This guidance sets out legislative requirements and expectations on a range of services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, stating that everyone who comes into contact with children has a role to play in safeguarding.
The guidance highlights the statutory responsibilities of Local Authorities to undertake needs assessments for individual children. On page 18 it is suggested that the process for assessment, in regard to children in need (under section 17 of the Children Act 1989), is also followed when a child has a parent in prison. The responsibilities of individual agencies are set out in Chapter 2, including those of the prison service, probation service, the secure estate for children and Youth Offending Teams. The document highlights that section 11 of the Children's Act 2004 places a duty on all of these agencies to have arrangements in place that reflect the importance of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. This includes a senior board level lead to take leadership responsibility for the organisation's safeguarding arrangements, a culture of listening to children and taking account of their wishes and feelings in individual decisions and the development of services, and a designated professional lead for safeguarding. Page 61 outlines that Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service are well placed to identify children at risk of involvement in crime or anti-social behaviour and other poor outcomes - because of the offending behaviour of their parents. Furthermore, it is recommended that offender managers should consider parenting responsibilities of offenders when preparing a sentence plan, and if interventions would impact on either these responsibilities or to improved outcomes for their children. The guidance also states that the prison service is responsible for identifying prisoners who pose a risk of harm to children and informing local children's social care. It is pointed out that the probation service is well placed to identify children who may have a heightened risk of poor outcomes due to a parent or carer's offending, and furthermore that when preparing a sentence plan, offender managers should consider the effects that any planned interventions might have both on parental responsibilities and in contributing to improved outcomes for children.
See Working Together to Safeguard Children below:
