Quick Guide

October 2011

This 'Quick Guide' must be read before accessing the body of the manual.

This update of the Walsall Safeguarding Children Board Procedures Manual incorporates a number of amendments which are summarised in the amendments table below. The Contents List also highlights where changes have been made.

Display and Browser Options
Structure of the Manual
Amendments
How to find a Chapter
Terminology
Keywords
Compliance
Contact us
Copyright

1. Display and Browser Options

People with a visual impairment may have difficulty accessing this Manual.

To change the size of the text/layout - please use these accessibility buttons

which are on menu bar on the left side of every screen. Click a larger button to increase your text size, the very largest being high visibility mode.

2. Structure of the Manual

This manual contains the policies, procedures and guidance for Walsall Safeguarding Children Board. In this manual, all Policies, Values and Principles are located in one Chapter, which users are required to familiarise themselves with before proceeding to the main body of the Manual. These Policies, Values and Principles are located in a Chapter called 'Values' - available from the left hand side of the screen.

Procedures and Guidance

'Procedures' summarise how Managers and Staff must act in given circumstances. 'Guidance' provides direction or advice to a decision or course of action.

3. Amendments

The manual is regularly updated and after this update, the next planned update will be published in February 2012.

If any user wishes to include any changes in the next planned update, they should contact Sarah Barker, the Development Coordinator for Walsall SCB before 10 January 2012, which is when the planning meeting for the update is scheduled to take place - BarkerS@walsall.gov.uk.

Where this manual has been updated, chapters which are new or which have been amended significantly will be indicated in the Contents List and at the top of the relevant Chapter. The changes to the latest version of the manual are also listed in the table below.

New Chapters and Features
Fatal/Serious Dog Attacks Protocol	This chapter is new for October 2011.
West Midlands Protocol for Paediatric Forensic Medical Examiniation	This chapter is new for October 2011.
Children not Attending School	This chapter is new for October 2011.
Updated Chapters
Chapter Name	Change
Walsall Adults and Children's Protocol	A new version of this Protocol was added.
Safeguarding Children who may have been Trafficked	Links added to the following guidance documents: ECPAT – UK Briefing Paper on Child Trafficking – Begging and Organised Crime and Safeguarding Trafficked Roma Children and Families
Female Genital Mutilation	Link added to new non-statutory Multi-Agency Guidelines
Fabricated of Induced Illness	Updated to replace references to the National Centre for Policing Excellence Operations Helpdesk (which ceased to exist) with references to the Specialist Operations Centre, Covert Advice Team
Section 47 Enquiries and Core Assessment	Additional information included in relation to pre-trial therapy, and interviewing a disabled child. Link added to West Midlands Protocol for Paediatric Forensic Medical Examination.
Child Protection Review Conferences	Section on Looked After Children with a Child Protection Plan updated in line with the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010.
Children Living Away from Home (including Private Fostering)	Changes made in the Private Fostering section ,to include reference to Private Fostering Scrutiny Panel.
Referrals	The first paragraph of section 13 – Pre-birth Referrals - was changed so that the referral should be made ‘as soon as the pregnancy is confirmed by scan’.

4. How to Find a Chapter

Procedures and guidance are located in individual 'Chapters' which are available from a 'traditional' Contents List - on the left hand side of the screen.

4.1 Using the Contents List

Chapters are categorised or grouped together as follows:

PARTS: The manual contains procedures categorised under a number of Parts, like 'Managing Individual Cases where there are Concerns about a Child's Safety and Welfare - Procedures'

CHAPTERS: Under each Section, you'll find individual Chapters/Procedures e.g. 'Initial Assessments'.

4.2 The Search Function

If you are not sure which service or section to look in, try 'Search' which will help you identify specific Chapters and sub headings within Chapters. Search is available via the button on the left hand side of the screen.

5.Terminology

We believe it is crucial to use consistent terminology, which we agree with individual customers, for example:

'Child' or 'Young Person'	both these terms are used to mean any child under the age of 18
'Staff' or 'Carer'	means all Staff and Carers (including) whether employed or not
'Parent'	Includes any person with Parental Responsibility
'Regulatory Authority'	Regulatory Authority is the generic term used in this manual to describe the independent regulatory body responsible for inspecting and regulating services e.g. Ofsted.

6. Keywords

The manual is accessed by practitioners from varying agencies, who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore there is a large glossary (Keywords) of terms such as Significant Harm (Try it: click on the highlighted text). We call them 'Keywords'. Once clicked, the definitions will appear in a new window or tab, depending on your browser. You can leave it open for reference, or close it using the "close" button at the bottom.

Many Keywords are highlighted in the body of procedures, but you can search for the Keyword you need: Go to the Keywords Index, on the left hand side of the screen.

7. Compliance

7.1 Regulatory Compliance

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or mistakes, please alert your manager or contact us.

7.2 W3C Compliance

This manual meets the double A Standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), for example, it can be accessed by people with high levels of visual impairment. To find out more, click on 'Display Options' on the left hand side of the screen.

8. Contact us

If you have any comments or suggestions to make about this manual please contact us by using the button on the left hand side of the screen, from anywhere within the manual.

This is not to be used for making a referral in relation to a child.

9. Copyright

The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. However any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of Tri-X-Childcare Ltd and Walsall Safeguarding Children Board.

End