Children and young people

At the most serious end of the continuum of need, levels 3 and 4, children should be receiving services from the Children’s Care Division, often with a social worker as the lead professional.

Level 4, described as acute needs, will have a significant impact upon a child or young person’s safety and well-being. It  will include, most commonly, children at risk of suffering actual or likely significant harm, frequently associated with immediate concerns of physical or sexual abuse or severe neglect.

Level 3 refers to children and young people with complex needs. The characteristics that indicate they will be likely to meet the threshold for social work assessment and time-limited, targeted intervention are an imminent home breakdown, the level of self-harming or very challenging behaviour and situations where harm has been adverted but where intensive specialist support is needed. The majority of these examples relate to situations that would escalate into the acute spectrum without urgent intervention.

There is a significant number of children and young people who at any given time may be considered vulnerable and in need of support services and this is the group referred to as level 2 (vulnerable children) in the model of prevention. There is a wide range of services that can be used to meet the needs of vulnerable children and their families at this level, who frequently require time-limited, targeted intervention or lower-level continuing support services.

Examples of level 4 needs

• Children suffering actual or likely significant harm and disclosures of physical, sexual or emotional abuse.
• New referrals in cases of severe neglect - this may include parents with severe and acute mental health and/or drug and alcohol misuse problems; parents with severe learning difficulties.
• Very serious or chronic cases of domestic violence, which are likely to cause significant harm to the child.
• Children in immediate danger or those who require immediate assessment to ascertain whether they need to be looked after by the council to ensure their safety.
• Children at risk due to actual or likely contact with people who pose a risk to children and/or young people (e.g. people convicted of causing harm to children or those on the sex offenders register).
• Child protection enquiries - where there is reasonable cause to suspect that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm. This includes enquiries in relation to looked after children placed by other local authorities; children where the alleged incident and the child normally reside in Medway and enquiries where an allegation about abusing a child or young person has been made against a professional.
• Children made subject to police protection orders (i.e. police powers to remove a child to suitable accommodation in an emergency).
• Enquiries to assist the court in the execution of its duties under section 37 of the Children Act 1989. These are situations where, in any family proceedings, a question arises in relation to the welfare of any child and it appears to the court that it may be appropriate for a care or supervision order to be made. The enquiries usually take the form of a comprehensive assessment and written report.

Some examples of acute situations likely to require a child protection investigation under section 47 of the Children Act 1989, which specifies the council's duty to investigate, are:

• severe neglect;
• children or young people in immediate danger;
• children or young people living with a person considered to pose a risk;
• referrals against carers and professionals or those in position of trust and responsibility;
• cases requiring joint investigation by police and children’s social care, e.g. actual physical abuse or sexual abuse;
• cases requiring forensic investigation;
• child protection investigations pertaining to looked after children placed by other authorities.

(back)

Examples of level 3 needs

• Children needing to be looked after immediately by someone other than their normal care-giver and those on the threshold of reception into council accommodation.
• Pre-birth or post-natal assessments where there are concerns for the safety or well-being of the unborn or new born child.
• Children subject to court orders – section 7 enquiries (welfare reports), Family Assistance Orders and Supervision Orders.
• Children whose names have been removed from the child protection register but who remain in need of continuing, targeted social care services.
• Children who self-harm, run away or whose behaviour places them at immediate risk.
• Young carers where there is a need for a joint assessment with adult services to identify significant unmet need for either the child or parent.
• Private fostering placements where a private individual is looking after a child for another family.
• Children who are looked after in a residential placement subject to council funding.
• Unaccompanied children.
• Abandoned teenagers who are vulnerable as a result.

(back)

Examples of level 2 needs

• Children whose health or development is unlikely to be maintained without the provision of family support from a variety of service providers.
• Children where there are parenting difficulties and families experiencing a short-term crisis, which affects the children’s health or development.
• Children experiencing serious family instability and changes of primary carer.
• Children where concerns about parental substance misuse have an impact on the child’s health or development.
• Domestic violence which might have a detrimental effect on the child.
• Children where there are concerns about the environment or the adequacy of parental supervision.
• Children or young people who present challenging behaviour.

(back)

In addition there are specific groups of children and young people with concerns that could be met by alternative service providers from within the council, the voluntary sector and the local community. Examples include:

Homeless young people

• Housing,
• Moving Forward.

Privately fostered children

• Fostering Team

Behaviour problems in children and young people

• Behavioural Support Services,
• Learning Support Services,
• Education Welfare Service,
• Educational psychologists,
• Integrated area teams,
• SureStart,
• Connexions,
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS),
• Child and Adolescent Support Team - CAMHS Tier 2 Service,
• School nurses,
• Extended school provision,
• Health visitors,
• General practitioners,
• Schools.

In 2006 the government published Working Together to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children. The document sets out how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Further more detailed information can be found on the Every Child Matters website:

• www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/resources-and-practice
• www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/socialcare/safeguarding.

^ (back to top)