“This approach focuses on the question, “How can the worker actually build partnerships with parents and children in situations of suspected or substantiated child abuse and still deal rigorously with the maltreatment issues?” This is a partnership and collaboration grounded, strengths-based, safety-organized approach to child protection work” ("Viv Hogg - Signs of
To identify multi agency success where there are concerns with regards to safeguarding issues. Within childcare practice we must be aware that we have a clear and defined role in relation to child protection. Professionals working with children/young people i.e. teaching assistants, volunteers, outside agencies are CRB checked (criminal records bureau). Adults working with children should also be fully trained in safeguarding children by a nominated safeguarding adviser and have the opportunity to receive training in order to develop their understanding of the signs and indicators of abuse or neglect, this training is offered every 3 years. In order for child protection to work effectively we must ensure we have good inter relationships with other agencies and good
Child care professionals have a moral and legal obligation to ensure that care environment created for children is safe and free from harm. In the case of suspected abuse of a child you will need to provide evidence to support your claim so you will need to gather observations on the child's behaviour at different times throughout the day, record and provide detailed conversations you have had with the child on possible abuse claims. I would also take photos of any signs of physical abuse and provide details on the family background/situation if known, this will ensure that when making a claim I have the necessary facts to support the case. Developing a child protection policy aids in identifying a uniform code of conduct for all stakeholders,
Partnership working in the context of safeguarding: the importance of the role of all parties in child protection; multi- agencies involvement in safeguarding; essential nature of communication to ensure the safety and protection of children; prompt action to ensure early intervention; prevention of children/young people not receiving protection; lessons learned from high profile cases; shared competencies; the Integrated Workforce Agenda
Working together to safeguard children 2006 sets out how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the Children’s Act 1989 and the Children’s Act 2004. It is important that all practitioners within settings and environments looking and caring after children and young people must know their responsibilities and duties in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people, following their legislations, policies and procedures.
It is important to work in partnership with other organisations to safeguard children/young people in order to share relevant information to take appropriate actions to both safeguard and protect. A wide range of professionals and organisations share the responsibility to safeguard and protect children/young people.
In addition adults which working with children have an big impact on keeping children and young people safe within the setting, policies and procedures are very important an all staff that are working with children should have been informed and learned this is important because the workers must know what they have to do, what’s expected when they are working with children. Furthermore the policies in the setting will state what is expected as well as approved of the workers; they explain what the organisation does and how it should be carried out so that the child or young adult can be safe from abuse.
Children are protected better when professionals who are supporting them know what the child needs and how they can work together to achieve this. Partnership working involves each professional identifying their own concerns, then sharing this with other professionals and finally taking prompt action if it is required. In order for this method to be effective, professionals need to be able to work together efficiently. In order to carry out sufficient safeguarding measures, it is beneficial to build a complete †̃pictureâ€TM of the child.
In recent times safeguarding of children has once again come under spotlight with cases such as Madline McKan and the horrific murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells. Prior to this the Children’s act of 1984 and updated 2004 version highlighted that all professionals have an obligation to report suspected abuse. There was a public inquiry in 2000 to address the failure of the law which was not upholding the protection of vulnerable children. There was changes to the legislation and the government set up The Every Child Maters (ECM) initiative. This works in line with current legislation Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 Act. This Act authorised guidance on how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. All organisations must have the succeeding policies and procedures:
As can be seen there are many different organisations involved when there is any suspicion that a child may have been abused or actually harmed.
Safeguarding children is paramount to promoting the welfare of children and protect them from harm, everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play, protecting children from maltreatment; Preventing impairment of children's health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes. Eventually, effective safeguarding of the children can only be achieved through putting children at the centre of the system, and playing their full part i.e. every individual and agency playing their full part, working together to meet the requirements and needs of our most vulnerable children.
The responsibility of middle management within the Child Abuse Investigation team is enabling the organisation to achieve its goal in the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, protecting children from abuse and neglect, preventing impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care which is undertaken so as to enable children to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully. Child protection is a part of safeguarding and promoting
Child protection systems are services run by individual governments designed to protect children and to encourage stability within families (Bartollas, 2008). The emphasis of a family setup is consistent with many protection systems as they provide the best environment for development. For this reason, courts make judgements to allow abused children to return to their families where such abuse can be eradicated or prevented. It is not common for courts to allow children to remain with the family where serious cases of abuse are evident (Bartollas,
As there are a number of different agencies which may be involved when working in the context of safeguarding, it is important that they communicate and work in partnership to ensure the safety and protection of children. Each area of expertise may need to have an input in any one case and each should be considered when discussing issues around safeguarding. A working party or ‘team around the child’ meeting may be called involving a number of agencies in order to discuss how to move forward in the best interests of the child. Different organisations involved in safeguarding are: social services, the NSPCC, health visitors, GPs, the probation service, the police, schools, the psychology service. When it comes to safeguarding, children are best protected when professionals know what is required of them and how they work together. This means that everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe which involves identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action. To carry this out effectively professionals need to work in partnership with each other.
Working together to Safeguard Children (2010) sets out how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. Working Together is addressed to practitioners and frontline managers who have particular responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and to senior and operational managers in:
So it is important for social workers to avoid assumption and a discriminatory practice. There are many theories can provide an exploration to child abuse like the psychodynamic or socio-biological or a families disfunctioning theories, but sometimes their maybe multiple reasons and theories to child abuse. A social worker may identify the risk factors causing abuse and keep in mind that some families are more vulnerable than others. Depending on agencies that are dealing with the family, different personal will attend a child protection conference (social workers, police, parents/carers, nurses, teachers, housing welfare, etc). It is down to the local authority to do their investigation into suspected child abuse, under confidentiality, and cooperate with different agencies to prevent this issue. Guide and procedures should be adapted in individual cases, they are produced by the area child protection committee (ACPC) through a handbook that is distributed to a social worker and professionals who engage in child protection; the ACPC role is to asses co-working issues, identify agencies training needs, that establish a strong links between agencies, promote a good practice and review the information regarding the operation of child protection register and publish an annual report.