Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams & Lead Child Protection Practitioner Training

Developing confident, effective multi-agency child protection practice

The Families First reforms introduce Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs) and the Lead Child Protection Practitioner (LCPP) role as part of the new end-to-end system of support and protection for children and families.

Interface provides specialist training to support local authorities and partners to develop the knowledge, confidence and shared understanding needed to work effectively within these new arrangements.

Training is tailored to your local operating model, recognising that areas will be at different stages of implementation and will structure their Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams differently.

Aim

To support practitioners, managers and multi-agency partners to understand and confidently fulfil their roles within Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams and strengthen effective child protection decision-making and practice.

Training can include:

• Understanding the Families First child protection model, including the purpose and role of Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams and Lead Child Protection Practitioners.
• Roles, responsibilities and interfaces, including how LCPPs, Family Help Lead Practitioners, Team Managers and multi-agency partners work together.
• Multi-agency decision-making, developing shared understanding, professional challenge and effective information-sharing across agencies.
• Strategy discussions and Section 47 enquiries, strengthening confident, purposeful and timely child protection practice.
• Assessment and analysis of significant harm, bringing together information from children, families and professionals to inform defensible decision-making.
• Child protection planning, developing purposeful plans that address risk, build on family strengths and lead to meaningful change.
• Leading and facilitating effective multi-agency meetings, ensuring meetings support analysis, decision-making, accountability and progress.
• Working effectively with children and families, including resistance, challenge, uncertainty and complex family dynamics.
• Professional judgement and challenge, supporting practitioners to analyse risk, maintain professional curiosity and confidently challenge across professional and organisational boundaries.
• The LCPP as a source of child protection expertise, including consultation, advice and supporting high-quality practice across the wider system.

Practical, case-based learning

Our training goes beyond understanding new structures and job descriptions. We use realistic scenarios and case-based learning to explore how the new arrangements work in practice – including how information is shared, who takes responsibility at different points, how decisions are reached and how professionals work together when perspectives differ.

This creates opportunities for practitioners and partners to test new ways of working together before applying them to real children and families.

Tailored to your local model

There is no single starting point for implementation. We work with you to understand your local structure, pathways, roles and areas of development and tailor the programme accordingly.

Training can be delivered to LCPPs, Team Managers, Family Help Lead Practitioners and wider multi-agency partners, or designed to bring different parts of the system together to develop shared understanding and strengthen collaborative practice.

Supporting Families First implementation

This training can be commissioned as a standalone programme or form part of a wider Families First training and development offer, alongside our Family Help Practitioner Development Programme, Family Group Decision Making, First Line Management Development and Leadership Development programmes.