Child Protection Policy: Reporting Procedure

1) Concern over welfare of a specific child

If an officer or member has any concerns about the welfare of an individual child they should, without delay, complete the incident/concern form. See appendix A. This form is available electronically on the Council’s Intranet.
The incident or concern should be discussed with either the deputy Designated Child Protection Officer or Lead Officer for Child Protection.
If for any reason none of the above are available, a direct report should be made to Children’s Social Services or the Police, and the designated Child Protection Officer notified retrospectively. Please ensure that the referral form that is available on TOM is the method you use for KCC Duty Service referrals.
The incident/concern report should be sent to KCC County Duty Service (Social Care) by email. county.duty.service@kent.gov.uk in office hours (8.30am to 5pm). Out of office hours the incident/concern should be telephoned through to the out of office hours service (08458 247 247) or the Police.
The e mail referral will request acknowledgement of receipt from social services
The Lead Officer for Child Protection will follow up the email by telephoning the Duty Service to confirm receipt of the notification. The officer that made the referral will be assured that it has been safely received by Social Services within 48 hours of sending the referral by the Lead Officer.
KCC will, within 24 hours acknowledge by email receipt of the report.
A copy of the report will be sent to the deputy designated Child Protection Officer for retention.

2) Concerns over inappropriate behaviour by Council employee

These concerns should be reported to the deputy Designated Child Protection Officer or Lead Officer for Child Protection.
Where concerns involve an individual employee then the EKHR Manager should be informed and subsequently seek guidance from KCC Duty Service.

3) Concerns over inappropriate behaviour by an Elected Member

These concerns should be reported to the deputy Designated Child Protection Officer or Lead Officer for Child Protection.
Where concerns involve an individual member then the Chief Executive, Corporate and Regulatory Services Manager and the Leader of the Elected Member’s party should be informed and subsequently seek guidance from KCC Duty Service.

4) Concerns over systems or procedural weakness that put children at risk

These concerns should be reported to the Line Manager or if appropriate the Director.
Where concerns involve systems or procedures they should also be reported to the deputy designated Child Protection Officer or lead officer for child protection, who will commission a report/review by the Child Protection Committee (unless urgent remedial action is required).

5) Reporting incidents to the Police

If the nature of the concern is such that it is felt the police should be notified this will be discussed with the Line Manager and deputy designated Child Protection Officer or lead officer for child protection; if it is agreed, the Police will be contacted immediately with a retrospective referral to KCC Duty Services stating this.

Expectation is that Social Services will investigate cases and liaise with police where there is suspected criminality. However, there may be circumstances where direct referral to Police is appropriate e.g.

Child Pornography.
Child at immediate risk e.g. child at home alone

The Council will co-operate fully with any resulting investigation carried out by external child protection agencies or the Police.

Type of Referral

Please ensure that when making a referral to KCC you are able to define whether it will be classed as a "Child in Need" or a "Child Protection" case. If it is classed as a "Child in Need" referral, the reporting officer would need to gain consent from the parent/guardian/carer of the child otherwise KCC cannot do anything with the referral.

Child Protection Referrals

A Child Protection Referral needs to be made when a child or young adult under the age of 18 whom it is alleged has been subjected to:

Sexual abuse - inclusive of rape, sexual assault, indecency and indecent exposure.
Physical abuse - inclusive of failing to prevent injury and failing to prevent suffering.
Emotional harm - although this is often as a result of other types of abuse, it is a form of abuse in it's own right.
Neglect - inclusive of being left home alone, neglecting a child's basic physical and emotional needs, failing to protect a child, exposing a child to moral danger and abandonment.

Child in Need Referrals

A Child in Need Referral needs to be made if you have evidence, or good reason to suspect that the child is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or have the opportunity to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision of services by their local and/or county council or that the child's health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision of services by their local and/or county council.

The legislative definitions can be summarised in the following categories of a child in need:

Significant harm - the child is at risk of significant harm.
Parental Illness/Disability - Parents misusing drugs or alcohol, acutely ill parents, chronically disabled parents, the child assuming responsibility for the chronically ill, addicted or disabled parents.
Family in Acute Stress - Homelessness, unsupported single parents, the death of a parent of carer.
Family Dysfunction - Domestic violence, inconsistent parenting or family breakdown.
Socially unacceptable behaviour - children displaying disorderly behaviour, offending, truancy or unsafe sexual behaviour.

Records and information

Information to be passed to Social Services or the Police will be as full as possible, following the format of the reporting on the referral form.

Reporting the matter to the KCC County Duty Service (Social Care) or the Police should not be delayed in an attempt to obtain more information.

A record should also be made of the name and designation of the KCC County Duty Service (Social Care) or police officer to whom the concerns were passed, together with the time and date of the call, in case any follow-up is needed. A note of any crime report number should also be taken.

All employees of Thanet District Council will participate in the making of children’s plans, and comply with the need to complete appropriate paperwork.

Electronic and hard copies of all reports and incident information must be sent to the deputy designated Child Protection Officer or Lead Officer for Child Protection.

Allegations against staff

Any person working on behalf of the Council who suspects that a colleague may be abusing a child or young person must act on their suspicions. Action should also be taken if it is felt that colleagues are not following the codes of conduct. This action will serve not only to protect children but also colleagues from false accusations.

Employees are often the first to realise that there may be something seriously wrong within their own working environment. However, they may not express their concerns because they feel that speaking up would be disloyal to their colleagues or the Council and that there is a possibility that their concerns are unfounded. They may also fear harassment or victimisation. In these circumstances it may appear easier to ignore the concern rather than report what may be a suspicion of malpractice.

The Council acknowledges that this is an extremely sensitive issue and assures all employees and persons working on its behalf that it will fully support and protect anyone, who in good faith reports a concern or an allegation that a colleague is, or may be, abusing a child.

Action to be taken

Poor practice system and procedure

If, following consideration by the designated Child Protection Officer and appropriate external Child Protection agencies, the allegation is clearly about poor practice, the relevant manager may wish to invoke an investigation in accordance with EKHR’s Disciplinary Policy and Procedure, as well as liaising with KCC Children’s Social Services.

Suspected abuse

Where it is suspected that abuse has taken place:

Any suspicion that a member of staff has abused a child should be reported to the deputy designated Child Protection Officer or Lead Officer for Child Protection. The individual informed should inform the designated Child Protection Officer.
The designated Child Protection Officer will take such steps as they feel appropriate to ensure the safety of the child in question and any other child who may be at risk.
The designated Child Protection Officer will report the incident to the relevant Director and the EKHR Manager where consideration will be given to the next steps. These steps may include suspension on full pay, whilst the matter is investigated further.
The designated Child Protection Officer will seek advice from the KCC County Duty Service as appropriate, who may involve the police.
The designated Child Protection Officer will initiate an investigation in line with EKHR’s Disciplinary Procedure to oversee the internal investigation. In most instances this team will include the designated Deputy Child Protection Officer or Lead Officer for Child Protection.
If the designated Child Protection Officer is the subject of the suspicion/allegation, the report must be made directly to the Chief Executive who will assume their role in the above procedure.

Confidentiality

Every effort should be made to ensure that confidentiality is maintained for all concerned. Information should be handled and disseminated on a need to know basis only. This is required in order to:

Protect children
Facilitate enquiries
Avoid victimisation
Safeguard the rights of the person about whom the allegation has been made and others who might be affected
Manage disciplinary/complaints aspects

It is expected that those involved on a need to know basis would include the following:

Members of the team overseeing any investigation
The parents of the child alleged to have been abused
The person making the allegation
KCC County Duty Service and the Police
The alleged abuser (and parents if the alleged abuser is under 18 years of age)

Any information will be stored in a secure place with access limited to the investigation team and in line with data protection.

Internal inquiries and suspension

Irrespective of the findings of the County Duty Service or of police inquiries, the Council will assess all individual cases under disciplinary procedures to decide whether a member of staff can be reinstated and how this can be sensitively handled.
The Council will reach a decision based on the appropriate information and appropriate policies whether an allegation is true. The welfare of children will always remain paramount.

Support to the subject of allegations

Subject to the specific procedures the subject of the allegations should be:

Advised at the outset to contact her/his Union representative if a member
Treated fairly and honestly and helped to understand the concerns expressed, processes involved and possible outcomes
Kept informed of the progress of the case and of the investigation
Clearly informed of the outcome of any investigation and the implications for disciplinary or related processes.
Provided with appropriate support (via occupational health).

Action if bullying is suspected

The same procedure should be followed as set out for Responding to Suspicions of Abuse above if bullying is suspected.

Action to help the victim and prevent bullying

All signs of bullying should be taken seriously
All children should be encouraged to speak and share their concerns
The victim should be helped to speak out and tell the person in charge or someone in authority
An open environment should be created
All allegations should be investigated and action taken to ensure the victim is safe. The victim and bully(ies) should be spoken to separately
Staff should reassure the victim that they can be trusted and will help them, although they cannot promise not to tell anyone else
Records should be kept of what is said
Staff should report concerns to their line manager

Action towards the bully(ies)

The situation should be explained to the bully(ies)
An effort should be made to get the bully(ies) to understand the consequences of their behaviour
An apology to the victim should be sought
The parents of the bully(ies) should be informed
Any borrowed items should be returned to the victim
Appropriate sanctions should be imposed as necessary
Encouragement and support for the bully(ies) to change their behaviour should be offered
Meetings should be held with parents to report on progress
All appropriate staff should be informed of action taken
A written record of action taken should be kept.

Action if bullying is suspected

The same procedure should be followed as set out for Responding to Suspicions of Abuse above if bullying is suspected.

Allegations of previous abuse

Allegations of abuse may be made some time after the event (e.g. by an adult who was abused as a child by a member of staff who is still currently working with children). Where such an allegation is made, the procedures as detailed above should be used and the matter reported to the police by the Deputy Designated Child Protection Officer or Lead Officer for Child Protection. This is because other children may be at risk from this person. Anyone who has a previous criminal conviction for offences related to child abuse is automatically excluded from working with children by the ISA.

Misuse of the Procedure

Malicious complaints about an employee(s) and/or serious and/or persistent abuse of these child protection procedures will not be tolerated and will be dealt with through the disciplinary process.

Employees may not discuss any allegation of child abuse, whether substantiated or not, with:

Anyone within Thanet District Council, other than the manager who they consulted, the Chief Executive, the designated Child Protection Officer, the deputy designated Child Protection Officer or the lead officer for Child Protection;
Any member of any external agency, other than as part of the formal reporting procedure as set out in this policy or as part of the investigative process; and
Any other interested party, including parents, carers, and relatives of the child or young person without the express permission of the person with overall responsibility for the investigation.

This does not exclude the employee from the need or right to consult with a solicitor, trade union representative, EKHR, or other bona fide legal adviser.

Any enquiries from the media concerning an allegation of child abuse must be referred to the lead investigating agencies press office, or the TDC Press Officer. Any direct question must be answered with the phrase “No comment.”

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