Practice Guidance & Vulnerability Checklist

This practice guidance provides professionals with information regarding settings where a child may be held including Youth Offender Institutions, Secure Training Centres and Secure Children’s Homes provided by local authorities, adult prison settings or immigration detention centres.

The practice guidance also professionals with guidance regarding child who visit custodial settings where they may be at risk of harm through sexual and/or emotional harm abuse, i.e. visiting others in prison establishments.

Children and Custodial Settings Practice Guidance:

Children and Young People who Display Sexualised Behaviour Practice Guidance:

Sexual exploitation of children and young people under 18 involves exploitative situations, contexts and relationships where young people (or a third person or persons) receive ‘something’ (e.g. food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection, gifts, money) as a result of them performing, and/or another or others performing on them, sexual activities. Child sexual exploitation can occur through the use of technology without the child’s immediate recognition; for example being persuaded to post sexual images on the Internet/mobile phones without immediate payment or gain. In all cases, those exploiting the child/young person have power over them by virtue of their age, gender, intellect, physical strength and/or economic or other resources. Violence, coercion and intimidation are common, involvement in exploitative relationships being characterised in the main by the child or young person’s limited availability of choice resulting from their social/economic and/or emotional vulnerability.

Our practice guidance has been designed to enable practitioners to reflect on a range of known indicators and circumstances that increase the individual child or young person’s vulnerability to Child Sexual Exploitation.

Child Sexual Exploitation Practice Guidance:
Sexual exploitation of children and young people under 18 involves exploitative situations, contexts and relationships where young people (or a third person or persons) receive ‘something’ (e.g. food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection, gifts, money) as a result of them performing, and/or another or others performing on them, sexual activities. Child sexual exploitation can occur through the use of technology without the child’s immediate recognition; for example being persuaded to post sexual images on the Internet/mobile phones without immediate payment or gain. In all cases, those exploiting the child/young person have power over them by virtue of their age, gender, intellect, physical strength and/or economic or other resources. Violence, coercion and intimidation are common, involvement in exploitative relationships being characterised in the main by the child or young person’s limited availability of choice resulting from their social/economic and/or emotional vulnerability.

Our practice guidance has been designed to enable practitioners to reflect on a range of known indicators and circumstances that increase the individual child or young person’s vulnerability to Child Sexual Exploitation.

Child Sexual Exploitation Practice Guidance:

Criminal Exploitation and County Lines Practice Guidance:

Domestic abuse is defined as “any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse: Psychological, physical, sexual, financial, emotional”.

The Independent Domestic Abuse Service (IDAS) will provide advice and support: www.idas.org.uk – 03000 110 110 for advice and information – 0300 111 0777 for the rape support line.

Domestic Abuse Practice Guidance:


North Yorkshire and City of York Domestic Abuse Overview Strategy:

Fabricated and Induced Illness Practice Guidance:

Female Genital Mutilation Practice Guidance:

In accordance with Working Together (2018), where an organisation has received an allegation that a volunteer or member of staff who works with children has:
– behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child;
– possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child; or
– behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children

You should contact the Duty Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) on 01609 533080.

A referral should be sent to the LADO within one working day using the LADO Referral Form, giving as much detail as possible.  Completed LADO Referral Forms should be emailed using secure mail to the safeguardingunit@northyorks.gov.uk or if you do not have a secure email address please contact 01609 533080 within office hours.

Where there is an immediate threat to a child please contact the Police or the contact the Emergency Duty Team (if outside office hours) on  01609 780780.

If your enquiry is out of office hours please contact 01609 780780.

Managing Allegations Against Those Who Work or Volunteer with Children Procedure:


LADO Referral Form:

Managing Injuries to Non-Independently Mobile Children Practice Guidance:


Information for parents and carers about injuries:

Agencies in North Yorkshire have agreed the steps that should be taken whenever a child or young person is reported missing to the Police. The protocol outlines the offer of return to home and care interviews that will be made to all children on their return – whether this is a first or repeat event.

Children and Young People who go Missing from Home and Care Joint Protocol:

Modern Slavery Toolkit and Reference Guide:

Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) Practice Guidance:

Neglect Practice Guidance:

Out of Area Looked After Children Protocol:

Out of Area Young People Arrested who appear at risk of Criminal Exploitation Protocol:

There are 4 key aims for this guidance:

1. To signpost the reader to the most relevant national guidance and strategies
2. To provide advice on understanding and recognising risks and vulnerabilities of radicalisation and appropriate, proportionate responses and interventions
3. To provide clarity on the process that needs to be followed when a concern is identified, NOTICE, CHECK and SHARE
4. To provide information on the local arrangements in place to support the multi-agency workforce.

The guidance recognises that effective implementation will require a multi-agency and partnership approach.

Following the reading of this guidance, agencies must ensure that Prevent and the Channel processes are embedded within their organisations and the day to day practice of the multi-agency workforce. Agencies in exercising their functions must have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism” (S26 of the Counter Terrorism & Security Act 2015). Appendix 1 contains a self-assessment tool, which will assist partners with this requirement.

The guidance recognises that effective implementation will require multi-agency and partnership arrangements. North Yorkshire and York Strategic Prevent Board, North Yorkshire Local Safeguarding Children Board and North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Board through consultation have agreed these procedures.

Information leaflets are available here:
The Prevent Duty A6 Leaflet
The Prevent Duty Tri-fold Leaflet
Extreme Right Wing – The Signs are There!

National Guidance and Strategies

The UK faces a severe and continuing threat from international terrorism. The aim of CONTEST is to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism. CONTEST as a counter-terrorism strategy is organised around four work streams, each comprising a number of key objectives:

PURSUE: To stop terrorist attacks;
PROTECT: To strengthen our protection against a terrorist attack; and
PREPARE: To mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack.
PREVENT: To stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism;

The Prevent aspect of this strategy aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It contains three key objectives:
• Ideology: challenging the ideology that supports terrorism and those who promote it;
• Individuals: protecting people from being drawn into terrorism and ensuring that they are given  appropriate advice and support; and
• Institutions: supporting sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation.

Working with Individuals Vulnerable to Extremism Practice Guidance:


Working with Individuals Vulnerable to Extremism in Education Settings Practice Guidance:


North Yorkshire Channel Panel Leaflet for Professionals:

A private foster carer is someone other than a parent or a close relative who cares for a child for a period of 28 days or more, in agreement with the child’s parent. It applies only to children under 16 years, or under 18 if they are disabled.

Private foster carers can be part of the child’s wider family, a friend of the family, the parents of the child’s boyfriend or girlfriend or someone unknown but willing to foster the child. Close relatives – a grandparent, a brother or sister, an aunt or an uncle, a step parent – are not private foster carers.

Some of the common situations where children are privately fostered are:
– Where parents are unable to care for their children, for example if they have chronic ill health or are in prison
– Where children from abroad are sent to stay with relatives, often to improve their education
– Teenagers who have broken ties with their parents and are staying in the short-term with friends
– Those living with host families whilst taking courses of study

Children’s Social Care is not involved in making private fostering arrangements but is responsible for checking that the arrangements are suitable for the child. As a professional it is important for you to notify Children’s Social Care if you are in contact with a child or young person who is being privately fostered. This will help protect the child against abuse or neglect and provide some reassurance that the child is being looked after properly.

Private Fostering Practice Guidance:

The purpose of this practice guidance is to ensure that where issues between agencies arise involving the safety and welfare of children or young people, matters can be resolved in a timely manner.

Professionals Resolutions Practice Guidance:

All organisations, which employ staff or volunteers to work with children, should adopt a consistent and thorough process of safer recruitment in order to ensure that people who are unsuitable to work with children and young people are prevented from doing so.
Safer recruitment practice should include those persons who may not have direct contact with children, but because of their presence and familiarity in certain settings will still be seen as safe and trustworthy.

The NYSCP Safer Recruitment Practice Guidance provides information for agencies regarding recruitment practice and training.

Safer Recruitment Practice Guidance:

The purpose of the pathway is to improve the referral processes, and the coordination of information, advice, support and treatment that is provided to children and young people who self-harm and/or experience suicidal ideation. If this is achieved the benefits experienced by children, young people and their families will be evidenced by them reporting a high level of satisfaction with:

• The speed in obtaining a response to their concerns.
• The appropriateness of the information, advice, support or treatment that is provided.
• The positive changes to the child/ young person’s self-harming behaviour and emotional wellbeing.
Improvements will be evidenced by:
• A decrease in the number of reported incidents of self-harm
• A decrease in the seriousness of the self-harm that is reported.
• A decrease in the numbers of presentations as a result of self-harm at Accident and Emergency departments.
• A decrease in the number of repeat referrals.
• A reduction in the numbers of requests for home tuition or alternative educational provision as a result of mental health problems.
• A decrease in the number of deaths as a result of self-inflicted injuries.

Who is the document for?
This document and pathway is primarily for frontline staff working with children and young people who:
• Identify themselves as using self-harm as a coping strategy
• Require support as a result of disclosing self-harm, suicidal ideation and or previous suicide attempt

Self Harming and Suicidal Ideation Pathway: 

Substance Misuse in Parents Practice Guidance:

Practice guidance to assist professionals who are involved in the assessment of unborn children, to be read in conjunction with NYSCP procedures.

Safeguarding Unborn Babies Practice Guidance:

Whistleblowing is the term used when someone who works in or for an organisation wishes to raise concerns about:
– Malpractice,
– Wrongdoing,
– Illegality or
– Risk in the organisation (for example, crimes, civil offences, miscarriages of justice, dangers to health and safety)

Whistleblowing may also include the cover up of any of the above concerns. Whistleblowing applies to raising a concern within the organisation as well as externally, such as to a regulator.

The practice guidance below provides advice to professionals in regards to whistleblowing.

Whistleblowing Practice Guidance:

NYSCP recommends that every organisation whose members come directly in contact with children have a Safeguarding Policy. Each policy will need to reflect the activities of the organisation and the individuals involved. Due to the diverse ways in which organisations work with children each agency should produce a policy which is reflective of its individual needs. This guidance has been prepared to help agencies identify the common themes which should be included in the safeguarding policies.

Writing a Child Protection Policy Practice Guidance:


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Sample School Child Protection Policy 2019-20

NYSCP produces a yearly sample child protection for schools to adopt and localise. The sample policy is up to date with all relevant national guidance and links to local processes in North Yorkshire. Recently, there has been an addendum published in relation to COVID-19 which is to be used in conjunction with the overarching Sample School Child Protection Policy 2019-20.

To download either the substantive document or the addendum, please click on the images below.

Sample School Child Protection Policy 2019-20:



COVID-19 Addendum to Sample School Child Protection Policy 2019-20: