Child Protection Plans (CPP) when the Child is also Subject of Care Proceedings

Please see HSCP Procedure Child Protection Conferences, Discontinuing the Child Protection Plan and HSCP Procedure Children Looked After, Discontinuation of Child Protection Plan.

The social worker should consider making a request for an Initial Child Protection Conference (ICPC) to the CP Unit within 5 days of the Court either making an Order, or agreeing the child remains at home under the no order principle. This is to ensure that plans are in place to safeguard the child(ren). The request for an ICPC should first be considered and agreed by the Service Manager (S&SS) and sent to the Child Protection Unit where the normal route into an ICPC will not be followed.

Where the child is in the care of their parent but residing in a foster placement, or a residential assessment unit, with their parent, consideration needs to be given by the Service Manager (S&SS) as to whether safeguards present are sufficient to meet the needs/protect the child without a child protection plan.

As parents and children in the above scenario are likely to have a great deal of support within a fostering or residential setting, there needs to be consideration of the short term and long term implications of such arrangements (e.g. how long are they staying in the placement, what will happen when child and parent returns home, etc.).

If there are siblings not subject to the proceedings and remaining with the parents or other with parental responsibility, they must be considered at the ICPC called for those in proceedings.

Where a planned rehabilitation within proceedings is being considered the case must go to a Child Protection Conference (CPC) to enable full risk assessments to be made.

The child will probably be a Child Looked After (CLA). The CPP will be considered in terms of whether sufficient monitoring or safeguarding is in place so that the CPP could now be ended. This is usually best considered at a Review Child Protection Conference, but the out of conference method can be considered by the Service manager (S&SS) as noted in the HSCP Procedure Child Protection Conferences, Discontinuing the Child Protection Plan.