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Contents

The Core Group and its Meetings  

Role of Lead Social Worker and other Professionals  

The Agreement of a Detailed Child Protection Plan 

Outline Child Protection Plan

Interventions 

Recording Requirements

The Core Group and its Meetings

When a child is subject of a Child Protection Plan, an outline Child Protection Plan must be formulated at the Child Protection Conference (see Child Protection Conferences Procedure) and a Lead Social Worker from Children's Social Care Services will be appointed to co-ordinate and lead the inter-agency Child Protection Plan.

The forum in which to undertake this multi-agency work is the Core Group. The membership of the Core Group will have been identified at the Child Protection Conference.

The Core Group is responsible for implementing and developing the Child Protection Plan into a detailed working tool.

The first meeting of the Core Group will be chaired by the line manager for the identified Lead Social Worker, this will be on the date set by the Child Protection Conference and within 10 working days.

Responsibilities of the Core Group

All members of the Core Group are jointly responsible for:

• Collecting information to assist the Lead Social Worker in completing the Core Assessment
• The formulation and implementation of the Child Protection Plan refining it as necessary
• Providing an evaluation of their work for the Child Protection Review Conference
• Monitoring progress of the Child Protection Plan against specified objectives
• Making recommendations to subsequent Review Conferences about future Child Protection Plans and/or whether the Child Protection Plan can be discontinued
• Participating in the compilation of the Core Assessment
• Creating an intervention strategy
• Coordinating and communicating their efforts
• Meeting regularly with parents/carers and the child/ren to monitor progress
• Requesting a new Conference if the plans cannot be achieved or are needing to be significantly altered

Where any member of the Core Group is aware of difficulties implementing the Child Protection Plan due to changed or unforeseen circumstances, the Lead Social Worker must be informed immediately and consideration given to recalling a Core Group meeting to re-consider the Child Protection Plan.

Circumstances about which the Lead Social Worker should be informed, include inability to gain access to a child subject to a Child Protection Plan, for whatever reasons, on two consecutive home visits.

If the difficulty in implementing the Child Protection Plan impacts on the safety of the child, managers and advisers (manager of the relevant Children's Social Care Team, designated/named doctor, nurse, teacher) must be consulted and consideration be given to the need for immediate legal action, a Section 47 Enquiry (Child Protection Enquiry) and/or to bring forward the date of the Review Child Protection Conference.

If members are concerned that there are difficulties implementing the Child Protection Plan due to disagreement amongst professional agencies or a Core Group member not carrying out agreed responsibilities this must be addressed by discussion with Core Group members. If required a referral to respective managers / advisers (i.e. designated/named doctor, nurse, teacher or Detective Chief Inspector of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit) must be made.

Membership

Membership of the Core Group will have been identified at the Child Protection Conference and must include the Lead Social Worker / manager as chair.

It will include parents/carers, child (if appropriate) and other relevant family members.

Professionals and any carers in direct regular contact with the child should also be included.

Timing

The date of the first Core Group meeting must be within 10 working days of the Child Protection Conference. This date must be arranged at the end of the conference, along with the required frequency of subsequent meetings.

Thereafter, the Core Group should meet sufficiently regularly to facilitate working together, monitor actions and outcomes against the Child Protection Plan, and make any necessary alterations as circumstances change.

Good practice would be for the Core Groups to meet within 6 weeks of their initial meeting, and at a minimum frequency of once every 2 months following the first Review Conference. More regular meetings may be required according to the needs of the child.

Dates for future meetings must be agreed at the first Core Group meeting following each conference.

Further Core Group Meetings will usually be chaired by the Lead Social Worker.

Role of Lead Social Worker and other Professionals

The role of the Lead Social Worker

At every initial or pre-birth conference, where a child's is subject to a Child Protection Plan, the chair will name a qualified social worker, identified by the social work team manager, to fulfil the role of  Lead Social Worker for the child.

The Lead Social Worker is always a suitably qualified social worker from within Children's Social Care Services.

The primary role of the Lead Social Worker is to ensure that agencies fulfil their responsibilities to the child which include the co-ordination and formulation in writing of the agreed plan for the child. The  Lead Social Worker is the lead professional in coordinating the multi-agency work under the Child Protection Plan.

This places a particular onus on the Lead Social Worker both to initiate and to promote communication within the Core Group.

The Lead Social Worker should:

• Convene and chair second and subsequent Core Group meetings
• Invite additional members to the Core Group as needed and ensure that they are aware of the next conference date
• Provide a written record of meetings for all Core Group members their manager and the chair of the Conference
• Ensure that the outline Child Protection Plan is developed, in conjunction with members of the Core Group, into a detailed multi agency protection plan
• To promote good communication between agencies and with the family, ensuring: 
  • Parents and, where appropriate, children, are clear about the role and responsibility of the Core Group and that they are properly involved in developing the Child Protection Plan. 
  • Core Group members are aware of significant events in the family's life and consulted about proposed changes to the Child Protection Plan, (which will need to be approved by a Child Protection Conference)
• Any parent who has been excluded from the Core Group is informed of discussions and outcomes as appropriate to the child’s welfare and safety
• Clearly note and include in the written record any areas of disagreement
• Produce a written agreement from the Child Protection Plan to be signed by all members of the Core Group, copied to all signatories and maintained on the child's file
• Obtain a full understanding of the family history (which must involve reading all previous records held by their agency, including those relating to other children who have been part of any households including the current carers of the child – additional information should be obtained from other relevant agencies and local authorities)
• Contribute to and complete the Core Assessment of the child and family, securing contributions / information from Core Group members and any other agencies with relevant information as necessary
• Commission, on behalf of the Core Group, any external/other professional  contribution to the required assessment
• Put together the assessment report of the Core Group before the Child Protection Review Conference
• Co-ordinate the contribution of family members and all agencies in putting the plan into action and reviewing the objectives stated in the plan
• To ensure that, where a child subject to a Child Protection Plan is also subject to statutory review as a Looked After Child, active consideration is given, with the Safeguarding Children Service, to combining the meetings wherever possible or appropriate
• Ensure the child/ren are seen at a frequency necessary by the Lead Social Worker or by another member of the Core Group (see below) with the following minimum requirements
• Ensure that the Lead Social Worker her/himself sees the child alone and with other family members or caregivers present at home at least every 4 weeks
• Ensure that the child’s bedroom is seen at least every 8 weeks
• Ensure s/he see the child alone or babies awake at least every 4 weeks (if parents refuse, the Children’s Social Care supervising manager must be informed) 
  
  The frequency of contact by the Lead Social Worker or Core Group members detailed above is the general minimum standard. At each subsequent Core Group meeting the frequency of visits should be discussed to ensure that they remain appropriate. 
  
  In exceptional circumstances the Core Group may decide that the required contact level should be less or more frequent based on the individual circumstance of the child. Any such decision should be authorised by Children's Social Care Supervising Manager. 
  
  If the Lead Social Worker has difficulty obtaining direct access to the child, the supervising manager as well as other Core Group members should be informed. This must be viewed as a serious breach of the Child Protection Plan. Immediate discussion with the manager may deem it appropriate to seek legal advice about statutory protective action.

In exceptional circumstances responsibility for face to face contact with the child may be delegated. In this case formal agreement must be reached with the member of another agency. Such a decision must be recorded and authorised by managers of the agencies concerned, set up under an explicit, written agreement and must be monitored by the Lead Social Worker.

Absence of the Lead Social Worker

Where a Lead Social Worker cannot be appointed in time for the initial Core Group meeting or the Lead Social Worker becomes unavailable for more than four weeks, it becomes the responsibility of the Children's Social Care Services manager to ensure that the  Lead Social Worker's role and functions are met, or to notify their own manager that they cannot be met.

It is the responsibility of the Lead Social Worker, in liaison with their manager to ensure that clear cover arrangements are made when the Lead Social Worker is absent on annual leave, training etc.

Parents and child must be informed of planned absences of the  Lead Social Worker, who will be covering the role and what contacts will be made.

The role of professional workers when acting as Core Group members

Child Protection Plans should be formulated with the specific roles of the Core Group members in mind so that everyone is clear about the individual and shared responsibilities.

Supervision, managerial and professional support to individual Core Group members remain with their agency. However, the chair of the conference or the Safeguarding Children Service will provide advice to the Core Group on any inter-agency problems which the Core Group is unable to resolve.

The responsibilities of individual Core Group members are to:

• Accept that the child’s needs remain paramount and maintain a child-centred focus
• Contribute to the multi-agency assessments
• Make suggestions or approaches, if appropriate, for the involvement of other specifically skilled professionals or agencies seen as relevant.
• Attend and participate in Core Group meetings or other relevant meetings
• Carry out agreed tasks in accordance with their own agency functions: if this is not possible the Lead Social Worker must be consulted before any plans regarding the child or family are altered
• Provide specialist advice which will inform the Child Protection Plan
• Provide the Lead Social Worker with written reports as requested
• Produce an individual agency report on the child and the family for the Child Protection Review Conferences. Those unable to attend should forward a copy of this report to the Lead Social Worker
• Communicate regularly with the Lead Social Worker about the progress of their own part of the agreed Child Protection Plan
• Inform the Lead Social Worker of any change in circumstances relevant to the Child Protection Plan
• Alert the Lead Social Worker to any planned absence and the cover arrangements.
• Alert the  Lead Social Worker to the need to convene either a Core Group meeting or to reconvene the Review Conference early
• Help identify unmet need

The Agreement of a Detailed Child Protection Plan

Core Group members must agree a plan which will protect the child(ren) at that point. It might be a continuation or elaboration of the plan agreed at the Child Protection Conference depending on the way the situation has developed.

Failure to obtain or retain co-operation of the parents or child in working on the plan must be brought immediately to the attention of the Lead Social Worker's manager, so that the need for protective action and/or a reconvened Child Protection Conference can be considered.

All agencies are responsible for the implementation of the child protection plan and all professionals must ensure they are able to deliver their commitments, or if not possible, that these are renegotiated.

Agreeing the plan with the child and parents 

The Child Protection Plan should be explained to and agreed with the child in a manner which is in accordance with their age and understanding.

Parents should be clear about the evidence of Significant Harm which resulted in the child becoming the subject of a Child Protection Plan. They also need to understand what needs to change, and about what is expected of them as part of the plan for safeguarding and promoting the child's welfare.

All parties should be clear about the respective roles and responsibilities of family members and different agencies in implementing the plan.

The child should be given a copy of the plan written at a level appropriate to his or her age and understanding, and in his or her preferred language.

The parents should receive a written copy of the plan so that they are clear about who is doing what, when it is due to happen and the planned outcomes for the child.

An interpreter should be used if the level of English means that the child and or his/her parents are not able to participate fully in the discussions.

The family must be told about their right to complain and the procedure for so doing.

Outline Child Protection Plan

Following a decision to make a child subject of a Child Protection Plan, an outline plan must be drawn up at initial and review conferences.

The outline plan should include an indication of what the conference believes needs to change before discontinuation of the plan can be considered.

The aim of the outline plan is to assist the Core Group to form a clearer focus of work with the family and to explicitly define individual professional responsibilities.

The overall aim of the plan is to:

• Ensure the child is safe and prevent him or her from suffering further harm by supporting the strengths, addressing the vulnerabilities and risk factors and helping to meet the child's unmet needs.
• Promote the child’s health and development i.e. his or her welfare, and
• Provided it is in the best interests of the child, to support the family and wider family members to safeguard and promote the welfare of their child.

The plan will detail the recommendations made at the conference and include broad objectives for the child’s welfare:

• Identifying her/his specific needs
• Identification of risk factors and actions required to protect the child from Significant Harm
• Types of services required by the child to support the family in promoting the child’s welfare
• Time limited, short and longer term objectives with clear targets, timescales and review dates
• Required outcomes linked to a reduction in the risk to the child
• Time scales for the completion of a Core Assessment, if appropriate
• Identification of any specialist assessments of the child / family that may be required to ensure sound judgments can be made on how best to safeguard the child and promote her/his welfare
• Responsibility for tasks must be ascribed to specific members of the conference, including family members
• Means of monitoring and evaluating progress, including identifying which professional is responsible for checking required changes
• Consideration of a contingency plan and the circumstances that would necessitate its use

Formulating the Child Protection Plan

The plan will be outlined at the conference and the Lead Social Worker and Core Group are responsible for ensuring it is drawn up in detail and acted upon.

The Core Group will regularly review and where necessary modify the Child Protection Plan.

The Child Protection Plan will constitute an agenda item at each Review Conference.

The Child Protection Plan should be used to clarify expectations and assist in joint working towards shared goals. It can also be used as evidence, in any legal proceedings, of the efforts which have been made to work in partnership (this must be made clear to parents).

Child Protection Plan

The plan should be based on the findings of the Core Assessment and follow the dimensions of the Assessment Framework.

The Core Group is responsible for drawing up in more detail the Child Protection Plan for each child covering the following areas:

• A description of the identified developmental needs of the child and what services are required
• Ethnic / cultural / religious considerations - e.g. necessity for an interpreter, avoidance of appointments with family on significant religious festivals
• Issues arising from any disability
• A consideration of the views of the child, insofar as this is consistent with the child’s welfare
• A consideration of the views of the parents, insofar as this is consistent with the child’s welfare
• Identification of risks to the child and means of protection
• Identification of parenting strengths
• A clear identification of roles and responsibilities of professionals and family members
• Identification of what needs to change to reduce the risk of Significant Harm
• Identification of actions by parents and other members of the core group to promote the child’s health and development
• Timescales for actions required to be completed by the parents and all members of the Core Group
• Identification of actions to support the family and wider family members in promoting the welfare of the child
• A description of the nature and frequency of contact with the child and the roles and responsibilities of professionals, including specialist resources
• Identification of what further core and specialist assessment is necessary to assist in judgements about safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child
• Identification of who (including family members) will be responsible for what actions, taking into consideration the wishes and feelings of the child
• Establishment of specific short term and long term aims and objectives
• Identification of time-scales for the objectives to be achieved
• Identification of measurements for success (how will the family and professionals know there has been change)
• Method of monitoring and evaluating progress, including
• Identifying which professional is responsible for checking required changes
• Consideration of a contingency plan if circumstances change quickly, or if insufficient change occurs
• Visiting patterns for the children to be seen both by the Lead Social Worker and any other agency

Interventions

Decisions about how to intervene, including what services are on offer, should be based on evidence about what is likely to work best to bring about good outcomes for the child.

Interventions must be provided to give the child and family the best opportunities of achieving the required changes. If a child cannot be cared for safely at home, s/he will need to be placed elsewhere whilst work is undertaken with both child and family.

Intervention should address the child’s needs and may involve action to promote her or his health, development and safety, particularly with regard to the need to develop a secure parent-child attachment.

Irrespective of where the child is living, interventions should specifically address:

• The developmental needs of the child
• The child’s understanding of what has happened to him or her
• The abusing caregiver/child relationship and parental capacity to respond to the child’s need
• The relationship between the adult care givers both as adults and parents
• Family relationships and
• Possible changes to the families social and environmental circumstances

Interventions may have a number of inter-related components:

• Action to make a child safe
• Action to help promote a child’s health and development i.e. welfare
• Action to help a parent(s)/caregivers(s) in safeguarding a child and promoting his or her welfare
• Therapy for an abused child and
• Support or therapy for a perpetrator of abuse

Critically, decision making must consider if the child’s developmental needs can be responded to within the family and within timescales appropriate for the child.

See Chapter 4 of the Assessment Framework (DH 2000) for guidance on decisions about interventions.

Recording Requirements 

There should be a written record of the decisions taken and actions agreed at Core Group meetings. The Child Protection Plan should be updated as necessary.

This must be placed on the child's file. Copies must be circulated to all members of the Core Group and the chair of the conference. The Plan is the basis for reviewing progress.

If the Child Protection Plan is not successful in achieving objectives, a Child Protection Conference must be reconvened.

Any delays in implementing the Child Protection Plan should be monitored and any appropriate action taken by the Lead Social Worker, their supervisor, and at Reviews.

There always has to be the possibility that intervention, monitoring or further assessment will reach the conclusion that the situation is not safe and the child will need to be removed in their interests.

The Lead Social Worker must make a record of the Core Group meetings and formulate the detailed Child Protection Plan in the form of a written agreement for all parties to sign.

The plan should be constructed with the family in their preferred language.

Copies of the notes and the written agreement should be circulated to Core Group members and conference chair within 5 working days of the Core Group meeting.

The signed agreement should be returned to the  Lead Social Worker within another 5 working days.

Any dissent about the plan, by family or professionals, must be recorded, with reasons.

All members of the Core Group should complete an up-to-date signed record in accordance with their agency policy but must include:

• The time and date of every home visit, stating who was present, confirmation that the worker spoke with the child (including if alone), or providing a clear reason why not
• Any information gained or observations made during the visit are relevant to the identified risks to the child
• Circumstances of all family members
• Specific information about key areas of concern
• Factual reports of the child’s presentation and behaviour (these should be specific and avoid non-specific labels e.g. 'disturbed’)
• Any new incidents or injuries, which must be subject to full enquiries.

End