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

Practitioners have to put the needs of children first because this will help keep children safe and encourages children to be independent. It’s important to show

The Children and Young Peoples Board in Birmingham comprises of different partner agencies and organisations that each have a duty to cooperate under the Children’s Act 2004 in strategic planning, service developments and consideration of emerging issues around children and young people. Partner agencies include:

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

■ Individual Planning for Children and Young People Living in Out-of-Home Placements: Policy and Procedures (May 2007);

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

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

Demonstrate supportive and realistic responses to children and young people’s questions, ideas, suggestions and concerns

There are many social, economical and cultural factors that impact on the lives of children and young people. In my role as a Young Carer’s Support Worker, I work with a number of families living with the consequences of these factors. Every Child Matters (ECM) aims to improve the outcomes and life chances of every child and young person, therefore, it is important we understand and do all we can to help them achieve the 5 outcomes of the ECM, stay safe, be healthy, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, and, achieve economic well-being.

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

The research question will be ‘how to Involve LAC children in assessment and decision-making?’ This small-scale research question will focus on how LAC children would like to be involved in decisions pertaining to them and their current views of professionals.

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

Many children and families will have contact and be supported by other professionals. For example children may go to more than one early years setting or their families may be supported by services provided by a children’s centre. For some families social workers have a leading role in coordinating services as families may need support caring for a child with disabilities or they may have been identified as needing additional support. Some families will need additional support and so a range of professionals will be working with them. In some cases families will have referred themselves to these services and professionals. In other cases there may be a legal obligation for a local authority to support families where children are identified

This essay will critically examine the development, implementation and evaluation of early year’s policy reflecting on the role of research and the role of the practitioner within this process. It will address the impact policy has on practitioners and their day-to-day practice and highlight the part children play within the policy process. Finally it will analyse possible tensions which can arise around this policy process.

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