Safeguarding Children Procedures
The Safeguarding Children’s Procedures for the West Midlands should be used where necessary to take action to protect a child from harm. This page details different documents and protocols to follow under different circumstances.
The Procedures apply to all children and young people aged 0 to 18 years and also unborn children.
They are addressed to all organisations, agencies and individuals who work with children and young people in Dudley, including those whose work with adults brings them into contact with children and young people.
They set out how agencies and individual professionals will work together to protect children and young people from significant harm, and safeguard and promote their welfare.
Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures
Local Procedures
This guidance and framework aims to help agencies identify a child’s need and respond with the approach of “the right support at the right time” that facilitates early discussion with parents and carers to promote the safety and wellbeing of children and young people when worries and concerns emerge.
All organisations, agencies and individuals who work with children and young people in Dudley, including those whose work with adults brings them into contact with children and young people should understand these levels.
A short video has been created to explain the new Framework, watch this below:
The Request for Help and Support Form is available via the Childrens Services Portal site.
Visit our MASH page for more information on the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub.
Early Help Strategy
Dudley’s Early Help Strategy and early help assessment has now been launched and sets out what is early help, its importance and what it means for the children and families of Dudley. The strategy has been approved by the cross partner/stakeholder Children and Young People’s Alliance CYPA. The assessment is used where a child’s needs do not meet the threshold.
For more information on Early Help visit our Early Help page.
Professional Challenge and Resolution is a process of formally challenging a decision made by another professional, group or organisation. This procedure ensures that all professionals have a quick and straightforward means of resolving professional differences in order to safeguard the welfare of children, young people and adults.
The Multi Agency Professional Challenge and Resolution template is available to download here.
Protocol for the management of actual or suspected bruising in infants who are not independently mobile.
DSPP have designed a poster to help spot the signs of non-accidental injury and can be downloaded below:
Practice Guidance is available for those involved in Gore Group meetings.
Following the publishing of the Multi Agency Child Safeguarding Report relating to Child T, the below practice guidance has been created to assist agencies:
This guidance has been made available to provide information and guidance to schools and colleges on how to effectively support trans and gender questioning young people and prevent transphobia.
*Please note due to pending updated information on a national level, this guidance is under review*
This guide, produced by DMBC Children’s Social Care, summarises the good practice standards within Child Protection Conferences.
Dudley’s Centre for Professional Practice have produced a practice briefing around Deprivation of Liberty and the Mental Capacity Act, access this below:
Research in Practice have also developed Practice Guidance for you to view: