Lead Practitioner (Safeguarding) Briefing

Spring 2014

Key messages from Serious Case Reviews (SCR’s)

Aims of today• Look at updates from recent serious case

reviews

• Familiarise ourselves with the LSCB Website and the SfYC Safeguarding website and resources

• Look in detail at a case study

• Look at the process of making a referral to Social Care

• Complete a safeguarding recording form

• Look at how we can learn individually from SCR’s

• Discuss effective supervision

Reviewing other records you already have• Look at your accident/incidents at home

forms- Look for patterns/ trends on children

• Keep them separately in a folder and review regularly

Ofsted registered person

• The person/company/committee is responsible for ensuring all safeguarding measures are in place

• Invite the ‘chair’ or nominated committee member to attend with you to these briefings

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was CRB formerly• https://www.gov.uk/government/

organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service/about

• Look at the Website link above for full and up to date information to ensure you are meeting the standards requirement

• Sign up for their regular email updates

What is a Serious Case Review

• As part of its ‘learning and improvement framework’, HSCB ( Hampshire Safeguarding Childrens Board) undertakes reviews and audits of practice to drive improvements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, after a child death or after a serious incident

Don’t forget!• Hantsdirect Children’s services Department

Tel: 0845 603 5620

• Out of hours Tel: 0845 600 455

• Children’s Social Care Professional helpline Tel : 01329 225379 (If you do NOT hear anything back regarding their decisions…chase !)

• LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) Barbara Piddington or Mark Blackwell Tel: 01962 876364 (Concerns of allegations relating to a member of staff)

and don’t forget…• LSCB :

http://www.hampshiresafeguardingchildrenboard.org.uk/

• Serious case review examples can be obtained from http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/informhub_wda49931.html

• www.hants.gov.uk/child-protection

and also don’t forget …our SfYC Safeguarding information• http://www3.hants.gov.uk/childrens-

services/childcare/providers/safeguarding-earlyyears.htm

• OR Services for Young Children Website→You’re a childcare provider→safeguarding→useful links and documents→Model recording form

Positive changes made as a result oflearning lessons from SCR’s• The Bruising Protocol• Re-launching of Joint Working Protocol• Extra training in SfYC• Police have launched Central Referral Unit• Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

4LSCB procedures and protocols available for you to follow• Bruising in children who are not independently

mobile protocol

• Safeguarding children and young people whose parents / carers have problems with: mental health, substance misuse, learning disability and emotional or psychological distress

• Children exposed to domestic violence practice guidance

4LSCB procedures and protocols to follow cont.• Missing, exploited & trafficked children protocols;

• Maternity Services and Children’s Services joint working protocol to safeguard unborn babies.

• Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) Rapid Response Procedures

• E-Safety Protocol

Do we question parents with ‘sufficient curiosity’ ?

• Practitioners found reasons to believe that unrealistic explanations (for bruises for example) were plausible and didn’t question themselves or others or act with sufficient curiosity.

• Don’t just accept a reason, probe directly if you have any doubt

Disconnection from the children• Disconnection from the children themselves; not

paying attention to children’s emotional development and not thinking about ‘what it’s like to be a child living in that family’. Consideration needs to be of all the other children living in the family as well

• The ‘invisible child’ - the child being “lost” in the considerations of professionals, and young people who were kept out of sight; children who chose not to, or were unable to, speak because of disability, trauma or fear

Be mindful of males in the shadows

• Even if the father is not living in the child’s home, his presence and his role in the child’s life needs to be accounted for in assessments. Lack of information coupled with rigid thinking about fathers and father figures as either “good” or “bad”, and also a tendency at times to see fathers and males as threatening, undermines the foundation for informed decision making about risk to the child.

Chaotic families

• Chaotic families lead to practitioners becoming chaotic too, just reacting to crises, rather than assessing, planning and undertaking action in a calm and measured way to maximise effectiveness

Case Study Part .1. Jamie• Read case study individually. Then, as

a group of 3 or 4 please discuss:

• – What are the potential issues for Jamie?

• – What may be the cause of these issues?

• – What could or should the pre-school be doing?

Now Complete your Safeguarding Recording Form!• Details of concern. Add each concern in this

column as you would every time you see this child in the setting

• Action you would take for each concern

• What you would expect the outcome to be from you actions

• Add further actions you would take, and if not related to key areas above

• Add date of your planned review• Don’t forget if it is not written down, it didn’t

happen!

Case study part .2. Jamie

• Read case study individually. Then in your small groups please discuss:

• – What are the concerns now?

• – Should anyone else be contacted?

• – How might concerns be addressed?

• – Are any procedures or protocols in place which might help?

Feed back as whole group • Think child

• Think family• Early help -Use the CAF/Early help process to share

information and initiate a multi-agency response to potential safeguarding concerns.

• Be confident around information sharing where early child welfare concerns emerge.

• Seek support and supervision to discuss early concerns.

• Don’t assume that someone else knows what you know and is dealing with it.

Lessons from ‘Jamie’• Be mindful of fathers and male partners ‘in the

shadows’(Baby P and many others)• The ‘toxic trio’ increases risk (Hampshire

Children R & S & many others)• Talk to and challenge parents(Hampshire child

ES)• Maintain a professional curiosity and cautious

scepticism• Most SCRs relate to children in universal

services with no social services involvement

Lessons from ‘Jamie’ continued• Don’t allow adult anger to deflect from a

child centred approach (Baby P and many others)

• Ensure full sharing of information across agencies (Hampshire Child Q and every SCR ever written!)

• What is life really like for the child? (Daniel Pelka - 2013)

Professional challenge• Feel able to challenge each other around thresholds,

assessments and interventions. • Listen and be open to challenge at all levels of the

organisation and across organisational boundaries and don’t allow status to influence your ability to challenge and to accept challenge.

• Escalate your concerns tenaciously. Keep the child as the focus.

• Challenge your own thinking about a case and be open to different views to avoid ‘fixed thinking’ or being ‘over optimistic’ about a case.

• Have the confidence to rigorously enquire into potential abuse. • Seek peer support & supervision to reflect on your own

practice.

How you can make a difference. Think about:• 1) Can I make some changes to my

own practice?

• 2) Do I need to seek further support, supervision or training?

• 3)Survey monkey …please complete!

• Thank you for attending our session today