A Child Protection Conference is a meeting that is held because one or more professional workers have serious concerns about the care and protection of your child. They will want to discuss these concerns with other workers to see if any action needs to be taken to make sure that your child is well looked after in the future.

Who will be at the Conference?

The Conference will be arranged by the Social Services Department, but there will be other people there too. Who they are depends on the age of your child, but usually they will include the Health Visitor, someone from the police, the teacher or head teacher, the Education Welfare Officer and your child's doctor. Other people will also be invited if they have been involved with your family, for example nurses and doctors from the hospital, psychologists, staff from the Department of Child and Family Psychiatry or a probation officer. The Social Worker will often be with their team manager.

We define a parent or caregiver as the person who can contribute most to the assessment of any risk to your child and the plan to protect your child.

We recognise that you have an important part to play in discussions about your child and you have a right to know what professional workers think may be going wrong in the care and protection of your child.

The Conference is about you and your children so it is important that you do take part if you can. If you cannot attend then talk to your Social Worker; they may be able to get the Conference rearranged or, at least, speak on your behalf.

Parents/carers will only be excluded in exceptional circumstances e.g. if the person is likely to disrupt the Conference or if their presence might in any way adversely affect the welfare of the child. The final decision will be made by the Chairperson who must give the parent(s) the reason for exclusion in writing.

You may bring a friend or relative to act as a supporter. This person will not be there to represent you or be an advocate for you, and they cannot take part in discussions. They can, however, sit with you and give you support before and after the Conference. You may wish to bring your Solicitor to the Conference. He/she can outline your views at the Conference but their role will be mainly to assist you with what you want to say rather than speak for you.

You can write to the Conference explaining how you think your child is, what you think has happened to him/her, what you think the professional workers should decide to do in the future and what help should be offered to you to help you care for your child. You may also attend at the end of the conference to be told what decisions and recommendations have been made.

No. However, before the Conference, every effort will be made to find out your child's wishes and feelings and the Conference will be told about these by the Social Worker. Your child can also present his or her views in a letter to the Conference.