The starting point for anyone who cares for, looks after or works in anyway with children is to give priority to safeguarding them. How might the interventions explored in Topic 15 Safeguarding Children enable Social Workers to safeguard ch

The starting point for anyone who cares for, looks after or works in anyway with children is to give priority to safeguarding them. How might the interventions explored in Topic 15 “Safeguarding Children” enable Social Workers to safeguard children more effectively?

Within this assignment I am going to consider different types of interventions used to safeguard children. I will outline changes that have taken place in practice and legislation which has brought about a greater emphasis on safeguarding rather than child protection. I will also consider the changes brought about from Every Child Matters and the Children’s Act 2004. I will consider the Ecological Perspective and draw on ideas from the course reader.

I will then consider four different types of interventions explored in Topic 15, “Promotive Intervention,” “Preventive Intervention,” “Proactive Intervention” and “Remedial Intervention” and explain how each of these kinds and levels of intervention relate to practice today and enable Social workers to safeguard children effectively.

For several decades protecting children from harm in the UK has been a central issue for Social Work and governments. Many high profile cases have brought about changes in law and legislation which have moved away from standard ideas about child protection and are working towards a system where children are safeguarded and early intervention means the risks are reduced and children’s long-term outcomes improved. In the 60’s and 70’s social workers worked on the basis of child protection, often if abuse was suspected children were removed from their families and very little was done in the way of intervention and Social Workers were very re-active. After studies and research was conducted in came to light that many cases of suspected child abuse the parents and other household members were having to cope with problems like mental illness, alcohol addictions, drug addiction, and domestic violence (Topic 15, pg. 15). It was highlighted that very little was being done to support these families and to address their problems, also because families were afraid of loosing their children they would often attempt to cover up and play down problems. These findings meant that there was a move away from the idea of child abuse and move towards safeguarding children, seen as the ecological perspective.

The ecological perspective is when the idea that the child’s family and the environments in which they live influence one another in a constant process of reciprocal interaction (Foley, 2001, Chapter 20). Within this model child abuse is seen to be caused mainly to environmental factors, rather than just the actions of individuals. In other words, a child who grows up with parents who are alcoholics, lives in a poor run down area which is deprived and have low income a child is more likely to suffer from some kind of abuse or neglect. Rather the environment in which the child lives in a catalyst in safeguarding the child, if it is a poor environment the child is not well safeguarded, however if it is a positive environment the child is better safeguarded against abuse. The move from “child protection” to “safeguarding” came about due the obvious ineffectiveness of the services, which were costly, and provided families with very little support. In the 1980’s and 1990’s new childcare

legislation was introduced to the UK, it had two main goals. The first was to radically improve the way that the child welfare system dealt with concerns about children’s safety and wellbeing and the second was to make the law more child centred by focusing on children’s welfare and seeing children themselves as important authorities on their own needs (Topic 15, pg. 16). The children act 1989 put very specific duties on social services departments to:

Safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in need.
Promote the upbringing of children by their families, where this ...

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Safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in need.
Promote the upbringing of children by their families, where this is consistent with the child’s safety and welfare
Make enquiries if they have any reason to suspect that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer, significant harm and to decide whether action is needed to safeguard and protect the child. (Topic 15, pg. 17)

There was also great emphasis on agencies working together to better protect children and encouragement to work in a multi agency way when dealing with families and children. A new framework assessment for assessing children in need and their families was introduced in 1998 and it’s main focus was to improve outcomes for children in need. A critical task is to ascertain with a family whether a child is in need and how that child and family can be best helped (caf). The assessment uses a framework which provides a way of analysing and understanding what is happening to children and young people, and whether they are at risk of harm, it considers the child families and the wider community in which they live as well. The frame work assessment meant that social worker’s are encouraged to look at the wider picture. The framework is often seen as a triangle, with the child in the centre. It has three main headings, the “child’s developmental needs,” which includes things like, Education and Family and Social relationships. “Parenting Capacity,” which includes stability and ensuring safety and the final heading is Family Environmental Factors, which includes income, community resources, housing, and social integration. By moving to this kind of frame work it was hoped that the true reason for children being abused would be clearer so more could be done to safeguard children and actively protect them from harm.

The emphasis quickly moved to a much more support based children’s services than just abuse investigation. Family services and support grew and more and more family centre’s and community resources to assist families who were at risk or in need were set up. Launched in 1998, Surestart was an integral part of the cornerstone of the Government's drive to tackle child poverty and social exclusion. Sure Start is run through local programmes in the most deprived regions of England: it aims to achieve better outcomes for children, parents and communities by increasing the availability of childcare for all children; improving children's health, education and emotional development; and supporting parents in their role (). In 2003 the Government published a Green Paper called Every Child Matters. This was published alongside the formal response to the report into the death of Victoria Climbié, the young girl who was horrifically abused and tortured, and eventually

killed by her great aunt and the man with whom they lived. The Green Paper built on existing plans to strengthen preventative services by focusing on four key themes,

Increasing the focus on supporting families and carers – the most critical influence on children's lives.

Ensuring necessary intervention takes place before children reach crisis point and protecting children from falling through the net.
Addressing the underlying problems identified in the report into the death of Victoria Climbié – weak accountability and poor integration.
Ensuring that the people working with children are valued, rewarded and trained (/everychildmatters)

After the consultation of the green paper the government produced “Every Child Matters: the next steps” and also introduced the children act 2004, laying out rules and legislation for local authorities, schools and agencies working with children and families to developing better services for children and their families. “Every Child Matters” is a new approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19. The Government's aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to, be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being (matters). Every Child Matters: change for children sets out a national framework to build services around the needs and children, young people and their families so that families can do better and that risks are minimised. It is hoped that by completing preventative work with families it will prevent things going wrong and that children will be better protected and safeguarded.

A major factor of the Every Child Matters legislation is agencies who work with children, should do more to work together, so the government was keen to encourage multi agency working to safeguard children and in 2006 launched a guide to interagency working called “Working Together to Safeguard Children.” The government felt that a shared responsibility and the need for effective joint working between agencies and professionals that have different roles and expertise are required if children are to be protected from harm and their welfare promoted. Local safeguarding Children’s boards were set up in each Local Authority area for agreeing how the relevant organisations in each local area will co-operate to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, and for ensuring the effectiveness of what they do (/everychildmatters).

Considering the four main kinds of intervention in Topic 15 it is clear there are obvious similarities between them and the current legislation which child care practioners use today. The first is “Promotive intervention,” which is the about providing children with conditions they need to healthy growth and development, promote children’s welfare and improve their quality of life (Topic 15, pg. 8). The development of Surestart and other community resources and services such as connexions is very much a “Promotive intervention.” Surestart helps families to build confidence, offers support and nursery and child care services. Current

legislation allows every child in England to have 12 hours of pre-school education a week, enabling children to have a better start in life.

The second is “preventive intervention,” which relates to providing support to families who are experiencing problems, and to prevent these problems from putting children at risk (Topic 15, pg. 8). Preventive intervention is commonly used by all Social Work practioners today, due to legislation like Every Child Matters and the more recent children act, it ahs meant that Local Authorities are having to do more to help families who are in need. This means that services must be provided and that Local Authorities have a DUTY to provide support services to families. Local Authorities also have a duty to help families stay together if through child care concerns or proceedings children are removed from their parents and there are other family members available to help. Under the Children Act 2004 Local authorities have a DUTY to improve the well0being of children and young people in their area.

The third is “proactive intervention,” taking action in more acute situations where children are likely to suffer or are suffering significant harm, and ensuring the child’s safety (Topic 15, pg. 8). This relates to monitoring families, making sure that children and families are given advice and support but are also monitored and carefully considered to ensure the child’s safety. It also means that when things are not acceptable that the Local Authority can step in to avoid the child suffering harm by a family member.

The fourth and final is “remedial intervention,” where therapeutic services and problem solving action is taken to counter the ill effects of harm that children have suffered (Topic 15, pg. 8). Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) promotes the mental health and psychological wellbeing of children and young people, and provides high quality, multidisciplinary mental health services to all children and young people with mental health problems and disorders. It is a key agency in children’s services and often works with children who have been abused; however it can also provide family support services and fit under the “preventive intervention” umbrella. Through the adoption act 2006 has placed greater emphasis on the need for Local Authorities to provide ongoing services to adoptive families and children who have been adopted.

The four main interventions explored throughout Topic 15 are clearly useful, and relevant to practise today. It is vital that support services for families are adequate enough to be able to make a positive difference, it is also vital that there is arrange of services so that Social Workers can find the right service for a family rather than a family having to fit into limited services that are available. It is vital that appropriate intervention is able to take place when children are at risk and these children are supported to recover and live happy lives and be offered therapeutic services to enable them to do so. Working in an ecological way and safeguarding means that Social Workers have to work in partnerships with other agencies and families, and that families are willing to work ad build positive relationships. It is vital that Social Workers are able not to impose their own values and ideas about parenting, while at

the same time making judgements about the quality of the case parents are providing (Topic 15, pg. 14).

Throughout different stages of time there will always be criticism aimed at Social Workers. There are cases where children die through a lack of services, interventions, laws, and poor management. Anyone who works in with children has to cope with conflicting demands in situations where there are seldom any certainties (Topic 15, pg. 13). It is clear though that the benefits of Safeguarding are being felt among communities, in my practise experience I am aware of families who have experienced the benefits of family support, the family centre’s run by Surestart and Social Workers who offer support and are able to reach positive outcomes for children and families. It now seems obvious that the best way to safeguard children is to work with the family and the whole community and fight poverty, depravation, lacks in education and so on, but this is a battle and there will always be the occasional case of extreme abuse where a child is abused due to an adult not being under pressure, not having a low income and just because they are a person with criminal intent. However by actively safeguarding children, the providing the right support and services it will go someway to improving the outcomes for many families and children, and will reduce the number of children who live in care and away from their parents who want to care for them.

Alice Vicary-Woodcock

X8945531

K224 – TMA 03

REFRENCES:

Every Child Matters. “About every child matters” [accessed 10th September 2009}

Every Child Matters. “Common Assessment Framework” [Accessed 9th September 2009]

Jack, G. (2001) “An ecological perspective on child abuse” in Foley, P., Roche, J., Tucker, S., (eds) Children in Society; a Reader, Basingstoke, Palgrave.

Open University (2006) K224 Working with Children and Families, Topic 8 “Children’s Development and Play” Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Surestart “Surestart Children’s Centre’s” [accessed 10th September 2009]

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