Explain The Importance Of Involvement In Decisions For Children And Young People

Following these proposals from Lord Laming, there have been developments in legislation and policy, which involve children’s welfare, one of which was the Green Paper of Every Child Matters (ECM) (DfES, 2003), a pre legislative document from the government of the day. This built upon existing plans to strengthen preventative services using the four key themes of: support, early intervention, problems addressed in the Victoria Climbie case and ensuring adults working with children are trained. The ECM Green Paper was the basis of a consultation between professionals, parents, cares and children about how the services for young people were working. Following from this, the government developed and parliament passed the Children Act

• Provision needs to be inclusive & reflect/meet the needs of all children irrespective of their background or ability.

Children Act 1989 – Determines the duty of early year’s practitioners to identify and meet the separate and distinctive needs of children and to keep them safe. It initiated the belief that the child ought to be at the centre of planning and that a child’s well-being and safety are vital when judgements are made concerning them. This act also recognises the accountabilities of parents in keeping their offspring safe. In this act there are two particular segments that relate to the duty of local authority with concern to child protection, these are-

Every Child Matters Framework which is currently in the process to be changed is part of the Children Act 2004; it is a piece of legislation which has and influences planning and provisions of learning opportunities. The Every Child Matters ensures that settings provide quality of children’s and young people’s play and learning.This supports children from birth to 19 years. When practitioners plan, they should relate their work to the five outcomes for children; be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve though learning, make a positive contribution to society and achieve economic

It has been debated that children and families have received poor service because of the failure of professionals in understanding each other’s roles or working together in a multi-disciplinary

All services are aimed at young people and are based around each individual needs. Children’s wishes should be considered during decision making to give them a sense of belonging and not to be made to feel as though its them who’s to blame

M1- Discuss how policies and procedures help children, young people and their families whilst the child is being looked after.

Ensuring children and young people’s safety and welfare in the work setting is an essential part of safeguarding. While children are at school, practitioners act in ‘loco parentis’ while their parents are away. As part of their legal and professional obligations, practitioners hold positions of trust and a duty of care to the children in their school, and therefore should always act in their best interests and ensure their safety – the welfare of the child is paramount (Children Act 1989). The Children Act 2004 came in with the Every Child Matters (ECM) guidelines and greatly impacted the way schools look at the care and welfare of pupils. Children and young people should be helped to learn and thrive and be given the opportunity to

A/c 1.2 The benefit of using a child centred model of assessment and planning is that you concentrate on the person and their specific and individual set of needs and circumstances. A child centred model promotes the rights of the child and allows them to communicate and say what they want for themselves. When children are moved to make the correct choice and take a lead using this type of assessment they tend to succeed as they develop their needs. Children and young people’s needs can be identified through observation and the sharing of information between those that are involved in the care of the young people or children. The parents and class teachers are the best places to identify individual needs because the young people spend more time at school and home than they do anywhere else. School/ home visits, review meetings, hospital consultations are some of the

1.1 Explain why working in partnership with others is important for children and young people

When looking at children and young people’s development it is important to recognise and respond to concerns to ensure that the child or young person receives the help and assistance needed.

The children act 1989 has influenced some settings by bringing together several sets of guidance and provided the foundation for many of the standards practitioners sustain and maintain when working with children. The act requires that settings work together in the best interests of the child and form partnerships with parents or carers. It requires settings to have appropriate adult to child ratios and policies and procedures on child protection. This act has had an influence in all areas of practice from planning a curriculum and record keeping. The every child matters framework has

Planning and preparation for a children going into local authority care will be different for each child depending on age or situation or different needs, for example, a child the age of 7 may not understand the situation fully due to their maturity therefore, even though the UNCRC mentions that the child’s thoughts and opinions should be taken into consideration however this may be difficult due to the child’s age and how greatly they understand the situation therefore more planning and preparation may need to be done in order to make decisions for the child. A child the age of 14 may understand the situation better and the reasons why they may have been taken into care therefore it will be easier for them to make their own decisions regarding

As a practitioner it’s your duty to observe and maintain correct procedures to ensure that the children are offered a stimulating environment which will further allow optimum possibilities for development. All those who work with or amongst children and young people have a crucial role to play in helping not only to shape aspects of their lives, but to also aid in enhancing their future development. Therefore it can be stated that how we set up our own working practices can affect children and young people’s development, as will be identified by this essay; below are areas where one should concentrate in order to further

Having a clear idea of what is happening can make the situation less daunting for them as there is less confusion as to how they will proceed and the options that are available to them. The situation that leads up to a child having to become looked after can often be chaotic. Telling the child of the options and advising them of what is best can bring some sense of stability in to the situation. Counseling also provides a safe environment in which any issues or worries can be discussed and shared. This can then put the local authority in a better position to know what is going on and how best to help and move forward with the