Professionals, employees, managers, helpers, carers and volunteers in all agencies must make a referral to Children’s Social Care Services if it is believed or suspected that:
Any such referral must be made as soon as possible or in any event within 24 hours when any concern of Significant Harm becomes known - the greater the level of perceived risk, the more urgent the action should be.
The suspicion or allegation may be based on information, which comes from different sources. It may arise in the context of the Common Assessment Framework (and Walsall's Child Concern Model). It may come from a member of the public, the child concerned, another child, a family member or professional staff. It may relate to a single incident or an accumulation of lower level concerns.
The information may also relate to harm caused by another child, in which case both children, i.e. the suspected perpetrator and victim, must be referred.
The suspicion or allegation may relate to a parent or professional or volunteer caring for or working with the child.
A referral must be made even if it is known that Children’s Social Care Services are already involved with the child/family.
Advice may be sought about the appropriateness of the referral and the Level of Vulnerability under the Child Concern Model from the duty officer of the Initial Response Team or the Child Concern Team. However, if the case is open, this should be sought from the allocated social worker in Children’s Social Care Services. Alternatively advice may be sought from the Police or a Designated Professional or Named Professional or line manager.
Where consultation is sought - using the Consultation Form (see Child Concern Model) - and Children’s Social Care Services then conclude that a referral is required; the information provided so far must be regarded and responded to as a referral, and the referrer must be advised accordingly.
WHEN IN DOUBT, CONCERNS MUST BE SHARED
In the event that an agency does not agree with the response and decisions about the referral by Children’s Social Care Services, the referring agency should discuss their concerns directly with the line manager of the social worker, in the first instance to seek resolution. See also Resolving Professional Disagreements Procedure.If the child is suffering from a serious injury or requires treatment, medical attention must be sought immediately by calling an ambulance or taking the child to the Accident and Emergency Department of the local hospital. The duty Consultant Paediatrician must be informed of the nature of the concerns and a referral must be made in accordance with this procedure as soon as practically possible.
The safety of children is paramount in all decisions relating to their welfare. Any action taken by staff should ensure that no child is left in immediate danger.
When considering whether immediate action is required to protect a child, all agencies should also consider whether action is required to safeguard and protect the welfare of any other children in the same household or related to the household or the household of an alleged perpetrator or elsewhere e.g. a work environment such as a school.
The law empowers anyone who has care of a child to do all that is reasonable in the circumstances to safeguard her/his welfare (section 3(5) of the Children Act 1989).
A teacher, foster carer, childminder or any professional should, for example, take all reasonable steps to offer a child immediate protection from an abusive parent.
Where abuse is alleged, suspected or confirmed in children admitted to hospital, they must not be discharged until a referral has been made to Children’s Social Care Services in accordance with the Child Protection Discharge Procedure and a decision made as to the need for immediate protective action. Under this Discharge Procedure, no child known to Children’s Social Care Services who is an inpatient in a hospital and about whom there are child protection concerns should be allowed to be taken home without a referral to establish that the home environment is safe, the concerns by medical staff are fully addressed and there is a mutually agreed child’s plan in place for the ongoing promotion and safeguarding of the child’s welfare.
For additional guidance, see also, Information Sharing and Confidentiality Procedure.
The safety and welfare of the child overrides all other considerations, including the following:
In deciding whether there is a need to share information, professionals must consider their legal obligations, including whether they have a legal duty of confidentiality towards the child. Where there is such a duty, the professional may lawfully share information if the child consents or if there is a public interest to do so, for example the public interest in protecting the child from harm. This must be judged by the professional on the facts of each case.
Where there is clear risk of Significant Harm to a child, or serious harm to adults, the public interest test will almost certainly be satisfied. However, there will be other cases where it is not so clear. In these cases, professionals will be justified in sharing some confidential information as part of their consultation with others, to enable them to make a decision about whether to make a referral and share fuller information. In these circumstances, the information shared should be proportionate and anonymised.
The overriding consideration must be the best interests of the child - for this reason, absolute confidentiality cannot and should not be promised to anyone.
For guidance in relation to making a referral relating to under-age sexual activity, see Children involved in Under Age Sexual Activity Procedure.
If suspicions or allegations are about relatives, friends or colleagues, professional or otherwise, the concerns must not be discussed with them – see Allegations of Abuse Against Persons Who Work With Children (including Allegations Against Carers and Volunteers) Procedure.Individual members of the public who make a referral may prefer not to give their name or alternatively they may disclose their identity, but not wish for it to be revealed to the parents/carers of the child concerned. Wherever possible in such circumstances, Children’s Social Care Services workers receiving referrals should respect the referrer’s request for anonymity. However, referrers should not be given any guarantees of confidentiality, as there are certain limited circumstances in which the identity of a referrer may have to be given e.g. the Criminal or Family Court arena.
If the child makes an allegation or discloses information which raises concern about Significant Harm, the initial response should be limited to listening carefully to what the child says so as to:
If a child is freely recalling events, the response should be to listen, rather than stop the child; however, it is important that the child should not be asked to repeat the information to a colleague or asked to write the information down.
If the child has an injury but no explanation is volunteered, it is acceptable to enquire how the injury was sustained.
However, the child must not be pressed for information, led or cross-examined or given false assurances of absolute confidentiality. Such well-intentioned actions could prejudice police investigations, especially in cases of Sexual Abuse.
A record of all conversations, (including the timings, the setting, those present, as well as what was said by all parties) and actions must be kept.
No enquiries or investigations may be initiated without the authority of Children’s Social Care Services or the Police.
If the child can understand the significance and consequences of making a referral, he/she should be asked her/his views by the referring professional.
Whilst the child’s views should be considered, it remains the responsibility of the professional to take whatever action is required to ensure the safety of that child and any other children.
Professionals should seek, in general, to discuss concerns with the family and, where possible seek the family’s agreement to making a referral unless this may, either by delay or the behavioural response it prompts or for any other reason, place the child at increased risk of Significant Harm.
A decision by any professional not to seek parental permission before making a referral to Children’s Social Care Services must be recorded and the reasons given.
For further guidance, see also Information Sharing and Confidentiality Procedure
Where a parent has agreed to a referral, this must be recorded and confirmed on the Walsall CAF Referral Form Template.
Where the parent is consulted and refuses to give permission for the referral, further advice should be sought from a manager or the relevant Designated Professional (i.e. the Designated Nurse, Doctor or Teacher), unless to do so would cause undue delay. The outcome of the consultation and any further advice should be fully recorded.
If, having taken full account of the parent’s wishes, it is still considered that there is a need for a referral:
Referrals must be made in one of the following ways:
All professionals must confirm verbal and telephone referrals in writing, within 24 hours of being made, using the Walsall CAF Referral Form Template, unless the referrer is a Police officer who is to be involved in the investigation. As a minimum, the practitioner making the referral should complete the sections of the Referral Form marked with an asterisk, and should details their concerns on page 5 of the Form.
The Walsall CAF Referral Form is available from the Walsall Safeguarding Children Board website and should be printed off, completed and then sent to the Initial Response Team or, if the case is open, the allocated social worker.
Unless the case is already allocated to a social worker, referrals should be made to the duty officer at the Children’s Social Care Services Initial Response Team where the child is living or is found.
If the child is known to have an allocated social worker, referrals should be made directly to the allocated worker or, in her/his absence, the manager or a duty officer in the relevant team.
If the concern arises out of office hours, the referral must be made to the Emergency Response Team. The Emergency Response Team operates an Out of Hours service Monday to Thursday from 5pm, Friday from 4.30 pm till Monday 9am including Bank holidays. Any work undertaken by the Emergency Response Team will be completed by the regular office hours’ Children’s Social Care Services.
If it is not possible to contact the relevant Children’s Social Care Services office, the concern must be reported to the Police Child Abuse Investigation Unit or if not available, to the Duty Inspector at the nearest police station. If the Police receive a referral prior to the Children’s Social Care Services, they must consult with Children’s Social Care Services as soon as possible and prior to taking any action unless there is an immediate perceived risk.
Professionals in most agencies should have internal procedures, which identify Designated Professionals or Named Professionals - managers or staff, who are able to offer advice on child protection matters and/or discuss the necessity for a referral. Consultation may also be required directly with the local Children’s Social Care Services Team or the allocated social worker in the Children’s Social Care Services.
Where agency procedures prescribe that a designated person makes the referral, the referral should be made without delay whether or not the designated or named person is available.
The responsibility rests with the individual practitioner, not the agency, to follow this procedure; while practitioners may wish to consult others, the responsibility remains with them to take the necessary action.
The person making the referral should provide the following information if available – however, absence of information must not delay a referral:
Children’s Social Care Services will ensure that a duty worker is available to receive child protection referrals; outside normal working hours, the Emergency Response Team will receive referrals.
All referrals will initially be regarded as children in potential need.
Children’s Social Care Services will deal with the referral in accordance with the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families and Walsall’s Child Concern Model and determine whether the child meets the threshold for Level 3 Vulnerability and if so, whether the referral should be responded to on the basis that the child is in need of support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 or in need of protection under section 47 of the Children Act 1989.
The worker receiving a referral will establish:
The worker receiving the referral will usually discuss the case with the referrer and in doing so, will:
At the end of any discussion or dialogue about a child, the referrer (whether a professional or a member of the public or family) and Children’s Social Care Services should be clear about timescales and any proposed action and who will be taking it, or if no further action will be taken. The outcome should be recorded by Children’s Social Care Services and by the referrer (if a professional in another service) on the relevant forms including Walsall CAF Referral Form Template.
Children’s Social Care Services should acknowledge receipt of a written referral within ONE working day. If the referrer has not received an acknowledgement within THREE working days they should make contact with the relevant manager in the Children’s Social Care Services Team.
The worker receiving the referral must consider whether there are other children in the same household, the household of an alleged perpetrator or elsewhere, who should be considered as part of the referral.
The worker receiving the referral will also:
Parents should be informed of the referral and their permission sought to share information with other agencies unless to do so would not be in the child’s interests because it is:
In these circumstances, a manager from Children’s Social Care Services may decide to consult other relevant agencies without seeking parental consent. Any such decision must be recorded with reasons.
In the event that an agency does not agree with the response and decisions about the referral by the Children’s Social Care Services, the referring agency should discuss their concerns directly with the line manager of the social worker, in the first instance to seek resolution. See also Resolving Professional Disagreements Procedure.
If the referral relates to a situation in which a crime has or may have been committed, including sexual or physical assault or physical injury caused by neglect, the worker receiving the referral must discuss the referral with the Police at the earliest opportunity. The Police, in consultation with Children’s Social Care Services and any other agencies involved with the child, must consider whether there should be a criminal investigation and/or a Children’s Social Care Services led intervention. See the Joint Protocol for the Investigation of Child Abuse (West Midlands Police and Walsall Children's Social Care Services). Responsibility to instigate criminal proceedings rests with the Police, they should consider the view expressed by other agencies. In some circumstances with less serious cases, it may be agreed that the best interests of the child would be served by a Children’s Social Care Services led intervention rather than a full police investigation.
This will need to be discussed carefully and a decision made at a Strategy Discussion.
For guidance in relation to allegations of harm arising from under-age sexual activity, see Children involved in Under Age Sexual Activity.
Children’s Social Care Services will decide upon and record their next steps of action within one working day of receiving a referral.
The decision about future action will take account of the discussion with the referrer, consideration of information held in existing records and discussion with any other professionals or services as necessary (including the Police where a crime against a child may have been committed - see Section 9, Where there is or may be a Crime Committed).
The outcome of the referral will be:
Where alleged or suspected Significant Harm has been caused by a person who was not previously known to the child or by another child, the decision whether to take further action under these procedures will depend on the following:
Feedback on the outcome of a referral should be provided to the referrer, including where no further action is to be taken.
In the case of a referral by a member of the public, feedback should be provided in a way which will respect the confidentiality of the child.
Where there is a risk to the life of a child or the possibility of immediate harm, the Police officer or social worker must act with urgency to secure the safety of the child.
Immediate protection may be achieved by:
The agency taking protective action must always consider whether action is also required to safeguard other children in the same household or in the household of/in contact with an alleged perpetrator or elsewhere.
Children’s Social Care Services should only seek the assistance of the police to use their powers of Police Protection in exceptional circumstances, where there is insufficient time to seek an Emergency Protection Order or other reasons relating to the child’s immediate safety.
Planned immediate protection will normally take place following a Strategy Discussion.
Where a child or children are afforded immediate protection by an Emergency Protection Order or Police Protection the local authority has a duty to initiate a Section 47 Enquiry.
If the referral relates to a child whose home is in Walsall, but who is temporarily visiting the area of another local authority or in a hospital in the area of another authority, the local authority/Police for the area where the child actually is at the time have prime responsibility for acting upon the referral.
The referral should be passed to that authority immediately for them to follow the necessary procedures and to undertake a Section 47 Enquiry and/or take any immediate protective action that is necessary. They will be responsible for liaising with Walsall’s Children’s Social Care Services as necessary.
Similarly, it is the responsibility of Walsall Children’s Social Care Services/Police to make initial enquiries where a referral relates to a child temporarily in Walsall but normally resident elsewhere.
Before undertaking such enquiries, the child’s home authority must be consulted and agreement sought on who is best placed to undertake the enquiries. Where this is consistent with the child’s immediate protection needs, it may be agreed that the child’s home authority will respond to the referral.
For those children from other local authority areas, who are the subject of Child Protection Plans, there must be consultation with the responsible Keyworker.
Any relevant personnel from another local authority or agency should be consulted and invited to attend the Strategy Meeting or invited to contribute to the Strategy Discussion.
Comprehensive enquiries must be undertaken with the host local authority and any agencies to whom the child is known. This must include checking whether the child has a Child Protection Plan.
All enquiries should be confirmed in writing.
The Strategy Discussion, clarifying roles, responsibilities and timescales for actions, must be recorded on the Record of Strategy Discussion and copies of the record distributed within ONE working day, to all relevant parties.
For further information, see Children Moving Across Boundaries Procedure
See also the Child Protection Checklist at Pre-birth Child Protection Conferences
Where the concerns centre around a category of parenting behaviour, for example substance misuse, the referrer must make clear how this is likely to impact on the baby and what risks are predicted.
Delay must be avoided when making referrals in order to:
Concerns should be shared with prospective parent/s and consent obtained to refer to Children’s Social Care Services unless this action in itself may place the welfare of the unborn child at risk e.g. if there are concerns that the parent/s may move to avoid contact with social workers or other professionals.
A pre-birth Initial Assessment followed by a Professionals Meeting should be held in appropriate cases – i.e. where it appears that there are likely to be ongoing concerns about the baby because, for example:
Where the Professionals Meeting concludes that there is an ongoing risk of Significant Harm, a Strategy Meeting should then be held at 32 weeks.
Where the outcome of the referral is that the child, before and after his or her birth, appears to be a Child in Need at Level 2 of Walsall’s Child Concern Model and therefore in need of support services rather than safeguarding, a multi agency Child Concern Model meeting should be held and the need for a Common Assessment, with the parents’/carers’ involvement and agreement, considered.
The referrer should keep a written record of:
If a Common Assessment has been undertaken, the recording should be included on the relevant Walsall CAF Form.
The duty social worker receiving the referral should keep a written record on the Referral and Information Record of:
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