Legislation to protect children and young people from harm

by jenneh (student)

Jenneh Kandeh Unit 10 Ms Garner Task 2 Legislation to protect children and young people from harm

This task enables me to be able to show my understanding about legislation, policies and procedures to protect children and young people from harm.

The legislation for the protection of children and young people from harm are:

United nations convention on the rights of the child (1989)
The children’s Act (1998)
Data protection Act (1998)
Framework for the assessment of children in need and their parents (2000)
Leaving care Act (2000)
Every child matters ~ green paper (2003)
ECM- frame work for children Act (2004)
Safeguarding OF Children and Vulnerable Group’s Act 2006

Britain is proud of it origin in promotion of children’s right and they make sure that they develop their own act and also put the UN and EU legislation. In England the (GSCC) General Social Care Council regulates the social service workforce and their education and also training.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

This is the international agreement for the members countries of the United Nations to agree to implement laws and also procedures in their own countries (which 191 countries ) have agreed to return to their own countries and put the convention to practise however not all countries have agreed to do so ‘‘USA included. The main aim of the convention is to improve on international rights and also to support and care for children world wide. The convention set basic and minimum standards for all children to the age of 18. Every law is called article and there are 54 of them. the cover survival which is ‘‘life, clean water food and health care, development, right to be loved, cared for, learn and play, protection from war, abuse, neglect and violence and participation’’ which is the right to a name and citizenship development. Article 12 for example says that you have to consult with the child for all aspect of their care. At the same time the EU and UK has been developing on their own legislation for this at the same time which came in to practise in 1989.

The children’s Act (1989)

This is the first major piece of legislation that is aimed at children and their safety since the Second World War, this aimed for the safety and also the care of the children. This is mainly aimed at young children but covers others too. This law said that the child’s and there needs are the most important one. The law also gives guidance to adults about the amount of children for care and also the size of the room for them to play and the health and safety guidance. Any other children’s legislation is built upon this one.

Every Child Matters- frame work for children Act (2004)

This is aim at the way children are being care for. This act states that before any carer can care for a child, they would have to meet up with the minimum standard set up for children which includes education, clothes, shelter and they are not going through any form of harm like emotion abuse or sexual. The act make sure that adults looking after children in provision are able to put the procedures into practise, there are differences among policies and procedures in a way a child is being cared for from harm. Policies are the laid down law that have to be followed by every carer whiles procedure are the step by step actions that are to be taken in s child’s care in other for them not to be victims of harm; if the law is not being followed by the carer they would face the law. All agencies like social work, police and child nurse should work together in the interest of a young person due to their vulnerability. The main aim of these organisation should be to improve the child’s live and in other for it to be achieve their should be effective communication and cooperation, if a child is being abused by one of the parent it’s the responsibility for these organisation to take quick action on what way they can help the child without falling into the wrong arms. The development and growth of the child should be the first to consider.

Every Child Matters ~ green paper (2003)

This is a green paper which means that it in the process of becoming a law which later becomes Every Child Matters 2004 and it was developed because professionals were not working together effectively, poor work and the overlap of services and also there are not any understandings between these professionals of their roles and their skills affecting the multi-disciplinary work. The other thing is the high number of children that have being abused or death cases and also the number of children offending and also being excluded from school. For example if you take a child away from everything they feel scared, psychological damage.

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Data Protection Act (1998)

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Data Protection Act (1998)

This is any information paper, computer about children, young people and families. It set out the different types of information on how it should be held or shared among others. This act covers who access the information and also the right of the people to see what is held about them. for example when a young person or child report a case of abuse to the police or the social worker it is very important that such child identity is being protected so that the abuser do not harm such child. It is expected by the service giver that only relevant information is allowed to be kept and the clients has to be aware of those who are authorised to have access to their information. There is also a limited time service user information can be held in which every service giver has to abide to. This legislation protect a child and young person in a way that their information would not be accessed by a non-authorised person and why this is important is to avoid their information to be linked to the public and also their right to confidentiality is being protected in the care setting. For example a doctor or a nurse is not allowed to talk about a patient in a public place because a family member or an unauthorized person might over hear the conversation and by that the trust in which the child or young person has for the doctor or the nurse in charge of their care would be with drawn.

Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Parents (2000)

This Legislation recognises three criteria that need to be taken into consideration when promoting safety and welfare of children with special needs and their families. These criteria include the child developmental needs, family and environmental factor and parenting capacity. The framework led to the introduction of the common assessment frame (CAF) and it used by professionals that are involve in the assessment of children; it would be share between difference professionals that the families will come into contact with and also stop any pointless duplication of the information.

Leaving Care Act (2000)

Is to protect children and young people who are to starting to live on their own and learn how to be independent. An example of this is Sarah Hardman. Most of young people who are care leaver have being brought up by someone else and not their biological parents may be because they are dead or they cannot afford giving them the best in life like education and decided to give the child to be cared for by someone else. At this stage, the young person find it had to cope staying and caring for themselves alone because everything they had ever had is being asked from their careers and now they are leaving arrangement has to be made for the young person on how the care would still remain so that they continue to grow and develop effectively. The local authority will need sufficient time to prepare thoroughly for the children or young person who is leaving care. This is the time when the young person begins to learn how to be independent and responsible their for some one is being allocated to monitor and guide the child on how they are coping staying alone. The person help the child on how to register with the General Practitioner, open a bank account and how to get involved in the society positively like joining charity group etc. The government have decided to protect special grant to encourage and finance local authority on how a young person leaving care would continue to grow and develop in the society.

Safeguarding OF Children and Vulnerable Group’s Act 2006

This legislation is to stop people from with working with vulnerable adults and young people that are not fit; they do this by creating the independent safeguarding Authority, also those people working with these vulnerable people would have to have CRB check. Also every one would have to be registered with the ISA in order to check their general fitness to work with children. The new Coaliation Government (2010) has stopped the progress of the ISA because of the cost of the computer programme that has not yet been able to work to run this project successfully.

Bibliography

Ms Garner’s handouts

This task is about how policies and procedures help to support children and their families when the child is being looked after. I would not only consider professionals and organisations that direct the care for young children and young people but also school and other agencies too. I will also consider how they develop partnerships of trust, where possible and why this is necessary.

The child protection policy is something that is very important it is part of the local authority and it’s a guideline for staffs ‘’George House Trust’’ is an institution that promotes the welfare of children. They believe that every child might be at risk of harm and they have responsibility to do something in order to make them safe. Everyone that works at this organisation or volunteer knows that the welfare and safety of children must be the most important concern. They make sure that everyone is offered a confidential service expect where there is concern like the safety and wellbeing of a child or young person and if they are concern they share there concerns to other where it involves the safety of the child. Children can be abused anywhere it may even be people in the authority strangers and the ones they know. Staffs and volunteers should tell the chief executive or the nominated person to deal with child protection as soon as there is concern about the welfare or safety about the child rather than wait till the damage is done. The George House Trust believes that if there is any evidence that a child is at risk of harm they would inform the children social services which then the social services would then vest the child and check if they are ok and also have a discussion with the parent of the child and carers and they would then decide what would happen the institution staffs are always there to listen to people concerns about the Childs safety whether is your child or someone else’s that needs protection and help in time of crisis it is usual to feel frightened, angry or do nothing people may like to help or support children, the George House Trust can offer support or help to put people in touch with any specialist agencies like Barnardos health through actions that can help

When working in an organisation maintaining confidentiality is very important for example the George House Trust they make sure their staffs and volunteers are aware of the confidentiality policy which means that before starting the job especially working with children you would have to complete a CRB form (Criminal Record Bureau); which make sure that the client are protected example the children and also the adults. The workers have to be checked before working with the clients. The criminal record bureau provides a wider access to criminal record information through its disclosure service. It means that if you are applying to work with children and vulnerable adult, health care or any other job organisation in other to make sure that you have not committed any crime. The main reason for having a CRB checked is for the safety of the clients and the workers and also not to cause any harm to them.

Recognising signs and symptoms of abuse the teachers or other workers working with children or vulnerable teenagers would have protect the children and make them safe so if they see any sign or symptoms of abuse that the child might have like scar they would have to follow the police and procedure that is required to keep children safe in the school or college.

The Child Safeguarding Policy, makes sure that the agencies working with children, young people and their families take full reasonablilty of risk and harm to children’s welfare are lessen such as in Pennine Care which is (NHS Foundation Trust) they make sure that all staffs working in each section involving in the taking care of children will have to read the policy document and also knowing exactly and understanding the rights of children and young people’s needs. The Pennine policy gives detail about different legislation that there organisation has to follow during work placement. One of the things they might consider is the Safeguarding policy which makes sure that child are protected from maltreatment, preventing impairment of children’s health and ensuring that children are growing up in a safe and effective care. This organisation is strict on the protection of child because is part of the safeguarding and promoting welfare. The policy also refers to those children that are suffering, or at risk of suffering major harm. Following the legislation and also making sure that children are protected from harm would means that they interested and helping children who needs help in care. The organisation is also responsible to making sure as part of their work, with children, families and with adults, who are in their carer, they are assessed and suitable referrals are made. This also means in work placement knowing and to be aware of ‘What to do if you’re worried that a child is being abuse’. It might include filling out a pre-assessment checklist such as including the information about the child i.e. physical, financial, intellectual, neglect abuse and etc. It’s important to know the reasons and find out ways that the child was abused in the first place, so it might be easy for workers to find out and solve the problem as soon as possible.

The Policies and procedures are important because they help children and their families whilst the child is being looked after due to the legislation that the government has produced in order to allow people to follow so they could maintain the importance of children and family. When protecting children and young people from harm there are various roles and responsibilities that make some children more vulnerable to abuse it might be lack of awareness as not knowing how to behave or treat others, the environment which may have impact on the way the child behave towards people.

It is recognise that alcohol cause lot of problems in families so the parenting and alcohol project (Hidden Harm Agenda) this organisation hidden harm identify the harm of children with problems like drugs misuses due to the the people they have seen and the vulnerability they are at towards these substances, and this strategy is aim to prevent young people now in order that they don’t involve in things like that. There is an estimated amount of 1.3 million children being affected by their parents or carers that do drugs or alcohol and which is like a ‘train line’ cause the children are more likely to follow their footstep of their parent. The policy and procedure of the setting- the children’s Act (1989)- which is aimed at children for their safety and care. It means that the children has the right to be respected the same as an adult. The legislation protect children this is by making sure that they have the opportunity in life so following the policies and procedure is important cause you are making sure that the child is being protected from any harm and also they are being provided with full care.

Through observing we learn and also find out what wrong with the child and why they are behaving in a certain way or manner.

Recording and reporting, is very important cause you know you have accurate report about a child and not having false report. For example any change in behaviour you should report to your supervisor as soon as possible before the situation gets worse or the child harm their self.

BIBILOGRAPHY

Ms Garners handouts

In this assignment I would be evaluating the right of children and the right of their families, and having in mind that children are important. There are different ways in which a child could be looked after like Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Parents (2000), Data Protection Act (1998), Every Child Matters (2003), ECM – framework for Children Act (2004), Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Group’s Act 2006, Leaving Care Act (2000), Human Rights Act (1998) and etc.

Every Child matters 2003 Vitoria climbie report- the death of an eight year old Vitoria climbie in 2000 made the government more involve in the protection of children and they asked Lord Laming to conduct an inquiry so that it could help to decided whether it is needed to introduce new legislation and guidance in order to improve on the protection system of children in England. Also the local authorities suggested real changes in the way those we ask to do this work carry out their task. The report was the keeping children safe report (DFES,2003) and also the Every Child Matters green paper which later led to the children Act 2004.

The Pennine Care Organisational Framework and Reporting Structure, is wherein the dedication to safeguarding children and promoting their right welfare by a having a specific organisational structure and ways of responsibility from the trust Board through every part of the Trust. The Child Safeguarding Forum membership would be including the different agencies in the work placement like Medical Director, the Director of Nursing and Integrated Governance, Associate Director of Social Care, the child Safeguard lead and etc. These agencies have a specific duty of Child Safeguarding Forum; knowing and also understanding the ways to help the child.

The Roles and Responsibilities of a named Child Safeguarding Staff, means that if the work placement such as doctors found that the child was abused badly, they will contact a close family member in order to try and solve the problems that caused the child or include social worker to find out solution of the abused. They provide support for the child and beware of the importance of the local safeguarding procedure such as making sure the child has the right to be protected from harm.

Management Responsibility for cases like that with Safeguarding Children and Concerns, according to the trust agreeing that dealing with child abuse and safeguarding the welfare of children is very stressful and hardworking job and it is also a rewarding job such as helping young people or children in care.

“In the first instance it is the responsibility of the line manager to provide this support. If problems cannot be resolved then the manager will contact the Named Doctor or Nurse; failing that a Named Doctor or Nurse from another Borough or the Children’s Safeguarding Lead or Associate Director of Social Care.

Children’s file case notes will be randomly checked and read throughout the year by the Children’s Safeguarding Lead in order to produce a formal report to the Trust Board.” ( NHS)

According to children protection there are several of ways of protecting children from harm.

I think the may be disadvantage ways that things have gone wrong according to children safeguarding such as taking time to handle when problems occur to be serious. For example sometime children may be abused inside the family and by not getting looked after properly i.e. not fed, when the go school the child may have difficulties and finding things hard to cope. A lot of children may suffer if their living in care such as not having one in to one interaction with family. A lot of children suffer from this problems and not knowing to find people who might help them to solve their problems. Children might hide their feelings and not allowing people to know about their privacy life. I think sometimes staffs in school should also provide help, make children as their friends and when it comes to a serious situation such as knowing that the child has been physical abuse at home, will mean that you listen to the child and letting them tell you the situation that there are coping with so you as the teacher will try and solve the situation as soon as possible. This is why sometimes it might take time for the teacher to recognise the problems of children because lack of communication.

I personally think by providing a range types of legislation of the child rights of their families, it would make sure that a child has the right to be looked after in a certain age mainly at the age of their 19th birthday.

In conclusion, I have learnt the importance of legislation that might affect children and young people such as following policies and procedures knowing and helping children and their families whilst the child is being looked after. Such as knowing there different legislation of children protection and young people from harm, It allowed me knowing how it is important to look after children while there in care.

Bibliography

George house trust – Child Protection Policy – Manchester

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust