Keeping children safe

If you are worried that a child or young person is at risk or is being abused, contact the Brent Family Front door as soon as possible to discuss your concerns:

• Office hours (Mon – Fri 9am - 5pm): Call 020 8937 4300 (option 1)
• Outside office hours: Call our emergency duty team on 020 8863 5250

Alternatively, complete a Child Concern Report online. Please supply as much information as you can.

If you are unsure that a child or young person at risk or has been abused - it’s still OK to report a suspicion. Our team will listen to your concerns and decide what to do.

We will ask for your details but you can choose not to share them. If you do not feel comfortable about telling us, you can also speak to a police officer, teacher, health visitor, doctor or the NSPCC.

The most important thing is to speak to someone who can help.

Report a concern about a child as a professional

If you are a professional working with children, please complete the Children's Social Care referral form to make referrals for children in need and/or child protection concerns.

What to report

Child abuse can take different forms and includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and neglect. You can read more about the different types of child abuse and how to spot the signs, on the NSPCC website.

We treat all information seriously and act on what you tell us.

Our first priority is to make sure that the child is safe. We may:

• check the records we already hold
• gather new information
• speak to the child and family to help assess the situation.

If extra help is needed to support a family in looking after their child safely, our service teams will work together and plan how best to provide this.

We will contact you again to let you know that we have taken the appropriate action.

You will find more advice and information on Brent Safeguarding Partnerships website

Whenever possible we want children to remain with their families. Together, with our partner agencies, we focus on early intervention and effective prevention to reduce the risk of family breakdown.

Our Safeguarding Partnerships website provides further advice and documents detailing our policies and aims.

The step-by step process

When someone raises a concern about a child, we have to make sure that the child is safe.

We will carry out an initial assessment of the child’s needs to help us make a decision about the next steps.

We are our committed to working in partnership with you and members of your family, and will respect your views.  You may think there is no need for a social worker to be involved in your family but where there are child protection concerns, we have a legal duty to try and work with you to resolve any problems.

If the child is judged not to be at risk of significant harm but both the child and family are in need of support, we will provide information, advice and practical support or by asking other agencies to help your family perhaps with mediation, counselling or workshops.

Child protection enquiry

If we suspect a child is suffering or at risk of harm, we will open a child protection enquiry.

During the enquiry, we will speak to family members and people such as the child’s teachers or family doctors to gather information.

Your child may also have an interview with a social worker. They will ask your child to tell them what has happened to them, in their own words. It is relaxed and the interviewers are specially trained to reduce any fears or anxieties your child may have.

If it is believed that your child has been injured or is in need of medical treatment, they will need an medical examination. In most situations, will ask your permission first and you can come to the surgery or hospital with your child.

If you don't give permission for an interview or a medical examination, we will seek legal advice and can go to the courts.

Once we have spoken to everyone and finished our enquiry we will talk to you about the next step.

If we identify any concerns, then we may decide to hold a child protection conference.

Child protection case conference

A child protection case conference is a meeting to talk about a child and their safety and welfare.

The purpose of the conference is to:

• share information gathered during the initial enquiry
• decide whether your child is at continuing risk of significant harm and therefore in need of protection
• agree an outline child protection plan that sets out the actions necessary to reduce the risk to your child.

Attending the meeting will be:

• parents or carers of the child
• any workers involved with the family such as teachers, doctors, school nurses, social workers and health visitors
• the child may attend if it is felt appropriate
• the Chair who will direct the meeting and make sure that everyone has a chance to speak during the meeting.

The Chair will also meet you prior to the start of the conference to explain the process and talk about any concerns. You can also make sure they know what you want to say.

It is important that you share your views during the conference, as they will inform the decisions that we make.

You can bring someone to the conference to support you - normally called an 'advocate' - if you think it would help.

Read our information leaflet to find out more about what happens during a child protection conference

A child protection plan

The people that attend the child protection conference will come up with a plan to protect you child and provide support to your family.

The child protection plan explains what needs to happen and who will be responsible for these actions in order to keep your child safe. It is important that you work with the different agencies to improve your child’s wellbeing.

What happens next?

Once the plan is in place, there will be regular meetings called Core Group Meetings to make sure that the actions are being completed.

After three months (and then every six months if needed) a review child protection conference will be arranged. If your team think that your child is no longer at risk, then they will remove the child protection plan, although you may still receive support from us and the other agencies.

Feedback and complaints

If you are unhappy with the way in which you or your child has been treated you can complain. Take a look at the support that is available and what steps to take, if you are considering making a complaint.