The safeguarding process: an overview

As described in Working Together to Safeguard People Vol 5: Handling Individual Cases to Protect Children at Risk, there are different ways in which to protect children at risk of harm, abuse and neglect. These are:

• prevention or early help to address any emerging concerns;
• identification of concerns;
• duty to report these concerns to the local authority social services; initiation of s47 enquiries under the Children Act 1989;
• immediate protection to keep the individual at risk of harm safe;
• care and support to address unmet needs if the child is not found to be at risk or experiencing significant harm;
• care and support protection to address needs including keeping the individual safe if the child is experiencing and/or likely to experience ongoing significant harm.

Pointers for Practice: How to Apply the Safeguarding Process to Practice