Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook - Health Service ...

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Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook
• Details of any changes in information relating to a child whose name is
recorded on the CPNS must be provided immediately by the allocated
key worker to the designated person with responsibility for the CPNS.
3.1.11 Child Protection Review Conference
Child Protection Review Conferences must be held at intervals not exceeding
6 months where a child is the subject of a Child Protection Plan.
It is the responsibility of the Child Care Manager/HSE designated person
within the HSE to arrange Child Protection Review Conferences. Where
applicable, Review Conferences should be attended by the Core Group of
professionals involved with the case.
The purpose of the Child Protection Review Conference is:
to build up a picture of the child’s current situation;
• to coordinate the views of professionals;
• to consider the views of the child and parents/carers;
• to review the progress of any legal action or prosecution if relevant;
• to decide on the need for an ongoing formal Child Protection Plan and
• the ongoing listing of the child’s details on the CPNS;
to review and amend the Child Protection Plan where necessary;
• to assess the availability of resources needed to carry out the Child
• Protection Plan.
The child’s parents/carers and the child should be included at the meeting
unless doing so would not be in the child’s best interests. The child may be
involved depending on his or her age and level of understanding.
In cases where there is a language barrier, or a disability or sensory
impairment, those with particular expertise (e.g. interpreters) must be
included.
3.1.12 Joint HSE/Garda Action
The HSE and An Garda Síochána are the key agencies empowered by law
to carry out assessments and investigations, respectively, of suspected child
abuse and neglect. Each agency manages the responsibility within its brief
and their joint efforts are designed to ensure that the protection of vulnerable
children receives priority attention. Their separate and complementary roles
require careful understanding if the shared objectives of child protection are
to be realised. An Garda Síochána has the additional responsibility of bringing
allegations of abuse to the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions
(DPP), who decides on and carries out prosecutions.