Parents’ Guide to Child Protection Plans and Child Protection
Conferences
This information sheet explains:
What is a Child Protection
Plan?
and
–
What is a Child Protection Conference?
What is a Child Protection Plan?
A Child Protection Plan is made when a child is judged to be at
risk of significant harm, significant harm being a level of harm
that affects the health, welfare and development of a child. The
Plan will say what the specific risks are to the child and the
actions that will be needed to keep the child safe.
The Child Protection Plan is made following a conference (a
meeting called a child protection conference) to which all of the
people who are involved with the child including the parents are
invited. It is the task of the conference to decide whether there
are significant risks to a child, what those risks are, and what is
needed to be done to reduce or remove those risks.
The Plan will then be put into action and reviewed at regular
intervals by a further conference .When the risks to the child have
been assessed as having been eliminated or reduced then the
conference will decide to close the Child Protection Plan and any
further help will be provided by the usual child care services
.
All Social Services Departments throughout Great Britain have a
duty to make Child Protection Plans for children who are at risk of
significant harm. When a child has a Child Protection Plan the sort
of risk will be described using one of these categories: neglect,
physical abuse, sexual abuse or emotional abuse.
Are Child Protection Plans confidential?
Yes. The names of the children who are the subject of Child
Protection Plans are never made public.
The Child Protection Plan is recorded on the child’s individual
case file and can be only be seen by any professional person who is
allowed to have access to that record .
Personal information is only given out to professionals who have
been given responsibility for a child’s welfare. They are only
allowed details of the child or family they are concerned with.
What Happens when a Child has a Child Protection Plan?
1
Your social worker and other professionals will work with you to
carry out the action plan made by the
conference.
2
Your child’s situation will be looked at regularly at further Child
Protection Conferences or review meetings. Both will include those
involved in the Plan and, except in rare instances, you will be
invited. The first review conference will take place within three
months of the initial conference. If the conference agrees that a
child is no longer at significant risk of harm it may consider
closing the Child Protection Plan and providing help and support
through the usual services. This decision will be made by the
conference chairperson after taking into account the
recommendations of the representatives from Social Services, Health
Authorities, Police, Education and others who have specific
responsibility for reviewing the work that has taken place.
Who Can I Talk To About This?
Please get in touch with your social worker if you want to talk
more about this.
If you are unhappy with the help you have been given, and you
cannot sort this out, then you can make a formal complaint. Your
social worker will tell you how you can do this.
If you disagree that your child needs to have a Child Protection
Plan, you can appeal against this decision. You should initially
contact the child protection chairperson to discuss your concerns.
There is an appeals procedure and a separate information sheet on
this is available.
Also, at any time you can consult a solicitor or an independent
adviser.
What Is A Child Protection Conference?
The duty of those involved in child protection work is to ensure
the safety and well-being of children about whom we have concerns.
It is very important that we make the right decisions about your
child’s needs, and your help and involvement is vital.
Before we have a child protection conference an investigation
(called a Section 47 investigation) will have been carried out to
find out if it is necessary to hold a conference. As part of this
investigation, you will have met a social worker who will have
talked with you about why we are concerned. A Child Protection
Conference is held when agencies believe that a child may be at
risk of significant harm.
The social worker will be responsible for preparing a report for
the conference setting out the concerns and what is going well for
your child. The report will also include the views of your
child/ren about what has happened to them. This report will be made
available to you at least two days prior to the day of the
conference so that you are able to add your own views to the
report.
If your child is of an age to be invited to participate in the
conference they will be contacted by Shout Out, our independent
children’s advocacy service run by Off the Record. A worker will
meet with them to see how they can help them to have their views
heard at the conference. Your child will be able to participate by
preparing with the help of the advocate what they would like to say
to the conference and if your child wishes they can accompany the
advocate to the conference.
Who Can Come To The Conference?
It is very important that parents are able to attend conferences
about their children and are able to participate in the discussion.
Someone from the Social Services Department, the Health Authorities
and the Police are always invited to conferences. This is also a
true across the country. Your doctor, health visitor and the
child’s teacher may also be there to help make the right decisions.
Your social worker will talk about this with you.
Very rarely parents may not be allowed to attend for all
or part of the conference and if this happens the reasons for this
would be explained and your views reported to the conference by the
social worker. There are no facilities for young children at the
conference venues and you should contact your social worker if this
presents any difficulties for you.
Your views are very important in putting together a plan to
protect your child and to help you so we want you to be as
comfortable as possible at the conference. You may ask one adult to
come with you to support you. This could be your solicitor,
advocate or friend. The person who comes with you may listen and
observe, but not speak for you – although they may ask for a short
break in the conference if this would help you.
If you choose someone to come with you, remember that personal
information about your and your family will be shared – this may
include criminal convictions. If you want someone to come with you,
please give your social worker their name and address before the
conference.
Conference members should be clear in identifying what they
believe needs to change and parents should be clear about their own
role and responsibility in keeping their children safe and know
what they have to do in order for the risks to be reduced.
Everyone at the meeting is bound by strict rules of
confidentiality. Your family will not be talked about by anyone
except those who need to know to help with the child protection
plan for your child.
What Happens at a Child Protection Conference?
The conference will:
- Clarify why the meeting has been called and share
information
- Identify what needs to happen in order for the risks to the
child to be reduced
- Decide what are the most important reasons why the child is
at risk of significant harm
- Decide on the actions that are needed to make the child
safe.
A copy of the Child Protection Plan will be sent to you shortly
after the conference. Following this a copy of the conference notes
(a summary of the main points discussed, the plan together with all
reports) will normally be sent to you within ten working days.
What Happens After a Conference?
1
If your child or children has a Child Protection Plan then a social
worker will be appointed as the Case Co-ordinator and a core group
of professionals will work with you and carry out a core assessment
on your child.
2
The aim of a child protection conference is to look at the risks to
a child within the home situation and the role of their parents in
keeping them safe. Most children who have a Child Protection Plan
stay living at home with a plan of support from professionals and
other family members. It doesn’t happen often, but if the
conference thinks it is too risky for a child to stay at home it
will recommend that the child be cared for outside of the home.
This could be either by extended family members or by the Social
Services Department taking legal action in order to place the child
in the care of the Local Authority. If this happens to you, your
social worker will explain this to you and encourage you to take
your own legal advice.
