General Requirements for all agencies
Staff of all agencies must implement the policy of their own agency with regard to the welfare of children and do so in particular, when there are concerns about a child suffering, or at risk of suffering significant harm.
Staff should be familiar with “What to do if you are worried a Child is being Abused”
Staff of all agencies must make themselves familiar with the contents of chapter 5 of “Working Together to Safeguard Children” as revised in 2006.
All staff need to consider the lessons from research (Chapter 9 of "Working Together) dealing with the impact of abuse, sources of stress for families, social exclusion, domestic abuse, mental illness, substance misuse and parental learning disability.
A checklist for evaluating children's circumstances is available in the document library of these procedures. This is intended to help staff to collate factual detail about their concerns. Please note that it is not a prerequisite to use this checklist before taking action.
Whenever a concern arises within any agency that a child may be suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm, contact must be made with the Helpdesk (Tel: 01952 385700) and followed up within 48 hours by a written statement of concerns. This will normally be contained within a CAF or the latest TAC Plan.
Staff must consider whether the responses of the child or the family to the enquiries they make are affected by the experience of racism. Please refer to the advice contained in the "Particularly Vulnerable Children" section of these procedures.