or maybe impaired
5.1.1 SET Procedures 2011
Referrals to Social Care• Referrals to Social Care Direct can be made via
telephone, (0845 603 7627) fax, post or email
• Referrals need to be submitted on an ECC999 form, if a CAF has been completed then attach it
• The Initial Response Team (IRT) offer a consultation service Mon-Fri, office hours on 01206 266068
Listening to the Child
If the child or young person can understand the significance and consequences of making a referral to Children’s Social Care, s/he should be asked her/his view
This should be recorded on the referral form
4.5.18 SET Procedures 2011
Informing parent/s of referralWhere practicable, concerns should be discussed with the parent and agreement sought for referral to Children’s Social Care unless seeking agreement is likely to:
• Place the child at risk of significant harm through delay or the parent’s action or reactions
• Lead to the risk of loss of evidential material4.5.20 SET Procedures 2011
When not to inform parentsGenerally DO NOT contact parents
– Where discussion would impede a police investigation or social work enquiry
– Where sexual abuse is suspected– Where organised or multiple abuse is suspected– Where the fabrication of an illness is suspected– ‘One Chance Rule’
Do not delay referral where it is not possible to contact parents/carersIf in doubt discuss with Social Care
Parental refusal for referral
If it is still considered that there is a need for a referral:
• The reason for proceeding without agreement must be recorded
• Children’s Social Care should be told the parent has withheld permission and a discussion held about when and how s/he should be told of the referral
Parental refusal for referral
The parent should be contacted to inform him/her that after considering his/her wishes, a referral has been made
(unless discussion with Children’s Social Care concluded this action might increase the risk of harm to the child)
4.5.27 SET Procedures 2011
Resolution of Professional Disagreement
• Problem resolution is an integral part of professional co-operation and joint working to safeguard children
• The safety of individual child/ren and focus on child/ren are the paramount considerations in any professional disagreement
13.6 SET Procedures 2011
Children Missing from Education
•As a result of daily registration, schools are particularly well placed to notice when a child has gone missing
•Specific Children Missing Education Policy
•There is a named point of contact in every local authority and every practitioner working with a child has a responsibility to inform this person if s/he knows or suspects that a child is not receiving education
ECC contact is Rachel Thorogood, Tel: 01245 437900 [email protected]
9.7 SET Procedures 2011
Private Fostering
When a child under 16 (or 18 if disabled) is cared for and provided with accommodation, by an adult who is not a relative, for 28 days or more, it is called private fostering.
A relative in this situation is either a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt. They can be a full or half relation and could be related by marriage. Relatives also include step-parents.
Private Fostering
Professionals who work with children also have a duty to notify the Council of any private fostering arrangements they know of.
Essex contact number 0800 801 530 or email [email protected]
Domestic Abuse
Domestic abuse is defined by the Home Office as
“Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality”.
9.10 SET Procedures 2011
Domestic Abuse• On average two women a week are killed by a current
or former partner This constitutes nearly 40% of all female homicide victims
• 30% of domestic abuse starts in pregnancy 52% of child protection cases involve domestic abuse
• 70% of children in UK refuges have been abused by their father
• 90% of domestic abuse incidents occurs with the children in the same or the next room (4)
What is MARAC?
• Monthly Multi-agency formal meeting• Highest risk domestic abuse victims• Considers risk to victims, children and other
vulnerable people in the household• Includes same sex relationships, interfamily as
well as heterosexual relationships. • Mainly female victims of male partner or ex-
partner violence• Any signed up agency can refer in cases which
meet the threshold• Essex county MARAC coordinator is employed
by Essex Police
Aims of MARAC• To share information to increase the safety, health
and well being of victims, adults and their children• To determine whether the perpetrator poses a
significant risk to any particular individual or to the general community
• To jointly construct and implement a risk management plan
• To reduce repeat victimisation• To improve agency accountability• Improve support for staff involved in high risk DV
cases
Key Outcome
One of the key outcomes of MARAC is that it moves the responsibility for addressing the domestic abuse from
the victim to a broader group of agencies
MARAC [email protected]
Domestic Homicide Reviews
•Are multi agency reviews following a domestic homicide
• To ensure lessons are learned and to identify what needs to change to reduce the risk of such tragedies happening again in the future
Honour Based Abuse
Honour based abuse is a crime or incident which has or may have been committed to protect or defend the ‘honour’ of the family and/or the community.
9.16 SET Procedures 2011
Recognition
• Some of the behaviours may be the same as those used in domestic abuse
• Practitioners should be aware that a child could be the victim of violence/abuse in the name of honour for what an outside person may perceive to be a minor issue
Response
• ‘One chance rule’
• Involving families in cases of forced marriage is dangerous
• Consider the safety of other siblings in the family
• Accurate, detailed and clear record keeping that is only available to those directly involved in the case
Forced Marriage
‘a marriage conducted without the valid consent of both parties, where duress is a factor’ (A Choice by Right, HM Govt, 2000)
There is a clear distinction between forced marriage and an arranged marriage
9.13 SET Procedures 2011
Female Genital Mutilation
A collective term for illegal procedures which include the removal of part/all external female genitalia for cultural or other non therapeutic reasons
FGM is illegal in this country by the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003
9.12 SET Procedures 2011
Risk Factors
• Parents from community that practise FGM.
• Mother has had FGM
• Parents indicate prolonged holiday
• Frequent trips to country of origin
• Child may talk of long holiday
• Older sibling may have had FGM
• Child may confide she is to have ‘special procedure’ or ‘celebration’
Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme
Right To Ask – Sarah’s Law
THE BACKGROUND
The Review of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenders (June 2007) focused on how child sexual offenders are managed, how sexual offending against children can be prevented and how to provide greater reassurance to the public.
This report created 20 actions, of which Actions 1 and 4 were of particular importance to the process.
Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme
Right To Ask – Sarah’s LawACTION 1
Pilot a community awareness programme, in partnership with non-governmental organisations, to provide better child protection and develop messages to help parents and carers safeguard children effectively.
ACTION 4
Pilot a process where members of the public can register their child protection interest in a named individual. Where this individual has convictions for child sex offences and is considered a risk, there will be a presumption that this information will be disclosed to the relevant member of the public.
Right to Ask in Essex
•Went live August 2010
•Enquiries can be made by anyone either in person or over the phone if they are concerned that a child may be at risk of sexual harm from a specific individual
•Police will then research all information given
•Checks are made with partner agencies
•Police will then decide if there is any information to disclose
•This information will only be disclosed to the most appropriate person who has responsibility for safeguarding that child
The Purpose & Stages of MAPPA
Identifying Offenders
Information Exchange
Risk Assessment
Risk Management
12.3 SET Procedures 2011
'Relevant Offenders' (Sec 68 CJCSA 2000)
All Registered Sexual Offenders. (Category 1)
All Violent & Other Sexual Offenders sentenced to imprisonment of 12 months or detained under a Hospital Order (Sec 37 MHA). (Category 2)
Any other Offender considered to ‘Pose a Significant risk of Serious Harm to the Public’. (Category 3).
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
All County level and unitary authorities must have a LADO
An initial discussion must always take place between the employer and the LADO when the concern or allegation meets the criteria
What is an allegation?Covers any concern that indicates a person who works with children has:
– behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child, or
– possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child, or
– behaved towards a child/ren in a way that indicates unsuitability to work with children
Chapter 11 SET Procedures 2011
Allegations Management
Essex has 2 Local Authority Designated Officers who can be contacted through the Quality Assurance and Safeguarding Service on 01245 436744
The Emergency Duty Service needs to be contacted should advice be needed outside office hours
These procedures apply to situations when:
there are suspicions, complaints or allegations of abuse by a person who works with children in either a paid or unpaid capacity
It is discovered that an individual known to have been involved previously in child abuse, is or has been working with children
Recruitment, Selection and Supervision
• SET Procedures outlines the minimum standards for safer recruitment-ESCB website has safer recruitment guidance and audit tool
• Good practice requires at least one member of an interview panel to be safer recruitment trained
• Safer recruitment training can be accessed via your LSCB and Children’s Workforce Development Council
Vetting and Barring SchemeThe following requirements, which came into effect
in October 2009, remain in place:• it is now a criminal offence for barred individuals
to apply to work with children or vulnerable adults in a wider range of posts than previously.
• Employers also face criminal sanctions for knowingly employing a barred individual across a wider range of work
• the three previous barring lists (POVA, POCA and List 99) are replaced by the creation of two new barred lists administered by the ISA rather than several government departments.
Serious Case Reviews
Working Together Chapter 8
SET Procedures 13.3
Purpose of Serious Case Reviews
• Establish whether there are lessons to be learned from the case about the way organisations work individually and together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children;
• Identify lessons both within and between agencies, how and within what timescale they will be acted on and what is expected to change as a consequence
Overall
• To improve intra and inter agency working and better safeguard and promote the welfare of children
Referrals for SCR • An SCR should always be undertaken when a child dies
(including by suicide) and abuse or neglect are known or suspected to be a factor in the death
• The LSCB should consider whether an SCR should be
undertaken in cases of: – Potentially life-threatening injury or serious and
permanent impairment of physical and / or mental health or development through abuse or neglect
– Serious harm resulting from sexual abuse – A parental homicide which is being subjected to a
domestic homicide review – Serious harm to a child following violent assault
perpetrated by another child or adult
Key changes to SCRs:
• For any SCR commissioned from June 2010 LSCBs are obliged to publish SCR overview reports in addition to an Executive Summary for the case (subject to appropriate redaction)
• SCRs and IMRs are subject to evaluation by Ofsted
Serious Case Reviews
• Current process is under review
• Recommendation 9 of the Munro Review on Child Protection (May 2011) proposed changes to the way SCRs are conducted
• Government will consider this further in late 2011
Themes from Essex serious case reviews
• Composition of household
• Frequent visitors to the household
• Who has parental responsibility including absent parents
• Race, ethnicity, religion and disability are recorded and considered in assessments about children’s needs and in planning to meet those needs in all agencies.
Themes from Essex serious case reviews
Frequent household moves within Essex as well as across local authority boundaries
Missed medical appointments
Child Death Reviews
Working Together Chapter 7
SET Procedures 13.4
Requirements
• All unexpected deaths of children should be subject to a rapid response by designated local professionals including a police officer and a nurse or paediatrician
• All deaths of children whether expected or unexpected and irrespective of cause should be reviewed at a local child death review panel
• The death of any child occurring in Southend, Essex or Thurrock should be notified to the ESCB via the agreed procedures – www.escb.co.uk
Changes • Statutory definition provided for a
‘preventable death’ – those in which modifiable factors may have contributed to the death
• Addition guidance added to procedures – communication with parents, retention and destruction of records, protocol re CDR / Corner interface
Changes• For SET area the majority of neo-natal deaths will
no longer be discussed at local CDR panel meetings unless concerning factors are identified
• When there is a death of a child in a household
and abuse and neglect are suspected to be factors action must be taken by agencies to ensure that the safety and welfare of other children in the household or family network is secured – senior managers should take responsibility for actions taken and for monitoring these (recommendation from Child B / 2008 SCR)
Key data (08-10)
• 224 deaths – Essex resident children
• 173 deaths discussed at panel – 29 deaths identified as preventable or potentially preventable
• Key themes: – Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy – presence of modifiable
factors – Road Traffic Accidents – Recognition of the onset of serious illness – Infections and immunisations – Safety in the home and around water
Multi-agency Policies coming soon
• Authoritative Practice
• Neglect Guidance
• Meetings Matrix
• Drug & Alcohol Use in Pregnancy
• Pre-birth Assessment
• Supervision of parents of children in hospital where there are safeguarding concerns
Munro Review
June 2010 Government commissioned a review of child protection by Prof Munro
Munro has now reported and the Government has responded to the recommendations
Useful contacts
Essex Safeguarding Children Board
MARAC Co-ordinator
Children Missing Education, ECC contact [email protected]
Notification of private fostering arrangements
Useful websitesEssex Safeguarding Children Board- www.escb.co.ukIntegrated Working-www.ecclms.co.uk/goecclms.aspEssex County Council-www.essex.gov.uk www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform- child protection resources for anyone working to safeguard childrenPolicy briefings and reports www.tri-x-childcare.co.ukSafer recruitment training and information www.cwdcouncil.co.uk
