Abuse And Neglect

This research paper is being submitted on December 8, 2011, for Mara Pehkonen’s M230 Medical Law and Ethics Course.

There are many procedures, policies, legislations and statutory guidance to support the safety and welfare of children and young people. They have been developed over many years to recognise the rights of children and young people, protect vulnerable children and young people and after independent inquiries of fatal abuse cases, to recognise the failures of multi agencies and support services.

Children Act 2006 – Is an Act that defines the new duties imposed on the Local Authorities in respect to improving the Every Child Matters outcomes for pre-school children. The Act also defines new rules in relation to childcare for working parents as well as parental information services. It is aimed at improving the well-being of young children. It emphasises the importance of safeguarding children and young people within an educational setting. If a child discloses neglect or abuse; an establishment should have instructions to help the child. This could be referral to an outside organisation or internally.

I would strongly advise against the measure to remove neglect and emotional abuse from the definition of maltreatment in Oregon. It is important to note that neglect is the most reported and substantiated type of maltreatment, with 771,000 children reportedly suffering from abuse. Neglect can take many forms, and in some cases the signs may not be clear right away. Children may be wearing dirty clothes, or wearing summer clothes in the middle of winter. Other signs could be that the child is hungry all the time and as a result hoards foods, and steals. Children suffering from neglect may also have poor hygiene, or other medical issues. Parents of these children may not have the community help necessary in order to raise a child correctly.

Throughout this essay, the health, safety and welfare policy and practise that came about after the Victoria Climbie case will be reviewed and evaluated. After arriving in England in November 1991 from the Ivory Coast, eight-year old Victoria Climbie suffered abuse from her great-aunt, Marie-Therese Kouao, and her great-aunts partner. The anguish and eventual murder of Victoria in 2000 from hypothermia, caused by malnourishment and damp conditions, provoked ‘the most extensive investigation into the child protection system in British history’ as described by Batty (Macleod-Brudenell, 2004). The high media profiled incident exposed a clear lack of precision and communication between all professionals and agencies involved. This is shown by

Current legislation is the result of The children Act 1989 which was brought in to ensure that all people who work with children worked together and was clear about their responsibility’s and knew how to act if allegations of child abuse were made.Following the death of Victoria Climbie in the year 2000 an independent inquiry highlighted many problems with how reports of neglect and child abuse were dealt with and found that vulnerable people in society were not being safeguarded.The Laming report led to the governments Every Child Matters paper and The Children Act 2004. In the last year this has now been renamed Every

Practitioners and professionals working with children on a daily basis are in a good position to notice changes in a child's or young person’s behaviour which may be a possible sign of abuse. Children or young people may also confide in practitioners or allege that abuse has taken place.

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:

Guidelines: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010, What to do if you’re worried that a child is being abused 2006,

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

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.

Social worker in charge of particular cases of a suspected child maltreatment must initially complete a core assessment of the child and his family's situation. This process is crucial for planning of an intervention with a positive outcome (Parker and Bradley, 2003). In the assessment, under the ecological model, the practitioner must recognise different systems, such as the child, family or neighbours, and surrounding environments. If the assessment asserts that a child fits a category of a child in need within these systems, defined in the Children Act 1989 as a child 'unlikely to achieve or maintain (...) a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him of services by a local authority' (Children Act, 1989, section 17), the social worker must organise a form of an intervention. He or she must assess which part of the environment requires a change, and where are stress factors negatively affecting the child and the family. At the same time, the child should be given resources, and a certain level of autonomy, and to be treated as the centre of the assessment (Teater, 2010). In the ecological perspective, it might be easier for the social worker to relate to the adults' needs (Davies and Davies, 2011). However, the focus of the assessment should be child-centred, protecting the child's health and wellbeing (Every Child Matters, 2004)(Department of Education, 2011).

While reporting possible child abuse or neglect can be a very sensitive issue, you only need to suspect abuse or neglect to report the case. You are not expected to be an investigator since that is the job of the Social services and the police but you must try to follow the correct policies and procedure if you have concerns about a child's safety.

Child protection practitioners investigate matters when there are allegations that a child is at risk of harm. Historically, the focus of the child welfare system was mainly on the protection of the child and not necessarily on the preservation of the family (Lalayants, 2012). Child practitioners now may also be required to refer children and families to services to assist with their needs and take matters before the Children’s Court if the child’s safety cannot be guaranteed within the family. Child protection workers supervise children on legal orders granted by Children’s Court and provide and fund accommodation services, specialist support services, adoptions and permanent care to children and young people in need (DHHS, 2017). Government departments are responsible for child protection – assisting vulnerable children and young people who have been, or are at risk of being, abused, neglected, or otherwise harmed, or whose parents are unable to provide adequate care or protection (AIHW 2017). Hence, meeting the needs of children is a shared responsibility between the families, communities and the government. When adults are incapable of caring for their children or do not follow through with their responsibilities, child protection becomes responsible for taking action. In some cases, a child may be removed from the care and custody of their parents, given that a parent has criminal history records that may increase harm to their child. For instance, child

Many kids have to deal with child abuse which mostly leads to weeks in a hospital. After