Child Protection Guidance 2021

Part 4: Specific support needs and concerns 183 National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 Version 1.0 September 2021 4.302 Acting on concerns. If practitioners are concerned that a child or young person is ‘missing’, they should make every effort to make contact, visit if appropriate, and see that the child is safe and well. Health services may have cause to become concerned when significant appointments are missed without explanation, or missed consistently. This should be followed up. A recording of ‘did not attend’ is not sufficient. If practitioners are concerned a child may be at risk of harm, police or social work services should be contacted. Consideration should be given to an IRD, if there appears to be risk of significant harm as described in Part 3. 4.303 Child protection concerns may relate to the risk of harm which may have caused a child to go ‘missing’, risk of harm while a child is missing, potential on-going risks when a child has returned or been returned, or any combination of these dimensions. 4.304 Multi-agency risk assessment and co‑ordination is essential for locating the child, considering options, and support. This could extend in cases of immediate urgency, up to the issuing of a Child Rescue Alert, or media alerts through the police when there is a reasonable belief that a child is in imminent danger and there is sufficient information available to enable the public to assist the police in locating the child. If a person or agency suspects that a child has been taken by, or is under the influence of, a third party (which may include parental abduction or ‘grooming’), the police must be notified immediately. 4.305 Children on the child protection register. Local protocols will ensure that when a child whose name is on the child protection register goes missing, the appropriate local authority manager (and person accountable for the child protection register if different) should be notified immediately. Co-ordinated efforts should be made to trace the child and assess the circumstances. A Review Child Protection Planning Meeting should be convened. Health and education services should be notified to ensure that the child will be identified if they present at another health or education setting. 4.306 Local Child and Adult Protection Committees should ensure that there are specific and appropriate arrangements in place through guidance, protocols or procedures, which are known and implemented by relevant services. These should include response to children in transitional phases in which they may be at risk of abuse while their whereabouts is unknown or they are missing, and adult services and legislation may also apply. 4.307 Non-attendance and missing during the day. Local authorities should have robust guidance on attendance policy. Included-Engaged-Involved: attendance management guidance (Scottish Government 2019) outlines action in relation to non-attendance at school and when parents / contacts cannot be reached. School staff should use their professional judgement and apply local procedures when a child’s whereabouts are unknown / when a child goes missing during the day. Should there be any concern that the child may be at risk of harm, it is essential that local child protection procedures are followed. 4.308 Children missing from education include those of compulsory school age who are not on a school roll and are not being educated otherwise (at home, privately or subject to any alternative educational provision). It may also include those who have not attended school for a period of time. School staff should be aware of the role of the Children Missing from Education Co-ordinator and work in line with the Children Missing from Education Service Guidance (2018), which contains resources and Children Missing from Education contacts. The Children Missing from Education (Scotland) Service provides guidance and advice on good practice concerning cases of children missing from education, and checks the national electronic School2School transfer system (S2S) to see if the child has enrolled at another publicly funded school in Scotland. The CME Service facilitates agreements