Post
by SN0408 » Sat Aug 03, 2019 9:36 am
part 4 of section 47
4. Strategy Discussion / Meeting
Whenever there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm, there should be a strategy discussion/meeting. The strategy discussion/meeting should be co-ordinated and chaired by a Children's Social Care Team Manager. In any circumstance where a Team Manager is not available to chair the Strategy Discussion, they will delegate this to a Practice Manager and this delegation will be recorded in the Strategy Discussion document.
The strategy discussion/meeting should involve Children's Social Care and the police, health professionals involved with the child and/or named/designated nurse and/or named/designated doctor and other bodies as appropriate (for example, children's centre/school and, in particular, any referring agency.) In the case of a pre-birth strategy discussion/meeting this should involve the midwifery services.
Professionals participating in strategy discussions/meetings must have all their agency's information relating to the child available to be able to contribute to the discussion/meeting, and must be sufficiently senior to make decisions on behalf of their agencies.
In some circumstances strategy discussions by telephone may be adequate to plan an enquiry and must include the agencies directly involved with the child. For telephone strategy discussions, all agencies should make a record of the outcome of the telephone discussion and actions agreed at the time. The record of the notes and decisions authorised by the Children's Social Care manager should be circulated as soon as practicable to all parties to the discussion.
Some examples of circumstances where a strategy discussion/meeting should be considered:
Any new referrals in respect of a child where there are concerns that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm;
When new information on an existing case in Children's Social Care indicates that a child is likely to suffer significant harm;
Any new information that a child may be likely to suffer, or has suffered significant harm through being sexually exploited; undergoing FGM or being exposed to radicalisation;
When an adult or young person assessed as presenting a risk to children has moved into, or is about to move into, the child's household or such a person is regularly visiting or about to have sustained contact with the child;
When the likelihood of significant harm to an unborn child may be such as to indicate the need to develop a Child Protection Plan before birth;
When the death of a child in family, in which abuse or neglect is suspected, is confirmed and there are other children in the household;
When a child lives in, or is born to, a household in which resides another child who is currently the subject of a Child Protection Plan;
When a child who is currently the subject of a Child Protection Plan in another area moves into the local area unless the other authority is to retain responsibility for the case;
When a child has sexually assaulted another child or there is a risk of such an assault occurring to another child in the same household or in regular contact with the household (in which circumstances a Child Protection Conference should be held in respect of both children).
(This is not an exhaustive list.)
A strategy discussion/ meeting should be used to:
Share available information;
Agree the conduct and timing of any criminal investigation;
Decide whether an assessment under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 (Section 47 Enquiries) should be initiated, or continued, if it has already been initiated following an earlier Strategy discussion/meeting;
Consider the assessment and the key action points, if already in place;
Plan how the Section 47 Enquiry should be undertaken (if one is to be initiated), including the need for any medical assessment, and who will carry out what actions, by when and for what purpose;
Agree what action is required immediately to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child, and/or provide interim services and support. If the child is in hospital, decisions should also be made about how to secure the safe discharge of the child;
Agree, in particular, when the child will be seen alone, if appropriate for the child, by the social worker during the course of these enquiries and agree the methods by which the child's wishes and feelings will be ascertained so that they can be taken into account when making decisions;
In the light of the race, ethnicity, beliefs and culture of the child and family, consider how these should be taken into account and to establish whether an interpreter will be required; and
Consider the needs of other children who may be affected (e.g. siblings and other children, such as those living in the same household, and/or in contact with alleged abusers);
Determine what information from the strategy discussion/meeting will be shared with the family, unless such information sharing may place a child at increased risk of significant harm or jeopardise police investigations into any alleged offence/s;
Determine if legal action is required.
It is the responsibility of the chair of the strategy discussion/meeting to ensure that the decisions and agreed actions are fully recorded using an appropriate form/ record. All agencies attending should take notes of the actions agreed at the time.
A copy of the record should be made available for all those, who had been invited or involved, as soon as practicable by Children's Social Care.
Timescales:
Strategy discussions/meetings should be convened as soon as possible bearing in mind the needs of the child, except in the following circumstances:
For allegations/concerns indicating immediate risk of harm to the child (e.g. serious physical injury or serious neglect) the strategy discussion/meeting should be held on the same day as the receipt of the referral;
For allegations of penetrative sexual abuse, the strategy discussion/meeting should be held on the same day as the receipt of the referral, if it is required to ensure forensic evidence;
Where the concerns are particularly complex (e.g. fabricated/induced illness/ organised abuse/ child sexual exploitation or allegations against staff) the strategy discussion/meeting must be held as soon as practicable. However where there is a need to provide immediate protection to a child they must take place on the same day as the referral.
Outcomes:
The plan made at the strategy discussion/meeting should reflect the requirement to convene an Initial Child Protection Conference within 15 working days of the strategy discussion at which it was decided to initiate the Section 47 Enquiry. When Children's Social Care have concluded that an Initial Child Protection Conference is not required but professionals in other agencies remain seriously concerned about the safety of a child, these professionals should seek further discussion with the social worker, their manager and/or the designated safeguarding professional lead. The concerns, discussion and any agreements made should be recorded in each agency's files. This should be actioned within a timescale commensurate with the need to safeguard the child and in accordance with the Conflict Resolution Policy.
In exceptional circumstances, enquiries may be more complicated and may require more than one strategy discussion/meeting. If the strategy discussion / meeting concludes that a further strategy discussion / meeting is required, then a clear timescale should be set and be subject to regular review by the social work manager bearing in mind the safety of the child at all times. Where there is more than one Strategy Meeting it should be noted that any Initial Child Protection Conference should be held within 15 working days of the Strategy Meeting, which initiated the Child Protection Enquiry.
If the conclusion of the strategy discussion/meeting is that there is no cause to pursue the Section 47 Enquiry then consideration should be given to continuing a multi- agency assessment to meet the needs of the child for any early help support services or to provide family support services to them as a child in need.