Working Together

Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board
1.0	Policy Statement
2.0	Purpose and Principles of Procedures
3.0	Outcomes for Children
4.0	Race, Ethnicity, Religion and Culture
Shared Responsibilities
5.0	Duty to Co-operate
6.0	Sharing Information
7.0	Consent and Confidentiality
8.0	Working in Partnership with Families
9.0	Recruitment and Selection of Staff
10.0	Record Keeping
11.0	Supervision and Support
12.0	Training and Development
Identification of Children in Need of Protection
13.0	Significant Harm
14.0	Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect
15.0	Contexts of Abuse and Sources of Stress

1.0 Policy Statement

1.1

The Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board is a multi agency forum for developing, monitoring and reviewing safeguarding policies and practice and for preventing the impairment of children's health or development.

The Board is committed to:

The United Nations charter on the rights of child/ren;
The safety and protection of all children in Wolverhampton;
The support of children through multi-agency services and planning;
A child-centred approach;
Working in partnership with those with Parental Responsibility and with carers;
Anti-discriminatory practice and sensitivity to age, race, religion, culture, gender, disability and sexual orientation;
Taking account of Wolverhampton's multi-cultural society when considering resources, protection and prevention.

1.2

The Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board will:-

Ensure the effectiveness of the work of each Board partner in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children;
Co-ordinate strategic planning for safe-guarding and promoting the welfare of the children of Wolverhampton;
Develop and monitor policies and procedures for the implementation of the strategies in respect of safeguarding and the promotion of welfare;
Promote and uphold standards of good practice;
Actively support practitioners operating in the field of safeguarding and the promotion of welfare through providing clear policy and procedural guidance;
Investigate every unexpected death which occurs in childhood;
Carry out the tasks outlined in national guidance by means of an annual programme of work through its Business Plan;
Publish an Annual Report on a multi-agency basis;
Present, discuss and take account of national and local reports.

1.3

The constituent members of the Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board recognise that the key features of effective arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children are:

Senior management commitment to the importance of safeguarding and promoting children's welfare;
Clear priorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children explicitly stated in strategic policy documents;
Clear policy and procedural guidance on safeguarding and promoting children's welfare;
Clear lines of accountability for work on safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children;
Consideration of the need to safeguard and promote children's welfare in all service developments;
Procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse against members of staff and volunteers and appropriate complaints and whistle blowing procedures;
Listening to the views of children and young people;
Staff training and development in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children;
Safe recruitment practices;
Effective information sharing;
Effective inter agency working.

2.0 Purpose and Principles of Procedures

2.1	Anyone who has contact with children may become concerned about their well-being or safety and consequently needs to know: The principles contained in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010 and the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families; Relevant sections of legislation governing services to children - The Children Act 1989, Children Act 2004 and Education Act 2002; What services are available locally, and how to gain access to them; What sources of advice or expertise are available, who to contact, and how; What is in the safeguarding procedures and their own internal agency procedures; When and how to make a referral to the Children & Young People's Service.
2.2	Achieving good outcomes for children about whom there are child welfare concerns requires all those with responsibility for assessment and the provision of services to work together according to an agreed plan of action. Effective collaborative working requires professionals and agencies to be clear about: Their roles and responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; The purpose of their activity, what decisions are required at each stage of the process and what are the intended outcomes for the child and their family members; The legislative basis for the work; The protocols and procedures to be followed, including the way in which information will be shared across professional boundaries and within agencies, and be recorded; Which agency, team or professional has lead responsibility, and the precise roles of everyone else who is involved, including the way in which the children and other family members will be involved; Any timescales set down in Regulations or Guidance which govern the completion of assessments, making of plans and timing of reviews.
2.3	These procedures produced by the Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board are intended to ensure effective inter-agency communication and safeguarding practice and to provide a framework within which safeguarding decisions may be made by all those whose work brings them into contact with children.
2.4	Principles Underpinning all Work to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children
	The Board and all managers, employees, professionals, volunteers, carers, independent contractors and service providers must ensure that their practice reflects an approach which is: Child-centred The child should be seen (alone when appropriate) by the Lead Social Worker in addition to all other professionals who have a responsibility for the child's welfare. His or her welfare should be kept sharply in focus in all work with the child and family. The significance of seeing and observing the child cannot be overstated. The child should be spoken and listened to, and their wishes and feelings ascertained, taken into account (having regard to their age and understanding) and recorded when making decisions about the provision of services. Some of the worst failures of the system have occurred when professionals have lost sight of the child and concentrated instead on their relationship with the adults. Rooted in child development Those working with children should have a detailed understanding of child development and how the quality of the care they are receiving can have an impact on their health and development. They should recognise that as children grow, they continue to develop their skills and abilities. Each stage, from infancy through middle years to adolescence, lays the foundation for more complex development. Plans and interventions to safeguard and promote the child's welfare should be based on a clear assessment of the child's developmental progress and the difficulties the child may be experiencing. Planned action should also be timely and appropriate for the child's age and stage of development. Focused on outcomes for children When working directly with a child, any plan developed for the child and their family or care giver should be based on an assessment of the child's developmental needs and the parents/caregivers' capacity to respond to these needs within their family and environmental context. This plan should set out the planned outcomes for each child, progress against these should be regularly reviewed and the actual outcomes should be recorded. Holistic in approach Having an holistic approach means having an understanding of a child within the context of the child's family (parents or care givers and the wider family) and of the educational setting, community and culture in which he or she is growing up. The interaction between the developmental needs of children, the capacities of parents or care givers to respond appropriately to those needs and the impact of wider family and environmental factors on children and on parenting capacity requires careful exploration during an assessment. The ultimate aim is to understand the child's developmental needs and the capacity of the parents or caregivers to meet them and to provide appropriate services to the child and to the family which respond to those needs. The analysis of the child's situation will inform planning and action in order to secure the best outcomes for the child, and will inform the subsequent review of the effectiveness of actions taken and services provided. The child's context will be even more complex when they are living away from home and looked after by adults who do not have parental responsibility for them. Ensuring equality of opportunity Equality of opportunity means that all children have the opportunity to achieve the best possible developmental outcomes, regardless of their gender, ability, race, ethnicity, circumstances or age. Some vulnerable children may have been particularly disadvantaged in their access to important opportunities, and their health and educational needs will require particular attention in order to optimise their current welfare as well as their long-term outcomes into adulthood. Involving of children and families In the process of finding out what is happening to a child it is important to listen to the child, develop a therapeutic relationship with the child and through this gain an understanding of his or her wishes and feelings. The importance of developing a co-operative working relationship is emphasised, so that parents or care givers feel respected and informed, they believe agency staff are being open and honest with them, and in turn they are confident about providing vital information about their child, themselves and their circumstances. The consent of children, young people and their parents or care givers, where appropriate, should be obtained when sharing information unless to do so would place the child at risk of suffering Significant Harm. Similarly, decisions should also be made with their agreement, whenever possible, unless to do so would place the child at risk of suffering Significant Harm. See also Information Sharing and Confidentiality Procedure. Building on strengths as well as identifying difficulties Identifying both strengths (including resilience and protective factors) and difficulties (including vulnerabilities and risk factors) within the child, his or her family and the context in which they are living is important, as is considering how these factors are having an impact on the child's health and development. Too often it has been found that a deficit model of working with families predominates in practice, and ignores crucial areas of success and effectiveness within the family on which to base interventions. Working with a child or family's strengths becomes an important part of a plan to resolve difficulties. Integrated in approach From birth, there will be a variety of different agencies and services in the community involved with children and their development, particularly in relation to their health and education. Multi and inter-agency work to safeguard and promote children's welfare starts as soon as it has been identified that the child or the family members have additional needs requiring support/services beyond universal services, not just when there are questions about possible harm. A continuing process not an event Understanding what is happening to a vulnerable child within the context of his or her family and the local community, and taking appropriate action are continuing and interactive processes and not single events. Assessment should continue throughout a period of intervention, and intervention may start at the beginning of an assessment. Providing and reviewing services Action and services should be provided according to the identified needs of the child and family in parallel with assessment where necessary. It is not necessary to await completion of the assessment process. Immediate and practical needs should be addressed alongside more complex and longer term ones. The impact of service provision on a child's developmental progress should be reviewed at regular intervals. Informed by evidence Effective practice with children and families requires sound professional judgements which are underpinned by a rigorous evidence base, and draw on the practitioners knowledge and experience. Decisions based on these judgements should be kept under review, and take full account of any new information obtained during the course of work with the child and family.

3.0 Outcomes for Children

3.1	The five outcomes for children and young people are that they should: Be healthy: Physically healthy; Mentally and emotionally healthy; Sexually healthy; Healthy lifestyles; Choose not to take illegal drugs. Stay safe: Safe from maltreatment, neglect, violence and sexual exploitation; Safe from accidental injury and death; Safe from bullying and discrimination; Safe from crime and antisocial behaviour; Have security, stability and are cared for. Enjoy and achieve: Ready for School; Attend and enjoy school; Achieve stretching national educational standards at primary school; Achieve personal and social development and enjoy recreation; Achieve stretching educational standards at secondary school. Make a positive contribution: Engage in decision making and support the community and environment; Engage in law abiding and positive behaviour in and out of school; Develop positive relationships and choose not to bully or discriminate; Develop self confidence and successfully deal with significant life changes and challenges; Develop enterprising behaviour. Achieve economic well-being: Engage in further education, employment or training on leaving school; Ready for employment; Live in decent homes and sustainable communities; Access to transport and material goods; Live in households free from low income.
3.2	To achieve these outcomes, support services for children cannot be separated from services designed to investigate and protect children from deliberate harm. The concept of safeguarding embraces all children including those who are defined as children in need and those who are suffering or are at risk of suffering Significant Harm and are in need of protection
3.3	Children in Need are defined under Section 17 of the 1989 Children Act as those whose vulnerability is such that they are unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health and development will be significantly impaired, without the provision of services. Children with disabilities are defined as children in need.
3.4	Children in need of protection are those who are suffering or likely to suffer Significant Harm and require a multi agency plan to safeguard their best interests.

4.0 Race, Ethnicity, Religion and Culture

4.1	Wolverhampton is a multi cultural community. In order to make sensitive and informed professional judgements about a child's needs and a parents' capacity to respond to those needs, it is important that professionals are sensitive to differing family patterns and lifestyles and to child rearing patterns that vary across different racial, ethnic and cultural groups. Professionals also need to be aware of the broad social factors that can discriminate against black and minority ethnic people.
4.2	The assessment process should always include consideration of the way religious beliefs and cultural traditions in different racial, ethnic and cultural groups influence their values, attitudes and behaviour and the way in which family and community life is structured and organised.
4.3	Professionals should guard against myths and stereotypes, both positive and negative, but anxiety about being accused of racist practice should not prevent the necessary action being taken to safeguard a child. Children from all cultures are subject to abuse and neglect and culture, race or religion cannot be a justification for acts of omission or commission that place a child at risk of Significant Harm.

5.0 Duty to Co-operate

5.1	The Children Act 1989 places two specific duties on agencies to co-operate in the interests of vulnerable children: Section 27 provides that a local authority may request help from: Any local authority; Any local education authority; Any local housing authority; Any health authority, Special Health Authority or National Health Service Trust; and Any person authorised by the Secretary of State in exercising the local authority's functions under Part III of the Act. This part of the Act places a duty on local authorities to provide support and services for Children in Need, including children Looked After by the local authority and those in secure accommodation. The authority whose help is requested in these circumstances has a duty to comply with the request, provided it is compatible with its other duties and functions. Section 47 places a duty on: Any local authority; Any local education authority; Any housing authority; Any health authority, Special Health Authority or National Health Service Trust; and Any person authorised by the Secretary of State to help a local authority with its enquiries in cases where there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm.
5.2	These Children Act 1989 duties are consolidated by the Children Act 2004. Section 10 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty on all key agencies to co-operate to improve the well-being of children and young people, and Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty on them to safeguard and promote their welfare.
5.3	The Education Act 2002 Sections 157 and 175 place the same duties of co-operation to improve the well being of children and to safeguard their welfare on schools and colleges of further education.
5.4	The remit of the Local Safeguarding Children Boards under the Children Act 2004 means that all constituent agencies are required under this legislation to work together in the safeguarding of children and in the promotion of their welfare. All agencies and professionals should: Be alert to potential indicators of abuse or neglect; Be alert to the risks which individual abusers, or potential abusers, may pose to children; Share and help to analyse information so that an informed assessment can be made of the child's needs and circumstances; Contribute to whatever actions are needed to safeguard the child and promote his or her welfare; Regularly review the outcomes for the child against specific shared objectives.

6.0 Sharing Information

6.1	Working to safeguard children who are suffering, or are at risk of suffering Significant Harm is not the sole responsibility of any one agency or service. Research and experience have shown repeatedly that keeping children safe from harm requires professionals to share information about child welfare concerns. Often it is only when information is shared that it becomes clear a child may be at risk of Significant Harm.
6.2	All professional staff are concerned to balance their duties to protect children with their general duty towards their patient or service user. Some professionals may be working with more than one family member and feel there are conflicts of interest. Professionals concerned about potential conflicts of confidentiality between their duties towards children and their patient or service user, should be guided by the principle that the welfare of the child must be paramount, and their primary responsibility must therefore be to share any information needed to safeguard the child.
6.3	Some information known to professionals should be treated confidentially and should not be shared with families. Reasons for withholding information need to be made clear but the need to safeguard the wellbeing of the child must be the overriding consideration in such situations.

7.0 Consent and Confidentiality

7.1	Issues of confidentiality need to be given careful consideration. Normally, personal information about children and families is subject to a legal duty of confidentiality and should only be disclosed to third parties (including other agencies) with the consent of the subject of that information. Wherever possible within these procedures, consent should be obtained before sharing personal information with third parties. However in some circumstances consent may not be possible or desirable as it may compromise the safety and welfare of the child. The information in these circumstances may need to be shared without consent in the interests of the child whose welfare is paramount.
7.2	The key factor in deciding whether or not to disclose confidential information is proportionality. The amount of information disclosed and the number of people to whom it is disclosed should be no more than is strictly necessary to meet the public interest in protecting the health and well being of a child. The more sensitive the information is, the greater the child-focused need must be to justify disclosure and the greater the need to ensure that only those professionals who have to be informed receive the material.
7.3	Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board has agreed a statement on confidentiality: "In Safeguarding Children, the degree of confidentiality will be governed by the need to protect the child/ren. Social workers and others (including those in the Voluntary Sector) working with a child/ren and family or an individual adult, must make it clear to those providing information that confidentiality may not be maintained if the with-holding of information might prejudice the welfare of a child/ren"

8.0 Working in Partnership with Families

8.1	Family members are likely to know more about their family than any professional could possibly know and well-founded decisions about a child should draw upon this knowledge and understanding. Family members should normally have the right to know what is being said about them, and to contribute to important decisions about their lives and those of their children. However there may be occasions when it is appropriate and necessary for professionals to meet together without parents to reflect on their own practice in a particular case or to deal with a matter which may lead to criminal enquiries. Strategy Discussions, and sometimes planning meetings, are examples of this.
8.2	Many families perceive professional involvement in their lives as painful and intrusive, particularly if they feel that their care of their children is being called into question. Professionals can make the child protection process less stressful for families by the way in which they approach working in partnership. Where intervention in family life is necessary, parents should be helped and encouraged to play as full a part as possible in decisions about their child. There should be a presumption of openness, joint decision-making and a willingness to listen to families and to capitalise on their strengths. However the professionals should never lose sight of the principle that they are acting in the best interests of the child.
8.3	Children and families may be supported through their involvement in the child protection process by advice and advocacy services and they should always be informed of them. When children are required to give evidence in criminal proceedings they should be informed of the Witness Support Service.
8.4	The Children & Young People's Service has a responsibility to make sure children and adults have all the information they need to help them understand child protection processes. Information, support and advice should be available to the family in the language of their choice.
8.5	If there are specific communication needs because of language or disability, the services of a professionally trained interpreter or a specialist worker should be used. Children should not be used as interpreters.
8.6	Children of sufficient age and understanding should be kept fully informed of how child protection processes work, how they can be involved, and how they can contribute to decisions about their future. Consultation with children should always be done sensitively. However, children need to understand that ultimately, decisions will be taken in the light of all the available information and that taking their views into account does not necessarily mean supporting their wishes for the future.

9.0 Recruitment and Selection of Staff

9.1	All agencies and organisations whose staff, volunteers or carers work closely with children should have policies and procedures in place to deter those who are unsuitable to work with children. The recommendations of the Bichard Enquiry (2004) concerning recruitment practice underline the need for robust recruitment and selection practices.
9.2	Common features of recruitment and selection should include: Enhanced Criminal Record Bureau checks; Checks of professional registers, if relevant; Asking candidates to confirm identity through official documents; Verifying the authenticity of qualifications and references directly; Seeking a full employment history for prospective staff members and foster carers and reserving the right to approach any previous employer; checking with former employers the reason why employment ended; identifying any gaps or inconsistencies and seeking an explanation; Making appointments only after references are obtained and checked. Referees should be reminded that references should contain no material mis-statement or omission relevant to the suitability of the applicant; Making all appointments to work with children (including internal transfers) subject to a probationary period.
9.3	Interviewers should be prepared to explore with candidates their attitudes towards children and child care, their perceptions about the boundaries of acceptable behaviour towards children, and pose questions about sexual boundaries and attitudes.
9.4	Even the most careful selection process cannot identify all those who may pose a risk to children. Therefore post-employment management and supervision should always be alert to indicators of untoward behaviour. Any concerns or allegations should be dealt with under the Allegations against a Professional, Professional Carer or Volunteer Procedure and any disqualification from working with children instigated under the procedure relevant to the agency.

10.0 Record Keeping

10.1

Clear and accurate records are essential as part of the accountability of all professional staff. They help to focus work, ensure it is documented, assist with continuity when staff change and provide a tool for supervision and review. Case records should differentiate between factual information and professional judgement, and should indicate when decisions have been made and by whom. Case records are an essential source of evidence for legal proceedings, investigations and inquiries. All partner members of the Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board must have clear procedures about record keeping.

10.2

Safeguarding a child who is, or may be, at risk of Significant Harm normally requires information to be collated from a number of sources, usually by the Children & Young People's Service. Children & Young People's Service case records should contain a Chronology documenting the history of the case, the details of the referral, a comprehensive assessment, the nature and purpose of the interventions and the plans to achieve and monitor change. The case file should be accessible but secure.

11.0 Supervision and Support

11.1	Working in the field of child protection is demanding work that entails making difficult and sometimes risky professional judgements. All of those involved should have access to advice and support, from peers, managers and designated professionals.
11.2	For many practitioners involved in day to day work with children and families, effective supervision is important in promoting good standards of practice and supporting individual staff members. Supervision should help to ensure that practice is soundly based and consistent with Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board and organisational procedures. It should ensure that practitioners fully understand their roles, responsibilities and the scope of their professional discretion and authority. It should also help identify the training and development needs of practitioners, so that each has the skills to provide an effective service.
11.3	Supervision practice should include scrutinising and evaluating the work carried out by the practitioner, assessing their strengths and weaknesses and should provide coaching, development and support. Supervisors should be available to practitioners as an important source of advice and expertise and may be required to endorse judgements at certain key points in child protection processes. Supervisors should always record key decisions and advice given within the relevant case record.
11.4	All agencies should ensure that staff working in the area of child protection have managed caseloads in order to promote safe practice. They should also ensure that the supervisors' span of control enables them to maintain oversight of practice and known high risk cases.
11.5	In some circumstances practitioners may need additional support. This may involve facilitating referral to staff welfare services or the provision of advice and support from experienced staff within the organisation.

12.0 Training and Development

12.1

Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board is responsible for the strategic overview of the planning, delivery and evaluation of inter-agency training. Training is a standard agenda item at Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board meetings to ensure regular consideration is given to policy and practice developments both at a local and national level.

12.2

A Training and Development Sub-Committee of the Safeguarding Children Board is responsible for the co-ordination, commissioning, delivery, evaluation and setting of Quality Standards of the interagency safeguarding children training programme. Its purpose is to ensure that all professional staff in contact with children know how to safeguard the welfare of children and are aware of the legislative framework, local procedures and good practice issues.

13.0 Significant Harm

13.1	The Children Act 1989 introduced the concept of Significant Harm as the threshold that justifies compulsory intervention in family life in the best interests of the child. Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 places the local authority under a duty to make enquiries, or cause enquiries to be made, where it has reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm.
13.2	There are no absolute criteria for establishing Significant Harm. Whether the harm or likely harm suffered by the child is significant is determined by comparing the child's health or development with that which could reasonably be expected of a similar child. Professionals must consider a range of factors including:- The wider and environmental family context; The child's development within the context of their family and wider social environment; Any special needs, such as a medical condition, communication difficulty or disability that may affect the child's development and care within the family; The nature of harm, in terms of ill-treatment or failure to provide adequate care; The impact on the child's health and development; The capacity of the parental carer to adequately meet the child's needs. Professionals must also take account of the child's reactions, and his/her perceptions and wishes and feelings, according to their age and understanding. It is only, therefore, through assessment that it is possible to establish whether a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, significant harm.
13.3	Professional judgements about Significant Harm are made following the completion of an assessment when the information collated is analysed and conclusions drawn. The analysis is informed by: Research evidence; Practice guidance; Legislation and regulations; Practice experience; Training.
13.4	Factors in the case which will inform the analysis and the decision about whether Significant Harm has occurred are: Age of the child; Reason for concern; Past history; Acknowledgement of parent of problem; Co-operation of parents; One - off incident v continuing; Duration of abuse and neglect; Extent of premeditation; Degree of threat and coercion; Degree of injury/harm; Contributing factors; Identified protector; Support networks.
13.5	Sometimes, a single traumatic event may constitute Significant Harm, e.g. a violent assault, suffocation or poisoning. More often, Significant Harm is a compilation of significant events, both acute and long-standing, which interrupt, change or damage a child's physical and psychological development. Some children live in family and social circumstances where their health and development are neglected. For them, it is the corrosiveness of long-term emotional, physical or Sexual Abuse that causes impairment to the extent of constituting Significant Harm. Others may suffer Significant Harm from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another, for example in cases of domestic abuse. In all cases, the family's strengths and supports should be considered alongside any ill-treatment.
13.6	The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families provides the basis for the systematic assessment of children and families. The framework comprises three domains:- The child's developmental needs; Parental capacity; Wider family and environmental factors. All three domains need to be included in the assessment for an informed analysis to be completed. Consultation should always take place with other agencies and with line managers so that professional judgements benefit from as full an analysis as possible.

14.0 Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect

14.1	Child abuse occurs throughout society and affects children of all ages. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. A child may be abused or neglected by parents, cohabitees, step-parents, substitute parents, siblings, relatives, friends, neighbours and strangers. A child may be abused at home, at school, in an institutional or community setting and may be subject to more than one type of abuse.
14.2	Physical Abuse Physical Abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness to a child (Working Together 2010 para. 1.33)
14.3	Emotional Abuse Emotional Abuse is the persistent emotional ill treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child's emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate or valued only in so far as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or 'making fun' of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child's developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of ill treatment of a child, though it may occur alone. (Working Together para. 1.34)
14.4	Sexual Abuse Sexual Abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence ,whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may include non contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children. (Working Together para. 1.35)
14.5	Neglect Neglect is 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 care-givers); or Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child's basic emotional needs. (Working Together para. 1.36)

15.0 Contexts of Abuse and Sources of Stress

15.1	Many families living under great stress manage to bring up their children in a warm, loving and supportive home environment in which the children's needs are met and they are safe from harm. Sources of stress within families may, however, have a negative impact on a child's health, development and well-being, either through direct involvement of the child or because the sources of stress affect the parent's capacity to respond to the child's needs. This is particularly the case where there is no other significant adult who is able to respond to the child's needs.
15.2	Research tells us that sources of stress may include: Early parenthood, a previous difficult home life or an enforced partnership resulting from pregnancy; Difficulties related to the pregnancy, delivery and other circumstances surrounding the birth of the child; One parent is not the birth parent; The parent or carer was abused and/or deprived themselves in childhood; A parent with a learning disability who may be poorly prepared for parenthood and lack the understanding, resources, skills and experience to meet the needs of a child.
15.3	Many of the families who seek help for their children, or about whom others raise concerns, are multiply disadvantaged and socially excluded. Many lack a wage earner. Poverty may mean that children live in crowded or unsuitable accommodation, have poor diets, health problems, be vulnerable to accidents and lack ready access to good educational and leisure opportunities. Families that include a disabled adult or child are more likely to live in poverty and thus be subject to these disadvantages.
15.4	Detailed guidance on a range of contexts of abuse and sources of stress is given in Section 5: Protecting Children in Specific Circumstances.

End

Working Together

Contents

Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board

Shared Responsibilities

Identification of Children in Need of Protection