Families First For Children Pathfinder

Information about how and when the Pathfinder processes personal information about you.

What we do

The Families First For Children Pathfinder (the Pathfinder) is a children’s social care reform programme which provides additional support to children and families whose needs cannot be met at the Family Information (universal) and Family Advice levels. The programme relies on information from a range of partners to better protect and promote the wellbeing and health of children and their families.

The Pathfinder includes a number of multi-agency teams made up of representatives from the following services that provide advice, support and protection as needed:

children’s social care
Lewisham police
health services
Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
education providers
housing
probation
substance misuse
victim support
substance misuse services
domestic violence services
voluntary organisations

The Pathfinder programme provides a secure environment for these services to share information and improve decision-making whenever support is needed by families.

What information we collect

name
date of birth
address
ethnicity
NHS number
relationships information
health information
financial information
contact details
referral, assessment and MASH information
relevant history and case information
pertinent information that may be available on social media
criminal records/police records
unique pupil number (child)
school information
additional needs and diagnoses (e.g. regarding mental health, special educational needs, communication and social needs, disabilities)
services working with the family (both now and historically to avoid duplicating support and repeating intervention).
·other agencies involved

Agencies we might share the information with

children social care departments (city, district and borough councils)
police
health agencies
education providers
housing
probation, YOS and HMP services
Cafcass
Home Office
Ofsted
DBS
substance misuse services
domestic violence services
·voluntary organisations
local authorities
MPs
advocate agencies
Independent visitors
mentors
guardians
legal
local authority designated officers (LADO)
family hubs
contact centres
placement providers
Fostering agencies
Ofsted
Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)
Registry office
Passport office
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS)
private psychologists
private psychiatrists
independent social workers (ISWs)
·other countries both within the EU and outside

Why we process your information

We use the information you provide to support your family and make sure that we meet our legal duties and responsibilities.

Your information helps us to:

provide you and your family with appropriate services
improve our services
support families
prevent harm to children
work with other agencies delivering services to families

We then use this data to:

measure if our services are improving children and families' lives
help us develop and improve our services
complete statistical returns to government departments

We may share data with third parties in order to:

comply with a legal obligation
detect crime
allow a partner organisation to act on behalf of the Council

How we use your data

Legally, we are obliged to:

·only hold information that we need to help families
·only use the information for that reason
make sure the information we hold is accurate
keep the information only for as long as it is needed
·only share information with other agencies with your consent unless your child is at risk of harm or we must report a serious crime
keep the information secure at all times.

When we share information, this is to protect and promote the welfare of children and will not be used for any other purpose. We will keep your information secure and only share it with agencies working with your family as listed above.

Consent

Part of the Pathfinder reforms are delivered by the Family Help teams which offer a consent-based service to families. Family Help is made up of professionals from different agencies and disciplines who work as a single unit and share information, with your permission, so they can provide your family with the appropriate support.

You can withdraw consent at any point and discuss how your information is used with your Family Help Lead Practitioner (your main worker).

If there are any safeguarding concerns for a child, however, we will share information with the Child and Adolescent protection teams.

Published on: 23/10/2024