ICON was commissioned by the WSSCP in 2020 and Dadpad in 2021. Both initiatives are designed to prevent non accidental injuries and abusive head trauma (formerly known as shaken baby syndrome) to babies. These resources are designed to provide preventative advice and support to families who are expecting or have a young baby. Their messages give advice to families to handle babies with care and provide support with practical care, emotional support and ways to seek help and support if they feel they need it. 

We are keen to get feedback from families on how useful they have found ICON and Dadpad. If you work with families who have a baby we would really appreciate your support in asking families to complete a short evaluation. There is both a paper copy that can be printed and also an electronic version. Please click on the links below - 

ICON / Dadpad evaluation (electronic copy)

ICON / Dadpad Evaluation (paper copy to print)

Please complete these (and return all paper copies to wsscp@westsussex.gov.uk ) by the end of January 2024.

Thank you for your help in gathering as many evaluations as possible. Watch this space for the results of this survey. 

WSSCP Safeguarding week is now complete was a great success. With five 1 hour briefings on a wide range of safeguarding topics, a Pan Sussex conference and daily comms sent to partner agencies, it certainly was a busy week!

Thank you to those subject specialists who gave up their time to deliver their briefings. Feedback was really positive and attendees who completed evaluations will help us to plan events for the next WSSCP Safeguarding week in 2024! If you want to read the information that was sent out during this week, click on the link below - 

WSSCP Safeguarding Week - Days 1-5 of daily correspondence

The WSSCP Training offer has a wide range of courses available to support your safeguarding practice when working with children and young people across West Sussex. To book your place on the majority of WSSCP courses  you will need to go via the Learning Pool. This training platform enables the WSSCP to monitor numbers booked on training courses and manage waiting lists. If you book onto a WSSCP course (or any training course!) and are then unable to attend, it is your responsibility to cancel your place so that it is available for another practitioner. 'No shows" cause big issues on our training courses by blocking spaces so others cannot book a place, or by disrupting session activities such as pre planned break out rooms or group work/

We are also requesting that practitioners who are booked onto virtual courses do not share links with colleagues as this also has several implications. Courses can become over subscribed and also names that are not on the register are unable to be issued with a certificate to confirm completion of training and attendance. Please be aware that those practitioners who are not booked on in the correct way may be asked to leave the session and rebook their place through the Learning Pool.   

Please cancel any places on any courses you are unable to attend through your Learning Pool account. Thank you for your cooperation in advance. 

A group of thematic research papers into the themes and trends in DHR recommendations, led by Professor Khatidja Chantler at  Manchester Metropolitan University's HALT project are now available. These reports looked into themes across the four agencies of Criminal justice, physical and mental health, Children's services and Adult Social Care.

This new research shows that the vast majority of victims and perpetrators were known to services before a domestic homicide. Across all reports, there were recommendations for better policies, procedures, and information sharing.

The research provides vital insight and findings into the common themes and trends found in DHRs for each of these agency types, and it is hoped this research will lay the foundations for continuous improvements in the response to domestic abuse.

You can find a Briefing Paper and a Summary of Findings Paper for each of these on the website here (eight in total). These papers are a useful tool in the approach to DHR learning in your local area and/or organisation. 

Until now, there has been no national oversight of the recommendations that has come from domestic homicide reviews, which is why a domestic homicide oversight mechanism is being launched to hold public bodies and national government to account in preventing future deaths. Cross-governmental leadership is important to ensure that all agencies – from health to children’s services - make ending domestic homicide a priority.

A number of thematic webinars will be hosted in the new year for each of these papers. This will be an opportunity to hear more about the findings and contribute to what is hoped will provide an ongoing discussion on what is changing and improving, as well as how recommendations are being embedded across services to prevent future homicides as a result of DHRs. Watch this space for more details as they are published.

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel have announced a national review into child sexual abuse within the family environment. The review will explore the challenges in identifying, assessing, and responding to this type of abuse, while making recommendations on how children can be better protected from it.

Click here to see the letter to the Secretary of State for Education from Annie Hudson, Chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, announcing the review.