The different between child protection and child in need

[Silvecloud111]

I am just making an an enquiry to find out what the differences are? I know child protection is more serious, but since you have to follow a safety plan on both, aren't they quite similar? I know when a child is on child protection they go onto the at risk register. But is there really a big difference? It seems thst you still have to do very similar stuff on both plans.

[KJY88]

Hi there,
You are right that they don't feel all that much different, especially as keeping to any CIN safety plan (ours is called a circle of safety) would probably be a big part of the CP plan.
One big difference is that a CIN plan is voluntary, although I would say that there might be repercussions if it was ignored, especially if a safety plan had been set up, whereas Child Protection is far more serious and ignoring recommendations could lead to involving the Courts (although there would be a last ditch attempt to avoid that via a pre-proceedings meeting) To escalate from CIN to CP would mean that Children's Services would have to show that certain thresholds of risk had been met so it doesn't happen in a flash, and likewise if CP was moving towards pre-proceedings. Of course, if a child was in imminent danger of harm then these procedures would be overruled.

Our personal experience (as grandparents) is that in January there was a CIN plan drawn up, there were still significant problems so it was escalated to CP in May and as those problems haven't been resolved satisfactorily it has now gone to pre-proceedings. So the time scale wasn't all that long but as the children had been on a CP plan 5 years ago for the same problems and they were still unresolved, a lot of the groundwork had already been done so I think it was quicker than a first time round situation.
You do feel as if you're repeating yourself a lot of the time as in-between both CIN and CP there will be a core meeting to check things are moving in the right direction and to try to resolve any problems.

You might already know all this so do ask anything else that is concerning you. It's certainly not a pleasant experience but as the emphasis is always on the children and we all want what's best for them, it helps to hang onto that.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

I am just making an an enquiry to find out what the differences are? I know child protection is more serious, but since you have to follow a safety plan on both, aren't they quite similar? I know when a child is on child protection they go onto the at risk register. But is there really a big difference? It seems thst you still have to do very similar stuff on both plans.

Dear Silvecloud111

Thank you for your further post asking about the differences of child in need and child protection.

I see that a fellow poster KJY88 has offered you some useful information about the two different plans. It is rightly stated that a child in need plan if voluntary. A parent or person with parental responsibility with whom a child lives does not have to agree to have a child in need plan but would need to provide themselves whatever support children’s services consider appropriate for the child/family. If not, then children’s services might consider escalating the case to child protection.

A child in need plan is to provide support for the child/family to make things better.

You mention safety plan being in place for both child in need and child protection. A safety plan is usually to ensure that a child is kept safe from whatever concern’s regarding their well being whether emotional or physical that led to children’s services being involved with the family.

As has been explained, child protection is not voluntary, and it is important that the child protection plan is followed. Failure to do so, could mean as mentioned in poster's response, children’s services escalating the case possibly to care proceedings.


Here are links to our website relating to child in need and child protection procedures which should help you to see the difference between the two.

The important thing to remember when children’s services is involved is to work with them openly and honestly to get the best outcome for you and your family.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie