Child Practice Reviews

The criteria for child practice reviews are laid down in the Safeguarding Boards (Functions and Procedures) (Wales) Regulations 2015. The arrangements came into force from 6 April 2016.

Concise Reviews

A Board must undertake a concise child practice review in any of the following cases where, within the area of the Board, abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected and the child has:

  • died; or
  • sustained potentially life threatening injury; or
  • sustained serious and permanent impairment of health or development; and
  • the child was neither on the child protection register nor a looked after child on any date during the 6 months preceding
  • the date of the event referred to above; or
  • the date on which a local authority or relevant partner identifies that a child has sustained serious and permanent impairment of health and development.

The purpose of a review is to identify learning for future practice. It involves practitioners, managers and senior officers in exploring the detail and context of agencies’ work with a child and family.

Extended Reviews

A Board must undertake an extended child practice review in any of the following cases where, within the area of the Board, abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected and the child has:

  • died; or
  • sustained potentially life threatening injury; or
  • sustained serious and permanent impairment of health or development; and
  • the child was on the child protection register and/or was a looked after child (including a person who has turned 18 but was a looked after child) on any date during the 6 months preceding
  • the date of the event referred to above; or
  • the date on which a local authority or relevant partner identifies that a child has sustained serious and permanent impairment of health and development.

The review follows the same process and timescale as a concise review, engaging directly with children and families, insofar as they wish and is appropriate, and involving practitioners, managers and senior officers throughout.

Multi-Agency Professional Forums

Multi-agency professional forums are a mechanism for producing organisational learning, improving the quality of work with families and strengthening the ability of services to keep children safe. They utilise case information, findings from child protection audits, inspections and reviews to develop and disseminate learning to improve local knowledge and practice, and to inform the Board’s future audit and training priorities.

Multi-agency professional forums are defined in the Safeguarding Boards (Functions and Procedures) (Wales) Regulations 2015 as:

“Forums arranged and facilitated by a Board for practitioners and managers from representative bodies, and other bodies or persons deemed relevant by the Chair of the Board, with the purpose of learning from cases, audits, inspections and reviews in order to improve future child or adult protection policy and practice.”

Child Practice Review Panel

  • The subgroup meets every other month and is chaired by an Independent Chair.
  • The membership of the group is across all agencies at a Senior Management Level.
  • If an agency makes a referral to the Child Practice Review Panel, then the form will need to be completed and sent to the Regional Safeguarding Business Unit within 14 days prior to the meeting

Child Practice Review Guidance

Child-Practice-Review-Protocol

Case Referral Form to CPR bi lingual

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