Joint inspections of services for children and young people at risk of harm aim to provide assurance about the extent to which services, working together, can demonstrate that:
- Children and young people are safer because risks have been identified early and responded to effectively
- Children and young people’s lives improve with high quality planning and support, ensuring they experience sustained loving and nurturing relationships to keep them safe from further harm
- Children and young people and families are meaningfully and appropriately involved in decisions about their lives. They influence service planning, delivery and improvement
- Collaborative strategic leadership, planning and operational management ensure high standards of service delivery.
Our findings in relation to the four statements, together with our evaluation of Indicator 2.1 (Impact on children and young people) and our assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on the continuation of practice to keep children and young people safe will, in turn, form the basis of the published report. This will include key messages, strengths and areas for development for the partnership.
We will be looking at how well systems are organised to ensure that children and young people can experience continuity in their care and develop lasting relationships. We will also look at how well staff are supported and equipped for their task.
We want to learn how well children and young people understand and have been involved in decision making and plans about their care and support, as well as how well they think professionals work together to promote their well-being.
We will be looking at the extent to which performance in assessment and planning, supported by robust quality assurance and high-quality reflective supervision, is in place to ensure the safety of, and improve outcomes for, children and young people.
The child protection systems review identified the need for a clearer collective understanding of when child protection concerns should give rise to consideration of compulsory measures of care. Our inspections will consider the appropriate use of legal measures to achieve security and stability in the lives of children and young people at risk of harm.
We will continue to assess how well leaders work together and how they can demonstrate the difference that they are making to the lives of children and young people at risk of harm.
Back to Phase One - need to know more?