A Child Protection Conference is convened when Children’s Services have concerns about a child’s welfare. The purpose of the conference is for parents and any professionals involved with the family to attend a meeting to discuss the concerns and for professionals to decide whether the child should be placed on the Child Protection Register and be subject to a Child Protection Plan. Parents will also get the opportunity to give their views on the concerns and whether there is a need for their child to be placed on the Child Protection Register.
If the outcome of the initial conference is for the child to be subject to child protection measures, there will be a review conference 12 weeks after where it will be decided whether the Child Protection Plan should remain in place. If the plan does remain in place then there will be regular reviews every six months until it is agreed that the plan will come to an end.
If there are no improvements or there is a deterioration in circumstances, the Local Authority could begin Public Law Outline procedures. If this happens, parents will receive a letter entitled ‘Letter Before Proceedings’.
Our specialist Public Law Family Team are on hand to help, even at short notice. If you receive an invited to a Child Protection Conference please do not hesitate to contact one of our offices and speak with a member of the team.
