1.1.1 Introduction, Principles, Values and Revisions

Please note: these procedures are available:

Through accessing the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board website
Via www.proceduresonline.com/coventry/scb/

For more information or advice, call Coventry Safeguarding Children Board Helpline:
024 76 833443

Click here to go to Referrals Procedure

PLEASE NOTE these key changes in terminology:

Child Protection Register has been replaced by Child Protection Plan

Social Services has been replaced by Children’s Social Care Service

CRRS has been replaced by Safeguarding Children Service

Introduction
Principles and Values
Revisions
Copyright

1. Introduction

Coventry Safeguarding Children Board believes protecting children and promoting their welfare is everybody’s business. Recognising when a child maybe at risk from Significant Harm and what to do about it is something all professionals working with children and families are likely to be faced with.

With the latest publication of ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ 2010 came the message that as well as protecting children from harm, we should also be focusing on promoting children and young peoples welfare through supporting families. Focusing on the needs of the child as much as the risk to a child will work towards giving children and families positive outcomes.

These procedures are based on ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010’ and the Department of Health Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families. . If more detailed information is required please refer to these documents.

The layout of these procedures is designed to give information from the point where a Common Assessment Framework is required, which is contained in Part 2 of this document, it is also designed to give information about the process of identifying a child who is in need and/or in need of protection, through to the way agencies work together with families to assess, plan, and review the needs of and risk to a child and how this process is brought to an end when a child is considered to be no longer at risk. There are also specific procedures relating to child protection concerns where it is important to understand that child protection concern and how to manage it for example procedures on forced marriage or female genital mutilation.

In line with this, agencies and organisations have worked together to produce these inter-agency procedures to give workers clear procedures and guidelines to assist them when they have concerns about a child or young person. For more information about Coventry Safeguarding Children Board please go to the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board website.

The Children Act 1989 has as a part of it a range of Section 7 guidance which charges Local Authorities and other public agencies as well as independent, charitable or voluntary agencies with duties and responsibilities in relation to children and young people to whom they provide a service or with whom they engage in some activity or support. This is further emphasised in section 11 of Children Act 2004 as it creates a duty for the key agencies who work with children to put in place arrangements to make sure they take account of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people when doing their jobs.

The Children Act 2004, statutory guidance on making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children section 11, sets out the key arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It applies to all those key bodies named under section 11.

The lessons over the past years centre on the need to communicate when there are concerns so that no one person should carry concerns about a child on their own. Where there have been Inquiries, the findings usually highlight that someone had been worried but had not shared that worry with a service such as the school, a health professional, the local Children’s Care Services or the Police.

The purpose of these procedures is to assist anyone who has a concern to find out how to share that concern, with whom and to give you some information about what should happen and how.

These procedures will be continuously revised and it is important all agencies and organisations have access to an accurate and up to date edition. Therefore all agencies must ensure they have a system in place for the distribution and addition of updated sections and the removal of outdated sections.

All agencies should take responsibility for ensuring that their staff has access to a full and current version of these procedures.

The Coventry Safeguarding Children Board would welcome any comments or views about its work and these procedures. If you think any information is missing or inaccurate please email

SafeguardingChildrenService@coventry.gov.uk who will take forward your comments.

The Coventry Safeguarding Children Board provides a programme of Inter Agency Training across the city and welcomes applicants from all agencies and organisations involved with children and young people. For more information about the training offered and how to book yourself onto a course please go to the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board website.

2. Principles And Values

Coventry Safeguarding Children Board believes that the best way to ensure the protection of children and young people is to provide support to families at the earliest opportunity so that children and young people's well-being is promoted. This is best achieved through collective action by all agencies, which maximises resources maximises the potential for effective support and enables families to experience help in a co-ordinated way.

In Part 2 you will find a model of working which has been developed in Coventry, that further these aims. This is called ‘Promoting Children & Young People’s Well-being in Coventry’. This model is based on the Common Assessment Framework and builds on the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families, introduced by the Department of Health in 2000.

It is the policy of the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board that Promoting Children & Young People’s Well-being Model is followed throughout Coventry.

The Promoting Children & Young People’s Well-being Model is underpinned by the following values:

Children and young people are best brought up in their families, and agencies should work to support this,
Services should be provided to meet the identified needs of children and young people
Agencies have a duty to co-operate to promote the well-being of children (section 10 Children Act 2004)
The safety of children should not be compromised
Children, young people and their families and carers should receive a consistent, fair and seamless service, and should feel as though they are dealing with one organisation, even if more than one is involved
Children, young people and their families and carers have the right to have their views taken into account
When following procedures and processes, positive outcomes for children and young people should be kept in sight
The earlier needs are identified and addressed, the less likely it is that children and young people will require intensive, high cost interventions, many of which have been shown to have marginally beneficial outcomes
Resources should be most effectively used by maximising the skills, knowledge and expertise of professionals and practitioners
Working in partnership with children, young people and their families and carers is most likely to improve life chances for families
Whilst processes set out a standardised way of working, all agencies must work to ensure that they respond to the diversity of the particular needs of children and young people from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds, and of disabled children and young people

The Coventry Safeguarding Children Board seek to support the achievement of the Governments five outcomes for children as set out in Every Child Matters. These are:

Be Healthy

This means babies, children and young people are physically, mentally and emotionally healthy, sexually healthy, living healthy lifestyles, and choosing not to take illegal drugs. We also want to help parent, carers and families to promote healthy choices.

Stay Safe

This means babies, children and young people are safe from maltreatment, neglect, violence and sexual exploitation, safe from accidental injury and death, safe from bullying and discrimination, safe from crime and anti-social behaviour in and out of school, and have security, stability and are cared for. We also want to help parents, carers, and families to provide safe homes and stability, to support learning and to develop independent living skills for their children.

Enjoy and achieve

This means young people are ready for school, school age children attend and enjoy school, children achieve stretching national educational standards at primary school, children and young people achieve stretching national educational standards at secondary school. We also want to help parents, carers and families to support learning.

Make a positive contribution

This means children and young people engage in decision making and support the community and environment, engage in law-abiding and positive behaviour in and out of school, develop self-confidence and successfully deal with significant life changes and challenges and develop enterprising behaviour. We also want to help parents, carers and families to promote positive behaviour.

Achieve economic well-being

This means young people engage in further education, employment or training on leaving school, young people are ready for employment, children and young people live in decent homes and sustainable communities, children and young people have access to transport and material goods, and children and young people live in households free from low income. We also want to help parents, carers and families to be economically active.

3. Revisions

In these inter-agency procedures the most significant difference will be the inclusion of Promoting Children and Young People’s Well-being Model using the Common Assessment Framework, this forms part 2 of these procedures.

There are a number of new procedures in this manual along with significant changes to a range of different chapters, which reflect the lessons learned from local Serious Case Reviews and updates in recent guidance and legislation. Here are some procedures that have undergone significant changes or are additional procedures to the manual:

Promoting the Wellbeing of Children and Young People Procedure
Guidance on working with resistant and non-compliant families
Corley Residential School
West Midlands Inter-Authority Protocol for Children in Need
Protocol for the Joint Child Protection Enquiries & Related Criminal Investigations
Hospital Discharge Planning Meetings
Forced Marriages
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Safeguarding Children from Abroad
Complaints Procedures
Persons presenting a risk to children procedures
Participation of Children in Case Conferences

Please note that these do not highlight all changes that have taken place you will need to read the relevant chapter to understand what you must do and what you should expect of others.

4. Copyright

Pages or files may be copied/printed for reference purposes only on the day they are required; but may not be retained for future reference, duplication or circulation.

The CD and hard copy versions of the manual issued by the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board are the only approved versions of the procedures and are the copyright of Coventry Safeguarding Children Board; and may only be reproduced, copied or circulated with prior permission of the Procedures Subcommittee of Coventry Safeguarding Children Board.

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