Children's Emergency Duty Team (CEDT)

What does the Children's Emergency Duty Team (CEDT) do?

Urgent situations the emergency duty team deal with:

Children's Emergency Duty Team (CEDT) operates to respond to emergency situations out of office hours, from 5pm until 8:30 am Monday to Thursday and 4.30pm until 8:30am on a Friday and at weekends and bank holidays. CEDT responds to emergency situations that are unable to wait until the next working day. These will relate to children’s safeguarding, potential placement, or family breakdowns and any other Children’s Services statutory work.

CEDT offer a single point of access whereby all children out-side of daytime hours were there is a significant worry or concern around, will be screened by an Advanced Social Worker, who will make the decision around if the CEDT will offer a service, or the presenting worry or concern can wait until the following day, for day time services to contact the family and consider who is best pleased to meet the support needs of the family under the Effective Support Framework.

How do I contact the Children's Emergency Duty Team (CEDT)?

If any professional, family member or member of the public has a worry or concern around the safety or welfare of a child out of office hours they can call the CEDT on (01482) 393939.

CEDT services consist of four advanced social work practitioners, who work outside of office hours. CEDT provide a co-ordinated 'front door' to the Children and Young People’s Support and Safeguarding Services, to anyone who has a significant worry or concerns about a child or young person. CEDT social workers will provide the first response to all initial enquiries/expressions of concern received out-of-hours.

The service runs from 5pm until 8:30am, with the daytime team taking over from 8.30am onwards. There is a standby arrangement between the hours of 12:30pm and 8:30am, with one of the CEDT social workers on standby (for immediate risks to a child) the standby shift is worked from the social worker's home, and they are contactable on their mobile phone.

This arrangement is between the CEDT and lifeline. Lifeline will not pass the worker's mobile contact details to the caller, they will contact the social worker on standby for advice. The social worker will then make the decision if an intervention/additional information is needed that evening, or the situation can wait until the following morning when the children’s social work team or SAPH (Safeguarding and Partnership Hub) will follow-up with the person sharing the information the following day.

What happens when I contact the Children's Emergency Duty Team (CEDT)?

The CEDT calls are taken by the Lifeline call centre, your initial call will not be taken by a social worker, but a Lifeline operator. The Lifeline operators are not social workers and therefore will not be able to give advice, or make decisions. This is the role of the CEDT social worker. 

On contacting Lifeline by telephone the call taker will ask a number of questions to establish a full picture of the families’ current situation. This is to ensure that the social worker has all the relevant information to make an informed decision around risk of harm and impact on the child(ren) and if an intervention or further enquiries are needed that evening. 

It is not always possible for the CEDT Social Worker to speak with the person contacting out- of-hours, as other contacts may need to take priority. The Lifeline operator will not be able to confirm, when or if a social worker will call back the person sharing the information, as other children may need to take priority.

This is the decision of the CEDT social worker.

The Lifeline operator will ask the following questions to professionals, family and member of the public who share a worry or concern around a child.

The worker will need to know:

• the reason for your call
• your name and address
• your telephone number
• the details of the child you are worried about
• an outline of your worries and concerns around the child
• whether the family is accessing support from any other agency
• whether the child is receiving support from anybody in social care services.

If the Control Operator believes that an emergency service is required (Police, Ambulance or Fire Service) they are to advise the caller to ring this agency and then call us back (for example, an ongoing assault, an injury to a person, or a fire). Once the call taker has taken all the relevant information, the contact will be overseen by a social worker, who will decide if a response is needed that evening, or the following day. The call taker cannot confirm if the social worker will call you back, or offer advice around next steps.

You can refer to the East Riding Safeguarding Partnership web page for further information around support for children and young people under the Effective Support Windscreen in identifying the level of need in relation to families by visiting the following websites:

ERSCP (external council website) - How to report a concern (for professionals) 

ERSCP - Procedures and guidance (external council website)

What if the problem is not an emergency?

You can still contact children’s social care. We will be able to provide you with appropriate advice. All requests for Early Help should go through the Early Help Hubs:

Tel: (01482) 391700 

The Early Help Hubs are open office hours and our Early Help offer will be able to be discussed with you to signpost you to the right service, or offer you appropriate advice.

Professionals

If you are a professional and you are worried about a child, and the child is not at significant risk of immediate harm, you can contact the Support and Safeguarding Hub (SaPH) on (01482) 395500 between 9am and 5pm (Mon - Thur) and Fridays between 9am and 4pm. Choose 'Option 2' and you will be able to have a consultation with a social worker to discuss your worries. If the young person has an allocated social worker you should contact the responsible team directly.

All requests for Early Help should go through the Early Help Hubs:

Tel: (01482) 391700

The Early Help Hubs are open office hours and our Early Help offer will be able to be discussed with you to signpost you to the right service, or offer you appropriate advice.

Members of the public

If you are a member of the public and want advice around a child and you do not have immediate worries for their welfare, you can contact the Support and safeguarding Hub (SaPH) during office hours on (01482) 395500 - Choose 'Option 1' and a social worker will be able to talk through your worries with you and discuss the next steps. The SaPH is the front door to children’s social care.