1. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Safeguarding and Looked After Children’s Services Early Intervention and Prevention Mark Douglas

2. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Services are delivered through a range of legislation and statutory guidance that place responsibilities on the Council to prevent children suffering significant harm. These include; The Children Act(s) 1989 and 2004, The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, The Crime & Disorder Act (1998), In addition there are single and multi agency and procedures that provide standards of minimum practice for all front line staff and an externally evaluated comprehensive performance assessment framework.

3. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Service objectives; Promote the safeguarding of vulnerable children and young people through the provision of preventative and targeted services. Prevent harm to individuals and communities caused by offending behaviour through the provision of youth offending services. Prevent harm to individuals and communities caused by illegal drug misuse amongst young people. These three objectives are all about prevention but we need to look beyond the structures of traditional, targeted services to strengthen the partnership arrangements that contribute to prevention on a much broader scale to support children and families.

4. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council

5. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council So why is early Intervention and prevention important?

6. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Adds up to 21,000 (plus) individual cases that need a qualified manager to assess and determine the appropriate response to protect children from significant harm. Demands on the service (year ending March 2010): Numbers of contacts (s/w teams)13,366 Number of referrals (s/w teams)4,290 Number of open cases (s/w teams)2,900 Number of YOT cases 1400 Number of Sorted cases330 Number of s47 investigations541 Number of Looked After Children265 Number of Child Protection Plans170

7. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council National Comparators Number of referrals Northumberland Nationally 4290 or 705 per 10k 548 per 10k Number of Initial Assessments Northumberland Nationally 2701 or444 per 10k 359 per 10k Number of Core Assessments Northumberland Nationally 1579 or260 per 10k 129 per 10k Number of Children in Need Northumberland Nationally 3262 or536 per 10k 341 per 10k

8. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council The Munro Review of Child Protection Final Report – A child centred system Key Messages Early help is better for children: it minimises the period of adverse experiences and improves outcomes Uncertainty and risk are features of child protection work: risk management can only reduce risk, not eliminate them. Preventative services will do more to reduce abuse and neglect than reactive services. Within preventative services, there need to be good mechanisms to identify children who are suffering or are likely to be suffering abuse or neglect and who need referral to children’s social care

9. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Northumberland’s Prevention Strategy Recognises the need to co-ordinate a range of strategic policies and central government initiatives, including; - SEN Review - CAMHS Review - Early Years Strategy - Child Poverty Strategy - Economic Strategy (worklessness) - NHS White Paper - Local Enterprise Partnerships

10. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Basic Principles; Children should have access to appropriate levels of support when it is needed, Preventative support is a better option for children, Integrated service delivery is key to prevention, Prevention will include the contribution of the statutory and the voluntary and community sectors, Preventative services will provide opportunities to reduce costs for statutory services and ensure better outcomes for children, Children and families should play an essential role in developing services.

11. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Examples The Berwick Project To work with early years staff and first schools within the Berwick Partnership to implement the common assessment framework and identify vulnerable children before they enter formal education. To identify those children who are most at risk of social exclusion and poor academic attainment to ensure support for transitions from early years and school placements. The CAF will be used to identify risk and vulnerability within the wider family and ensure that targeted supports are put in place to reduce risk and improve outcomes for the whole family system. The children and families who access the project will be identified jointly by the school, the Children’s Centre and Children’s Services. A budget will be made available to the project to support families and remove the barriers to learning. Additional supports services will also be made available through the LIST Teams and Early Years services.

12. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council The Ashington Children’s Centre Pilot Qualified social workers employed by both NCH and Children’s Services and based across the Children’s Centre and the district office, Supporting the whole family’s needs where there is any child age under 5, Acting as lead professional for complex child in need cases and providing parenting work and assessment in cases involving looked after children and those subject to child protection plans, Providing social work support and advice for Children’s Centre staff regarding safeguarding issues, Working to break down barriers that prevent joint working in a way that is meaningful for children and families.

13. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Questions?