If you are worried about a child or would like to access more support for a child and family, phone 01752 668000.
Opening hours
Monday to Friday: 8am to 8pm
Saturday, Sunday and Bank holidays: 9am to 5pm
Outside of these hours, an Emergency Duty Service will be on-call.
Families First
When families need more help and when there are concerns about a child being at risk of significant harm the Families First – Children’s Services team brings together information to ensure children and families receive the right response.
This includes for:
- Children and young people who may be experiencing significant harm
- Children and families where problems are emerging and where more targeted family help interventions and a lead professional are required
- Structured support to engage families in the right intervention to prevent problems from escalating
- Multi-disciplinary approaches to improve parenting and outcomes for children in specific areas, e.g. Domestic abuse, parental mental health, substance misuse, child neglect
Information sharing and data processing
Section 10 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty on key people and bodies to cooperate to improve the wellbeing of children and young people. This includes the proportionate sharing of information, where appropriate, to make the best decisions for children and young people at risk. All partners working in Families First have signed up to an information sharing agreement that specifies what data can be shared.
The organisations signed up to Families First are:
- Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB)
- Devon and Cornwall Police
- Plymouth education services
These agencies will, in turn, collate information from other agencies who do not sit in Families First. For example schools.
Most personal information will not be shared outside Families First without consent, and will only be used to provide the service requested or to improve the quality of the services we provide. However, if there are concerns that a child may be at risk of significant harm, or an adult may be at risk of serious harm, we may need to share personal information with organisations that we work with. Each agency will assess whether it is appropriate for the information they hold to be shared, in line with the Information Sharing Agreement and on a case-by-case basis.