A Child Protection Conference is a meeting that takes place when Children’s Services are worried that a child is or could be at risk of being seriously harmed. At this meeting information about you and your family is shared with relevant professionals to consider your child / children’s safety and well-being. As parent or carer, it is important that you come to the Conference and take part in the meeting.

The conference is convened as a ‘hybrid’ meeting.  This is where you are invited to attend the conference in person, along with your child(ren)’s Social Worker and the Child Protection Conference Chair, with the wider professional network continuing to attend ‘virtually’. If you require an interpreter and/or advocate, they will also be invited to attend in person.

Medway Council and Medway Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (MSCP) use the Signs of Safety framework to enhance the aims of the conference or meeting. Conferences that are undertaken using Signs of Safety should be, child focused, family orientated, working in partnership with families whilst maintaining a clear focus upon the safety and welfare of the child.

As a parent / carer, you are invited to attend the Conference and we encourage you to take an active part. You will have an opportunity to give your views on what is being said and to share how things are at home. Many families who have attended conferences in the past tell us that they were very nervous and don’t say as much as they would like to. To help overcome this, it is useful to do some preparation in advance. If you chose, you can write down what you would like to say on the Parents Conference Report which can be emailed to the Child Protection Chair.

About child protection plans

The Child Protection Plan is the Safety Plan that the family and professionals agree on, with the aim of establishing a Safety Network and set of rules the family and network will agree and stick to, so the child will be safe in relation to the concerns raised at the Child Protection Conference . Everyone contributes to the Safety Plan and how it is going to be achieved.

The Child Protection Plan will include the things that need to happen in order for your child / children to be safe. Some of the actions on the plan will be for you as parent(s) to do and other actions will be for those professionals working with your child or children and your family.

What a Core Group is

A Core Group is made up of all of the professionals who need to work with you.

It is likely to include the parents, carers, a social worker, a teacher from school or a nursery nurse, a health visitor or school nurse and any other professional who is in regular contact with your family.

The child whose plan it is may also be included depending on their age and level of understanding.

Feedback

We welcome your views on your experience of your child’s conference and would invite you to complete the Have your say - Child Protection Conference Feedback Survey. If you would like to complete this and need support doing so, please contact cpcadmin@medway.gov.uk. 

The information you provide will be used to inform our practice and how we deliver our service. Whilst we may publish reports about this evaluation it will not be possible to identify any individuals from any information we release.

Complaints about the Conference