Quick Guide

Manual Version April 2011

NB The changes as a result of the new regulations in relation to care planning, fostering, adoption and residential care primarily for looked after children, which became effective on 1 April 2011, are not included in this update. However a list of the significant changes is available from the yellow button on the left hand menu.

The changes included in this update are:

Staff Supervision	The updated Staff Supervision Policy has been added.
Permanence Planning	The processes in relation to the Permanency Panel have been added - see Permanency Planning: Panel Processes and Permanency Panel Arrangements.
Court Ordered Secure Remands	The Youth Justice Board Protocol for Court Ordered Secure Remands (July 2010) has been added
Contact for Looked After Children	The new Contact Policy including the Supervised Contact Policy has been added.

This 'Quick Guide' must be read before accessing the body of the manual.

Display and Browser Options
Structure of the Manual
Amendments
How to find a Chapter
Terminology
Keywords
Compliance
Contact us
Copyright
Printing and Retaining Copies

1. Display and Browser Options

People with a visual impairment may have difficulty accessing this Manual.

To change the size of the text/layout - please use these accessibility buttons

which are on menu bar on the left side of every screen. Click a larger button to increase your text size, the very largest being high visibility mode.

2. Structure of the Manual

This manual contains the policies, procedures and guidance for Coventry Children's Social Care Services. In this manual, all Coventry's Policies, Values and Principles are located in one Chapter, called 'Values' - available from the left hand side of the screen. Users are required to familiarise themselves with the chapter before proceeding to the main body of the Manual. Procedures and Guidance: In an attempt to keep procedures succinct, procedures and more detailed guidance are separated - with links provided as appropriate. 'Procedures' summarise how managers and staff must act in given circumstances. 'Guidance' provides direction or advice to a decision or course of action.

3. Amendments

The manual will be regularly updated on a planned basis. Any requests for changes to be included in future updates should be sent to aruna.patel@coventry.gov.uk

The next update will include the changes as a result of the new regulations in relation to care planning, fostering, adoption and residential care primarily for looked after children. These changes became effective on 1 April 2011( a list of the significant changes is available from the yellow button on the left hand menu).

When the manual is updated, if a Chapter has been significantly amended or is new, it will be indicated in the Contents List and at the top of the relevant Chapter.

4. How to find a chapter

Procedures and guidance are located in individual 'Chapters' which are available from a 'traditional' Contents List - on the left hand side of the screen.

4.1 Using the Contents List

Chapters are categorised or grouped together as follows:

PARTS: The manual contains procedures categorised under a number of Service Sectors, like 'Looked After Children',

SECTIONS: Within each Service Sector e.g. 'Looked After Services', you will find a Section (group of procedures) like 'Adoption and Permanence'.

CHAPTERS: Under each Section, you'll find individual Chapters/Procedures e.g. 'Adoption Case Records'

4.2 You can search for a Chapter

If you aren't sure which service or section to look in, try 'Search' which will help you identify specific Chapters and sub headings within Chapters

5. Terminology

We believe it is crucial to use consistent terminology, which we agree with individual customers, for example:

'Child' or 'Young Person'	both these terms are used to mean any child under the age of 18
'Staff' or 'Carer'	means all Staff and Carers whether employed or not
'Parent'	includes any person with Parental Responsibility
'Regulatory Authority'	Regulatory Authority is the generic term used in this manual to describe the independent regulatory body responsible for inspecting and regulating services e.g. Ofsted.
'Social Worker'	This means the worker allocated to the child/family. If there is no allocated worker, the Duty Social Worker or Team Manager is responsible.

6. Keywords

A large glossary of terms used in the manual is included such as Significant Harm (Try it: click on the highlighted text). We call them 'Keywords'. Once clicked, the definitions will appear in a new window or tab, depending on your browser. You can leave it open for reference, or close it using the "close" button at the bottom.

Many Keywords are highlighted in the body of procedures, but you can search for the Keyword you need: Go to the Keywords Index, on the left hand side of the screen.

7. Compliance

7.1 Regulatory Compliance

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or mistakes, please alert your manager or contact us.

7.2 W3C Compliance

This manual meets the double A Standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), for example, it can be accessed by people with high levels of visual impairment. To find out more, click on 'Display Options' on the left hand side of the screen.

8. Contact us

If you have any comments or suggestions to make about this manual please contact us by using the button on the left hand side of the screen, from anywhere within the manual.

9. Copyright

The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. However any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of Tri-X-Childcare Ltd and Coventry City Council.

10. Printing and Retaining Copies

The Manual should normally be viewed on line but can be printed, for reference only.

To print a chapter, click on the icon which is in the top right hand corner of the relevant procedure

Please note, the Manual will be updated regularly, so staff should avoid retaining printed versions - hard copies are only valid for 72 hours.

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