Understand the Main Legislation for Safeguarding Children

Unit 333 – Understand how to safeguard the wellbeing of children and young people. Outcome 1 – Understand the main legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding children and young people. The safe guarding of children has only been developed in the last 50 years. However it is a vital part of working with children. The legislations, guidelines and policies for safeguarding are updated all the time for the best interest of the children.

The current legislations are as follows; * The Children Act 1989 – this act shows the responsibilities of parents and professionals when ensuring children’s safety. There are two important sections which focus on child protection. Section 47 – the local authority has a duty to investigate when they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child in their area is suffering significant harm. Section 17 – services must be put in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the area who are in need.

The main aims of this act where to achieve a balance between protecting children and the rights of parent to challenge state intervention, encourage partnership between statutory authorities and parents, restructure the framework of the courts in particular with regards to family proceedings and finally redefining the concept of parental responsibility. * Every Child Matters are the guidelines which lead to the Children Act 2004.

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The main points of the act are, there should be a much closer relationship between agencies such as health professionals, schools and welfare services, there should be a shared data base of information which if relevant to the safety and welfare of children, Earlier support for parent experiencing problems, Ofsted to set a frame work that will monitor children’s services. This became a legal requirement and Local safeguarding children boards (LSCB) were formed to carry out these different things. Education Act 2002 – Sets out the responsibilities of local education authorities, governing bodies, head teachers and all those working in schools to ensure children are safe and free from harm. * The United Nation Convention on the rights of the Child 1989 (UNCRC) – Protects the rights of children, setting out the guidelines for what a child is entitled to regardless of their background treat every child as equal and respecting their human rights.

Things such as, a right to education and health care, the right to grow up in a loving happy and understanding environment, the right to develop personalities abilities and potential to the best of their abilities and the right to special protection measures or assistance. The UK signed this legislation in 1990 and ratified it in 1991. * The Common assessment framework (CAF) aims to determine whether a child has additional needs at a young age and support this to make sure their needs are met. The department of education provides guidance for the local authorities including schools in two different policies which are, working together to safeguard children 2010 (sets out the duties of organisations and how they must work together to safeguard children) and what to do if you’re worried a child is being abuse 2006 (looks at the actions all adults should take if they are concerned about child). There are many guidelines, policies and procedures that affect our day to day work when safeguarding children.

As we follow all these policies and procedures it affects they way in which we work with children for example the child protection policy, this makes it our responsibility to record and report if there is a child that raises concerns of suspected abuse. The school will also have to check that and concerns are investigated and followed up and also that if any photos are taken of the children that parents have given permission for this. Another procedure would be the risk assessments that are carried out daily.

This is part of the daily routine but when looked at from a different perspective it is another procedure that is set out to safeguard children. It is put in place to make sure that the children are safe and free from harm whilst in the setting and any concerns about safety are reported and sorted before the children are allowed to either play with that equipment or go in the area to ensure they are safe. Making sure that a situation that could potentially cause harm is safe and fine to use.

Ensuring the voice of a child is heard, all agencies involved in the safeguarding of children will ensure that the voice of the child is heard particularly in times of distress or trauma as then the support they need can be given. The LSCB are set up by the local authority to make sure that all children are being looked after and the safeguarding and wellbeing of children is being followed. Also if a school has a concern about a child the LSCB will make sure outside agencies work together for the best interest of the child.

The Childcare practice is an important policy that all childcare or schools will have to follow that is from nannies all the way through to schools. All professionals working with children will have to ensure that they have a criminal record bureau (CRB) before starting work. Each organisation will also have to show that they are following the correct safeguarding policies and procedure when dealing with situations and also when reporting them.

All of these guidelines are use not only locally but nationally to ensure that all the children are safe and their well-being is top priority on a day-to-day basis. When report a safeguarding issue it is vital that the guidelines are followed and followed correctly. Child protection is the term used when referring to the policies and procedures put in place to protect children and young people against suspicion or harm or abuse.

Safeguarding has widely started to replace the term child protection when in the context of adults working with children and managing the issues relating to child protection, this is because it has a wider definition of the ways that adults will react to these issues. This has been design to prevent the risks of harm rather than react to them. The LSCB regulations of 2006 states that serious case reviews (SCRs) will be required in situations where a child dies due to known or suspected abuse or neglect. It may be the case if a child has suffered serious or even life threatening injuries.

The purpose of a SCR is for agencies to discuss and determine what lessons have been learned from the situation and how the professionals need to work in the future. Then a report for the public will be composed so recommendations are known. The data protection act 1998 sets out the way that a school keeps and store information. Under this act the information gathered for safeguarding and children protection should only be used for this reason and if the pupil concerned or their parents wish to see this information they have a right to access it.

There are a few exceptions to this rule such as, * Information which may cause serious harm or risk of abuse to health of the pupil. * Information given to a court or in adoption or parental order records * Copies of examination scripts or marks prior to their release * Unstructured personal information, or information which is held manually and not in school records. They are also entitled to their own educational records as well.

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