Children and young people

ContactPoint (formerly known as the Information Sharing (IS) Index) is a secure electronic tool which will provide a quick way for practitioners working with children and young people to find out who else is working with a particular child or young person, making it easier to deliver more co-ordinated support. The system will be accessible to authorised staff who need it to do their jobs. The system is scheduled to be operational during 2009.

If you need access to ContactPoint but have not been contacted, either by Medway Council or the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), please contact the council using the details given below. National partners such as the police or national charities should note, however, that initial discussions will be instigated by the DCSF.

Medway Council and other organisations are currently determining which computer systems will feed ContactPoint with data and are commencing the process to ensure that the systems used by schools, social workers and others can interface successfully with ContactPoint.

For information on the Medway Local Child Index (Medway ContactPoint) use this link.

Background

On 8 December 2005, Beverley Hughes, Minister for Children, Young People and Families, announced the government's plans to implement a national system that will enable practitioners delivering services to children to identify and contact one another easily and quickly, so they can share relevant information about children who need services or about whose welfare they are concerned.

ContactPoint is a key element of the Every Child Matters programme to transform children's services by supporting more effective prevention and early intervention. The Children Act 2004 (www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/20040031.htm) allows for the creation of an information sharing mechanism that will provide a tool to support better communication among practitioners across education, health, social care and youth offending.

For each child or young person, ContactPoint will hold:

• basic identifying information:
  
  
  • name;
  • address;
  • gender;
  • date of birth;
  • a unique identifying number based on the existing Child Reference Number or National Insurance Number);
• basic identifying information about the child's parent or carer;
• contact details for services involved with the child - as a minimum, school and general practitioner's medical centre but also other services where appropriate;
• the facility for practitioners to indicate to others that they have information to share, are taking action or have undertaken an assessment in relation to a child.

Further information can be found on the DCSF website covering the Every Child Matters programme (www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/contactpoint).

Information request process

• Medway ContactPoint information request process - summary (pdf 100KB)
• Medway ContactPoint information request process - chart (pdf 355KB)

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