Introduction
The Office of Children and Youth, (OCY) was created to address the social problem being the maltreatment of children in our society. A child who is maltreated means they fit the categories of be physically, sexually, verbally, emotionally abused, and or neglected. When a parent, family member, or anyone who is in a caregiver role maltreats a child, the agency steps in to intervene and advocate on the child. Erie OCY not only advocates for children, but offers resources, and a variety of approaches to help families improve their social functioning.
The child welfare agency mission and goal is to minimize child abuse and neglect. OCY not only address maltreatment, but also domestic violence, drug and alcohol, mental health,
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Mission
The mission of Erie County Office of Children and Youth’s mission is to, “Keeping children safe and respectfully engage families by using community-based services and support in order to assist families to successfully care for their children. Our focus is the safety, permanency and well-being of all children and youth” (Erie County Office of Children and Youth”. OCY’s two major departments intake and ongoing strive to meet the standards set by this mission. The intake department investigates any reported act of child abuse and neglect having to deal with families. They use resources to better equip caregivers to parent their children. The child welfare agency goal is to keep children safe, and not be at risk of maltreatment of any kind.
Target Population
Erie County Office of Children and Youth target population is the actual name of the agency is children and youth. OCY handles with children and youth from all ages. Children ranging from 0 years old infancy to when a child turns 12. Youth pertaining to adolescents from 13 to 18 years of age. There are services provided for youth who are 18 older who want to continue being in the system who have good behavior. Assisting the young adults with independent living services.
The agency is very dynamic and works with all times of clients. Caseworkers work with children and families of all different backgrounds and
To identify multi agency success where there are concerns with regards to safeguarding issues. Within childcare practice we must be aware that we have a clear and defined role in relation to child protection. Professionals working with children/young people i.e. teaching assistants, volunteers, outside agencies are CRB checked (criminal records bureau). Adults working with children should also be fully trained in safeguarding children by a nominated safeguarding adviser and have the opportunity to receive training in order to develop their understanding of the signs and indicators of abuse or neglect, this training is offered every 3 years. In order for child protection to work effectively we must ensure we have good inter relationships with other agencies and good
The 2nd Joint Chief Inspectors Report defined safeguarding children and young people as the act of taking reasonable measures to ensure that the threats of harm to children & young people’s welfare are diminished by all those who work with children. The document expressed that all agencies involve with the provision of services to children and young people should take appropriate actions to raise and address issues of concerns whilst working to agreed local policies and procedures established by Local Safeguarding Children Board, and in partnership with other local agencies to safeguard a child or young person. (CQC
“ The major role of the Child Welfare System in the twenty- first century is to insure the safety, permanency, and well being of
It is really important for the child/young person and their family to ensure all needs of the individual are met. If we didn’t work with other agencies our children/young people and their families would possibly miss out on valuable support and help.
Local authorities have a responsibility to safeguard and promote welfare of all children in their area.
Describe the roles of different agencies involved in the safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
Child welfare has a mission, to have “continuous improvement of child protective systems address services to be provided, social
Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people is extremely important. It involves more than just protecting children from abuse – it also includes promoting their interests, keeping them safe and protecting their rights.
Child abuse is at its peak in today's world. It has multiple forms. It is usually referred as physical, sexual or emotional exploitation or negligence of a child. Department for Children And Families (DCF) define child abuse as acts of commission parent or other guardian that consequences in damage, probability for destruction, or risk of harm to a child. Child abuse can occur at many places like child's home, organizations, schools or publics the child interacts or communicates with
Safeguarding children and young people is everybody’s responsibility. It should be a concern of the whole community and all public services, not just ones providing directly to children and young people.
Different agencies involved in safeguarding the welfare of children and young people and their roles:
It is a reasonable argument that child welfare service entities are necessary as it is all too frequent that child abuse/neglect cases are heard all over the nation and is ultimately a world health issues. Increasing social issues such as unstable families, poverty, crime, poor education, lack of access to health care and mental health services are some of the factors that contribute to this continuous epidemic that affects many people from various socio-economic classes. Many nations have taken steps to enhance and improve efforts in the fight against the mistreatment of children.
Child welfare systems are constructed to support families and most importantly to protect children from harm using prevention and intervention services. Child welfare is a great example to demonstrate how the NASW’s ethical principles are put into effect. They are based on values of service by helping the children in need and addressing the social problems they are faced with. Another value that could be used is social justice especially in cases that involve children because the whole objective of child welfare systems is to ensure the well-being of a child. The services are meant to support children who have been or are at risk of abuse or neglect.
Child protective services a function of the division of child and family services, provides legal protection and a variety of support services for abused and neglected children.