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Comparative child protection: Seeing ourselves as others see us

Comparative child protection: Seeing ourselves as others see us. Patrick Ayre Department of Applied Social Studies University of Luton Park Square, Luton email: pga@patrickayre.co.uk web: http://patrickayre.co.uk. THE LAW: MESSAGES FROM THE CHILDREN ACT 1989.

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Comparative child protection: Seeing ourselves as others see us

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  1. Comparative child protection:Seeing ourselves as others see us Patrick Ayre Department of Applied Social Studies University of Luton Park Square, Luton email: pga@patrickayre.co.uk web: http://patrickayre.co.uk

  2. THE LAW: MESSAGES FROM THE CHILDREN ACT 1989 • The welfare of the child is the paramount consideration. • Wherever possible, children should be brought up and cared for within their own families; local authorities cannot acquire parental responsibility without a court order. • Children should be safe and protected by intervention if they are in danger; such intervention must be open to challenge. • Children should be consulted and kept informed about what happens to them, and participate in the decisions made about them • Local authority has a duty under s47 to investigate where it seems a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm

  3. THE LAW: MESSAGES FROM THE CHILDREN ACT 1989 Help for parents with children " in need" should be offered as a service to the child and the family, and should: • be provided in partnership with the parents • meet each child's identified needs • be appropriate in terms of the child's race, culture, religion and linguistic background • be open to effective, independent representations and complaints procedures • draw upon effective collaboration between agencies, including those in the voluntary sector

  4. WORKING TOGETHER Child protection work in Britain characterised by • emphasis on inter-agency co-operation • fairly complex structural arrangements to facilitate it Pattern influenced by : • public enquiries • centralised pattern of provision of key services

  5. MAJOR FEATURES OF THE SYSTEM • Child protection belongs to everyone • Emphasis on collaboration : • Informal consultation and discussion • Investigation planning • Case conferences • Core group working • Local Safeguarding Children Board and its sub-groups • ease of working together is also fostered by joint training.

  6. Inter-agency Work and Risk Problems arise from • Closed professional systems • Polarisation • Exaggeration of hierarchy • Role confusion

  7. Inter-agency Work and Risk Interagency system is unable to deal effectively with: •  agencies not fully integrated into centralised system •  dysfunctional inter-agency relationships •  shortage of resources •  individual ignorance and error

  8. Information handling problems • Inadequate knowledge • Picking out the important from a mass of data • Interpretation • Distinguishing fact/opinion • Too trusting/insufficiently critical • Mistrusted source

  9. Information handling problems • Decoyed by another problem • False certainty; undue faith in a ‘known fact’ • Competing tasks in one visit/worker • Scattered information • Discarding information which does not fit • First impressions/assumptions

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