Strategy Discussions: A quick guide for professionals

Purpose

A strategy discussion/meeting is convened when there is reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This meeting aims to coordinate a multi-agency response to safeguard the child.

Coordination and Attendance

• Coordinator/Chair: Children’s Assessment & Intervention Team Manager for the child’s local area.
• Participants:
  • Children’s social care
  • Police
  • Health professionals (e.g., named/designated nurse or doctor)
  • Referring agencies (e.g., schools, children’s centres)
  • Other relevant bodies (e.g., midwifery services for pre-birth cases or SARC for sexual abuse cases)
  • In complex cases, a Local Authority solicitor may attend to give legal advice.

Preparation

• Professionals must bring all relevant information about the child.
• Participants must be senior enough to make decisions on behalf of their agencies.

Meeting Types

• In-person/video conferencing: Preferred for comprehensive discussions.
• Telephone: Acceptable for planning enquiries, with records made and shared promptly.

Circumstances for Strategy Discussions

• New referrals indicating significant harm.
• New information on existing cases suggesting significant harm.
• Concerns about sexual abuse/exploitation, Female Genital Mutilation, or radicalization.
• Likelihood of harm from adults or young persons moving into the child’s environment.
• Pre-birth concerns indicating the need for a Child Protection Plan.
• Death of a child with suspected abuse/neglect and other children in the household.
• Children moving into the area with existing Child Protection Plans.
• Likelihood of harm from child-on-child sexual assault.

Objectives

• Information Sharing: Share all available information about the child and family.
• Criminal Investigation: Agree on the conduct and timing of any criminal investigation.
• Section 47 Enquiries: Decide whether to initiate or continue an assessment under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989.
• Assessment Planning: Plan how the Section 47 Enquiry should be undertaken, including medical assessments and specific actions.
• Immediate Actions: Agree on immediate actions to safeguard the child and provide interim services.
• Child’s Wishes: Determine how to ascertain and consider the child’s wishes and feelings.
• Cultural Considerations: Consider the race, ethnicity, beliefs, and culture of the child and family, and whether an interpreter is needed.
• Other Affected Children: Consider the needs of other children who may be affected.
• Information Sharing with Family: Decide what information will be shared with the family, ensuring it does not increase likelihood of harm or jeopardise investigations.
• Legal Action: Determine if legal action is required.

Responsibilities

• Chair: Ensure decisions and actions are fully recorded and shared with all participants.
• Participants: Take notes and follow up on agreed actions.

Timescales

• Convene initial meetings promptly:
• Same day for referrals made to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).
• Within one working day for open cases held by the team managing the case.
• Where immediate emergency action is apparent from the presenting circumstance, a safeguarding response must not be delayed by convening a strategy discussion. The strategy discussion should take place ASAP after the immediate emergency action.
• In cases of suspected recent sexual abuse (within 10 days) contact SARC immediately to discuss forensic timescales that may indicate a child needs to be seen before the discussion.

Decision Making

• Threshold Discussion: Led by the Chair, focusing on the need for a Section 47 enquiry based on the likelihood of significant harm.
• Section 47 Enquiry: Decide if it will be a joint or single agency investigation.
• Child in Need or Targeted Early Help: If Section 47 is not required, discuss if Child in Need or Targeted Early Help is appropriate.
• Rare Outcomes: Rarely conclude with no further action or step down to Early Help/Universal Services.

Outcomes

• Further Discussions: If professionals remain concerned, further discussions should be held.
• Multiple Strategy Discussions: If necessary, with regular reviews to ensure child safety.
• Multi-Agency Assessment: If no Section 47 Enquiry, consider continuing a multi-agency assessment for early help or family support services.

Planning Section 47 Enquiries

• Initial Planning: Agree on key tasks, dates, and responsible individuals.
• Example Tasks:
  • ABE interview: Joint task for Police and Children’s Social Care.
  • Child Protection medical: Involves Children’s Social Care, Paediatrician, and possibly Police.
  • Chronology of concern: Each agency contributes, with a lead professional collating information.
• Further Information: Identify missing participants and gather additional information as needed.

Agenda for Strategy Discussions

1. Welcome and Introductions
   • Chair introduces themselves and outlines confidentiality.
   • Participants introduce themselves.
2. Reason for Meeting
   • Summary of why the meeting was called.
3. Discussion of Each Child
   • Cover social care, education, health, and criminal history.
   • Balance positive information with concerns.
   • Consider harmful and protective factors for adults involved.
4. Chair’s Summary
   • Summarize findings and concerns for each child.
   • Provide an overview of evidence and subsequent concerns.
   • Provide the members an opportunity to share any concerns they have over the decisions made and ensure any disagreements that cannot be resolved are recorded and escalated.

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