The
newly developed Early Help and Family Support Panels are now becoming
established around the County with a regular coming together of a wide group of
agencies to discuss Early Help Assessments that are either stuck or in need of
progressing from their initial stage. The initiative is intended to make
it easier for frontline staff to initiate an assessment in the more complicated
circumstances. We are encouraging all agencies to consider making a referral to
the panel in their area – following the guidance on the Early Help pages of the
LSCB Website
Any queries regarding
the suitability of an assessment for consideration should be discussed with the
Locality Early Help Officers.
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The
practitioner forums have been a great resource for practitioners to meet and
network, learn about what services are in their area and discuss practice. We
have recently met and planned topics for the year including;
CSE,
Early Help, neglect, disguised compliance, Social media, welfare reform, and
Private fostering. LSCB policies and procedure Sub group, and Learning and
Improvement sub group will attend each forum twice a year to update on Policies
and information regarding practice. There will be speakers of interest booked
as we go through the year that are relevant to your local forum.
We
now have new leads for the Forums and dates for the rest of the year
Carlisle
Practitioner Forum
Dates
: 8 September 2016, 3 November 2016, 8 December 2016, 19 January 2017, 23 February 2017, 23 March 2017, 27 April 2017, 8 June 2017
Taking
place at Petteril Bank Community Centre, Carlisle, 12-2pm
Lead
Chair : Steph Smithson and Pam Hutton
Eden
Practitioner Forum
Dates
: 24 August 2016, 28 September 2016, 9 November 2016
Taking
place at North Eden Children’s Centre, 9.30-11.30am
Lead
Chair : Suzanna Gregson and Pam Hutton
Copeland
Practitioner Forum
Dates
: 14 July 2016, 22 September 2016, 22 November 2016
Taking
place at Howgill Children’s Centre, 10am-12pm
Lead
Chair : Karen Ross and Stuart Graffin
Allerdale
Practitioner Forum
Dates
: 13 July 2016, 21 September 2016, 23 November 2016
Taking
place at The Oval Centre, Salterbeck, 10am-12pm
Lead
Chair : Chris Findley and Karen Ross
Kendal/South
Lakes Practitioner Forum
Dates
: 20 July 2016, 14 September 2016, 16 November 2016
Taking
place at County Hall, Kendal, 2pm-4pm
Lead
Chair : Neil Spence and Ann Downe
Barrow
Practitioner Forum
Dates
: 12 July 2016, 13 September 2016, 11 October 2016, 8 November 2016, 13
December 2016
Taking
place at Vickerstown School, Walney, 9.30-11.30am
Lead
Chair : Hilary Rourke and Ann Downe
Please support your local LSCB Practitioner Forum
More information on the Practitioner Forums can be found on the LSCB
Website
The
LSCB consult and engage with professionals in a number of ways to help our
understanding of people’s needs, views and experiences on a particular topic or
issue. Using the ‘touchstones’ we undertook an informal engagement event
to ask a series of questions to determine what professionals’ experiences of
neglect in Cumbria are. The LSCB will use this information alongside other
evidence, to inform the design and delivery of the Neglect Strategy.
If you would like to
become an LSCB touchstone please contact the LSCB office lscb@cumbria.gov.uk
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The
LSCB now has in place a shadow Board made up of young people, the shadow board
will be a mechanism for the voice of children and young people to be heard and
influence the decisions of the LSCB. The group will meet regularly and will
feed into the young peoples’ advisory forum. The Board and the Forum provide a
platform for conversations with children and young people about issues that are
important to them.
The next Advisory
Forum is focussing on neglect and will take place on the 25th July for more information
and for future dates please see LSCB website
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This
protocol refers to pupils who register at school in the morning and then go
missing during the school day without a satisfactory explanation. Multi-agency
procedures online
The
aim of this framework is to enable local organisations to improve services
through being clear about their responsibilities to learn from experience and
particularly through the provision of insights into the way organisations work
together to safeguard and protect the welfare of children. Multi-agency
procedures online
The
2016 LSCB Survey of Professionals Working with Children and Young People is now
open. Please can we encourage you all to take 10 minutes to answer the
questions. The survey is anonymous and feedback from the survey is used to
inform our ongoing work with children and families.
The closing date for this survey is 10th July 2016
2016 Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LSCB2016
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Do
you know a child being privately fostered (a child who is being cared for by someone
who is not their parent or a 'close relative' for 28 days or more)?
Sometimes
it can be hard to tell. Whether you’re a neighbour, teacher, nurse or anyone
else who has contact with children we’re encouraging you to work with the
county council to identify private fostering arrangements for the safety and
wellbeing of children in Cumbria.
Private
fostering is when a child under the age of 16 (under 18 if disabled) is cared
for by someone who is not their parent or a 'close relative'. This is a private
arrangement made between a parent and a carer, for 28 days or more. Close
relatives are defined as step-parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, uncles
or aunts (whether of full blood, half blood or marriage/affinity).
It’s
important that the county council are made aware of private fostering
arrangements. Private Fostering is a private arrangement and can often be hidden
from agencies who have a responsibility to safeguard the welfare of children.
Privately fostered children can be vulnerable as they may not see their
families very often. It is therefore important that their needs are assessed
and their situation monitored to safeguard their wellbeing.
To
notify the county council please call 0333 240 1727 or for more information see
www.cumbria.gov.uk/privatefostering
The
LSCB are recruiting volunteers and training them to be part of a multi-agency
team to deliver safeguarding training. We are looking for experienced
enthusiastic practitioners who would like to share their learning. You
need to be committed to delivering a minimum of 3 days co-training for the
LSCB. The 2 day Train the Trainer course details are on the LSCB
Website
The Hidden
Sentence training programme aims to focus on prisoners’ as people, with lives
and families outside prison and the impact that imprisonment has on those close
to the offenders.
The training
course aims to enable practitioners to gain the knowledge and understanding
they need to develop services that meet the needs of prisoners’ families.
- 12th
August 2016 (10am-4pm) - Kendal West Children’s, Kendal Green, Kendal, LA9
5PP
- 14th October 2016 (10am-4pm) - Howgill Children’s Centre, Birks Road, Cleator
Moor, CA25 5HR
- 20th
January 2017 (10am-4pm) - Minto Centre, Workington, CA14 5BD
To book on any
of the above courses please contact Leanne Weir
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