The Child Protection System Keeps Vulnerable Children Safe

The definition of child protection is the process of protecting individual children identified as either suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm because of abuse or neglect. The term child protection is increasingly being replaced by ‘safeguarding’. Safeguarding has been described as; ‘a broader definition of the range of ways in which adults and professionals working with children need to act when dealing with child protection issues’(Ref: www.education.gov.uk/) Safeguarding refers to the prevention of harm to children and child protection is used more when dealing with policies and procedures following an event of suspected harm.

1.1 Outline current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within own UK home Nation affecting the safeguarding of children and young people

Safeguarding children and young people is important as it extends beyond child protection and it includes more wide-ranging concepts. Safeguarding children and young people means we are protecting them from all sorts of harm such as accidents, deliberate abuse, neglect and even factors such as bullying, prejudiced attitudes and failure on allowing children to participate in different activities etc. The wider concepts of safeguarding means that we are protecting children from maltreatment, we are preventing impairment of children 's health or development, we are ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care and also taking action in order to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes. Child protection is also an important part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. 'Staying safe action plan 2008 ' highlighted a number of areas that were of concern:

Allocates duties to local authorities, courts, parents and other agencies in the UK to ensure children are safeguarded and their welfare is promoted. It focuses on the idea that children are best cared for by their own families, however it also makes provisions for parents and families who do not cooperate with the professional bodies.

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:

The aim of this act is to simplify the laws that are already in place, which protect children and young people in the UK. It was seen as a “serious shake up” of children’s rights and protection, and also made it clear what the duties are for all who work with children and young people and how they should work as a team in the event of a child abuse allegation.

The current child protection system is based on the Children Act 1989, which was introduced in an effort to reform and clarify the existing laws affecting children. The Children Act 1989 gave every child the right to protection from abuse and exploitation and the right to inquiries to safeguard their welfare. Its central tenet was that children are usually best looked after within their family. The act came into force in England and Wales in 1991 and - with some differences - in Northern Ireland in 1996. The key principle

The main points of legislation that support the safeguarding of children are the Children Act 1989, Children Act 2004 and the Childcare Act 2006. The Children Act in 1989 set out principles to guide the work of local authorities and courts and also defined ‘significant harm’ and a child ‘in need’ of intervention. The Children Act 2004 provides the legal basis for children’s services set out in the Every Child Matters: Change for Children document.

All children and young people have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, disability, culture, language, race, faith, belief or sexual orientation. All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately. Working in partnership with other organisations, children and young people and their parents and carers is essential. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined has protection of children from maltreatment & preventing impairment of childrenâ€TMs health or development. Ensuring those children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and undertaking that role so as to enable those children to have

basis for the Independent Safeguarding Authority who managed the two lists of people barred from

The current legislation is the result of the children’s Act 1989, which is used to ensure that all people who work with children are working together and are clear about their responsibilities and know how to act if allegations of child abuse are made. The children’s act 2004 is a legal framework for “Every Child Matters” and is a direct result of the Laming Report following the death of the Victoria Climbie case in the year 2000. Hereafter an independent inquiry highlighted so many problems with how the reports of neglect and child abuse was dealt with and that vulnerable people in society were not being properly safeguarded. The main points of the 2004 Children’s Act were that every local authority has a director of children’s services who is ultimately responsible for ensuring that children are safeguarded.

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 focus of this report is to demonstrate how multi-agency teams show best practices in safeguarding children’s rights. This report will look at the history of safeguarding and how safeguarding incidents have changed government legislation. This report will include how safeguarding policy contributes to the development of children in the Early Years and will reflect on how the multi-agency team promotes best practice. In addition this report will look at the meaning of safeguarding, looking at the signs/symptoms and types of abuse. Research into this report will look at the barriers multi-agency teams and practitioners are faced with

Although the local authority takes the lead on safeguarding children and young people, and have an all-encompassing responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people in their local area, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility when coming into contact with children and young people. All local agencies, including the police, health service and schools, have clearly defined roles and responsibilities under the Children Act 2004. They must not only promote the well-being of children but ensure that they safeguard children whilst carrying out their day-to-day functions. They must cooperate with local authorities in doing this

Safeguarding is the term that has replaced the term Child Protection. It includes promoting children’s safety and welfare as well as protecting children when abuse happens. It has only been developed in the past 50 years, and the need for improved legislation has been highlighted by cases such as Maria Colwell (1973) and Victoria Climbie (2000) as these cases showed weaknesses in procedures.