Delegates will consider relevant legislation for intervention where parents may present as uncooperative including child in need, voluntary accommodation, duty to investigate and applications to court. Delegates will also explore how Working Together to Safeguard Children & the appropriate and timely sharing of information between multi agencies is vital to safeguard children and professionals where parents are not willing to engage or cooperate directly or indirectly by disguised compliance.

Delegates will explore action plans identifying how risks can be managed or reduced for the family, the child and professionals. There will be consideration of how best visits to the family should be undertaken, the benefits of joint visits with colleagues or police, what constitutes adequate debriefings, group supervision and team meetings to build confidence, and where appropriate, to take appropriate action to protect children even if met with uncooperative or hostile responses by the family.

Delegates will learn strategies they could adopt to aid them in the management of the stress and demands that uncooperative parents can place upon them which can then impact on the decisions professionals make. Discussions will explore the statutory duties upon managers to provide a safe working environment for their staff coupled with the identification of which types of uncooperative behaviours exhibited by parents might  constitute criminal offences and require police involvement.  

The course is designed to cover the theory during the morning whilst in the latter part of the day, in smaller groups via breakout rooms, delegates will identify the key learning from reviews and then put into practice what they have learnt by working through a case study. 

Key learning outcomes

• Define the different types of uncooperative behaviour to include ambivalence, avoidance, resistance, intimidation, confrontation and violence
• Identify a child’s need for early identification of uncooperative behaviour
• Analyse a child’s need for early identification of uncooperative behaviour
• Explore [an action verb for two different mid-levels of learning: apply; and, one level higher: analyse] the relevant legal framework to include section 17, section 20, section 31 and section 47 of the Children Act 1989 & the Human Rights Act 1998
• Explore the practitioner’s respect for families, their culture, their identity & their confidentiality whilst ensuring that the child’s needs are met
• Assess the impact of risk to the child living in that environment
• Prioritise the child’s needs and the child’s voice so as not to be distracted or overwhelmed by the parent’s uncooperative behaviour
• Evaluate the parent’s behaviour towards Children’s Social Care and other professionals by identifying possible poor previous interaction with CSC, cultural differences, and their lack of capacity
• Acquire the skills to become more curious and more ready to challenge families and professionals, where appropriate
• Assess the effectiveness of multi-agency working and sharing of information to safeguard children and professionals
• Recognise the importance of collecting factual evidence that builds a full holistic picture around the child & the family
• Produce well-crafted action plans which identify how risks can be managed or reduced
• Evaluate if there is there is adequate support & supervision of staff to enable staff to respond appropriately to risky or hostile behaviour
• Identify the key learning from some of the serious child safeguarding practice reviews and child death review