1.4.6 Implementation of a Child Protection Plan

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This chapter should be read in conjunction with section 8.10 of the London Child Protection Procedures.

Note: These procedures describe arrangements in Bromley. They do not replace the London Child Protection Procedures.

Introduction
Core Group
Formulation of Child Protection Plan
Key Worker Role
Children and Young People Division First Line Manager Role
Risk Assessment
Intervention

1. Introduction

When a conference decides that a child should be the subject of a child protection plan, a qualified and experienced children's social worker must be appointed as the key worker to co-ordinate all aspects of the inter-agency child protection plan.

The forum to undertake this coordinated multi-agency work is the core group, whose membership will have been identified at the child protection conference.

The core group is responsible for the formulation and implementation of the detailed child protection plan, previously outlined at the conference.

2. Core Group

Responsibilities

All members of the core group are jointly responsible for:

Collecting information to assist the key worker in completing the core assessment
The formulation and implementation of the child protection plan, refining it as necessary
Monitoring progress of the child protection plan against specified objectives
Making recommendations to subsequent review conferences about future protection plans
Participating in the compilation of the core assessment

Where any member of the core group is aware of difficulties implementing the protection plan due to changed or unforeseen circumstances, the key worker must be informed immediately and consideration given to recalling the core group meeting to reconsider the protection plan.

Circumstances, about which the key worker should be informed, include inability to gain access to a child who has a child protection plan, for whatever reasons, on two consecutive home visits.

If the difficulty in implementing the protection plan impacts on the safety of the child, managers and advisers (child protection manager for the SSD, designated / named doctor, nurse, teacher) must be consulted and consideration be given to the need for immediate legal action, an s. 47 enquiry and / or to bring forward the date of the review child protection conference (see section 8.2 of the London Child Protection Procedures).

If members are concerned that there are difficulties implementing the protection plan arising from disagreement amongst professional agencies or a core group member not carrying out agreed responsibilities this must be addressed by:

Firstly, discussion with core group members
Secondly, if required, referral to respective managers / referral to advisers i.e. child protection manager for SSD, designated / named doctor, nurse, teacher or DCI of the CPU
If the situation remains unresolved

Membership

Membership of the core group will have been identified at the child protection conference and must include the key-worker / manager as chair.

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

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

Timing

Working Together to Safeguard Children (paragraph 5.79) states that the date of the first core group meeting must be within 10 working days of the initial child protection conference.

This date must be arranged at the end of the conference, along with the required frequency of subsequent meetings.

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.

3. Formulation of Child Protection Plan

The purpose of this plan is to facilitate and make explicit a coordinated approach to the protection from further harm of each child who has a child protection plan.

Parents must be made clear about the causes for concern that resulted in the child protection plan, what needs to change and what is expected of them as part of the plan for safeguarding the child.

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

The plan will be outlined at the conference and the key-worker and core group are responsible for ensuring it is drawn up in detail and acted upon.

The core group will, as described above, regularly review and where necessary modify the 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 that have been made to work in partnership (this must be made clear to parents).

Outline Child Protection Plan

An outline child protection plan must be drawn up at initial and review conferences whenever a child is considered to be at risk of continuing Significant Harm

It will detail the recommendations made at the conference and include:

Broad objectives for the child's welfare, identifying his / her 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
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 and family that may be required to ensure sound judgements can be made on how best to safeguard the child and promote his / her welfare
Responsibility for tasks must be ascribed to specific members of the conference, including family members
Method 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

The outline plan should include an indication of what the conference believes needs to change.

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.

Child Protection Plan

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 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 to promote the child's health and development
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

The key 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 based on the findings of the core assessment and follow the dimensions of the assessment framework (See Para. 56.1 What To Do If You're Worried A Child Is Being Abused DOH 2003).

The plan should be constructed with the family in its 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 key worker within another 5 working days.

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

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

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.

4. Key Worker Role

At every initial or pre-birth conference, where a child is made the subject of a child protection plan, the chair will name a qualified social worker, identified by the social work team manager, to fulfil the role of key worker for the child.

The key worker should:

Convene and chair second and subsequent core group meetings
Provide a written record of meetings for all core group members and the social work manager
Ensure that the outline child protection plan is developed, in conjunction with members of the core group, into a detailed multi-agency protection plan
Clearly note and include in the written record any areas of disagreement
Produce a written agreement from the 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's history (which must involve reading the child and family social work files, 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 relevant other agencies and local authorities)
Complete the Core Assessment of the child and family, securing contributions / information from core group members and any other agencies with relevant information
Coordinate the contribution of family members and all agencies in putting the plan into action and reviewing the objectives stated in the plan
Ensure that the key worker him / herself sees the child at home at least every 10 working days (see below)
Ensure that the child's bedroom is seen at least once between each conference (see below)
Ensure he / she see the child alone (with parent's agreement) or babies awake at least every 10 working days (if parents refuse the social worker's manager must be informed)

The frequency of contact by key worker or core group members detailed above is the general minimum standard.

If the key worker has difficulty obtaining direct access to the child, the social worker's manager or the child protection manager should be informed, as well as other core group members.

In these circumstances formal agreement must be reached that a member of another agency carry out the face-to-face contact, or that a review conference is called. Such a decision must be recorded and authorised by managers of the agencies concerned.

Routine Written Records

The key worker must maintain a complete and up-to-date signed record on the current file, to include:

The time and date of every home visit, stating who was present, confirmation that the key worker spoke with the child (including if alone), or providing a clear reason why not
Any information gained or observations made during the visit relevant to the identified risks to the child
Circumstances of all family members
Specific information about key subjects such as meals and sleeping arrangements (the key worker must observe the child's bedroom)
Factual reports of the child's presentation and behaviour (these should be specific and avoid non-specific labels such as 'disturbed')
Any new incidents or injuries, which must be subject to full enquiries using the s.47 paperwork
A chronology the front of the file to include significant events in the child's life, including incidents, injuries, family changes etc.
The date, time and content of any communication, which relates to the child and family (distinguishing between fact and opinion)

Responsibility for Convening Conferences

The key worker is responsible, in liaison with the child protection chair and administrator, for convening the review child protection conference, the dates for which should have been set at the previous conference:

No more than 3 months after the initial conference
No more than 6 months after a review conference

Dates for conferences should usually only be changed in exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of the child protection adviser / manager.

Consideration should be given to bringing forward the date of a review conference in the following circumstances:

Following a new and significant incident relating to concerns about child protection, usually involving a s.47 enquiry
When there is a significant change in the circumstances of the child or family
When there are significant difficulties in carrying out the child protection plan

The request to bring forward the date of a review conference should be made by a strategy discussion / meeting of an s.47 enquiry or by the social worker following consultation with core group members, conference chair, and must be authorised by the first line manager.

Absence of the Key Worker

It is the responsibility of the key worker; in liaison with the social work manager to ensure that clear cover arrangements are made when the key worker is absent on annual leave, training etc.

Parents and child must be informed of planned absences of the key worker, who will be covering the role and what contacts will be made.

5. Children and Young People Division First Line Manager Role

The first line manager has a vital role in managing the progress of the case and supporting the key worker.

The manager should:

Read and countersign all significant recordings, assessments and decisions on the child's file, including the incident log
Chair the first core group
Discuss the progress of the protection plan and any concerns in supervision, including ensuring that there has been adequate direct contact with the child
Use a supervision and / or management decision sheet in the child's file to note agreed actions or decisions and sign and date the record
Read and countersign conferences reports and the child protection plan
Review the plan with the key worker when unexpected developments or crises occur, and together make a decision whether to recommend that a review child protection conference date be brought forward
Attend all initial conferences and as many review conferences as possible
Confirm the visiting frequency of the key worker and the frequency of core group meetings
Arrange cover for the key worker in case of sickness and ensure arrangements are in place when the key worker is on annual leave and training, including the checking and any necessary action, resulting from post, e-mails and telephone contacts

6. Risk Assessment

The key worker and first manager must, in supervision, regularly consider the risks to the child and whether a systematic risk assessment should be undertaken.

A risk assessment may be helpful following circumstances:

On transfer of a case
Before a Core Group or Review Child Protection Conference
When a child has been the subject of a child protection plan for a year
When consideration is being given to the implementation of care proceedings
In particularly complex cases

7. Intervention

Intervention 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, he / she 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.

Critically, decisions 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.

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