Quality and Assurance Safeguarding Unit (QAS)
The Quality Assurance and safeguarding unit compromises of 4 distinct areas of work within the Trust
IROs are appointed to work with children who are looked after by the Trust. The main role is to ensure that the plans for children and young people are appropriate, and progress without drifting and without delaying permanent arrangements being in place for the child.
At the centre of the work of the IRO will be the wishes and feelings of the child/young person and taking account of what they want to happen in their immediate and long-term future. The IRO will chair regular looked after review meetings (timescales are set by regulations).
These are the child’s meeting and should be planned around how best to involve the child/young person. This meeting is where the care plan for the child is discussed and agreed. The child’s Social Worker provides a report to the meeting, and this should include feedback from all the people (family, carers, professionals) who know the child best and are responsible for progressing their care plan).
The IRO will produce a record of the meeting and any recommendations made. This should also include how the child will be informed of the outcome of the meeting if they are not present. IROs will visit/have contact with children between reviews in order to check out how their plan is progressing and will also complete ‘mid-point reviews’ to oversee the professionals and Social Worker are doing what they said they would.
IROs will raise informal and formal challenges if the plans for the child are not progressing as they should.
The role of LADO is to co-ordinate the response to concerns that an adult who works with children may have caused them or could cause them harm. LADO gives advice and guidance to employers, organisations and other individuals in Sandwell who have concerns about the behaviour of an adult who works with children and young people in Sandwell.
Included in this group are volunteers, agency staff and foster carers as well as people who are in a position of authority and have regular contact with children, such as religious leaders, political figures or school governors.
The LADO will chair a ‘Position of Trust’ meeting to gather information about the allegation and the investigation that is taking place.
The LADO will want to be assured that there are appropriate safeguards in place for any children involved, or who could be at risk as a result of the allegations made. They will talk to Police, employers and safeguarding agencies such as Social Workers.
LADO also helps organisations to have appropriate training and policies in place and to learn lessons from any situations that have identified harm or potential harm to a child.
FIROs are appointed to review the care provided to children who are looked after by Foster Carers working for Sandwell Children’s Trust Independent Fostering Agency (IFA). They chair Foster Carer Annual Review meetings and ensure that the care given to a child by the foster carer’s meetings fostering National Minimum Standards.
These reviews will also include feedback from a child/young person living in that household. The FIROs produce a record of their review and make recommendations to the Fostering Panel about the registration of the foster carers.
The FIROs also chair and overview any situations where allegations about the care provided by a foster carer from Sandwell’s IFA does not meet standards, and where there is a concern about potential or actual harm to a child.
When a child/young person is thought to have suffered or is at risk of suffering significant harm then the Social Workers or professionals working with the child/family may request a Child Protection Conference be arranged. This is a meeting chaired by the CPCC to listen to all the information from the family and professionals and consider the impact for the child of the harm that the child is suffering or may suffer.
The aim of the meeting will be to consider what support the child/family need in order to manage the identified risks and what sort of plan may be needed for this to happen. In situations where harm to a child needs to be managed as risks as ongoing, a Child Protection Plan will be set up to manage the risks identified and ensure that the child is able to develop and be cared for in a way that reduces the harm they have or could suffer.
CP Plans are most effective when they are set up with the child and family knowing what is expected of them, but also what support they can expect to receive from other services and support networks around them.
The CPCC will monitor the progress of the plan through a mid-point review and will liaise with the SW too. The aim of the plan will be to reduce risk, and for everyone involved to work towards stepping the plan down as soon as it is safe to do so.