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What
is Sheffield SafetyNET?
Sheffield SafetyNET is a new approach to
making sure that we put children and young people at the centre
of efforts to support them. It works on a very simple principle:
People work better when they work together.
Sheffield SafetyNET is a way of helping professionals who
support children and young people to work better, together,
in the best interests of the people they are trying to help.
As individuals the people who's job it
is to help, support and provide advice to children and young
people often try their very best to do as much as they can
but often one person, on their own, does not have all the
answers. This is where Sheffield SafetyNET can help, supported
by a computer system that keeps a record of who is working
with each child or young person. With this simple bit of information
- who else is working with a child or young person
- professionals can get together to provide a better service.
Because Sheffield SafetyNET is so simple
it does not need to hold very much information about children
or young people to be effective. Sheffield SafetyNET holds
the following information about every child or young person:
Name, Address, Date of Birth, Gender, School Name
and registered GP. It does not hold any detailed
records about a persons education, health or social welfare.
This is not 'new' information, it is information that the
Local Authority and the local health providers already hold.
Professionals indicate on the computer
system that they are working with a child or young person
and this allows other professionals to get in contact with
them if required. Normally professionals will only indicate
their involvement with agreement from the child, young person,
or their family.
Why
do I, or why does my child, need to be on this system?
To be effective Sheffield SafetyNET needs
to be a universal system. This means it will hold a record
on every child or young person in Sheffield aged between 0
and 18 years. This is important because you or your child
may need support at any time and SafetyNET can be ready to
help you and the professional supporting you. It is also important
that we do not artificially create 'lists of children getting
support', this can be stigmatising and can also lead to some
children or young people being 'missed' simply because they
are not on the list.
By keeping it simple SafetyNET can provide
a much more effective service, all children between
the ages of 0 and 18 who live in Sheffield will have a record
on the SafetyNET system, it is a universal system
and inclusion in the system simply means that you and \ or
your child lives, or receives services in Sheffield.
How
do I check that the information about me or my child is correct?
You have a right under the Data Protection
Act to see all the the information held about you or your
child on the Sheffield SafetyNET system. To see this information
please contact us at the address below:
Sheffield SafetyNET
Floor 4, Palatine Chambers
18 - 28 Pinstone Street
Sheffield
S1 2HN
Who will have
access?
Access to the sections of the SafetyNET
system that hold information about children and young people
is strictly controlled and monitored. Only specific authorised
staff who have a clear need to know are able to gain access.
A number of safeguards are in place to prevent any unauthorised
access (see the question on security below).
Before being allowed to access the system
professionals are required to demonstrate that they have a
valid reason for needing to know who else is working with
a child. This reason is recorded by the system and can be
retrieved at any time.
Sheffield SafetyNET is more than a computer
system, it is a way of working; professionals who are granted
access to the computer system have also been thorough a detailed
professional development programme that provides instructions
on the appropriate use of the information they may get from
the computer system or other professionals working with a
child or young person.
All professionals who have access to the
computer system have also been through background checks to
demonstrate their suitability to work with children and young
people and they have all signed the SafetyNET Core Principles
that promote a strict code of conduct. A copy of the Core
Principles can be downloaded from our Library on this site.
How
secure is it?
The Sheffield SafetyNET computer system
has been secured to the highest international security standards,
it also records and audits all activity on the system. It
is secured via username, password and challenge questions
for each user. These details are unique to each person
and are required every time the system is accessed.
What
do I get out of it ? What are the benefits to me or my child?
If you speak to children and young people
(as the SafetyNET Programme has done) about the services they
get from the Local Authority, health providers and other groups
that support them (such as community and voluntary groups),
it becomes very clear what SafetyNET can do to improve their
lives.
While it may seem obvious to a young person
that their life is not neatly divided into separate packages
called 'School', 'Health', 'Play', 'Family', etc it is a fact
that this is how we separate the services that we provide
to that young person. We have Teachers, Social Workers, Nurses,
Connexions PA's, Housing Officers, Doctors, Youth Club Leaders,
etc. We would like to think that all these services can work
together to provide a constantly high standard of support,
addressing needs in a coordinated way.
Unfortunately, as some tragic cases have
demonstrated, this does not always happen as we would like.
Important information gets lost between the gaps in our packages.
Sheffield SafetyNET is a bold attempt to prevent this happening,
with a combination of staff training and a computer system
that provides a simple method of improving communication and
encouraging professionals to work together.
Who
is responsible for keeping the details up to date?
The Sheffield SafetyNET system is operated
by Sheffield City Council on behalf of all the organisations
that have contributed to its development. The data that is
contained within the computer system is not new, it is information
that is currently held in existing databases such as those
in Education, Social Services and Health. Changes to these
databases will be reflected in Sheffield SafetyNET.
The information is therefore kept up to
date by it's links with the source databases. If you change
your address and inform your school then the Education database
will be updated and this, in turn will update the Sheffield
SafetyNET system. |
