Child Protection Guidance 2021

Part 3: Identifying and responding to concerns about children 114 National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 Version 1.0 September 2021 • early engagement and planned support is essential. CPPM’s are recommended within 28 calendar days of the concern being raised and always within 28 weeks of gestation, taking in to account the mother’s needs and all the circumstances in each case. There may be exceptions to this where the pregnancy is in the very early stages. However, concerns may still be sufficient to warrant an inter-agency assessment • the CPPM may place the unborn baby’s name on the child protection register before birth. If the child is registered the Child Protection Plan must stipulate who is responsible for notifying the birth of the child and what steps need to be taken at that point (e.g. referral to the Principal Reporter). Legal measures such as referral to the Reporter and application for a CPO can only be made at birth 3.143 Reviews of pre-birth CPPMs . A review may be held within three months of the previous CPPM. There should be latitude for professional judgement about the most appropriate timing post-birth. This does not preclude an earlier review where changes to the child’s living situation are enough to remove or significantly reduce risks. Careful consideration is required about early decisions to remove a baby’s name from the register, for example by ensuring that necessary supports are in place. 3.144 Where a Child Protection Plan is in place prior to a child’s birth, the child must not be discharged from hospital following birth until a pre-discharge meeting has been held. This meeting should include the Core Group members and the child’s relevant family members, as well as hospital-based maternity ward staff. 3.145 The purpose of this meeting is to agree arrangements for the care of the child following discharge from hospital. This should include consideration of the role and level of involvement of community-based supports. Where the decision of this meeting is that the child would be at risk of significant harm by being discharged to the care of their parent/s, the Child Protection Plan should be amended to reflect this, and proportionate action should be taken to keep the child safe. 3.146 Further consideration of pre-birth support and safety planning may be found in Part 4 of this Guidance. Transfer of cases 3.147 Geographical moves are a time of accentuated stress and risk for children and families. CPPMs must be held to ensure proper transfer of information and responsibilities when a Child Protection Plan is currently in place. Only a review CPPM can de-register a child from the child protection register. Where it is known that a child and/or their family are moving permanently to another local authority area, the original local authority will notify the receiving local authority immediately, then follow up the notification in writing. At the transfer CPPM, the minimum requirement for participation will be the originating local authority’s social worker and manager and the receiving local authority social worker and their manager, as well as representatives from appropriate services including health and education.