Working Well with Children and Families across Lancashire

Virtual Partnership Launch Event

10th July 2020

Why are we here?

• Working Well with Children and Families across Lancashire replaces Keeping Children Safe in Blackpool as the ‘thresholds’ document.

• It is much more than a thresholds document though as it covers how we will work with children and families using the principles of Blackpool Families Rock.

• Parts 1 and 2 are a pan-Lancashire document so provide consistency for those of you who work with children from further afield.

• It is a partnership document owned by the Police, Health and the 3 Local Authorities.

Presenters

• Stephen Ashley, Independent Scrutineer, Children’s Safeguarding Assurance Partnership

• Kara Haskayne, Head of Safeguarding and Principal Social Worker, Blackpool Council

• Jeremy Mannino, Schools’ Safeguarding Advisor and Virtual School Head

• Lisa Farrell, Named Nurse for Safeguarding, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals

• Karen Orrell, Deputy Designated Nurse, Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group

• Mike Gladwin, Detective Chief Inspector, Public Protection Unit, Lancashire Constabulary HQ

• Michelle McNally, Service Manager, Blackpool Council

• Eric Halford, Detective Chief Inspector, Blackpool, Lancashire Constabulary

Working Well with Children and Families in Lancashire

• Part 1 – Summary and Overview

• Part 2 – Detailed guide to Working Well with Children and Families in Lancashire

• Part 3 – Information about Services and Support in Blackpool (Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen guides also available)

The document will go live in Blackpool on Monday 20th July 2020.

Our Principles for Working Well with Children & Families across Lancashire

• We should work WITH families, not do things to them.

• Children are the heart of what we do, and we should never lose sight of the impact.

• We should seek to support children within their family network wherever possible.

• Children with additional needs or who are vulnerable because of family circumstance should be supported to have equity of aspiration and outcomes with their peers.

• The anchors in a families life, the school they choose for their children, the community the choose to live in and the people around them can help to build assets, capacity and resilience when problems are identified early and addressed with honesty and collaborative working.

Our Principles for Working Well with Children & Families across Lancashire (cont.)

• Families should not have to tell their stories to a range of professionals through their lives to get help. Information should be shared with the family’s knowledge and consent.

• All services will work with families at the lowest possible level to prevent their needs from escalating to a higher level.

• Each child and family member is an individual and each family is unique in its make up, so reaching decisions about levels of needs and the best intervention requires discussion, reflection and professional judgement applied in the context of the lived experience of the child and family.

Heart: Feeling

We are all humanWe can all make mistakesTrusting relationships are importantRespect each otherBe kindLet’s be brave togetherNever give up on meSee me (I am unique)See the good thingsShare the power

Head: knowledgeculture and thinking

Don’t be nosy (ask yourself if you really need to know this)Use plain languageShare knowledgeTake care in how you talk and write about usShare what you know about usBe non-judgementalWalk in my shoes

Hand: the doing of what we think and feel

See our strengthsFind out what works for usShow you’ve listened by your actionsBe clear about expectationsGet to know meKnow who is important to meSupport us to develop our own plans and solutionsHave meaningful meetingsCelebrate positive changesMake time for meBe honest

Restorative Practice: Relationships & Working ‘WITH’

Levels of Need at a glance

Early interventionreducing not escalating Working Well

Levels of needreducing not escalating Working Well

Working Well

Identification

Right Support at the right time

• Work in partnership

• Early Help Planning

• Professional curiosity

• Seek advice

• Request specialist help

• Continue involvement

Identifying and responding to vulnerability is

everybody’s business

Safeguarding: can you reduce the risk of harm to the victim and any children?

Investigation: can you secure and preserve evidence of any offences, regardless of a formal

complaint? Are there alternative positive outcomes?

Prevention: can you use preventative measures, particularly where bail conditions or

prosecution is not possible?

Lancashire Constabulary

• The Request for Support Hub accommodates the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) that brings multi-agency professionals together to gather and share information when there are safeguarding concerns.

• There is no change to the way in which the Police work in relation to Safeguarding within the hub surrounding responses to Child Protection, and Contextual Safeguarding.

• Police follow the SIP principles : Safeguard / Investigate / Prevention

• Generally work at LEVEL 4 – Specialist Support.

• Within the Request for Support Hub the Police MASH presence is 7 days per week from 9am to 5pm.

‘Blackpool Families Rock’Request for Support Hub

(formally known as MASH)

Michelle McNally – Service Manager for the Request for Support Hub (RSH), Assessment and Support Team (AST) and the Emergency Duty Team (EDT)

The ‘Blackpool Families Rock’ Request for Support Hub has been developed to reflect the rebalancing the

front door in relation to safeguarding with a focus on Early Support through Targeted Intervention services,

and community support. The Request for Support Hub accommodates the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub

(MASH) that sits within the service to ensure multi-agency collaboration and information sharing when

there are safeguarding concerns.

Requests for support to the Hub will be reviewed by Health, Education, Social Care and other partners, who

will work together to plan and agree ways forward, ensuring that families are appropriately supported at an

early stage and unnecessary escalation to statutory services is prevented.

All Requests for Support will be processed according the ‘Working well with Children and Families’

document that sets out the level of need. The ‘working with’ approach in developing the Early Support

Intervention seeks to strengthen partnership working where more collaborative conversations are

developing in the hub.

Request for Support Hub

‘Blackpool Families Rock’ reflects our partnership values and commitment to:

• A multi-agency, coordinated approach to delivery of services.

• Embedding the use of the Early Help Assessment in all agencies.

• Providing help and support at the lowest level to prevent the escalation of need and prevent impairment to a child’s health and development.

• Improving information sharing between practitioners.

• Ensuring access to specialist services for children and young people: where there is evidence of impairment to health and development; where there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child or young person is at risk of significant harm; and/or there is evidence of significant harm.

Partnership values which inform the way we work with children and families:

• Being respectful and building relationships

• Being understanding, kind and empathetic

• Being purposeful

• Being constructive

• Being open and transparent

• Being fair

• Being honest

The Children’s Services and Early Help Hub Advice line:

The advice line has been developed in response to feedback from our partners that it would be a welcome tool to support effective safeguarding practice,

The line gives professionals working in services that come in to contact with children and families direct access to a Social Worker for advice and guidance without sharing identifiable information.

During consultation you will not need to share the personal details of children and their families as the advice line is for consultation only.

Advice Line open from: 9am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4.30pm Friday. Tel: 01253 478959

The advice line is NOT the direct route to make a referral in to Children’s Social Care.

4 Levels of Need

• Level 1 needs - Universal

• Level 2 needs - Universal Plus

• Level 3 needs - Intensive

• Level 4 needs - Specialist

Supporting Families with Early Intervention and Prevention

All children in Blackpool have the right to live and grow up in a safeenvironment in which they are protected from harm, nurtured to build theirresilience to any adversity that they may face and supported to achieve theiraspirations.

Some children will need additional help and protection to achieve this Workingwell with Children and Families provides the multi-agency framework by whichall practitioners who work alongside children and families provide the rightsupport, at the right time and in the right place.

What is Explicit and Informed Consent

Explicit and Informed consent is meaningless unless it is clear, unambiguous, informed, and specific, freely given and can be evidenced.

It is important to always gain informed consent unless doing so places a child at risk of significant harm or further risk of significant harm.

Consent is explicit in terms of: permission to share, permission to contact agencies, and agreement to engage with support.

Agencies need to be open and honest about:

Why we want to share information

The type of information we wish to share

How we would share it

Who we intend sharing it with

It is important to respect the wishes of those who do not give consent, as a partnership we want to work well with families and be honest with them.

•Supporting Our Children Team

• Leaving Care Team

•Fostering Team

•Adoption Service

•Safeguarding Quality and Review service: Child Protection Chairs and Independent Reviewing Officers (IRO)

• Request for Support Hub (RSH)

• Assessment and Support teams (AST)

• Strengthening and Supporting Families (SSF)

• Families Together Team (FTT)

• Awaken (Exploitation and Missing From Home Service)

• Supporting Children with Complex Needs team

Core teams in Children’s Social Care

• What are we worried about?• What is the impact on the child?• What do we need to know more about?• What’s going well?• What needs to happen to improve the child’s outcomes?

• Revised Partnership Report Template for Initial CP Conference

• Core Groups• Children’s Social Care focusing on regularity• Partnership focus on progression of the child’s Plan• Partnership attendance recorded

Blackpool Families Rock - Child Protection Conferences

Thank you for supporting Children and Families at the earliest

opportunity