Abstract

Child D – Reading 2014

Partnership review into the support received by a 15-year-old girl, referred to

children's services in September 2013, following an allegation of sexual abuse.

Child D became a looked after child following admission to an inpatient setting

and received services from a range of agencies including schools, acute
services and mental health services.

Review explored whether sufficient support had been offered to Child D during
her childhood, which could have prevented the need for the most substantial
level of state intervention during her adolescence.

Identifies learning points, including: need for recognition of behavioural cues

indicating abuse rather than relying on verbal disclosure; and need to use
multi-agency safeguarding planning processes to address the variable pattern
of cooperation in non-engaging families. Identifies areas of improvement for
various agencies.