2.2.3 4 All, Children Act Register (Children with Disabilities) |
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This procedure refers to the Children Act Register (renamed 4all in Lincolnshire in 2008) at request of families, which is a Database of children and young people with disabilities and additional needs aged 0 - 19 years and is maintained by the F.I.S through Children and Young People Strategic Partnership (CYPSP)
Its aims are to collect information through registration on the needs of the children and young people with disabilities and/or additional needs in order to provide statistics to C.Y.P.S.P.B. so that services can be planned and developed to meet the needs of families now and in the future. Through registering families receive a Welcome Pack, help with queries and information via a newsletter and have input into the development of future development of services.
Contents
1. Background
The Children Act 1989 requires each local authority to keep a register/database of children and young people with disabilities and additional needs. The register is maintained and developed by Children's Services, as part of the F.I.S. based in the Customer Service Centre based at Witham Park House Lincoln. The criteria for a child/young person being placed on the register is that s/he has a disability (as defined in the Children Act) or a difficulty which has a significant effect on the child's life even with the provision of services.
The purpose of the register is to provide statistics to the C.Y.P.S.P.B. so that services can be planned and developed to meet the needs of children, young people with disabilities and additional needs now and in the future. The information is regularly inputted onto the ICS database by the F.I.S. team and is available (in a non identifiable form) for other planning purposes.
The register is strictly confidential and information in relation to specific children is only available to named individuals.
Inclusion on the 4all database/register is entirely voluntary and a child or young person's name will be placed on the register only with the full agreement of the parent and/or child/young person if appropriate.
2. The Registration Process
When a professional identifies a child or young person as being eligible for registration, they should discuss 4all with the child/young person and their family or carers. Completing with them the registration form with details as requested. Professionals can then email or fax details directly to F.I.S. if they have the parent/carers agreement.
These details will then be added to the database. The family will receive a 'Welcome Pack' on completion of their details and be added to the mailing list for information.
Anyone who is aged 0-19 years can register if they consider themselves or are considered to have a disability or additional need. Details will remain on the database until the individual reaches 25 or F.I.S is notified they no longer wish to be on the database.
3. Requesting Information from the Register
Information from the register is available in two forms: identifiable information and non identifiable information.
Identifiable information
Identifiable information is information that refers to an individual child or young person. It will only be made available to authorised professionals working for the participating agencies.
Requests for this type of information should be made to the F.I.S. Team Leader.
It should be noted that it is the responsibility of the professional requesting the information to ensure that it remains confidential whilst it is in their possession. It is also their responsibility to ensure that it is disposed of in a suitable way once it is no longer required.
Records will be kept of all requests for identifiable information
Non identifiable information
This is aggregated, statistical information that does not refer to a particular child. It is available to anyone who has a legitimate interest in receiving it.
To receive this type of information it is necessary to contact the F.I.S. Team Leader who will check if this is available and request a report to be produced as quickly as possible.
End