A referral is a request from a member of the public or a professional to the gateway services team or the police to intervene to support or protect a child.
When reports about a child are referred, the police or the gateway services team will first assess if the child is at immediate risk of danger.
An exclusion order can be issued to remove the abuser from the family home.
Social services can get an emergency protection order, child assessment order or interim care order to remove the child. We also have powers as an authorised person to apply for these orders.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the NSPCC is unique amongst charities as it has statutory powers to intervene on behalf of children.
In these nations, only local authorities and the NSPCC can apply to a court for a care, supervision, or child assessment order.
Legal definitions:
The police are also able to remove the child in an emergency but this is only done in exceptional circumstances.
If a child isn't considered to be in immediate danger, there will be a strategy discussion held within 24 hours to determine whether a child is at risk of suffering significant harm. The child must also be seen and spoken to by social services within 24 hours of the referral being made .
The gateway services team must complete an initial assessment within 10 working days. This initial assessment will help make decisions about the best ways to help the child.
"Harm" is the "ill treatment or the impairment of the health or development of the child"
It is determined "significant" by "comparing a child's health and development with what might be reasonably expected of a similar child".
Although there is no absolute criteria for determining whether or not harm is "significant", local authorities such as social services, police, education and health agencies work with family members to assess the child, and a decision is made based on their professional judgement using the gathered evidence.
Legal definitions for the 4 nations:
view Part 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
After a referral is investigated and assessed
After these initial enquires, a number of things can happen:
If the child hasn't been harmed and isn't considered to be at risk of significant harm, it may be decided that there doesn't need to be any further child protection action. The child and their family may be offered additional support, such as a parenting programme, instead
If it's decided that the child is in need of further support from social services, they will officially become a child in need.
Local authorities have a duty to "safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in need". The national threshold for providing services is if a child is assessed as being a 'child in need'.
A child is defined as being 'in need' if:
Child in need status will cease to exist in Wales when the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act comes into force in 2016.
If a child is identified as needing additional social work support, a pathway assessment will give an in-depth assessment of their needs.
It may be decided that best support is short time-limited intervention. This will be provided by the gateway service.
A case conference is held if the child is at risk of significant harm, so that all of the relevant professionals can share information, identify risks and outline what needs to be done to protect the child.
The initial case conference should take place within 15 working days of the child protection referral. At this point the responsibility of the case is transferred to the Family Intervention Team.
If professionals at the initial case conference decide a child is at risk of significant harm they will add the child to the child protection register, and draw up a child protection plan.
Case conferences will continue at regular intervals until the child is no longer considered at risk of significant harm or until they are taken into care.
Child protection registers and plans
The child protection register (CPR) is a confidential list of all children in the local area who have been identified as being at risk of significant harm. The register allows authorised individuals in social work, education, health, police and the voluntary sector to check if a child they are working with is known to be at risk.
If a child is added to the child protection register they must also have a child protection plan.
The child protection plan sets out:
Legal definitions:
view the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998
views Articles 49, 63 and 65 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995