Most children and young people in County Durham are able to lead normal, happy and healthy lives and are safe within their family networks and communities, without the need for specialist or targeted services. However, some children are more vulnerable than others, either because of their own additional needs or because of circumstances in which they live, will need extra help to be healthy and safe, and to achieve their potential. These vulnerable children are at increased risk of poorer health and wellbeing outcomes.
This can include:
- children where referrals have been made about their welfare and safety
- those children who are subject to a Child Protection Plan (CPP)
- children who have become looked after
- children with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND)
A Child in Need (CIN) is defined under the Children Act 1989 as a child who is unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health or development will be significantly impaired, without the provision of services, or the child is disabled
Child Protection relates to safeguarding and promoting welfare. This refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.
The term ‘looked after’ has a specific, legal meaning based on the Children Act 1989. A child is looked after by a local authority if he or she is provided with accommodation for a continuous period of more than 24 hours (under Section 20 and 21), or if he or she is subject to a care order (Children Act 1989, Part IV) and/or placement order.
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Why is it important?
Children in need and child protection
A child in need is one who has been assessed by children’s social care to be in need of services. These services can include, for example, family support (to help keep together families experiencing difficulties), leaving care support (to help young people who have left local authority care), adoption support, or disabled children’s services (including social care, education and health provision). If a local authority identifies there is reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm, it will carry out an assessment under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 to determine if it needs to take steps to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. If concerns are substantiated and the child is judged to be at continuing risk of harm, then an initial child protection conference should be convened within 15 working days. At the initial child protection conference, the decision will be made as to whether the child needs to become the subject of a child protection plan. When a child becomes the subject of a plan, the initial category of abuse is recorded.
A timely support package based on an early assessment of need is therefore crucial to enable the child to reach their potential and a failure to address these needs may place the child at risk and cause an escalation in their complexity.
Children can be in need or at risk of significant harm for many reasons. Key risk indicators include living in poverty, family isolation and lack of support. ‘Working Together to safeguard children’ (HM Government, 2018) defines neglect as,
The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.
Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to: provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment), protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger
ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate caregivers) ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.
Children who have a child protection plan are considered to be in need of protection, including from physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. The plan will detail the main areas of concern, what action will taken to reduce those concerns, how the child will be kept safe and how we know when progress is being made.
Children looked after
Our belief in County Durham is that children are best supported to grow and achieve within their own families. However, there are exceptional circumstances where, despite our best efforts to support families, there are a small number of children for whom it is not in their best interests to be cared for by their immediate family (Children Looked After). Children Looked After are children and young people for whom the Local Authority becomes their Corporate Parent. This means that the Local Authority is responsible for finding them a safe and stable home. Where it is in the best interests of the child this could be a short term arrangement whilst the family is supported so that children can safely return home; or this can lead to the children and young people being in our care for the longer term.
Local authorities can provide children with accommodation under a wide range of circumstances, for example:
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- When a child is suffering significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect
- As a result of an agreement between the local authority and the child’s parents or guardians that being accommodated would be in the child’s best interest
- Foster placements (including kinship care)
- Residential placements, i.e. children’s home, special education schools, secure units, hostels
- Supported lodgings
- Independent living in preparation for adult life
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Children’s development and future life chances can be significantly affected by their early experiences. As a result of those experiences before and during care, looked after children are at greater risk than their peers. It is therefore paramount that looked after children stay healthy, safe and have the same opportunities as their peers which will enable them to move successfully into adulthood.
Our strategies, plans and groups
Our Corporate Parenting Panel (CPP) is a group that is part of the council, which is called a committee. It has 21 councillors as well as council officers. There are also 10 other members, including school representatives and young people’s representatives to make sure there’s a broad range of experience and knowledge and that children and young people are heard, and actively responded to. They produce annual reports on their work.
The Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership (DCSP), supports a wide range of organisations to coordinate Early Help and safeguarding services across County Durham.
The evidence base and key guidance
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have produced a number of guidelines and quality standards to support children’s social care. These can be found on the following page: All NICE products on children’s social care
Children’s social care: national framework, Statutory Guidance, Department for Education (2023)
Keeping children safe, helping families thrive, Policy Paper, Department for Education (2024)
Working together to safeguard children, Statutory Guidance, Department for Education (2023)