3.1.1 Death of, or Serious Injury to, Child in Community or Child in Care

The child's social worker or, if unallocated, the duty worker receiving the information will:

1. Immediately inform his or her line manager
2. Obtain as much information as possible on the circumstances surrounding the cause of death/serious injury and pass this to the line manager

The Designated Manager (Death of a Child) will:

1. Inform the Head of Children's Social Care.
2. Ascertain as full details as possible from the Police and any other source
3. Request his or her administrative staff to check Children's Social Care records on the child and family and print out any information held
4. Collect any files held on the child and family and secure them at his or her office
5. Arrange through his or her administrative staff to inform the other relevant agencies about the death/serious injury and remind them to secure their files
6. Arrange to consider the circumstances of the death/serious injury, in accordance with the West Yorkshire Consortium Inter Agency Safeguarding Procedures - Investigation of Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Childhood and Reviewing All Childhood Deaths Procedure, including the need to hold a Serious Case Review
7. Inform the Secretary of State for Education (see Department for Education) and
8. Inform Ofsted using the Notification Form for Serious Childcare Incidents.

The report to the Secretary of State will include the following information and must be approved by the Designated Manager (Death of a Child) before it is sent:

• Local authority
• Child's name
• Parents' names
• Date of birth
• Date of death/serious injury
• Child's legal status
• Child's ethnicity, religion, language, disability
• Cause of death as on Death Certificate
• Dates if any when child was subject to a Child Protection Plan
• The date and findings of the Post Mortem, Inquest and any criminal proceedings initiated. It may be necessary to notify these details at a later date
• Brief details of the case
• Local authority duties in respect of the child
• Intention of the local authority to hold an independent management review
• Policy and practice issues raised and intended local authority action (to follow later if necessary).

Where a Serious Case Review is to be held, the Designated Manager (Death of a Child), in consultation with the Head of Children's Social Care will determine the most appropriate person to carry out the internal management review of the case within Children's Social Care.  This review must be written in accordance with the expectations that are set out in Chapter 8: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010 and West Yorkshire Consortium Safeguarding Children Board Procedures: Serious Case Reviews.

The person undertaking the review will make a detailed Chronology of what is contained in the records, conduct interviews with members of staff where necessary and critically analyse the social work practice. The objective is to establish whether the correct procedures were followed, whether professional judgments were sound and whether there are any training or management implications arising. The reviewer should draw conclusions and make recommendations for future action as a result of any lessons learned.  The reviewer may also identify any issues arising for other agencies. Prior to presenting the review report to the Safeguarding Children Board, the author should consult with the Head of Children's Social Care. The review should be completed within 10 working days of the child's death or such other time scale as has been agreed.

The child's social worker will:

1. Immediately inform his or her line manager
2. Notify the parent(s) immediately and in person, if possible;
3. In the event of a child's death, discuss with the parent(s) and reach agreement regarding the arrangements for the funeral (in the event of sudden, unexplained deaths arrangements for the funeral may need to be delayed);
4. In the event of a serious injury to the child, arrange with the parent(s) to visit the child in hospital;
5. Obtain as much information as possible on the circumstances surrounding the cause of death/serious injury and pass this to their line manager; and
6. Discuss with the line manager any necessary expenditure including reasonable travel expenses to assist the family in attending the funeral or visiting the child in hospital where it appears there is financial hardship
7. Where the child was in a long term foster placement, discuss with the line manager any possible conflict between the carers and the parents regarding arrangements for the child's funeral.

The line manager will:

1. Immediately inform the Designated Manager (Death of a Child) by telephone and provide follow up information in writing as soon as possible afterwards;
2. Advise Legal Services initially by telephone, then confirm details in writing; and
3. Contact the Insurance Section of the Finance Department, initially by telephone and then in writing.

The Designated Manager (Death of a Child) will:

1. Inform the Head of Children's Social Care
2. Ensure that the parents' wishes concerning the funeral are discussed (by the social worker or the team manager), that any possible conflict with the wishes of the carers are also ascertained and addressed, and that any appropriate associated costs are met
3. Consult the Head of Children's Social Care about the need for an internal management review of the case and if so, the appropriate person to conduct the review
4. Where a review is to be conducted, collect any files held on the child and family and secure them at his or her office
5. Arrange through his or her administrative staff to inform other relevant agencies about the death/serious injury and remind them to secure their files where a review is likely to be required
6. Arrange, in consultation with the Safeguarding Manager, appropriate meetings under the West Yorkshire Consortium Inter Agency Safeguarding Procedures, including the need to hold a Serious Case Review
7. Inform the Secretary of State for Education (see Department for Education) and
8. Inform Ofsted using the Notification Form for Serious Childcare Incidents.

The report to the Department for Education will include the following information in the order shown:

• Local authority
• Child's name
• Parents' names and support being offered to them
• Date of birth
• Date of death/serious injury
• Child's legal status
• Child's ethnicity, religion, language, disability
• Cause of death as on Death Certificate
• Dates if any when child was subject to a Child Protection Plan
• The date and findings of the Post Mortem, Inquest and any criminal proceedings initiated. It may be necessary to notify these details at a later date
• Brief details of the case, including type of placement
• Local authority duties in respect of the child
• Intention of the local authority to hold an independent management review
• Policy and practice issues raised and intended local authority action (to follow later if necessary).

In the event of a Serious Case Review and/or internal management review being required, the steps outlined in Section 3, Needs of Social Worker/Team/Manager/Carer should be followed.