Lambeth Safeguarding Children Board

Lambeth Safeguarding Children Board Strategy 2017-20

Technology at work for you 1 Introduction Safeguarding children is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm NSPCC. CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Lambeth Context 3. Our Vision 4. The role of the LSCB 5. Our Priorities 6. Governance 7. How we will deliver 8. Find out more We want Lambeth to be the very best place in the world for children to grow up. We want children to grow up happy and healthy with the support they need from family, the community and high quality public services to achieve their dreams. The Lambeth Safeguarding Board Strategy ( Strategy ) will feed into our Children and Young People s Plan which sets out how public services in Lambeth will work together to achieve this bold ambition. Unfortunately, we know that, despite our best efforts, some children will be subject to, or at risk of varying forms of harm, such as, abuse, exploitation and/ or neglect. This can take many forms including, physical, domestic, sexual, psychological, financial, and discrimination. We therefore need to ensure we take action as a partnership not just to prevent children from suffering from abuse and neglect, but also to improve experiences, services and outcomes for those that do. This is the goal of the Lambeth Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) to ensure that children and young people in Lambeth are safe and feel safe and this strategy sets out the action we will take to deliver this goal over the next three years. This strategy will: Define the vision, priorities and objectives that the LSCB and agencies work towards in Lambeth. Inform the public and those who work with children and young people what they can expect from the LSCB over the next 3 years Form a blueprint for more detailed work plans and a means to measure how we are progressing to ensure children and young people are safe and feel safe from harm in Lambeth. 1 LSCB Strategy 2017-20

An estimated 91, 000 under 25s 44.5% of pupils are of African, Caribbean or other Black ethnic background At least 324,000 residents 19.4% under 18 2 Lambeth Context 27.6% of children aged under 16 years living in poverty Lambeth has a high level of serious youth violence and knife crime SAFEGUARDING Front door... Avg. no. of contacts logged on MO- SAIC (Apr Oct 16) 1,644 per month The number of children subject to a CP plan for more than 2 years is falling Number of Children Looked After missing has fallen The number of children living at home with a missing incident has increased At the end of Feb 2017, there were 1324 Children in Need (CIN) Compared to other Boroughs.. Rate of all referrals to social services is similar to the London average Rate of first time offenders in the Youth Justice System above average % of children subject to a CP plan a 2nd and subsequent time is above average The number of CIN in 2015/16 was above average LSCB Strategy 2017-20 2

3 Our Vision As an LSCB we will work together to support Lambeth s children, young people and families, effectively safeguarding those who are most vulnerable and at risk to ensure they feel safe and are safe from harm such as, abuse, exploitation, trafficking, serious youth violence and neglect so that they can achieve their full potential. Our ambitions for children and young people in Lambeth Following an inadequate judgement by Ofsted in 2015, There has been real progress seen from the improvement journey in Children s Services. Since July 2016 Ofsted quarterly monitoring visits, the LGA Peer Review and self assessments have indicated that services to and outcomes for children and young people and families are on an improving trajectory. This Strategy feeds into the shared ambitions which are set out in our Children and Young People s Plan which sets out our vision for ensuring children in Lambeth are safe and feel safe We will know we have achieved our vision when: The system is working effectively because: We have robust performance data and quality assurance supported by effective scrutiny and challenge of and by partners We utilise feedback from children, families and frontline practitioners Everyone working with children and families in Lambeth has the right knowledge, skills and training to safeguard children. As a result outcomes will have improved for children because: Vulnerable children get the support they need from whichever agency in Lambeth is best placed to meet their needs The quality and timeliness of social care assessments has improved Child protection plans and interventions improve outcomes and experiences for children at risk of harm Families tell us they have been helped by child protection services, and the quality of their lives improved There is a reduction in serious youth violence There is a reduction in the number of children becoming subject of a child protection plan for a 2nd and subsequent time Ofsted judge that children s social care are no longer inadequate 3 LSCB Strategy 2017-20

It is the job of the LSCB to ensure we achieve this vision In fulfilling our objectives, the functions of the LSCB will be to: 4 Role of the LSCB Section 13 of the Children Act 2004 requires each local authority to establish a Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) for their area The LSCB will: Monitor and evaluate Monitoring and evaluation of how effective we are in Lambeth at safeguarding children and as part of continuous improvement will include, performance monitoring, quality assurance activities, learning reviews, Serious Case Reviews (SCRs), learning from CDOP and national sources (e.g. Triennial review of SCRs) and the Annual Report. Plan and Develop The LSCB will agree the priorities for the partnership and develop a strategy which will form the basis of its work plans. The LSCB will also disseminate learning and identify actions for improvement, which may involve developing procedures and policies. Train and Communicate Dissemination of learning also includes ensuring the relevant safeguarding training is in place for those working with children and young people. Coordinate what is done by each person or body represented on the Board for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area Ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each such person or body for those purposes It is anticipated that new Working Together guidelines will be published in 2018. Safeguarding is everybody s business and the LSCB will work together to raise awareness generally about the need to protect children (e.g. through campaigns) amongst professionals, our partnerships and the public. LSCB Strategy 2017-20 4

5 Our Priorities The LSCB has given thought to the outcomes we want to achieve and how we can do it over the next 3 years. Although much progress has been made to date, we need to continue working together on a plan that is relevant and realistic. We want to achieve our vision for Lambeth as soon as possible but can t do everything at once. Therefore we have set ourselves 3 overarching ambitions for the next three years, each with 2 priority areas. This strategy will ensure everyone - board members, staff, and the public - are clear about what we want to do and how we can work together to make it happen. Whilst the strategy provides a broad overview, each year the sub groups will develop detailed work plans and agree exactly what they need to do to deliver At the end of each year we will publish an annual report that says how and what we have done to deliver that year s work plan and review our priorities for the year ahead. Using quality assurance and performance data about the strength of safeguarding activity in Lambeth, we have identified the following strategic priorities for the LSCB over the next three years to March 2020: The first two overarching ambitions are about strengthening the effectiveness of the early help and child protection system in relation to different types of abuse and neglect. This addresses findings of the May 2015 Ofsted inspection of children's social care as well as from our own programme of multi-agency audit. Our intention is to look carefully at each stage of the child protection process from initial identification of concerns by professionals or members of the public right up to court proceedings to make sure that we have clear and robust processes in place and that multi agency practice is high quality and delivers good outcomes for children. Last year, we initiated the "front door project" as the first step in this process. This year we will implement the recommendations of that project, including introducing a new Integrated Referral Hub. We will also begin reviews of child protection conferences and core groups, moving on to a focus on children in need in Year 2. The third ambition reflects key areas of need in the borough: protecting children from exploitation and serious youth violence. Harm is often peer on peer and at group rather than individual or family level. The child protection system wasn't originally configured with intravenous-familial abuse in mind, so we need to be creative in our approach, learning from others who are doing it well, and designing new processes and introducing new approaches to ensure we can prevent and address these issues. Our focus in the coming years will be on implementing our new Young People at Risk strategy developed by our Task and Finish Group chaired by, Annie Hudson, our Strategic Director of Children s Services. Alongside these strategic priorities, the LSCB will continue to improve its delivery of multi-agency audits, learning and development, communication and scrutiny of the work of individual member agencies. 5 LSCB Strategy 2017-20

The LSCB must include at least one representative of the local authority and each of the following Board partners the chief officer of police; the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies; the Youth Offending Team; NHS England and clinical commissioning groups; NHS Trusts and NHS Foundation Trusts all or most of whose hospitals, establishments and facilities are situated in the local authority area; Cafcass; the governor or director of any secure training centre in the area of the authority; and the governor or director of any prison in the area of the authority which ordinarily detains children. Lambeth Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) The LSCB through this strategy, will set the agenda for action, retaining overall oversight and holding to account. As in the diagram overleaf, the LSCB will also coordinate work across and links with, other partnerships such as the Health & Wellbeing Board. Business Management Group (BMG) The Business Management Group will be accountable to the LSCB. 6 Governance Our governance structure will oversee the delivery and implementation of this strategy Each organisation s Board representative has responsibility for ensuring that their organisation carries out the relevant parts of the Board s strategy. The board has an independent Chair who is able to challenge and hold the members to account. Our membership will include a Lay member and will also draw on appropriate expertise and advice from frontline professionals through advisory members in all relevant sectors such as,public Health and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS). It will support the Chair by leading oversight of delivery against this strategy, ensuring ongoing alignment between the work of the sub-groups and scrutinising and reporting on progress towards outcomes. Sub-groups will be responsible for delivery and day to day monitoring. They will be led by a chair accountable to the LSCB who will also be a member of the Business Management Group. Serious Case Review (SCR) The SCR sub group will meet as and when required to commission and monitor progress with SCRs (as per Working Together 2015, Chapter 4) and Learning Reviews. Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) CDOP is responsible for reviewing information on all unexpected child deaths., recording preventable child deaths and making recommendations to ensure that similar deaths are prevented in the future. LSCB Strategy 2017-20 6

Performance and Quality Assurance Sub Group () The membership of the Board and its sub groups is multi-agency. The will be responsible for performance monitoring and quality assurance which will include : the development and maintenance of the performance digest The multi agency audit programme and self assessments (s11 audits), The Board and each of its sub groups will have a terms of reference which will outline the membership, purpose and function of each group. These will be updated regularly and link to the detailed work plans which are developed annually. Identifying and monitoring actions and learning from SCRs, Learning reviews, CDOP feedback and national learning Learning and Professional Development Sub Group (LPD) The TPD will be responsible for analysis of learning needs, disseminating and embedding learning and developing/ commissioning multi agency training The group will also develop and review policies and protocols, evaluating the impact of these activities. TPD will carry out an annual stocktake of training in Lambeth Communication and Engagement Sub Group (CE) The CE will be responsible for engaging children, families and service users in providing feedback, raising awareness, ensuring alignment of campaigns and activities across agencies. The CE will have responsibility for delivering LSCB events and conferences including oversight and monitoring of communication channels e.g. website, e-bulletin Young People at Risk Sub Group (YPaR) The YPaR ensures a more joined up and strategic response to young people at risk. This sub group will be responsible for overseeing the delivery of the YPaR Strategy agreed by the LSCB and arising from the YPaR task and finish group in 2017. The focus of the will be children and young people who may be at risk of CSE, missing from home, care or education, serious youth violence, involvement with gangs, county lines and/ or radicalisation. 7 LSCB Strategy 2017-20

The diagram on the left provides an overview of the LSCB governance structure in Lambeth. From time to time, the LSCB may set up task and finish groups to deliver on short term, targeted pieces of work., the terms of which will be agreed as and when required LSCB Strategy 2017-20 8

7 How we will deliver Our 3 year plan for delivery will provide a framework with which we can monitor progress. It will provide a basis for more detailed work plans and allow us to allocate our resources effectively so that we can focus on our priorities, whilst also maintaining a level of flexibility in order to address any emerging issues/ trends. The tables in these sections provide an outline of: What we need to do in years 1, 2 and 3 in order to deliver the outcomes and; Who will have responsibility for delivery The LSCB will be supported by sub groups with responsibility for delivering these outcomes and functions of the LSCB, with the support of the LSCB Business team. Getting Child Protection Right and Strengthening the Early Help and CP system Year 1 (by March 2018) Year 2 (by March 2019) Year 3 (by March 2020) Introduce revised LSCB governance structure Establish a new Integrated Referral Hub and Develop new step down arrangements to ensure vulnerable children get the right support from the right agency at the right time Develop a new Early Help Strategy to set out how early help will be delivered in Lambeth Review multi-agency working in relation to the child protection process including strategy meetings, conferences and core groups and make improvements as necessary Establish clear communication mechanisms across the partnership in an LSCB communications plan Undertake a neglect deep dive to improve understanding the incidence causes and response to neglect in the borough Adopt a proactive and responsive daily tasking approach within the MASH that matches need to the appropriate response Deliver a multi-agency audit in relation to neglect and establish new arrangements for conducting multi-agency audit in future Adopt new Self Assessment process in line with s11 Children Act 2004 and scrutinise work of each agency Deliver new LSCB Training Programme Review of LSCB Policies and Procedures with a view to consolidating Deliver 4 awareness raising campaigns Review training needs in light of priority areas and learning including neglect, DV and FGM Review LSCB data requirements, data digest and effectiveness of challenge and scrutiny Identify and implement mechanisms for evaluating impact of Board activities (incl. training) Action to address learning from QA activities including s11 Self Assessments and scrutiny of partner agencies Evaluate the effectiveness of new integrated referral hub Continue review of LSCB policies and Procedures Evaluate progress towards Getting to Good Review operation of audit programme and impact on practice Review LSCB Training Programme Evaluate how far we have come have we achieved the outcomes in this Strategy? Responsible LSCB MASH steering group Children & Families Partnership CE MASH Steering Group TPD TPD CE TPD, CE TPD, TPD BMG TPD BMG 9 LSCB Strategy 2017-20

Young People at Risk () Responsible The diagram below provides a higher level view of how the statutory functions (by of the LSCB approach (section and 4) strategic are delivered response through to children the LSCB and sub groups. Year 1 Create sub group to provide a more joined up LSCB March young people (CYP) who may be at risk of CSE, abuse, 2018) FGM, missing, involved in violent crime and/or gangs and drug/ substance misuse and/ or radicalisation. Develop a Young People at Risk strategy Mapping the universal and early help provision that is available to support CYP to prevent them becoming at risk. Ensure clear mechanisms are in place for listening to and engaging with CYP at risk and that feedback is reported to the LSCB at regular intervals Remodel the MASE and MARP to ensure it is fit for purpose and effective at managing and reducing risk CE Further details about our governance structures can be found in section 6 Year 2 (by March 2019) Year 3 (by March 2020) Agree on a practice model Review commissioning framework for young CYP at risk of harm in line with the new Children and Young People s Plan Multi agency audit of practice Re-commission services for CYP at risk of harm in line with Children and Young People s Plan Support and develop the role of schools and the voluntary sector in preventing CYP becoming at risk. Develop our approaches to identifying siblings, friends and other family members of CYP at risk who would benefit from additional preventative support Increase the capacity and capability to share intelligence and identify CYP at risk, using mapping and tracking to develop appropriate strategies Adopt a whole family relationship based approach to supporting CYP Develop strategic overview of prevalence of CSE, SYV etc to support effective investigations and prosecutions Provide guidance/ training to key professionals to improve the quality of evidence gathering and recording Evaluate impact and effectiveness of practice model Review the use of Risk Assessment Tools and its links with appropriate support pathways Refine and refresh training programme Develop a disruption and prosecution strategy based on local and national learning Evaluate how far we have come have we achieved the outcomes in the strategy? Dir. Comm. & Improv., Dir. Comm. & Improv., TPD Tbc Tbc Tbc Tbc Tbc TPD Tbc tbc LSCB Strategy 2017-20 10

8 Find out more If you would like to find out more about the LSCB, please visit our website www.lambethscb.org.uk/ The website provides information and guidance for: Children Parents/ Carers And those working with children and families This includes information on: Safeguarding responsibilities and what to do if you have a concern Training The role and function of the LSCB Learning from reviews Further information and useful documents and links can be found on our website. The LSCB has 4 key documents: LSCB Strategy LSCB Annual Report LSCB Learning and Improvement Framework Training Strategy The LSCB also publishes any Lambeth Serious Case Review Reports. On the website. For further information on the Serious Case Review Process and most recent reports, please visit the Training/ Learning section of our website. If you d like to contact the LSCB, please email us on: LambethSCB@lambeth.gov.uk If you think a child is at risk of being abused or neglected or if someone is neglecting or abusing you, please contact Lambeth Children s Social Care on 020 7926 5555 (24 hours). Email: helpandprotection@lambeth.gov.uk or help.protection@lambeth.cjsm.net (secure email) In an emergency call the Police on 999. www.lambethscb.org.uk/ 11 LSCB Strategy 2017-20

Improving outcomes and experiences for children at risk of harm