How to Safeguard the Well-Being of Children?

Every child or young person has the undeniable right to grow and develop in a safe environment that safeguards them from abuse and maltreatment, to enable them to have the best available life chances to develop into young adults. There is no single piece of legislation for safeguarding children in the UK but lots of laws and guidelines which are changing all the time with new legislation.

This is passed by Westminster, the Welsh Assembly Government, Northern Ireland Assembly and the Scottish Parliament this is Statutory Law. The way courts interpret laws is known as Case Law which can have an effect on changing Statutory Law. Child Protection legislation is in 2 categories Civil law and Criminal law.

Civil Law is in 2 areas Public Law which puts systems and processes to reduce the risk of children coming to harm and says what action should happen if they are at risk. Private Law sorts out family contact and divorce.

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Criminal Law deals with people who have offended or are at risk of offending against children. The Children and young Persons Act 1933 is the oldest piece of legislation with only parts of it still in force today, it gives a list of offences against children known as Schedule One Offences. These include sexual assault, different forms of abuse and maltreatment ranging from murder to neglect. Anyone found guilty of one or more of these offences becomes a Schedule One Offender regardless of their age or sentence and this status will stay with them for life.

They will be monitored by the local authorities who keep a record of where they live and who with, they need to go to the police station to sign a register on very regular bases to prove that they are and still living where logged Sex offenders Act 1997. Children Act 1989 is the bases of the current child protection system.

It has a number of principles. The Paramountcy Principle that means a child’s welfare is paramount when making decisions about their upbringing, a court needs to know the child’s feelings and what they want and only make an order if it’s better for the hild than not making one, where possible retaining family links and the child’s home.

Parental Responsibility was introduced which is “the rights, responsibilities and duties by law a parent of a child has regarding the child and their property”. It also states the local authority has a duty to investigate and protect if they have reasonable cause to think a child is suffering or likely to suffer any sort of harm. Likewise has a duty to provide “services for children in need and their families”.

England and Wales have a separate document working together to Safe guard Children 2006 which emphasises the responsibilities of Professionals towards children at risk and to work together with other agency’s/authorities. The Welsh Assembly Government 2006 working together under the Children Act 2004, The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 all share the same principles but have their own guidance, as Children Act 1989.

The death of Victoria Climbie by her carers, led to an inquiry into how she and others over the years died, the Lambing Report made by Lord Laming criticised the approach to protecting children in society thus led to  Every Child Matters Green Paper which in turn led to the Children Act 2004 as services for children were still not working together to protect and identify vulnerable children. This brought in children’s directors who have the responsibility for education, Local authority and children’s social services. Lead Councillors who have political responsibility for child welfare.

A Common Assessment Framework to help notice welfare needs for agencies.  Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards who have statuary powers to make sure all services (education, police, NHS Social Services youth justice system) work together promoting the wellbeing and make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and investigate all child deaths in their area. Bichard Inquiry where a caretaker who was known to be a danger to children by one police authority, who’s vetting CRB check didn’t flag this up by another authority.

This brought in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 which made a centralized vetting and barring scheme for people working with children. Working with Northern Irelands safeguarding vulnerable groups (NI) order 2007 and Scotland’s protection of vulnerable groups (Scotland) Act 2007 makes a robust system for vetting staff and barring people who are unsuitable to work with children across the whole of the UK. The Children Act 2004 made it illegal to hit a child if it causes mental harm or a lasting mark on the skin.

Sexual Offences Act 2003 updated the legislation relating to offences against children to include grooming, abuse of a position of trust, child trafficking; this also covers offences committed whilst abroad by a UK citizen. Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 made it a criminal offence for Uk nationals or permanent UK residents to take or help take a girl abroad to carry out genital mutilation. The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 says people who commit child sex offences abroad, even if it’s not illegal in the country they committed it will still face prosecution in the UK.

Data Protection Act Organisations holding personal data to keep it secure, use it only when needed and accurate and kept up to date. Child protection with in a wider concept of safeguarding All agencies, services and authorities not only have a duty to safeguarding children from neglect or abuse but to have a Staying Safe Action Plan enabling every child to enjoy safe environment wherever they spend their time. It’s vital that carers/staff have a good understanding of the risks to children’s safety.

By having an up to date Safety representative making risk assessments on the venue and activities under taken, keeping them safe from accidents and promoting their welfare in a safe and healthy environment. An action Plan to safeguard from bulling, crime and in some beliefs forced marriages need to be in place. This affects the day to day child care working place by; All employees’ to be CRB checked and a duty to inform the Safeguarding Authorities if any staff or volunteer poses a threat to the children.

Staff must sign a confidentiality agreement, stating not to discuss or post any details of the children by word or internet to anyone except staff or local authorities if needed. Health and Safety with risk assessment made on the venue and activities taking place there. Have all windows and doors locked/secure so the children can’t get out and strangers can’t get in. Visitors to the venue can only be allowed in, if they are known/expected to staff and/or identification is shown. Visitors need to be signed in the visitor’s book and signed out again when they leave the building.

Have a policy for the protection of children and arrangements to liaise with local safeguarding authorities Log all comments or incidents you observe and deem to be potentially harmful to establish a file, and contacting Social Services or Child Protection if a case is proving likely. Staff to be Qualified and appropriate training kept up to date i. e. First Aid, Health and Safety, Food Hygiene and Child Protection. All outings to be risked assessed, children to wear high visible jackets, the correct ratio of staff to children and a list of all children with contact details of their carer and consent for them to go on the outing.

To hold all parent contact details and medical needs of all children. To have a senior adequately trained member of staff to undertake all of the above. Inquiries and Serious Case Reviews processes are required when a child dies and neglect or abuse is suspected or known to be a factor of the death and they are called in by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) they involve all local Authority Children’s Services, Police, Health, School or any other agency felt needed. All involved services make a management review of its practices to see if any changes need to be made.

An independent overview report is done which looks at the management reports and they make recommendations, they are commissioned by the LSCB. Ofsted are notified by the Local Authorities of all cases that lead to a Serious Case Review whether it a death or suffered harm as a result of abuse/neglect or there are concern/media coverage raised about a professional practice. The process used by my work setting regarding data information, information handling and sharing is they hold information on children in order to support their development, progress and provide pastoral care and to assess how we are doing as a whole.

Education initiatives and policy and Qualification and curriculum Authority use information about children to administer national assessments such as the Foundation Stage Profile. At 5yrs assessment are made on all children and passed onto Local Authority. We hold information including, contact details, progress reports, relevant medical information, attendance and accident/injury records and records of observation and assessment of children’s achievement and development.

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