Child Protection Conferencing Process
The Child Protection Conference process commences following a Strategy Discussion with Partner Agencies who have agreed that threshold has been met for an ICPC.
Within 15 working days from the Strategy Discussion an ICPC (Initial Child Protection Conference) needs to be convened.
Please note: The practice of re-strating cases and counting the 15 days’ timeframe from the date of the last Strategy meeting taking place, was abolished in Working Together 2015.
Social Work Teams need to submit their request (Completed Booking Form – CH (CP) 1) into IRS (Independent Reviewing Service) as soon after the Strategy Discussion as possible (within 24 hours as a maximum). This will give IRS sufficient time by which to confirm a date, venue, Child Protection Chair and CPA.
The importance of the Booking Form being fully completed – cannot be understated.
It needs to include:-
- FULL Family details – including DOB and Addresses/who has PR
- Reason for Request
- Professionals to be notified and invited
- Which Category the Conference is being requested under
- Consider if there should be any exclusions – any proposed exclusions need to be discussed with the Child Protection Chair, who, if in agreement, will send out a letter to the person(s) to be excluded explaining the reasons.
- Can Children/Young People be invited?
- Advocacy for Child/Young Person/Parent?
- Is an Interpreter needed – will one be booked?
- Any mobility issues that may preclude certain venues
Please note: The Police also need as much notice as possible by which to complete the necessary checks, complete their report and allocate an Attending Officer. To enable this to take place the Booking form needs to be fully completed to include immediate and wider family who are involved in the Child/Young person’s life. 7 working days is desirable for the Police to undertake these checks and compile a report.
Once the Booking form has been completed and returned to IRS – invites will be sent to professionals who will be asked to confirm their attendance and submit a report (2 days prior to the Conference).
Invites to parents/carers/wider family will be sent with other explanatory paperwork to explain the process. These invites will be sent using recorded delivery – in some cases, it may be decided that the SW hand delivers the invite to parents/carers/wider family to explain in more detail what will happen at an ICPC.
Please note: you need to consider any child care arrangements – including preschool children and collections from school/nursery whilst Conference is in progress.
Additionally, if parents/carers wish to bring a person in support – there should only be one person in support of each parent/carer.
Social Work Reports for Conference need to be completed on Care first and signed off in advance. The expectation is that these are finalised 48 hours in advance of an ICPC. The Social Work report should include a clear Analysis of Risk, a Danger Statement and reference to Safety Planning and whether a Family Group Meeting is scheduled/has taken place.
All Professionals need to ensure that they bring sufficient copies of their reports for sharing at Conference – maximum expectation would be 15 copies.
Social Workers & Partner Agencies should speak with the CP Chair a few days prior to the ICPC to confirm details, discuss any issues etc.
Conferences
Conferences usually take place at 10:00am or 2:00pm. Venues can vary, but in the main Conferences are held in Norfolk County Council offices.
Please arrive half an hour early i.e. 09:30am for a 10:00am start and 1:30pm for a 2:00pm start.
Professionals will then have an opportunity within this period to read all reports & Parents/Carers/Wider Family will meet with the CP Chair for a pre-meeting.
The CPA will be on hand to guide professionals and family to the right rooms.
Pre – Meeting–The Child Protection Chair will meet Parents/Carers/Wider Family in the Conference room.
It is important that there are NO surprises for Parents/Carers/Wider Family – they should have seen the reports and be aware of the concerns.
The purpose of the Pre-meeting is to offer Parents/Carers/Wider Family some reassurance about the process and their involvement within the Conference.
Child Protection Chairs will take this opportunity to confirm that this is not a legal meeting and that Parents/Carers/Wider Family can leave at any time, however, reiterating the importance of their involvement.
During the Pre-meeting the Child Protection Chair will confirm that the basic details recorded within the Convening information is accurate – checking spellings, names, DOB’s addresses, who holds PR etc. Should any amendments be needed these will be shared with the CPA, SW and partner agencies within the initial stages of the ICPC to enable all agencies to make the required changes.
If Children/Young People are attending there will be agreement about how much of the Conference they will attend and what arrangements are in place for them should they need to wait.
WE SEEK TO START CONFERENCES ON TIME
Initial stages of an ICPC, will include:
Professionals will join the Child Protection Chair and family in the Conference room – laminated name plaques are on the table and the expectation is that attendees will write their name and designation using the markers provided.
The Conferencebegins with introductions & any apologies.
The Child Protection Chair will then formally open the Conference referring to a brief conference statement which includes: Purpose, Confidentiality statement, Use of language, No electronic recording and Mobiles off/on silent – theonly person permitted to make a written record of the Conference in its entirety is the CPA.
Conference will then begin with information sharing in line with headings on the wall/white boards. The Conference Agenda will also be available for you to refer to within the Conference.
ALL agencies need to be prepared to give clear and succinct reports of the key/significant issues which evidence risk – ‘what has led to the decision to come to Conference’, and an analysis of what this means for the Children/Young People (IMPACT).
DECISIONS
Once all the information has been shared Professionals/Parents/Carers/Wider Family will be asked to complete a form to confirm their view about whether the Children/Young People meet the criteria for a Child Protection Plan and if so why – in turn everyone will be asked to verbalise what they have written – Please Note: only what is written will be recorded in the minutes.
OUTCOME OF CONFERENCE
The Child Protection Chairwill then formally announce the decision ‘it is the unanimous decision’/’it is the majority decision’/’there is no clear decision and so I need to make the decision from Conference today’, that ……
PLAN
The Plan agreed within a Conference will be an outline plan – it will be developed within future Child in Need/Core Group Meetings, however, the Plan needs to be clear on actions agreed and the correlated risks identified during Conference. Frequency of visiting will be defined at the Plan stages of the Conference alongsidea clear Contingency. The Plan will be distributed to Parents and Professionals within 24 hours by the CPA.
CORE GROUP/CHILD IN NEED MEETING
Details of who will be involved in the Core/Child in Need meeting will be confirmed to include the date, venue time etc. before the Conference ends.
If the Conference decides that a Child Protection Plan is needed then a Core Group needs to take place within 10 working days – thereafter every 4-6 weeks and then 10 working days prior to any RCPC.
If a Child in Need plan is agreed a Child in Need Meeting should also be arranged within 10 working days - thereafter every 4-6 weeks for the duration of the Child in Need plan.
REVIEW CHILD PROTECTION CONFERENCE (RCPC)
A RCPC date is set if a Child Protection Plan is agreed – If a Child in Need Plan is agreed there will be no review Conference scheduled.
The first RCPC will be arranged within 3 months/90 days of the ICPC and thereafter, should it be required, a RCPC will take place every 6 months.
MINUTES
Please note that minutesare an account, they are not verbatim but should provide an overview of the discussion reflecting the headings.
Other information
Core Groups will be expected to update and expand the Child Protection Plan – significant changes need to be shared with the Child Protection Chair.
For cases that may transfer fromone Social Work Team to another at a Conference – the expectation is that the new Social Worker would attend to formally receive the case, meet parents and formulate the planning.
Observers attending a Conference – All requests need to go through the IRM for Child Protection. Protocol is that once the IRM agrees, the Family need to give permission, as does the Child Protection Chair and the Social Worker. There should never be more than one observer at a Conference and Observers will be reminded that their role is a silent one. Observers are not permitted to enter into discussion or provide a view – unless there is a significant safeguarding reason.
You can contact the IRS(Independent Reviewing Service) on 01603 222288for advice.
The IRS Business Manager is Angela Woodgate and she can be contacted on 01603 217716
Child Protection Chairs for Norfolk are:
NORWICH & SOUTH LOCALITY
Jenny Sproule
Arlene Hutchins
Lorna Phayre
NORTH/BROADLAND & EAST LOCALITY
Sarah Reade
Carmen Hawkes
WEST & BRECKLAND LOCALITY
Sarah Nixon
Eve Desjardins
Katy Sharpe
The Independent Reviewing Manager for the Child Protection Chairs is Gaynor Bane and she can be contacted at:
1 Norwich Business Park
Whiting Road
Norwich
NR4 6DJ
TELEPHONE: 01603 222288
MOBILE: 0782 651 2561
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