Outline current policies and legislation relating to children and how these affect your practice.

1.1 Outline current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within own UK Home Nation affecting the safeguarding of children and young people.

Employers, local authorities, professional regulators and other bodies have a duty to refer to the ISA, information about individuals working with children or vulnerable adults where they consider them to have caused harm or pose a risk of harm.

It emphasises the important principles to be followed when working with children and young people: settings must provide a safe and secure environment, if any children are identified as suffering from abuse or likely to suffer the appropriate action must be taken.

The following are all legal requirements acting in the interest of child protection and safeguarding to promote the welfare of children and protect them from abuse and harm:

All organisations and people that work with, or come into contact with children should have safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure that every child, regardless of their age, gender, religion or ethnicity, can be protected from harm. This includes hospitals, schools, private sector providers, sports clubs, faith groups and voluntary/community organisations.

If any professional becomes concerned that a child might be at risk of abuse, be it physical, sexual, emotional or neglect, it is their legal duty to pass on such concerns to the appropriate professionals who can assess if and what action should be taken. In cases where it will not put the child at greater risk or danger, the parents / carers of the child will be informed that such action has been taken.

It is very important that anyone working with children should be able to recognise if a child is at risk of harm of in need because of their vulnerability. The earlier this is recognised, the better outcome for the child involved.

To be able to safeguard children effectively we need to be aware of the following policies:

* To decide if the child is in need ( Section 17(1) of the Children Act 1989 states that it shall be the

Communication and explanation between agencies, practitioners and parents is effective as it can help families by giving them guidance and advice with their child when at home, this will help give the parents understanding about the child’s condition and may help them to feel less stressed as they will feel they have help and support from the team as they are specialists in the particular area.

As can be seen there are many different organisations involved when there is any suspicion that a child may have been abused or actually harmed.

Working Together to safeguard children 2015 is a statutory guidance and says ‘’specific duties in relation to children’s need and children suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm.’’ (Gov.uk)

* Parents should continue to be involved with their children and any legal proceedings that may concern them, and that legal

Working together to safeguard children 2006 was a revised document which provided an update on safeguarding and the national framework to help services for children and agencies to work individually and also together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. It was also further revised in 2010 and also applies to those working in education, health and social services as well as the police and the probation service. It is relevant to those working with children and their families in the statutory, independent and voluntary sectors. It is not necessary for all practitioners to read every part of Working Together to Safeguard Children in order to understand the principles and to perform their roles effectively. However, those who work regularly with children and young people and who may be asked to contribute to assessments of children and young people in need and should know the relevant sections of this document. The vetting and barring scheme was introduced in October 2009 with the aim of preventing unsuitable people from working with children and young people. It assured anybody working or volunteering with children would have to register with the independent safeguarding authority (ISA). The ISA will make the decision whether someone is suitable or not to work with children and young people, they base their decisions on information sources like a criminal record bureau checks which gives full record of the individual’s criminal record,

* Describe the roles of different agencies involved in safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.