Safeguarding children: the importance of multi professional and multi-agency working

Christopher Cloke,

Head of CP Awareness and Diversity, NSPCC

Tuesday 20 November 2007

The route

• Safeguarding and the elusiveness of inter-agency working

• Government policy

• Role of early years workers

• Barriers to multi agency working

• NSPCC position

• Areas for co-operation

• Safeguarding and the elusiveness of inter-agency working

“Safeguarding” – a definition• All agencies working with children, young people and

their families take all reasonable measures to ensure that the risks of harm to children’s welfare are minimised.

• Where there are concerns about children and young people’s welfare, all agencies take all appropriate actions to address those concerns, working to agreed local policies and procedures in full partnership with other local agencies.

(Safeguarding Children: a joint Chief Inspectors’ Report on arrangements to safeguard children, October 2002)

“A multi-agency approach” – a definition

• “Agency” – covers the range of organisations, services and professional groups who provide services to children and their families.

(‘Safeguarding Children: a joint Chief Inspectors’ Report, 2002)

• Multi-disciplinary working – different disciplines working together, as appropriate.

The elusiveness of multi-agency working

• Since the 1970s repeated inquiries into child abuse cases have highlighted the failures of multi-agency working.

Maria Colwell ‘What has clearly emerged is a failure of system compounded of

several factors of which the greatest and most obvious must be that of the lack of, or effectiveness of, communication and liaison.’

‘Cases usually involve several professions and two or more agencies, but effective work is often hampered by ignorance, or misunderstanding of respective functions. All workers need… a clear and common understanding of the extent and purpose of each individual’s involvement in the case.’

(Report of the Inquiry into the death of Maria Colwell, 1974)

Cleveland – reasons for the crisisi. Lack of proper understanding by the main agencies of each others’ functions in relation to child sexual abuse;

ii. A lack of communication between the agencies;

iii. Differences of views at middle management level which were not recognised by senior staff. These eventually affected those working on the ground.

‘It is unacceptable that the disagreements and failure of communication of adults should be allowed to obscure the needs of children.’

(Report of the Inquiry into Child Abuse in Cleveland, 1987)

Victoria Climbié

It is deeply disturbing that during the days and months following the initial contact with Ealing Housing Department, Victoria was known to over ten other agencies. On twelve key occasions relevant services had the opportunity to intervene in Victoria’s life.

‘A gross failure of the system.’

(The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report, 2003)

Victoria and the child minder

“Mrs Cameron gave Victoria a clean pair of pyjamas and put her to bed. Later that evening, she heard groaning… and called her daughter Avril to come and look. They agreed that Victoria had to be taken to hospital.”

Childhood Lost – Part 8 Case Review Overview ‘Almost every inquiry and Part 8 Case Review Report

from the early 1970s onwards has commented on the problems of inter-agency and inter-professional co-operation. The problems with inter-agency co-operation usually stem from three sources: the complexity of the case, the numbers of organisations and professionals involved or the lack of understanding from the professional involved of what is required.’

(Childhood Lost – Part 8 Case Review Overview Report,

The Bridge, 2001)

A study of inquiry reports 1973-1981• Cases usually involve several professions and two or

more agencies, but effective work is often hampered by

ignorance, or misunderstanding of respective functions.• All workers need agreed arrangements for exchanging

information and… a clear and common understanding of

the extent and purpose of each individual’s involvement

in the case.

(Child Abuse: a study of inquiry reports, 1973-1981, DHSS, 1982)

Learning from Past Experience

‘The most commonly identified practice shortcomings expressed in the 40 reviews included inadequate sharing of information, poor assessments, ineffective decision making and lack of inter-agency working.’

(A Review of Serious Case Reviews (DOH) 2002)

• Government policy

Every child matters agenda“Child protection cannot be separated from policies toimprove children’s lives as a whole.”

Five outcomes underpin the government’s strategy

• being healthy• staying safe• enjoying and achieving• making a positive contribution• economic wellbeing

Early years workers have an important role to play in helping to deliverthese outcomes

Every child matters agenda

• Supporting parents and carers.• Early intervention and effective protection.• Accountability and integration – locally, regionally and

nationally.• Workforce reform.

A shared responsibility

“Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children …depends on effective joint working between agencies and professionals that have different roles and expertise. Individual children, especially some of the most vulnerable children and those at greatest risk of social exclusion, will need co-ordinated help from health, education, children’s social care, and quite possibly the voluntary sector and other agencies.”

(Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2006)

A shared responsibility (2)

“There needs to be constructive working relationships between individual workers, promoted and supported by a strong lead from elected or appointed authority members and the commitment of chief officers in all agencies effective local co-ordination by the Local Safeguarding Children Board”

Staying safe: consultation

“Keeping children and young people safe is a top priority. It is the responsibility of us all… Childhood has changed…(it) is a time for learning and exploring… Government has a role to play in supporting parents to strike the right balance between protecting their children whilst allowing them to learn and explore safely… We want to raise awareness of how we can all help children to stay safe.”

(Ed Balls MP, Foreword, Staying Safe)

Roles, Responsibilities, and Principles

The following groups are identified

• Children , young people, parents and families• The general public• Children’s social care• Police Services• NHS organisations and staff• Other services• LSCBs and children’s trusts• Inspectorates• Government

Comprehensive Spending Review

• Government commitment to improving safety of children• PSA on Improving Children and Young People’s Safety• Sets 4 indicators for measuring progress• Key role for LSCBs in ensuring delivery• Everyone working with children should promote

children’s resilience to harm, be alert to risks and indicators of harm and know when and with whom to share information

• Role of early years workers

The vital contribution of early years workersA range of workers have contact with children including:

• Child minders• Play groups• Nurseries• Toy libraries• Out of school provision• Sure Start – Children’s Centres• … and more!

A good position to respond

• More approachable and less stigmatising than many

other professionals.• Longer periods of contact with children and families,

enabling them to build relationships.• A broader, preventive remit.• Knowledge of large numbers of children and therefore

an understanding of child development.

Doing a good job

“The vast majority of child care settings keep children safe and protect them from harm. Almost all (97%) inspected are satisfactory or better in delivering this outcome for children.”

(Safe and Sound, OFSTED, 2006)

Staying safe: effectiveness

05/06 06/07

Outstanding 4% 5%

Good 55% 51%

Satisfactory 38% 42%

Inadequate 3% 2%

(Percentage of providers inspected)

Staying safe: inadequate care

No staff were trained in protecting children or in following the local safeguarding procedures; adults’ knowledge of possible signs of abuse was poor; adults were not helping children to learn how to protect themselves from harm; or adults did not recognise that their methods of managing children’s behaviour could raise child protection concerns.

Barriers to multi agency working

Barriers to multi-agency/multi-disciplinary working• Different professional/discipline traditions and cultures.

Lack of shared perspectives/understanding.• Organisational structures and working practises.• Professional status.• Different professional priorities.• Confidentiality.• Relationships between professional and ‘service user.’• The same pressures as those on the wider public:

children’s rights ignored; denial of abuse; reluctance to

intervene.

Exhortation is not enough

• We need to win the hearts and minds of professionals in

different agencies.• Training – multi-disciplinary training where appropriate.• Supervision and support.• Pay and workforce reform.

EduCare - what pre-school staff said

‘Reviewed pre-school child protection policy and altered volunteer induction form to include a signed statement that they have read, understood and agree to abide by the policy’

‘We are looking into child protection policy on allegations against staff as a separate policy’

Feedback from child minders

• 97.4% felt that EduCare had helped them understand child abuse

• 97.6% felt it helped them identify their role in protecting children

• 97.4% felt more confident in recognition

• 97.6% felt more confident to take action

• 23% said they had changed their practice

What child minders said

“I have written a more clear code of conduct and given a copy to all my parents and carers.”

“I record all details of any concerns as a precaution.”

“An excellent introduction to the recognition and procedures involved in child abuse allegations.”

Uptake of Training and Support Needs Survey

19,422 people completed the survey

Child Protection Concerns

• 88.4% of people who completed the survey come into direct daily contact with children

• 50% of these had had concerns about the safety of a child, or suspected that a child was experiencing abuse during the course of their work

• The average number of children that each respondent had had a concern about was 5

Taking Action The majority of people had taken action last time

they had a concern about a child. The three most likely forms of action were: – Raised concerns with a colleague within the

organisation who has responsibility for child protection (21%)

– Referred concerns to social services (21%)– Discussed the concern with colleagues to get

their advice (20%)

Barriers to Action

The main barriers or difficulties that people reported experiencing in deciding what to do about their concerns was the following: – Being unsure as to whether abuse was taking place

(28%)– Being worried that if they did something it would have

a negative impact on their relationship with the child’s parents/carers (13.18%)

– Thinking that it might make the situation worse for the child if they did something (7%)

Child Protection Policies and Procedures

• The majority of professionals know that their organisation has a child protection policy

• 40% of these however are only broadly familiar with it or not familiar at all

Training The issues which respondents would most like to receive

updates on were as follows:– Understanding the roles and responsibilities of other

agencies/working together– Understanding the legal and policy framework for

safeguarding– Communicating with children and young people where

there are child protection concerns– Domestic violence and child protection – Assessing risk where there is a child protection concern– Working with families where there is a child protection

concern

Child Protection Concerns

Early Years Workers were the least likely to have

had concerns about a child (22%)

NSPCC position

NSPCC activities

• Operates 180 teams and projects whose activities

include:

- Investigations into allegations of complex child abuse.

- Counselling and therapy.

- Supporting families in successful parenting.

- Working within schools.

- Providing a voice for children and young people.• Provides an independent voice campaigning on behalf

of children.

NSPCC activities CONTINUED

• Works with other organisations in effective co-operation.• Operates the 24-hour freephone Child Protection Helplines.• ChildLine• Provides support to children at a distance through There4me.com.• Gives training, consultancy, and advice on child

protection to local authorities and other organisations.• Carries out research.• Publishes books, leaflets and newsletters.

NSPCC commitment to multi-agency working

• Working in partnership with other agencies is crucial to

ending child cruelty.• No one organisation can do it alone.

Areas for co-operation

Equal protection from assault

• Reform the law on physical punishment

• Education on alternatives, including positive parenting

• Early years providers to campaign for a change

Anti Bullying Week 2007

Safer together, safer wherever.

Focus on bullying in the community.

The importance of starting early.

A copy of this presentation can be found on our website at:

www.nspcc.org.uk/inform