5.1.23 Flagging Procedure for Individuals Who Pose a Risk to Children
1. Introduction
This chapter should be read in conjunction with Risk Posed by People with Convictions Against Children (LSB procedures).
The term 'schedule one offender' is no longer in use, and has been replaced by the term 'individuals who pose a risk to children'. To support the effective safeguarding of children and young people in Lincolnshire, who come into contact with the Children's Safeguarding Service, a system is required to flag individuals who pose a risk.
This document is not a new directive. It sets out the flagging procedure for Lincolnshire County Council's Children's Social Care, and ensures the confidentiality and protection of information in accordance with Information Governance standards.
There are three levels of flagging:
Level 1 - Hazards: health and safety risks
Level 2 - Individuals against whom there are allegations of child abuse
Level 3 - Individuals known to pose a risk to children
The following procedure outlines the process for flagging individuals within the Lincolnshire MOSAIC system. Staff must consider the Human Rights Act 1998 when recording individuals as a hazard or risk to children and staff, and records must be reviewed every six months.
Employees should contact the Safeguarding Unit for information.
2. Definitions of Terms
Level 1 - Hazards: health and safety risks
These are individuals, households or circumstances considered to pose a risk to any professional having contact with, or visiting a service user, under Health and Safety at work guidelines. The group includes the following six categories:
- No visits offsite;
- Not to be interviewed alone;
- Potential risk to men;
- Potential risk to women;
- Risk of physical aggression;
- Environmental concerns, for example: dangerous animal, safety of the home/environment.
If a member of staff believes an individual poses a risk in terms of their health and safety, this should be discussed with their Team Manager. The Team Manager must decide whether the individual needs to be recorded as a hazard. It is the line manager's responsibility to agree the hazard and inform the Safeguarding Unit. See Information Sharing procedure: Significant Findings from Health & Safety Violence at Work Risk Assessment.
A six monthly review will take place to determine whether the individual meets the requirements for continued registration as a hazard.
Level 2 - Persons against whom there are allegations of abuse against a child or young person
This group includes:
- The outcome of an assessment(s) to determine the risk posed to the child(ren) undertaken by an appropriate Social Care employee or Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) in instances where there are concerns relating to individuals who have involvement/contact with a child/children. On completion of this risk assessment and consideration of any protective factors, a decision will be made about registering the individual as a level 2 risk to children;
- Details of Multi-Agency Referral Assessment Conference (MARAC) which relates to the risk of domestic abuse, should be placed in the comments section of MOSAIC. Access to the files must be limited to the worker(s) directly involved and the Team Manager. In some cases this may be escalated to level 3.
Level 3 - Persons known to pose a risk to children
This category primarily includes individuals who have committed an offence against a child.
The conclusion that an individual poses a risk to children should be based on all available information provided by relevant agencies. This includes assessments of risk made by Probation, Police, Health, whether individually or via the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) which deals with sexual and violent offenders.
A person defined as a known risk to children is notified to the Local Authority by the Police, Probation or Prison Service.
Practitioners must exercise their professional judgement in all instances. Consideration must be given to whether any children are likely to be at risk, and the LSCP safeguarding process is to be followed as necessary.
3. Operational Procedure for All Levels of Risk
| Step | Action | Responsibility |
Person identified as posing a risk |
Agree the level of the hazard (eg level 1, 2 or 3) with Team Manager and inform Safeguarding Unit using the CS1/262 Health & Safety Hazards and Person Posing Risk to Children Recording form | Social Care worker / Team Manager |
Update MOSAIC |
Apply hazard flag against associated person/s and addresses and include a review date | Safeguarding Unit |
Review status of person every six months, or at the closure of the case |
Level 1: Team Manager to review status of individual and amend or remove MOSAIC record on receipt of confirmation from the Team Manager Level 2:
Level 3: Safeguarding Unit to contact appropriate LCC MAPPA representative for information |
Team Manager will conduct the review. Safeguarding Unit will update the record LADO will conduct the review. Safeguarding Unit will update the record Social Care worker / Team Manager will conduct the review. Safeguarding Unit will update the record MAPPA representative will conduct the review. Safeguarding Unit will update the record |
In addition to the operational procedure outlined above, steps must be taken when dealing with persons identified under levels 2 and 3.
Level 2 - Persons against whom there are allegations of abuse against a child or young person
To include a person/s in this group, the decision made following completion of an assessment to determine the risk posed to the child(ren) must be agreed with the Team Manager. The decision must be reviewed at each stage of the child protection process.
Note: The decision to end a child protection process should not automatically remove a person from this group.
Level 3 - Persons known to pose a risk to children
Any person/s included in this group must be the subject of a completed risk assessment, where there is currently an associated child(ren). Where there is no current associated child(ren), the person's name and address must be recorded in MOSAIC by creating a standalone risk and detailing the specified hazard level.
MAPPA representatives
Level 2 MAPPA - Staff should contact the appropriate CSTM who attends the panel
Level 3 MAPPA - Staff should contact the lead for Safeguarding (contact Safeguarding Unit for contact details)
MAPPA general queries - contact the MAPPA Manager (contact Safeguarding Unit for contact details)
Case/referral closure
Where there is a live hazard flag at the time of closing a case or referral, the hazard must be reviewed prior to closure and recorded in MOSAIC using one of the following indicators:
- Hazard Reviewed: Continuation of Hazard
Within MOSAIC, a hazard review case note must be completed. Where a hazard flag is continued, staff must provide evidence and justification for the decision made;
- Hazard Reviewed: Hazard Ended
Within MOSAIC, a hazard review case note must be completed. Where a hazard flag is ended, staff must provide evidence and justification for the decision made. In addition, the note must clearly state that any future allocation should consider the last Health and Safety assessment findings. Where the historic risk is still evident, staff must consider completing a further assessment and the decision must be documented.
General
When searching for a child, MOSAIC will alert users to any people with an associated level 1, 2 or 3 flag.
The data inputter for all of the above information will be the Safeguarding Unit.
Management Information
Reports - MOSAIC can produce reports of all flagged persons by:
- Category;
- Date of initial recording;
- Review due date (a regular report is generated to flag up reviews);
- Notifications.
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