Summary
1. All members of the core group are jointly responsible for the Child Protection Plan. 2. Professional core group members should provide a written report to the core group meeting. 3. The Core group must meet within 10 working days of the initial child protection conference and no less than 10 days prior to all review conferences 4. The normal frequency for core group meetings should be every 6 weeks. 5. A written record of core group meetings must be kept which is distributed within 10 working days of the core group meeting 6. Any member of the core group who has concerns about the safety of the child or the implementation of the child protection plan should contact the lead social worker without delay. |
The core group consists of:
- The lead social worker,
- The child (if appropriate),
- Family members,
- Professionals and foster carers who have direct contact with the family.
Although the lead social worker has the lead role, all members of the core group are jointly responsible for:
- Developing the Child Protection Plan as a detailed working tool and deciding on who needs to do what to deliver the Plan. This includes deciding what is necessary to complete a core assessment, if this has not already been done.
- Ensuring the Plan is implemented
- Refining the Plan as needed
- Monitoring progress against the planned outcomes set out in the Plan
- Informing the lead social worker if they have difficulties in completing any part of the Child Protection Plan
- Deciding on recommendations to all review conferences
Core group members who are professionals should ensure that, in the event of them being absent from meetings, they send a written report to the meeting and inform themselves about the outcome of the meeting as soon as possible.
The core group meeting may be chaired by the Children’s Social Care Team Manager or a social work practitioner depending on the complexity of the case and the experience of the worker involved.
The Core group must meet within 10 working days of the initial child protection conference, and no less than 10 days prior to all review conferences so that an agreed recommendation can be made to each review conference. Within these times, the core group should meet sufficiently regularly to achieve its aim of progressing the Child Protection Plan.
The normal frequency for core group meetings should be at least every 6 weeks.
A written record of core group meetings must be kept. The record should include attendance and provision of written reports, the action agreed and decisions taken. This record must be distributed to core group members within 10 working days of the core group meeting
Following core group meetings the Child Protection Plan should be updated as necessary and distributed with the record of the core group meeting.
Any necessary protective action to secure the safety and well-being of any child at risk of significant harm must not be delayed because a core group meeting is pending or imminent.
Any member of the core group who has concerns about the safety of the child or the implementation of the child protection plan should contact the lead social worker without delay.
