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DSCP Newsletter - October 2024
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Welcome to the latest edition of the DSCP newsletter. We hope you find it useful and informative. Please contact us by email if you have any comments or suggestions for future newsletters (DSCPSecure@durham.gov.uk)
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Latest News from DSCP
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The 2023/24 Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report has been published. The report summarises and reflects on the work of the Partnership over the past year, drawing upon a range of data and information to outline the progress made and to illustrate the effectiveness of multi-agency safeguarding partnership arrangements across County Durham.
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The report colour, pictures and branding are slightly different to previous annual reports, this is owing to feedback and consultation with Children and Young People groups regarding the images we use, we hope you enjoy reading the report, please offer any feedback to the DSCP by contacting us at dscpsecure@durham.gov.uk
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Priorities
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Priority One: Domestic Abuse
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For Babies Sake:
For Baby’s Sake have been working in the Durham area remotely for approximately 2 years, collaborating with Durham local authority and have a number of funded places available at the moment which are open to referrals via their digital referral form (https://forms.office.com/e/uisujw0vNj).
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They welcome initial conversations to check suitability for the programme before submitting a form. For Baby’s Sake are a service who can offer long term support, from pregnancy up until the unborn baby reaches the age of 2 years old.
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If you have any families that you feel would fit the criteria (see below) for the programme, please get in contact and/or complete a referral form.
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- Pregnant, ideally under 28 weeks
- Domestic abuse in the relationship
- Both parents are interested in hearing about For Baby’s Sake
- Unborn baby is currently living in the County Durham area.
Parents flyers available:
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Priority Two: Harm Outside The Home
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The Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership are launching a new Information Sharing Tier 2 Agreement for County Durham on the DSCP website.
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The Tier 2 Information Sharing Agreement aims to provide a framework in which partners can exercise their duty to share information to safeguard children and young people, specifically when considering information relating to harm outside the home.
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What is it? The agreement sets out clear expectations of Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership, Safe Durham Partnership, Community Safety and other partnerships to work to a shared understanding of the importance of timely, informed, respectful and purposeful gathering and sharing of information.
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Why: To deliver the best safeguarding decisions that ensure timely, necessary and proportionate interventions, decision makers need the full information concerning a child and their circumstances to be available to them.
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Priority Three: First 1,001 Days
The Improvement Delivery Group have now completed the first five stages of the learning cycle for Priority Three. The Business Unit have created a briefing for practitioners to explain what we have looked at and to give some helpful links to resources and guidance.
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It is an A3 document designed to be taken into team meetings, supervisions or to be used by practitioners to help them to reflect on key learning, shares strengths in practice, identifies areas for learning in safeguarding practice, together with details on the steps you can take to find out more and access further training and resources.
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Priority Four: Mental Health and Wellbeing
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Come together in yellow: 10 October 2024
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This World Mental Health Day, Young Minds are asking schools, communities, and work places and to come together to wear yellow, with thousands of others across the UK, to raise awareness and vital funds to show young people that they’re not alone with their mental health.
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Right now, the world is a really tough place for children and young people to grow up in. We want young people to know that they don’t have to go through this alone. Things can get better.
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Because we stand brighter, together.
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This rapid review was conducted in January 2024 following a serious incident notification being made in response to the death of a young baby. The review document includes the safeguarding concerns and a brief description of the impact mother’s mental health and wellbeing had on her decision making and engagement with practitioners.
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The briefing highlights identified areas for development including ensuring all professionals are included in enquiries, and a clearer understanding of the shared responsibility to share information.
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Stronger Families Training is free to Durham County Council staff and our partner services working with families in County Durham. Training is advertised through the Family Information Service, see below link to access further course information, available dates and detail of how to book:
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An Introduction to the Durham Way (2 x 2.5 hr virtual sessions via Microsoft TEAMS). The Durham Way Event introduces the vision and principles of ‘Thinking Family’. The event aims to build positive relationships between services and promote integrated working practices.
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Understanding Teenagers Training (1 x 3 hr virtual sessions via Microsoft TEAMS). This training will provide practitioners with an increased knowledge of the stages of adolescence
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Working with Dads & Male Carers (1 x 3 hr delivered either face-to-face or virtually via Microsoft TEAMS). To provide front line staff and managers with the confidence, knowledge and skills to engage with and work effectively with Dads and Male Carers.
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Reducing Parental Conflict Training (1 day training delivered either face-to-face or virtually via Microsoft TEAMS). This training will provide practitioners with an increased ability to recognise parental conflict, to understand the causes of conflict and provide practical tools and resources to enable practitioners to support families they are working with.
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Reducing Parental Conflict and Domestic Abuse Briefing (1 x 2.5 hr delivered face to face). This briefing will cover the differences between Parental Conflict and Domestic Abuse, the importance of professional curiosity and the types of questions practitioners can use to explore whether there is domestic abuse or parental conflict.
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Hidden Sentence Awareness Training (1 x 2.5 hr delivered either face-to-face or virtually via Zoom). This training gives practitioners an insight into the specific issues experienced by children and families of prisoners and the resources available to you to help support families. Delivered by NEPACS.
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Care Leaver Training (1 x 3 hr delivered face-to-face). This training will provide practitioners with an awareness of the rights and entitlements of care leavers as well as exploring what it means to be a care leaver and potential issues experienced.
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Parental Rights Awareness Training (1 x 3 hr virtual session via Zoom). To provide practitioners with knowledge of the legalities of parental rights and the challenges and barriers prisoners or estranged parents face in exercising their parental rights and remaining an active parent. Delivered by NEPACS.
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Loss and Bereavement Training (1 x 3 hr delivered face to face). This Training provides Practitioners with an Increased knowledge of the different stages of grief and how they can affect a person.
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Reducing Parental Conflict E-Learning (interactive and will take approximately 1 hr to complete). This course is intended for practitioners who work with children, young people or families and would like to have a basic knowledge of parental conflict. It was designed to raise awareness of what is meant by 'parental conflict', recognise the differences between parental conflict and domestic abuse, understand the impact that conflict has on children and young people and to be able to recognise positive ways of communicating. To access the e-learning please follow the link below.
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Children In Care Week 2024: Benchmark for Care
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‘Is This Good Enough for Your child?'
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Children In Care Week 2024 will take place from 21st-25th October 2024. Each day lunchtime learning sessions will take place from 12.30pm-2pm and will be facilitated by our young people and speakers which includes experts from across the system, including Terry Galloway. Sessions are:
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- Protected Characteristics
- Raising aspirations and wellness
- Dads are important too – supporting young dads who have care experience
- Supporting Mums with Care Experience/ Meeting the needs of our Separated Young People/ Improving Outcomes for Young People who have been in custody and back into the community
- What can we learn and how can the experience of care support others
Further information including how to book can be found at:
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Safeguarding Week 2024
We are pleased to host our annual ‘Safeguarding Week’ which offers a range of free sessions to provide you with further information on a wide range of topics within the theme of ‘Inclusion’.
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The sessions run from 14th – 18th October 2024 at various times of the day. To find out more about the sessions and book your places, please visit Safeguarding Week 2024 (office.com)
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Local Resources
Information Sharing – How we share in Durham
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E-learning and development package available via:
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- learning from practice in Durham
- the definition of safeguarding in the context of information sharing (a strong emphasis on prevention) and,
- a shift in culture from requiring consent to share information to sharing within the lawful basis of ‘public task’.
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NSPCC Learning have published a Helplines insight briefing on young people’s experiences of online sexual extortion, or ‘sextortion’.
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- Drawing from contacts to Childline and the NSPCC Helpline in 2023/24, the briefing explores:
- how sextortion occurs and how it can escalate;
- the impact on young people’s mental wellbeing
- how to spot the signs
- how to talk to young people who may be at risk
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It also provides guidance for reporting and preventing incidents of sextortion.
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National Guidance and Useful Resources
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Contact us:
Council Offices, Green Lane, Spennymoor, DL16 6JQ
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Subscriptions
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