AROUND 80,000 children and young people in West Cheshire are to be among the first in the country to benefit from a new support system designed to promote their wellbeing.
Contact Point will draw together, for the first time, basic information on all young people aged 18 and under currently held separately by key agencies including education, health and social care.
The online directory will act as a single reference point for practitioners, once they have passed strict security checks and received in-depth training.
It will enable them to contact each other quickly and easily so they can work together more efficiently to address a child’s needs to ensure children get the services and support needed as early as possible.
Councillor Arthur Harada, education and children’s portfolio holder, said: “ContactPoint is designed to increase support for our children through early intervention and a joint approach to potential problems. It will also save time and money by eradicating unnecessary duplication.
“It is an integral part of the Every Child Matters Agenda and is designed to enforce all the objectives linkedŠto the overall wellbeing of our youngsters from birth to 18.”
Ultimately, ContactPoint will enable 6,000 Cheshire practitioners - including teachers, doctors, social and welfare workers, nurses and police officers – to ensure they are working together in the best interests of a child.
West Cheshire is one of the first areas in the country to introduce the national Government database, which will hold only basic information such as name and contact details.
It will be piloted over the coming months by practitioners at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire West and Chester, and at children’s centres in Cheshire East.
Their feedback will be considered and any necessary changes made before the system is rolled out county-wide in the autumn.
The directory, which will hold details of approximately 80,000 young people across West Cheshire, is subject to rigorous security and can only be accessed only by authorised practitioners.
The details of any child who would be at risk if their whereabouts were known, such as victims of domestic violence, will be subject to additional restrictions, known as shielding.
Most shields will be applied at the request of professional staff working with the child, but under certain circumstances parents can make a request themselves.
Added Councillor Harada: “Parents, carers and guardians can be assured that ContactPoint is by law not allowed to hold detailed information about children, for example relating to their health or educational attainment.
“Data about professionals from sensitive services – such as drug, alcohol, sexual health and mental health services – who are working with children can only be included with the agreement of the youngster, or their parent or carer.
“Even then ContactPoint will not name the service, but simply indicate that one or more sensitive services are involved.”
