Carmarthenshire Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC)
The ACPC is the forum which monitors and co-ordinates inter-agency child protection work in Carmarthenshire.
Membership of the Committee
Constituent agencies are represented by Senior Officers who will, on most matters, be authorised to speak on behalf of and make decisions for the agency they represent.
Membership will be determined locally and include certain representation from:
- Education
- Social Services
- Health Trusts
- Local Health Board
- The Police
- Domestic Abuse Forum
- Local Authority legal services
- Other agencies will be represented as necessary.
The Social Services Department will have responsibility for ensuring the provision of:
- the secretariat;
- support services including legal advice preparation of an annual report
- the lead person for the development of any child protection policies and procedures.
Responsibilities of the ACPC
The specific responsibilities of the Carmarthenshire ACPC are:
- To develop and agree local policies and procedures for inter-agency work to protect children within the national framework provided in Working Together, the All Wales Procedures and the Dyfed/Powys Regional Child Protection Forum.
- To audit and evaluate how well local services work together to protect children.
- To put in place objectives and performance indicators for child protection, within the framework and objectives set out in Children’s Services Plans.
- To encourage and help develop effective working relationships between different services and professional groups, based on trust and mutual understanding.
- To ensure that there is a level of agreement and understanding across agencies about operational definitions and thresholds for intervention.
- To improve local ways of working in the light of knowledge gained through national and local experience and research and to make sure that any lessons learned are shared, understood and acted upon.
- To undertake case reviews where a child has died or - in certain circumstances - been seriously harmed and abuse or neglect are confirmed or suspected.
- To help improve the quality of child protection work and inter-agency working through specifying needs of inter-agency training and development and ensuring that training is delivered.
- To raise awareness within the wider community of the need to safeguard children and promote their welfare and to explain how the wider community can contribute to these objectives.
- The ACPC will be accountable for its work to its main constituent agencies whose agreement is required for all work which has implications for policy, planning and the allocation of resources. Programmes of work will be agreed and endorsed at a senior level within each of the main member agencies, within the framework of the children’s services plan. This will be set out in an annual business plan.
- Carmarthenshire Social Care and Housing Department will take the lead responsibility for the establishment and effective working of the ACPC but all main agencies are responsible for contributing fully and effectively to the work of the ACPC
- The Social Care and Housing Department is required to produce a children’s services plan which should bring together all aspects of local services for children - identifying the needs of local children and ways to work together to meet these needs and establishing systems of how outcomes will be monitored. Carmarthenshire will consider how all its services, including education, social services, housing, youth services, can work in partnership with the health service, police and probation services to promote the welfare of children.
- The ACPC will contribute to and work within the framework established by the children’s services plan. The ACPC has a clear role in identifying children in need who are at risk of significant harm, or who have suffered significant harm and in identifying resource gaps (in terms of funding) and better ways of working.
- Structural arrangements will be established to represent the ACPC at the Children’s Services Planning Group.
There will be three sub-committees
- General Sub-Committee
- Case Review Sub-Committee
- Training Sub-Committee, Sub-Groups or Task and Finishing Sub-Groups will be set up as necessary. These groups will be able to recruit membership from a wider basis than the ACPC membership.
The Chair should be somebody of sufficient standing and expertise to command the respect and support of member agencies and who has a firm grasp of operational issues. The Chair may come from any member agency and may rotate between member agencies.
Financing and Administration
Expenditure will be a matter for local agreement. The ACPC will be supported in its work by the agencies, reflecting the investment of each agency in activities which are of benefit to all, particularly inter-agency training.
Protocols
The ACPC through the Dyfed Powys Regional Child Protection Forum will have agreed local protocols.
Annual Business Plans
A business plan will be produced on an annual basis and published locally. This will include a work programme and objectives for the forthcoming year and information on child protection activity the previous year.
The Dyfed Powys Child Protection Forum
The ACPC will contribute membership and support the work of this Forum which will:
- Facilitate the exchange of information and the development of good practice in child protection amongst its member ACPCs - Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys.
- Develop and review regional child protection operational protocols and procedures within the framework of the All Wales Procedures.
- Will develop and review multi-agency child protection training.
- Promote inter-agency co-operation for protecting children.
The Chief Officers Group of Police Chief Constables, Directors of Social Services, Heads of Probation Services, Health Authorities and Education will meet annually:
- to formally review and endorse the procedures, protocols and training
- to ensure ownership and consistent application across all constituent authorities
- to ensure confidence in the delivery of quality services