Child Index - frequently asked questions
Background
Information Sharing: Practitioners’ guide. HM Government Guidance tells us:
"Sharing information is essential to enable early intervention to help children, young people and families who need additional services to achieve positive outcomes, thus reducing inequalities between disadvantaged children and others. These services could include additional help with learning, specialist health services, help and support to move away from criminal or anti-social behaviour, or support for parents in developing parenting skills. Information sharing is also vital to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. A key factor in many serious case reviews has been a failure to record information, to share it, to understand the significance of the information shared, and to take appropriate action in relation to known or suspected abuse or neglect."
Why are you setting up this index?
There are three main reasons why we are setting up the index. Firstly, to make sure that a child is getting the universal services they are entitled to. This means ensuring a child is registered with a General Practitioner, or is receiving education. Secondly, it will help us to take a more rounded view of a child's needs, and therefore be better placed to respond to them. Finally, the index will help towards improving communications between different professionals.
Who is involved in setting up the index?
The index is being set up by Croydon Council (Education and Social Services Departments) and the Croydon Primary Care NHS Trust.
Where does the information about me/my child come from?
At the moment each service keeps their own records. So information is kept in a lot of different places. The index will share a limited amount of information from these records. The index does not do anything new with this information. But it will help us to keep in touch more easily.
I don't have a child/my children are grown up - does this notice affect me?
No. The index is only concerned with children and young people up to 18 years of age.
What information will the index show?
The index only shows a limited amount of information. This includes a child's name, date of birth, gender and address. The index will also contain the name of a child's GP or health visitor and which school or college they go to. The index will also show if Social Services are closely involved with the child.
The index will not hold information about your family circumstances, individual difficulties or reasons for any additional help.
What happens if information about health or education is missing?
We will contact you to check whether our information is accurate. If your child is registered with a doctor, or is in school we will ensure the details are updated. If your child is not in school we will want to make sure that the child is receiving an appropriate education. If your child is not registered with a GP, we will want to make sure that s/he has access to suitable health support.
Who will be able to see my/my child's details?
This varies from service to service. In some cases it will only be available to senior staff, while in others it will be available to specialist staff.
In Education this includes Education Welfare Officers, Education Psychologists, Senior Youth Workers and other specialist education staff.
In Social Services this includes social workers based in our Assessment Service and Children's Social Workers based at Mayday Hospital.
In the Health Service the index will be used by team leaders in the Health Visiting and School Nursing service, staff who have a special responsibility for safeguarding children and young people and the specialist nurse for children with special needs.
Can I see my/my child's details that are on the index?
Yes. You will need to make an application in writing. By law, we are required to deal with such requests within 40 days. Where a young person is 'of sufficient age and understanding', the request has to be made by the young person or have their explicit consent.
What can I do if any of the details on the index are wrong or out of date?
If you notice that any of your details are wrong or are out of date you should tell us. We will then correct or update the information.
How do I know that my/my child's details will be secure?
Access to the index will be strictly managed and checked. We are required to undertake checks on people who work with children and young people. Before allowing staff to have access to the index, the relevant service will need to confirm that these checks are in place. All staff using the index will be trained. Additionally, when using the index staff will be required to confirm that they have a legitimate reason for looking at a specific record. We monitor this to make sure people are keeping to these rules.
Have all the staff with access to my/my child's information had police checks?
Yes. There are a number of checks that have to be undertaken before someone can work with children and young people. One of these checks is with the Criminal Records Bureau – which has replaced the system of police checks. We will require confirmation that a current check is place as part of the authorisation procedures.
Do you not need my consent to show my/my child's details?
No. The amount of information to be shared by the index is very limited as it does not include any sensitive personal information. The index does not include any information about your/your child's needs, progress at school or any medical information.
Can my/my child's details be hidden?
No. The aim is to provide a universal index, one that covers all children and young people in Croydon. Hiding these details could lead to our staff making incorrect decisions - possibly to the detriment of you/your child.
What is to stop information from the index being passed on to someone that might cause me/my child harm?
Each of the organisations involved in setting up the index (Education/Social Services/Primary Care Trust) already have strict rules in place about the passing of information to others. These rules include checking on the person who is asking for information, and whether permission has been given to share information. These rules apply to the index, and staff are reminded of them as part of the index training.
How long will my/my child's details remain on the index?
All details will be deleted from the index after the child's 18th birthday.
Why not wait until the government's index is available in two years time?
We believe that by introducing the index now we can improve the services that we provide for you. Although the amount of information held is limited, it should help reduce the amount of times that you are asked to provide these details. Also, we know from other authorities that such an index reduces the amount of time we have to spend on trying to find out who might know a child. Finally, implementing our own index will make it easier to introduce the national index.
