CYSCP
Latest news
Stay up to date with the latest news relating to safeguarding children and young people in York.
Read our recent news:
- Private Fostering Week
- PREVENT Training
- World Mental Health Day
- Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI)
- Invitation to NSPCC event
- Responsibility for safeguarding in sport
- North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Partner Event
- Young carers
- York Drug and Alcohol Service Partners Event
- CYSCP Early Help Strategy 2024 to 2026
- When you drink, who’s in charge?
- NSPCC Talk Relationships
- NSPCC Pregnancy in Mind
- New York Prevent Referral Form
- Spotlight topic – Building relationships and connecting with fathers and male carers
- School Health and Wellbeing Survey Animation
- Child not brought to appointments
- Building relationships and connecting with fathers and male carers
- CYSCP new documentation
- New York drug and alcohol service provider
Private Fostering Week
Published 7 October 2024.
Private Fostering Week will take place from Monday 18 November to Friday 22 November 2024. The aim of this week is to raise awareness of private fostering. Presentations and Drop-Ins will take place during the week which can be booked onto via the link below. Delegates can attend either a presentation or a drop-in, or both.
Presentations:
- Monday 18 November 2024, 12.00pm to 1.30pm on MS Teams, or
- Wednesday 20 November 2024, 3.00pm to 4.30 on MS Teams, or
- Friday 22 November 2024, 9.00am to 10:30am on MS Teams
The aim of the presentation is to raise awareness of private fostering. We'll achieve this by discussing the definition of private fostering, exploring differing scenarios to put the definition in practice, and feeling confident in your responsibilities when you identify a private fostering arrangement.
Jess Markwart, Head of Service for MASH, Assessment and Targeted Intervention for Children’s Social Care will share her experience and expertise of Private Fostering, linking the procedures to frontline practice. Jess will talk about some of the lessons learnt through the death of Victoria Climbié and how the subsequent Laming Report prompted a strengthening of the legal framework around private fostering.
We hope to inspire professionals to feel confident in recognising private fostering arrangements, know what to do and how to support children and young people in these arrangements.
Drop-ins:
- Tuesday 19 November 2024, 10.00am to 11.00am or Thursday 21 November 2024, 3.00pm to 4.00pm on MS Teams
In addition to the presentations, we're also running a “drop-in” style session where there will be the opportunity to ask questions and receive expert advice and guidance and hear about cases studies from social workers who have experience working with children and young people who have been in private fostering arrangements.
The target audience for these events are all professionals working in York.
To book you'll need to log into MyLO and click access this course at the top of the course page and then ‘sign up’ next to the dates that you want to attend.
If you’d like to know more about these sessions or private fostering in general, email: [email protected] or [email protected].
Partners can also find out more about private fostering and access resources on the CYSCP Website.
PREVENT training
Published 7 October 2024.
2 free PREVENT Training sessions are now available for multi-agency partners to book into.
The target audience of this training is the Multi-agency staff in the Adults and Children Workforce.
Session 1
Tuesday 21 October 2024 – Radicalisation and Prevent: identification of risk.
This Prevent awareness session will support staff to identify potential signs and indicators of radicalisation, and provide an overview of legislation, the Prevent duty, and the local context and risks.
Session 2
Friday 8 November 2024 - Radicalisation and Prevent: management of risk.
This Prevent session will support staff to recognise and respond to concerns regarding radicalisation. This includes how to manage and report concerns, local referral pathways and Channel Panel arrangements. The content will be presented by Police and Heads of Service
World Mental Health Day
Published 7 October 2024.
Thursday 10 October is World Mental Health Day, a day that reminds us to talk about mental health and show everyone that mental health matters. York has a range of support options for anyone struggling with their mental health:
Joint Targeted Area Inspections (JTAIs)
Published 23 September 2024.
Updated guidance for Joint Targeted Area Inspections (JTAIs) of the multi-agency response to children who are victims of domestic abuse was released earlier this month.
JTAI is an inspection of the local area arrangements and how leaders, managers and practitioners work together across the local authority, police, health providers and partner services to safeguard children and promote their welfare.
The partnership are currently updating the guidance and documentation in relation to domestic abuse now that the guidance framework has been published and details of these will be shared in the newsletter once these are published on the CYSCP website.
In the meantime, a reminder that the following information is available on the CYSCP website:
- Joint Targeted Inspection webpage and resources
- Domestic Abuse Strategy: a new strategy was introduced earlier this year to make it clear that domestic abuse will not be tolerated in our city. The strategy will provide crucial support to victims and survivors of domestic abuse, along with work to reduce risk from perpetrators
Invitation to NSPCC event
Published 20 September 2024.
NSPCC would like to invite you to the launch of the “It’s Not Love” digital resources, designed to help support teachers and professionals working with young people aged 12 to 14 years of age explore healthy and unhealthy friendships and relationships.
The digital resources were developed in partnership with the NSPCC and York St John University and are based on the “It’s Not Love” play and workshop, a theatre in education piece that seeks to prevent harmful sexual behaviours and coercive control that may lead to adult domestic violence and abuse in intimate partner relationships. Thanks to the “Give it to Get it” campaign, supported by the Together for Childhood site in Grimsby, the play with accompanying workshop successfully toured secondary schools across Yorkshire and Northeast Lincolnshire.
Now, as a further legacy of that healthy relationships campaign, these new digital resources on the NSPCC Learning website have been developed to support professionals across the UK. The new digital resources include powerful character films, comprehensive lesson activities and support for teachers detailing links to the curriculum. The event will be held on Wednesday October 2024 at 5.00pm until 6.30pm at York St John University. Register your free place at the NSPCC event.
Responsibility for safeguarding in sport
Published 20 September 2024.
Everyone who comes into contact with children and young people through sport or physical activity has a responsibility for safeguarding and child protection. This includes coaches, officials, paid staff and volunteers. Your club or organisation may also have someone in a named child protection role with a specific responsibility for safeguarding – perhaps a designated safeguarding lead or welfare officer. Find further information and resources about safeguarding in sport.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Partner Event
Published 20 September 2024.
Laura Hodgson, Partnerships Manager at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service would like to invite you to an online event at 9.30am on Friday 11 October to learn more about the Prevention, Early Intervention and Safeguarding team.
This short introductory session will explain some of the different work they are involved with which you may not have considered and give you the opportunity to ask questions and identify future ways of working together.
You can attend the Teams meeting with Laura by Meeting ID: 350 441 314 813 Passcode: 9uuVty
Young carers
Published 20 September 2024.
There are around one million young carers aged 17 or under in the UK and there are a further 600,000 young adult carers aged 18 to 25.
Caring for a family member can have a huge impact on a child's mental health and wellbeing, as well as their ability to learn and future life chances. Shockingly, 50,000 young carers are spending as many as 50 hours a week on their caring role. Many young carers feel they are missing out on large parts of their childhood and education. Others feel overwhelmed by the level of responsibility.
The Carers Trust introduced the Young Carers Covenant which is a UK-wide commitment to young carers aged 5 to 18 and young adult carers aged 18 to 25. It sets out 10 key outcomes that young carers from across the UK have said are key to improving their lives. It was drawn up by the Carers Trust and members of the Young Carers Alliance. By signing the covenant, your organisation has the chance to collaborate with others to create meaningful change. Any organisation or individual in a position to take action to help achieve these outcomes is urged to sign up to the Covenant.
York Drug and Alcohol Service Partners Event
Published 17 September 2024.
Change Grow Live (CGL) will be sharing information on York Drug and Alcohol Service, including Aspire, the new community rehab programme, and The Gate, the young people’s service.
The CGL York Stakeholder event will be on Friday 4 October, from midday to 3.00pm at West Offices, Station Rise, YO1 6GA.
It will be an opportunity to connect with fellow stakeholders and learn more about future plans.
Don't miss out on this chance to engage with key members of the team and share your ideas and feedback.
Book your place online: CGL York Stakeholder event.
Please share the booking link with colleagues across York, and particularly with team leaders who can cascade information after attending the event.
CYSCP Early Help Strategy 2024 to 2026
Published 3 September 2024.
We've just published our new Early Help Strategy 2024 to 2026.
The strategy explains City of York’s vision for Early Help, detailing the levels of needs for families and responses by professionals, our shared priorities for children and young people, and how we will measure our success.
This Strategy will be launched at the 'City of York Safeguarding Children Partnership Early Help Launch', which you are invited to, on the following dates:
- Wednesday 25 September, 10.00am to midday, Hudson Board Room, West Offices
- Thursday 26 September, 4.00pm to 6.00pm, York High School
To book your place go to the course page on MyLO and click ‘access this course’ at the top of the page, and then ‘sign up’ next to the date that you want to attend.
When you drink, who’s in charge?
Published 22 August 2024.
York and North Yorkshire’s safeguarding teams are raising awareness of who’s in charge when parents and carers have had drink or drugs?
In 2020, 80 pedestrians were killed or seriously injured by drink drivers. 20 children (0-15) were killed or seriously injured by drink drivers that year. ROSPA says that although the level of drinking and driving has dropped dramatically over the last three decades, around 200 people are still killed in drink drive accidents every year.
It is not just the drivers who have been drinking who suffer, but often their passengers, people in other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists, and the families of everyone involved.
The campaign also highlights safe sleeping and the affects that alcohol and drugs have on your body and how drinking alcohol and drug use may make you less aware of your child’s needs. There are increasing concerns that growing numbers of babies and children are at risk of serious harm because of the way some parents and carers consume alcohol at home. Drinking alcohol may make parents and carers less aware of their baby’s needs.
The campaign aims to promote that if parents and carers do drink alcohol then their baby should be cared for by an adult who has not had any alcohol. To reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) the safest place for a baby to sleep is in their own clear, flat, separate sleep space, such as a cot or Moses basket.
Find out more, or get help and advice at: The Lullaby Trust - Safer sleep for babies.
Most parents or carers who drink alcohol or use drugs do it in moderation and are not a risk to their children. However, drinking alcohol and drug use may make them less aware of their child’s needs. The NSPCC says that more than 70,000 children in England have a parent struggling with alcohol misuse.
Alcohol is a powerful chemical that can have a wide range of adverse effects on almost every part of your body, including your brain, bones and heart. More than 1 in 10 visits to accident and emergency (A&E) departments are because of alcohol-related illnesses. Drinking alcohol may make you less aware of child’s needs.
Find out more, or get help and advice. Please support our campaign and these messages.
If you would like a copy of images and messages for your social media please email [email protected].
NSPCC Talk Relationships
Published 22 August 2024.
Talk Relationships supports all UK secondary schools to confidently deliver inclusive sex and relationships education.
NSPCC want all young people across the UK to understand healthy behaviours in relationships and recognise their right to be safe, heard and respected. They also want them to know how to get help from a trusted adult if they need it.
NSPCC have recently launched a new whole-school approach framework to support school leaders in developing a whole school approach to sex and relationships education. This complements existing elearning courses support secondary school teachers to feel confident when delivering sex and relationships education and responding to abusive behaviours.
Both the whole-school approach framework and elearning courses will be completely FREE to schools from 9 September, for a finite period.
There are also lesson plans created by sex and relationships education experts and a dedicated helpline to provide advice and guidance to secondary school educators who deliver sex education.
Find out more nspcc.org.uk/talkrelationships and or contact your local Schools Coordinator [email protected] for further information and support.
NSPCC Pregnancy in Mind
Published 22 August 2024.
Pregnancy in Mind continues to be available for any woman in York and North Yorkshire who is between 12-26 weeks pregnant, and experiencing or at risk of anxiety and depression.
This virtual groupwork service supports women and their partners to develop coping skills to mitigate the effects of parental anxiety and depression, feel more confident about the arrival of a baby and help build strong relationships with their child.
Watch a short summary video of this service. This can also be shared with parents-to-be: Referrals can be made by professionals or parents-to-be themselves. Please call NSPCC on 01274 381440 to discuss a potential referral.
New Prevent Referral Form
Published 22 August 2024.
The York Prevent Referral Form has recently been updated.
Please make sure you do not use previous versions of the form. New versions of the York Prevent Referral Form can be requested by emailing [email protected].
Spotlight topic – Building relationships and connecting with fathers and male carers
Published 9 August 2024.
In previous newsletters we informed you that a priority theme for this year is to focus on raising awareness to professionals on the importance of building relationships and connecting with fathers and male carers.
We now have produced a new page with some useful tips for you to consider as professionals to enable you to build better relationships with fathers and male carers.
School Health and Wellbeing Survey Animation
Published 8 August 2024.
An animation that has been made regarding the findings of the City of York School Health and Wellbeing Survey.
The School Health and Wellbeing Survey was commissioned by the City of York Council Public Health Team. This is the second large scale survey on the health and wellbeing of children and young people in the city carried out between 2021 and 2024. The aim of the survey is to inform and support policy and decision-making across the local authority, in schools, and among other key stakeholders in the city.
Watch the School Health and Wellbeing Survey Animation animation on YouTube.
View the school survey reports in full online.
For more information about the survey email: [email protected].
Child Not Brought to Appointments
Published 22 July 2024.
Many children and young people are reliant on someone else to take them to meetings or appointments that relate to their welfare, care or health and as a result they are sometimes not taken to them.This may mean that a professional may record them as having ‘not attended’.
This is a safeguarding concern. A reminder that all professionals should use “Was Not Brought” rather than “Did Not Attend” for recording or noting the non-attendance of children and young people who are reliant on someone else to take them to a meeting or appointment.
The phrase “Did Not Attend” implies that the individual for whom the appointment or meeting has been arranged is responsible for not attending. There may be many reasons as to why someone doesn’t attend an appointment, however if a child is reliant on someone else to make, rearrange or take them to appointments or meetings, recording or noting “Was Not Brought” is a more accurate representation of the situation.
Recording or noting “Was Not Brought” enables a professional to consider the reasons why a child was not brought to a meeting or appointment, the implications for them not having been brought, and assess the potential risks or safeguarding concerns for them, especially if there is a repeat pattern of non-attendance.
A reminder that there is a lovely video explaining this. Please share with your colleagues and professionals and discuss in your team meetings.
Building relationships and connecting with fathers and male carers
Published 22 July 2024.
A partnership priority theme for this year is to focus on raising awareness to professionals on the importance of building relationships and connecting with fathers and male carers.
The difficulties of building relationships with fathers and male carers has been regularly highlighted, both within learning from local reviews of recent cases and also multi-agency audits. Focus is usually around mothers for a variety of reasons.
One of our quarterly multi-agency sub-group meetings recently had a themed discussion around this theme and explored useful tips for connecting with fathers, as well as exploring the potential barriers facing professionals. Following on from this discussion a ‘Learning on a Page’ has been produced which is designed to help professionals consider when working with families and young people.
The ‘Learning on a Page’ can be found on the following webpage, along with a new One Minute Guide which has been reviewed and updated:
We would like to encourage you to share this with your professionals, discuss in your team meetings or supervision sessions, and to raise awareness and build into your daily practice when working with children, young people and their families.
CYSCP new documentation
Published 22 July 2024.
The following multi-agency documentation has recently been approved by the Safeguarding and Professional Practice Sub-Group and is now available on the CYSCP website.
Child Protection
A new Child Protection narrated PowerPoint training presentation is now available. This is accessible from our training portal:
If you don't already have an account, sign up to access the PowerPoint presentation. It's free to access and doesn’t take too long to view.
We also have other narrated PowerPoint training videos on the training portal.
Additionally, the Child Protection Medical procedure and accompanying leaflet has been reviewed and updated. Both documents are available on the Child Protection procedure webpage:
There is also a webpage with further information in relation to Child Protection:
Joint Targeted Area Inspection
The CYSCP have now produced practice guidance and 7 point briefing for a Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI).
The current theme is around Serious Youth Violence. A new theme has been announced in relation to Domestic Abuse. Once the new framework has been released for Domestic Abuse, the practice guidance will be reviewed and updated.
See further information in relation to JTAI:
7 Point Briefings - Learning on a Page
The partnership regularly produce 7 point briefings - learning on page to disseminate learning from case reviews and audits.
3 new 7 point briefings have just been published and are available on the CYSCP website:
- Isla
- Jenny
- Sarah and Tom
View and all our briefings online:
Please share with your colleagues and discuss in your team meetings:
CYSCP Professional Resolutions Practice Guidance
The aim of this practice guidance is to promote a culture of partnership working, whereby all agencies working with children, young people and their families feel confident, able and supported to address concerns in situations where there are differences in professional judgements around the response to the well-being and safety of children and young people.
Please take your time to review the procedure and share with your colleagues:
New York drug and alcohol service provider
Published 19 July 2024.
City of York Council has awarded the drug and alcohol service contract to a leading health and social care charity, Change Grow Live.
The charity will deliver an £1.8 million service to provide community-based treatment and interventions for York residents wishing to access support for substance and alcohol use.
Change Grow Live helps tens of thousands of people each day, delivering over 150 services across the UK including supporting individuals, families and communities whose lives are adversely affected by crime, substance use, homelessness, anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, social deprivation and lack of opportunity.
Locally, Change Grow Live will deliver an integrated alcohol and drug treatment and recovery service to be available to all York residents.
Recovery is at its core, as well as recognising the role that trauma exposure can have on our residents, enabling them to be free from drug and alcohol dependence and enter recovery.
The service will support everyone, at all ages, providing dedicated support for adults and children and young people.
York residents can access treatment and support through contacting the service directly, or through referrals from local health and care professionals.
There is a single point of contact telephone number: 01904 464680, as well as online referral and self-referral forms.
See further information in relation to Change Grow Live Drug and Alcohol services in York.