All children and young people should get the best possible start in life.

ContactPoint aims to make services better for children and young people. It is a contacts list for people who work with children and young people. It will provide them with a quick way to find out who else is working with the same child, making it easier for them to work as a team and deliver more coordinated support.

Many children and young people need extra help or support. If the people who are helping a child can find each other quickly they can find the right support at the right time.

It can take a long time for a professional to find out who else is working with the same child. ContactPoint means they won’t waste time trying to find out this simple information, or duplicating work already being done by other services. This means practitioners can spend more time delivering services to children and families.

Children, young people and their families should be at the centre of what is happening, and have a say in the services and support they get.

ContactPoint will hold name and contact details for:

By law, you can ask to see the information held about you, and can ask to have it corrected if something needs changing.  However, you cannot ask to have details removed from the database though in exceptional cases (such as domestic violence situations) people may have some of their details hidden to prevent their location being identified.  This is called Shielding.

ContactPoint will only be used by people whose job it is to help children and young people – such as a headteacher, a GP or a social worker. They will all have been trained and security cleared before they can use it.

ContactPoint uses the latest technology to keep it safe and up-to-date.

ContactPoint is part of the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ Every Child Matters plan, which all councils follow. It will be introduced across England from early 2009.  In Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland it will be phased in from October 2009.

 

If you have any further queries please contact your Local Authority as follows:-

Leicestershire County Council
Tel: 0116 305 6545
Email: family@leics.gov.uk
Website: www.leics.gov.uk/contactpoint

 

Or contact:

The Department for Children, Schools and Families
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London SW1P 3BT

Tel: 0870 000 2288
Email: info@dcsf.gov.uk
Website: www.ecm.gov.uk/contactpoint

 

Further information is available by downloading the attached detailed ContactPoint document (Word doc, 50kb).  For more indepth information about shielding, please visit the LSCB website.

 

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