Sub-group activity - what's been happening?

• The Executive Group continue to direct and oversee the activity and work of the Board, sub-groups, Forward Delivery Plan, Annual Report, Serious Case Review and funding.

• The Case Review Panel [CRP] have been focused on the above SCR and reviewing the ensuing Action Plan.  The Panel have also widened their remit to include undertaking Reviews that do not meet the criteria for a Serious Case Review but which can provide invaluable learning both for organisations and practitioners. The LSCB Template of Learning for submitting cases for consideration is available on the link as shown below.  All cases/templates should first be discussed with your agency’s CRP representative.  Alternatively, you can contact Ali Spalding, LSCB Manager for advice on process. Any learning will subsequently be disseminated to all LSCB partner agencies.  The Panel would also welcome examples of good practice or multi-agency learning.  Further details regarding the Suffolk Partnership Review process can be found at – http://suffolksafeguardingchildrenboard.onesuffolk.net/procedures/serious-case-reviews/

• The Child Death Overview Panel [CDOP] has been working on Safer Sleep for Suffolk Babies: As you may know, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome [previously referred to as Cot Death] accounts for a significant percentage of ‘potentially preventable’ child deaths across the UK every year.  Each of these deaths is a tragic, unexpected loss for a family.  Although there is as of yet, no clear cause or explanation, research has identified a simple set of key factors in environment and parental behaviour that may help reduce the risk.  Promoting these risk reduction messages in a clear and consistent way and supporting partner agency staff to do likewise, is high on the sub-group’s agenda. 3^rd June 2014 Suffolk LSCB Safer Sleep Event: This multi-agency event provided an opportunity for professionals from a wide range of agencies to meet together, to launch a series of resources developed by Suffolk LSCB to support partner agency staff to promote safer sleep messages; help to inform Suffolk families about how to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and prevent more of these tragic and unexpected deaths.  Delegates received free Level 2 Lullaby Trust training and were given an LSCB Safer Sleep Professionals Resource Pack to take away with them.  There were multi-agency networking opportunities, as well as an information market place with stalls from a range of Suffolk services who promote the safety and welfare of children in the county.

• The Exploitation Strategic Group recently held their first meeting to devise terms of reference and receive reports from the three work streams

• Gangs and Groups: key objective is to understand gangs and groups local to Suffolk,  how gangs are portrayed and the impact on communities

• Missing Children: Action Plan has been developed which incorporates the previous one.  The group are reviewing LSCB policies and procedures alongside Department for Education Guidance on children who run away or go missing.  New definitions of a missing person are:

• Missing: ‘anyone whose whereabouts cannot be established and where the circumstances are out of character or the context suggests the person may be subject of crime or at risk of harm to themselves or another’
• Absent: ‘a person not at a place where they are expected or required to be’

• Child Sexual Exploitation [CSE]: Action Plan for the group has been agreed and further work to take place regarding ‘raising awareness’.  Policy guidance and risk assessment in relation to CSE is currently being revised

• The Learning and Improvement Group [L&I] continue to receive Section 11 Safeguarding Audit annual reviews from partners.  These result in detailed action plans which are monitored via the Group.  The Norfolk and Suffolk Probation Trust provided an update on the findings and recommendations from the HMIP Report, which was completed in March 2014 and the relevant sections will be combined with their joint Section 11 annual review due to take place in July 2014

• An update on the Thematic Audit on Exclusions has resulted in a task and finish group led by Learning and Improvement group colleagues. A number of actions have been identified including revised guidance for schools and locality team colleagues. These are being developed and a further report will be presented to the group at a later date

• The following reports linked to the Annual LSCB Performance Report were received and reviewed.   

• The Section 157/175 Schools safeguarding audit
• Private Fostering Report
• Education Safeguarding training report
• LADO Allegations
• A full performance dataset including National and Local Indicators

• Section 5 [Performance and Effectiveness] of the LSCB Forward Delivery Plan was reviewed and updated with actions and timescales against each of the 6 objectives. These will be reviewed monthly as part of a regular agenda item for the group

• The Planning, Policy and Engagement Group are currently working on updating the LSCB Communication and Engagement Strategy, ensuring that all multi-agency policies and procedures are continually evaluated and updated on the LSCB website.  The Group are also working towards developing joint work and are exploring how to reach a range of organisations, in particular the wider faith community/other ethnic groups and better engagement with children, young people and families

• Watch this space for the revised Domestic Abuse Policy and Flow Chart for Referral

• The Health Group have completed an Operational Policy for Looked After Children and the service specification will be adapted to include existing integrated service specification into a partnership policy document

 

What's new?

 

• Suffolk Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP): Bereavement Support Directory: March 2014 saw the launch of Suffolk CDOP’s Bereavement Support Directory.  The CDOP has developed this to be a resource for use by parents, families and staff, as a response to professionals feeling that there was a lack of up to date, centralised information; particularly with regard to signposting to local support organisations.  The booklet has been circulated to lead professionals involved with the SUDIC Protocol, which provides the rapid emergency response when a child dies suddenly and unexpectedly.  The expectation is that the booklet will be rolled out across a wide range of organisations over the forthcoming months and is accessible through the LSCB website. 

 

• Have you seen these new or revised LSCB Leaflets?

 

• LSCB ‘Child Sexual Abuse through Exploitation’
• LSCB ‘Keeping up with the Kids in a Digital Age’ [revised]
• LSCB ‘Child Protection Concerns’

 
The above Directory and all the LSCB leaflets are available on the LSCB website http://suffolksafeguardingchildrenboard.onesuffolk.net/information-and-links/  
 
You can request hard copies by contacting the LSCBCommunication@suffolk.gov.uk mailbox