Child Protection Process

When someone expresses concerns about a child, the Children and Young Peoples Service has to decide whether this is sufficiently serious for the child protection procedures to be used.

It is often possible to help families by giving support and providing services to prevent child abuse, or to prevent more abuse where the harm was less serious, without using the child protection procedures.

Where the child protection procedures are to be used, the first step is for Childrens Social Care to make enquiries to see whether the child is safe or not. This will always involve some contact with the family.

The child and their family may need services and support. If there are concerns about the child's safety and welfare, then Childrens Social Care and the other services may decide to take the next step - the Child Protection Conference

This is a meeting of all the services who work with the child and the family. The parents, carers and the child are also involved. The purpose of the conference is to discuss concerns about the child's health, safety and welfare and decide whether the child is being abused or at risk of being abused.

If there is a risk of further harm, a child protection plan will be drawn up. This sets out how the services will work together with the family to prevent further harm.

There are some situations where a Child Protection Plan is not required but the family and child are in need of support and services.

The Children and Young Peoples Service holds a list of children in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland who are subject of a Child Protection Plan.

If there is someone in the family who is a risk to the child, they may have to leave to enable the child to stay.

Occasionally, the child may have to leave the family home - maybe to go to other members of the family or perhaps to stay with foster carers. Where it is safe to do so, the main aim is still to reunite the child and their family.

The Children Act 1989 and long established local policies say that children should be brought up in their own family wherever possible.