Why is interagency working important in the context of safeguarding children?
To date whilst there has been a general consensus of opinion amongst professionals and policy makers in the field of safeguarding, that effective interagency/ multiagency approaches are needed to safely provide support and identify children at risk of harm. There has been a dearth of research available to evidence when good interagency work has taken place. However more recently audit and evaluation of multi agency safeguarding practices in 37 local authorities in England is beginning to show positive improvement in multi agency working along with improved outcomes for vulnerable children.(this will be discussed later within this essay).
There is however a plethora of evidence to demonstrate the tragic outcomes for children when interdisciplinary working is not effective. The Lord Laming Report (2003) of the Victoria Climbie inquiry identified the need for effective multiagency working arrangements to recognise and respond to abuse of children in England and Wales.
The report highlighted shortfalls in practice across 5 local authorities 2 local hospitals 3 GP practices and 2 police departments, where lack of effective multiagency and interagency working contributed to the ineffectual protection of 8
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The lack of a cohesive approach to safeguarding and apparent lack of individual and organisational responsibility to child welfare mean that this little girl slipped through the cracks and remained largely unnoticed by those who could have helped her. Whilst it is certain Victoria was not the only child suffering from abuse and neglect at the hands of those who should have cared for her. The public interest and media attention surrounding her plight helped to highlight the challenges and shortfalls within interagency safeguarding arrangements at this
“There is no greater problem in family law today than the problems of adequately addressing child protection concerns in proceedings under the Family Law Act.” (Family Law Council, 2009, p. 15). Over the past decade there has been two main reforms which are reducing the overall number of child abuse related reports in Australia (AIFS, 2014). One of these is improved intake and referral pathways into family support services for vulnerable and at-risk families (AIFS, 2014). The primary assumption supporting this contemporary reform regarding child protection agendas has been credited to families being able to access “the right services at the right time” (Adamson, Bromfield, Edwards, Gray, Hilferty, Katz, et al., 2010).
A child has a purpose in this world and that is not to be abused or to be miss treated by anyone. It should only take one person to help a child in need. We should all put our best foot forward to make sure they are taken care of. I think the system fails children because they don't have a voice. Contrary to popular belief they do.
Laws, 2014). This entire chapter on child protection laws does not mention how and if a child is to be protected from government agencies that fail to properly perform their functions. This leaves children vulnerable to the harms of being placed in unfit foster homes or under the supervision of under or unqualified adults. It also puts the child at risk of not getting the appropriate help in time to prevent a tragedy from occurring, which ultimately makes for a counterproductive
Australian Border Force Act defines an “entrusted person” as anyone working directly or indirectly for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, this is inclusive of doctors and nurses, teachers, psychologists, counsellors, security staff, patience workers or anyone who has signed a government contract (Comlaw.gov.au, 2015). In Australia these same professionals are legally obligated to alert authorities if they witness or believe a child is in danger of being abused (Child Family Community Australia, 2015), as of July 1 2015, the workers are continuously faced with ethical dilemmas as they have a ultimatum; not report child abuse or face jail time. Outline the nature and policy relevance of policy topic: The Australian Border
My purpose was to advocate on behalf of a child by informing all the professionals present of the child’s wishes and feelings, as well as offer my professional opinion to persuade them on the child’s best interests. From my input, the Child Protection Plan noted specific positive and risk factors that I raised, including arrangement for the child to safely socialise with friends to boost their self-esteem and resilience, and the mother to not have inappropriate conversations in earshot of the child. Although the latter point linked to the mother’s behaviour, she was in agreement because she acknowledged my concern as genuine due to us already having an established rapport. Multi-agency working has been consistent throughout my time on placement, either during professional meetings, like core groups which I have chaired, or on a daily basis via telephone or face-to-face. Whenever information has been shared between professionals it has been done appropriately and respectfully, on a need to know basis and with prior parental consent, unless this put the child at risk of harm.
Describe the actions to take if a child or young person alleges harm or abuse in line who policies and procedures of own setting. If a child alleges harm or abuse it is vital that the person that they tell are trained to deal with this effectively so that the child can be reassured that they have done the right thing and that the allegation can be acted upon. The school at which I work provides regular Safeguarding training to all staff which refers to policies such as Keeping Children Safe in Education, as well as providing practical advice to all staff in the event of a disclosure.
When working with children and young people, it is important that their safety and well-being is paramount. There are a number of guidelines, policies and procedures which cover the safeguarding of pupils, including; Working together to safeguard children (2013)- This policy sets out guidelines of 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. As well as laying out these guidelines, the document also provides a summary of: The nature of child abuse and neglect and the impact it may have on children and young people. How to operate the best practice in child protection procedure.
In P5 of my work I am going to outline and discuss the strategies and procedures used in health and social care to reduce the risk of abuse. The aim of the independent safeguarding Authority (ISA) was established under the Safeguarding Groups Act 2006 to protect children and vulnerable adult to those who might abuse them. The strategy in order to achieve this is through mentoring people who seek access through their work, paid, unpaid and voluntary. As they have to be registered under the vetting and barring scheme and will be checked against one of two barred list. Reference can be defined as being information that is written by a pervious employer that tells the workplace what type of person the individual is and if their experience is valid and if they have the experience to work with vulnerable adult.
The Department for Education has responsibilities for child protection in England. It sets out policy, legislation and statutory guidance on how the child protection system should work. There is a framework to follow which enables professionals to identify children who are at risk of
The universal importance of the relationship between children and their primary care givers is a concept that most of society can relate to irrespective of whether they understand the ‘theory of attachment’ that underpin it. Therefore, framing the discussion of the broader treatment of asylum seekers in the context of treatment of Children and the negative consequences of detention and separation can generate a more compassionate understanding even from those who seek to promote a generally hard-line approach to asylum seekers. There has been significant media attention on the topic which is likely to have influenced the Turnbull governments policy in targeting the end to detaining refugee Children in Australia, although they continue to fund the detention of a number of children in offshore detention centres. (Hasham
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010 This is a guide to how organisations must work with other services and individually to fulfil their duties to safeguard children and promote their welfare. Children Act 2004 After the death of 8-year-old Victoria Climbie at the hands of her carers, an independent inquiry led to Every Child Matters policy which led to the Children Act 2004. This act includes: • A duty for key agencies to safeguard children. • The local authority to set up a Local Safeguarding Children’s
Partnership working means that, all agencies and professionals work together to safeguard children. Each professional or agency will have a different role to play but each of them is all as important. Good communication between them all is vital and failing to do so could mean that a child who is suffering will be left unnoticed. Police, health visitors, GP, hospitals, child minders, nursery, school, after school clubs, leisure clubs, social workers, family, friends, neighbours and the local community are all responsible for safeguarding children before it reaches crisis point Question: Question 9 Answer: Children 's Social Care When a child has been harmed or abused the head teacher will be the first person to deal with it, she then has a
In this essay I will be considering how innovations in theory, policy and research have influenced the development of coordination, partnership and integration in childhood practice in my childcare setting in Scotland. I will analyse the development of policies concerning children and young people in relation to my setting and the professional groups involved within my setting. This will include the introduction of building the ambition and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, which from 2016 will enforce the need for the named person to take any concerns seriously and report as required. It will also increase provision to 600 hours which in turn will help to safeguard vulnerable two year olds by placing them into early year’s
The research paper also helps to understand the different types of multi-agency and their activities in the process of operation. The mechanism of the multi-agency is mainly oriented with the three segments; they are multi-agency working, improving the services and positive outcomes for the children and related group. The perspectives and working style may be different for different multi-agency, however the core objective of the agency are centred on these three elements (Cheminais, 2009). The difference in the working is mainly due to the difference in the
This report will discuss the evidence given in Serious Case Review of Hamzah Khan, who died in 2009 in Bradford, after being starved and neglected for months by his Mother Amanda Hutton. It will highlight main failures and issues associated with safeguarding, recognizing the complexity of multiagency working, along with identification of challenges and barriers in everyday practice with children and families. It will also analyse the key recommendations from the review, making reference to safeguarding policies and procedures within Setting X, as well as developing a constructive critique of the issues that were raised. The report will make brief links to previous significant cases, underlining their influence on policy and legislation framework