There are many different agencies which are involved in the safeguarding of children and young people. It is vital that they work together in partnership to ensure the child’s safety and welfare. There may be a case where more than one agencies opinion and input is needed, so it is best to consider all agencies when discussing any issues. There are times when a meeting may be arranged, where there is a someone from each agency to discuss what action to take that is best for the child. The sooner a meeting is arranged and takes place, and action is taken, the less danger the child will be
If the local authority establishes that the child is a child in need or at risk of harm, it has a duty under section 47 of the Children Act (1989) to make a care plan or child protection plan to provide support which involves adequate supervision and checks to ensure that the child is no longer at risk. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) promotes empowerment for children as they can exercise their right to express their views and be heard and their best interest would be at the centre of the intervention and social workers need to ensure that decisions made are not affected by the influence from family or professionals they work with (Lee & Hudson,
Wilson, K. and Adrian J. L. (2007) The Child Protection Handbook: The Practitioner's Guide to Safeguarding Children. Edinburgh: Bailliere Tindall
After the fear of terrorism grew in the United States do to the Al Qaeda 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the US Government found a need for a centralized department that umbrellas all other agencies when it comes to homeland security. The U.S. Government found this umbrella agency with the passage of the Homeland Security Act by Congress in November 2002, the Department of Homeland Security formally came into being as a stand-alone, Cabinet-level department to further coordinate and unify national homeland security efforts. (Homeland Security) With the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the government had a pinpoint location for the collection and gathering of intelligence, control of policies that effect national security, and a no fail mission. The Department of Homeland Security started to engulf other agencies and created many more, a total of 22 agencies now fall under the DHS. The DHS is control of all areas that deal with national security which included but are not limited to coastal and boarder protection, domestic terrorism, international terrorism, protection of the American people, protection of key infrastructure, protection of key resources and respond to natural disasters.
The tragic story of Veronica Climbie is an unfortunate example that highlights the impact that not only unprofessional practice but what miscommunication amongst disciplines can have on the life of a client, in this case, a young and innocent little girl. The Veronica Climbie Inquiry (lord lamming, 2003) was established after the tragic and preventable death of a young abuse victim in the UK caused an understandable amount of outrage and consequent reassessment of the functioning and protocol of many multi-disciplinary domains related to her untimely death. In the report, Lamming makes numerous recommendations to improve the child protection sector and prevent unnecessary deaths like Veronicas from happening again, one of these such recommendations is the need to enhance communication between the many disciplines involved with the complex issue of child abuse and protection, and the need for agencies to take accountability of their workers, their decisions and their actions within this context. It is unfortunate that the death of an innocent child had to be the catalyst for positive change and development within multi-disciplinary practice, nonetheless , we can see that a push in policy to create a greater structure for accountability and communication in complex social issues that require interprofessional collaboration can help us overcome these negligent and potentially detrimental barriers of
This assignment looks at the importance of safeguarding and how practitioners and agencies should be involved to help prevent any risks when dealing with a vulnerable adult. The case study is about a 22 year old vulnerable adult called Andrew who has been diagnosed with autism. According to (Autism.org.uk, 2017) Autism is a complex developmental disability that usually affects children during early childhood. It is a condition that can affect communication, behavior, social interactions and how people experience and interact in the general word around them.
...children, young people and their families can be both complex and difficult. Social work practice is one of the most challenging as it involves work with a diverse range of both professionals and service users. However, there is more that one single reason for this. As all professionals, agencies and parents continue to work together in various different cases, a variety of skills are required including: communication, preparation, intervention skills, assessment of significant harm, research of current legislation and decision making skills, all of which contribute to the complexities and difficulties of social work. It could be argued that these difficulties are highlighted most in many public cases of child abuse; moreover these cases can be seen to be changing social work practice, affecting the difficulties and complexities of working within this profession.
The use of the Children Act 2004 in day-to-day work with children and young people allows multi-disciplinary teams to shared information, which is used to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people known to one or more agencies. The interests of the child are paramount. In the setting, a specifically trained member of staff will be appointed to supervise safeguarding and child protection.
Department of Children and Youth Affairs. (1999). Children First-National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children. Available:http://www.dcya.gov.ie/documents/publications/Children_First_A4.pdf. Last accessed 23/01/14.
The main points of the children’s act 1989 are parental responsibility and the welfare of the child. Children are best cared for within their own families. The act states that the mental and physical wellbeing of the child is important. Professionals and parents/carers must work together to ensure the safety of the child. Local authorities have a duty to look into situations where they suspect a child or young person to be suffering from significant harm. Duties get allocated to local authorities, and other agencies to ensure that all children are safeguarded. The children’s act 2004 reinforces that all organisations that work with children and young people must help to safeguard
Walker, G. (2008). Working together for children: a critical introduction to multi-agency working. London, United Kingdom: Continuum.
Child protection is a part of society. Studying Child protection is relevant to Social workers because it guides the worker to make full concise and correct judgement when protecting children from violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect. UNICEF (2008) defines the child protection system as; a set of laws, policies, regulations and services needed across all social sectors, especially welfare, education, health, security and justice, to support prevention and respond to protection related risks. The relevant study on children and young people, who have been a victim of child abuse and neglect, provides the appropriate authorities to make decisions for the child/ren and/or young people to improve their welfare and wellbeing. Such effects on children can cause social and emotional issues, as they become adults, for example; Social isolation, unemployment, poor health, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of education and inequality. Miller-Perrin & Perrin (2007) argues the consequences of experiencing child abuse and neglect to be varying on each person. For some adults the effects are chronic and debilitating, and others have less of adverse outcomes, despite their
Parton, N., Thorpe, D. and Wattam, C. (1997) Child Protection Risk and Moral Order, London: Macmillan
ii. A clear framework for local safeguarding boards for monitoring local services effectiveness. iii. Guidance aims to help professionals understand what they need to do and what they can expect of one another in order to safeguard/keep children
The children who need the most attention and help seem to be the most vulnerable targets. Children with active authority figur...
LSCB, (2013), SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND VULNERABLE ADULTS POLICY, (www.safechildren-cios.co.uk), [Assessed 1 November 2013].