Child Protection Procedures - East Ayrshire Council

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SECTION 7 Legal Measures 7.1 Introduction to child protection provisions - Children (Scotland) Act 1995 These procedures should be read in conjunction with • The Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Regulations and Guidance, Volume 1, Chapter 7, and • Protecting Children:A Shared Responsibility 1998 - the Scottish Executive guidance on inter-agency co-operation. 7.1.1 Although voluntary measures to protect children should be used where possible, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 has introduced four new orders aimed at protecting children from harm. These orders replace the place of safety warrant provided for under Section 37 (2) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. The orders are: • Child assessment order (Section 55) • Child protection order (Section 57 to 60) • Exclusion order (Sections 76 to 80) • Emergency protection order (Section 61) 7.1.2 The Act places the child's welfare as paramount but requires the condition of significant harm to be satisfied. The term significant harm is not defined in the act. Therefore staff considering an application for an order will need to make a judgement, based on the information available regarding the child(ren) concerned, about whether the criteria for granting the particular order have been satisfied. Norrie, The Children (Scotland) Act 1995, defines significant harm as "serious, not minor or transient, and may be physical or emotional." 7.1.3 The decision about which order is most appropriate should always be governed by what is in the best interests of the child. The Court will also require to be satisfied when considering an application that making an order for the child is better than making no order at all. 7.1.4 The sections which follow outline the procedure with respect to each of the four orders and cover the following areas: • What each of the orders can do • What conditions have to be satisfied in order to obtain each order • The steps to be taken before applying for any order • The information required for an application 94
• The procedure for making an application • The action to be taken following a sheriff's decision. 7.2 Child Assessment Order 7.2.1 What is a Child Assessment Order? 7.2.1.1 A child assessment order is an order of the Court authorising an assessment of a child's health and development and of the way a child is being treated. A child subject to a child assessment order is a looked after child under the terms of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. 7.2.1.2 A sheriff may make directions regarding the contact which the child should have with the parents, other family members and any person named in the order. Any such direction must be complied with by the local authority. 7.3 Conditions to be satisfied before an order can be obtained 7.3.1 In the course of fulfilling their duty under Section 53 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to inquire into information which suggests a child may be in need of compulsory measures of supervision, a local authority may consider it necessary to seek a child assessment order. 7.3.2 In order to satisfy a sheriff that such an order is necessary the following three conditions set out in Section 55 (1) require to be met: • The local authority must have reasonable cause to suspect that the child for whom the order is being sought is being so treated (or neglected) that he/ she is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm • Such assessment of the child is required in order to establish whether or not there is reasonable cause to believe that the child is so treated (or neglected) and • Such assessment is unlikely to be carried out, or be carried out satisfactorily, unless the order is granted. 7.4 Steps to be taken before applying for an order 7.4.1 When considering whether an application for a child assessment order is appropriate it is important to recognise that assessment will be the key to decision making about the needs of children and their 95
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CHILD PROTECTION PROCEDURES The Eas
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CONTENTS Foreword Section 1: Defini
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Section 5: The Child Protection Reg
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APPENDICES Appendix 1: The Main Tas
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1.0.4.1 If it is agreed that a join
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1.3 Sexual Abuse 1.3.1 “Any child
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SECTION 2 Investigation of Suspecte
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Team Leader will liaise with the Se
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interviews by a Police Officer and
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e widely available to general pract
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2.8 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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properly investigating them can als
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person with whom the child shares h
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(i) (j) (k) (l) Once a referral has
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for formal intervention in this par
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public interest to prosecute. It is
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(Article 19 of the UN Convention on
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made available. The criminal aspect
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3.7 Convicted Offenders 3.7.1 A sep
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serious addiction by the parent who
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3.12 Children with a disability or
Page 43 and 44: 3.14.1.3 Any such concerns should b
Page 45 and 46: 3.14.8 Deciding on How the Matter s
Page 47 and 48: 3.14.13.3 The Link Worker/Family Pl
Page 49 and 50: 3.15.1.4 Attention to young peoples
Page 51 and 52: 3.15.4.6 While the possible need fo
Page 53 and 54: • deciding that there is an alleg
Page 55 and 56: The safety of other children 3.15.6
Page 57 and 58: 3.15.7.8 An assessment of the immed
Page 59 and 60: 3.15.7.21 At an appropriate stage t
Page 61 and 62: 3.15.7.35 Any involvement of a youn
Page 63 and 64: 3.17.2.2 There are two important el
Page 65 and 66: 3.17.4.2 Social workers must submit
Page 67 and 68: 3.19 The Data Protection Act 3.20.1
Page 69 and 70: 3.21.6.5. A child may have to give
Page 71 and 72: eport this to the Service Unit Mana
Page 73 and 74: of making this decision. It may wel
Page 75 and 76: 4.6 Professionals and Others 4.6.1
Page 77 and 78: his or his wishes and feelings and
Page 79 and 80: 4.13.1 Once a child’s name has be
Page 81 and 82: 4.18 Key worker 4.18.1 A key worker
Page 83 and 84: Section 5 The Child Protection Regi
Page 85 and 86: 5.7.1 There are two Child Protectio
Page 87 and 88: (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) (m) (n)
Page 89 and 90: 5.15 A Registered Child moving into
Page 91 and 92: SECTION 6 Informing and Consulting
Page 93: 6.5.4 Family members will need to k
Page 97 and 98: 7.5 Information required for an app
Page 99 and 100: to any person or class of person sp
Page 101 and 102: 7.12 Procedure for making an applic
Page 103 and 104: for recall or variation the Team Le
Page 105 and 106: 7.16.3 The sheriff when considering
Page 107 and 108: notification for the application fo
Page 109 and 110: 7.22.7 If an emergency authorisatio
Page 111 and 112: (e) (f) (g) (h) Having undertaken i
Page 113 and 114: procedures for application to a She
Page 115 and 116: Families) or equivalent. It will be
Page 117 and 118: there is significant concern for th
Page 119 and 120: 8.7.8.5 The Team Leader will inform
Page 121 and 122: (o) Where there is disagreement abo
Page 123 and 124: It will be the responsibility of ea
Page 125 and 126: (b) (c) (d) (e) No explanation of t
Page 127 and 128: Abdominal Injuries In a few cases,
Page 129 and 130: • Unusual genital odour. • Anxi
Page 131 and 132: APPENDIX 3 Referral/Reporting Conta
Page 133 and 134: Glossary of Medical Terms and Condi
Page 135 and 136: Appendix 5 HIV and other blood-born
Page 137 and 138: • Should worker’s aim for a sam
Page 139 and 140: APPENDIX 6 List of Sign Language In
Page 141 and 142: APPENDIX 8 East Ayrshire Council Ch
Page 143 and 144: Risk Assessment Risk Assessment is
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for each release in a planned progr
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Assessment and Supervision of Sex O
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• is over sixteen • is a convic
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Help To: The Director of Social Wor
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APPENDIX 11 EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL E
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Signed: Print Name: Status: Date: S
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Child Protection Procedures - East Ayrshire Council

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