A morning with the Joint Child Protection Investigation Team

It could be any office. Industrial carpet, garish lighting, ugly furniture, the click of keyboards and trill of phones.

Yet the work going on in this unassuming space is breaking new ground in safeguarding children. Tucked away behind the gleaming, modern entrance of Hertfordshire Police headquarters in Welwyn Garden City in one of a jumble of shabbier, older buildings, it is the base for a new Joint Child Protection Investigation Team, bringing together police officers and social workers.

Hertfordshire already had good relationships and communication between social services and police, according to Ross Williams, the council's head of assessment services, children's safeguarding. But now there is no ringing round to track down the right person. When an urgent case comes in, officers and social workers are together on the spot to share vital information and discuss tactics. And they "can be out the door almost immediately", says Detective Chief Inspector Glen Channer, who leads the team.

Countless serious case reviews and national reviews of child protection policy have highlighted the need for stronger collaboration, explains Williams. "We're taking that on big-time," he asserts at the start of our visit on a chilly Wednesday morning. "We had joint work before but we didn't have people sitting at the same desk."

Last week, for example, the unit was contacted by a local hospital after a newborn baby was brought in with bruising to its head. The injuries did not tally with the parents' story so the unit convened a meeting at the hospital attended by social work practice manager Bev Ford, a social worker, a sergeant and two other officers. They reviewed the medical evidence and, together with health professionals, agreed the next steps, including a visit to the family's home. The baby was swiftly found a foster placement and the parents arrested. They are currently on bail pending further investigations.

Speed and efficiency

It's not that this wouldn't have happened before but what was different is the speed and efficiency with which it came about, explains Ford: "We'd jointly discussed our approach, decided who was going to attend and covered all eventualities before we even got to that meeting." Working together has given everyone a better understanding of roles and responsibilities, says Detective Sergeant Sue Warren. "Police turn up, make an arrest and are ready for the next job. But often a social worker's role has just started," she says. Detectives who previously felt frustrated by delays now see the activity behind the scenes.

The fact that all social workers in the unit are trained in how to interview vulnerable witnesses is crucial: "In the past some officers wouldn't want a social worker touching a case because they'd be the one who'd have to stand up in court and explain the investigation. Knowing everyone's trained means there's a lot more trust."

Social worker Verity Woodward regularly goes out on joint assignments with police officers. Often these are "pre-assessments", used to judge the accuracy of witnesses' information and whether a child has the capacity to be interviewed more formally. "Either the social worker or police officer can take the lead," says Woodward. "Before we go, we discuss how we'll handle an interview, the age of the child and anything else to bear in mind.

"As a social worker you want to feel you're giving child victims the best service and making sure they are safe as quickly as possible. I feel more confident that's happening now because the channels of communication are so much better. Any problems are thrashed out there and then."

The unit is busy, dealing with about 80 cases a month. Carol West, child protection referrals and assessment manager, has just received a fax from a children's services locality team - a health visitor has reported human bite marks on a toddler. West - a member of police support staff - enters the details onto the police database, then searches police records for any other information on the family.

Communication has certainly improved, she says. While social workers and police staff do not have direct access to each other's records, she can just have a quick word with a social worker sitting a few metres away to get information on a new or ongoing case.

Equally, she can ensure a social worker about to visit a family is aware of any risks such as a parent with a history of violence.

West passes the bite mark case to Sergeant Mike Cannon. The child is already on a child protection plan. "Mum says another child bit her baby but we need to establish whether those bite marks are by a child or adult." He calls the family's social worker and schedules a medical examination at a local hospital.

Nearby, DS Warren is on the phone to a social work manager about another case that has come in this morning - a 10-year-old boy who turned up at school with bruising, claiming his mum hurt him. "Jesus Christ!" she exclaims, as she listens to the boy's sad and complicated family history.

It is clear that the social work manager thought the joint team would take it on, but Warren is firm. "What sort of injury are we talking about?" she asks. "If the injury is significant, we'll send someone to meet them at the school and do things jointly."

There has been some confusion from other colleagues about the type of cases the unit is designed to handle - especially around cases where a child has been injured. It receives all new Section 47 referrals - where children have been harmed or injured or are at significant risk of harm or neglect.

However, these may then be referred back to local children's services teams to be taken forward as "single agency" cases. The joint team is designed to swing into action where a crime may have been committed.

Uniformed police officers have already been out to the case of the 10-year-old and his mum, and decided not to call in the team. Warren's instinct is that this is not a criminal case but a "single agency" one for social services, which are already working closely with the family.

"Our first concern is the child," she says. "If a family is struggling then it may not be in their best interests to criminalise their parents and ask them to give evidence against them."

Despite some inevitable minor teething problems, managers have been "amazed" at how well the new team has gelled, says Detective Inspector Jo Walker, who oversees the day-to-day work of the unit. She keeps track of cases in a spiral-bound notebook.

"It's quite depressing what I've got in my book," she says, flicking through the pages of neat handwriting. "You develop a level of immunity but a lot of us are parents and certain cases really get to you. We've had a number of physical assaults on young babies recently, involving some horrific injuries."

These are among the most complex cases, she explains, because of reliance on medical evidence to prove deliberate injury and because social workers will be embarking on care proceedings at the same time as police are pursuing a criminal case.

Despite the challenging nature of the work, both social workers and police officers are keen to join, "but people do burn out". Walker encourages staff to take breaks and get out of the office, and advocates physical activity at the on-site gym -some of her officers use it but she is not so sure about the social workers.

A big difference

Like every other member of her team, she is certain the new set-up is making a big difference. One advantage of working with social services is that police are going out to more "neglect" cases, resulting in a 10 to 15 per cent improvement in detection. "We're seeing efficiencies in terms of staffing, time, communication and training, and far less duplication," says DCI Channer. And there are "hidden savings" from getting in early, preventing cases escalating and so avoiding the human and financial costs of children going into care and expense of civil and criminal court proceedings.

The new team has also taken the pressure off other children's services teams, resulting in a "significant" improvement in the time taken to complete initial and core assessments. It aims to now work more closely with health services. The unit already holds monthly "surgeries" where paediatricians share expertise.

Back in the office, DI Walker surveys her domain. "In an ideal world we'd be in a new, purpose-built centre with social workers, police and health in one place," she says.

"This is a step towards that and I know my team are protecting children every day and saving lives."

HOW THE INVESTIGATION TEAM OPERATES

• Hertfordshire's Joint Child Protection Investigation Team launched in September 2011.
• It includes 24 police officers and seven full-time social workers plus police and social care support staff.
• Police officers work shifts, including weekends and overnight. Social workers work Monday to Friday with out-of-hours social work input provided by a children's services' emergency duty team.
• All social workers on the team are senior practitioners who have passed Achieving Best Evidence and other specialist child protection training. Police officers are experienced detectives who undertake ongoing training, including the Specialist Child Abuse Investigation Development Programme. The team has had joint training covering topics such as neglect, injuries, fabricated illness, information compliance and data protection.
• In the three months from September to November 2011, the unit received 277 joint referrals - 140 involved physical abuse, 102 sexual abuse, 34 neglect and there was one case of sudden unexplained infant death.
• The safeguarding children board is kept updated on the team's activities at its quarterly meetings.
• Hertfordshire Constabulary and Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board were the driving force behind its creation. It was developed jointly with Hertfordshire County Council's children's services and had the backing of local politicians, Hertfordshire Police Authority and the Association of Chief Police Officers.
• Regional government funding covered start-up costs.
• The team is led by Detective Chief Inspector Glen Channer, Hertfordshire Constabulary's lead on safeguarding vulnerable people, who also heads up the county's Sexual Offences Investigation Team and Paedophile Investigation Unit.