Parents' Week 2010
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Family Policy Digest
The Family Policy Digest lets you know about key events and publications over the last month across Government, the voluntary sector and the research community. It enables you to track the progress of legislation and debate on family policy.
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To search for areas of interest or specific words use the search box below. Entering a month and year will enable you to see past copies of the digest.
Digest articles that match keyword/s 'safeguarding'
Found 121 results.
Child health and wellbeing (71)
Children talking to ChildLine about parental alcohol and drug misuse
NSPCC
In 2009 ChildLine took 5,700 calls from children – some still at primary school - about their parents' alcohol and drug misuse. Many of them also revealed they were being beaten, sexually abused or neglected. Children often took on a caring role and saw it as their responsibility to solve their parents' alcohol and drug misuse problems. Almost twice the number of children were counselled by ChildLine about their parents' alcohol misuse than about drug misuse. Children who were cared for by habitual alcohol or drug users could be inducted to rely on alcohol and drugs in order to cope with life's challenges.
The report is available from the NSPCC website.
August 2010
Maltreated children In the Looked After System: A comparison of outcomes for those who go home and those who do not
J Wade et al.,Social Policy Research Unit, University of York; Department for Education
Around six in ten children in the looked after system have entered for reasons of abuse or neglect. Comparing outcomes with those who are reunited with their families and those who are not, this study shows that there is a high risk of failure and that decisions to reunify should be taken with considerable caution, especially where children have experienced serious and sustained emotional abuse and neglect. Repeated attempts at reunification should be avoided. Although the care system is rightly criticised for its weaknesses, this study has shown that for many maltreated children it can provide an opportunity for children to feel safe and re-shape their lives.
The report can be found on the DfE website.
August 2010Independent review of the Office of the Children's Commissioner - Call for evidence
Department for Education
John Dunford, General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), is to conduct an independent review of the office, role and functions of the Children's Commissioner for England. The review is looking particularly at the powers, remit and functions of the Children's Commissioner, how this role relates to other functions supported by Government and value for money. The review is being supported by a secretariat of Department for Education officials. The review was announced in Parliament on 12 July 2010. The review is in particular seeking to hear the views of children and young people. The full report and recommendation will be submitted by the end of November 2010 for consideration, which may include the possibility of legislative change.
Full details can be found on the DfE website. Submissions must be with the Department by 4 October 2010.
July 2010Public attitudes to safeguarding children
The Children's Society
The paper presents findings from a survey of a representative sample of over 2,000 adults in the UK about attitudes to safeguarding children. The survey explored the views of the public about levels of risk to children aged six to 15 years of age in relation to six hypothetical scenarios of possible abuse or neglect. The research found that people are twice as worried about parents not knowing where their children are after 9pm at night than they are about the potentially damaging effects of slapping.
- 77% said children were exposed to a high level of risk when parents did not know their whereabouts in the evening.
- Being slapped by parents as a standard punishment was only seen as a high risk by 33% (14% said it was 'very high risk').
The report can be downloaded from the Children's Society's website
July 2010Munro Review of Child Protection
Professor Eileen Munro has been commissioned by the Government to carry out an independent review to improve child protection. The stated aim is to reform front-line social work practice and to strengthen the profession so that social workers are in a better position to make well-informed judgements, based on up-to-date evidence, in the best interests of children, free from unnecessary bureaucracy and regulation. The review is to build on the work of Lord Laming's Progress Report (March 2009) and the Social Work Task Force, drawing on the evidence submitted to these reviews and the extensive analyses undertaken to inform them. Links will be maintained between this review and the continuing work of the Social Work Reform Board, and with the work taking place as part of the Family Justice Review. The final report is to be produced by April 2011 with an interim report due in January 2011 and a first report in September 2010.
A call for evidence has been issued looking for examples of local innovations and new approaches to child protection as well as improved front-line social work practice. Full details can be found on the Review website. Submissions should be sent by Friday 30 July 2010.
June 2010Family perspectives on safeguarding and on relationships with children's services
The Children's Commissioner for England
This research study was commissioned as part of the Commissioner's commitment to disseminate the views and experiences of children and young people. The planning of the research was undertaken with the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO) who were interested in exploring ideas around resistance from families receiving child protection services and the type of practice which would be most effective. This research report therefore links to the C4EO knowledge review: 'Effective practice to protect children living in 'highly resistant' families'. This study addresses the experience and views of those engaged with social work services, with the intention of providing insight into how they perceived the notion of resistance. Key findings included that many of the family members felt that services should have a "family focus", understanding the problems of all family members and having access to both adults' and children's services. Current arrangements separated out the response to issues such as domestic abuse, mental ill health, disability and alcohol and drug problems which had a family-wide impact. There was a lack of "whole family approaches".
The report can be downloaded from the Children's Commissioner's website.
June 2010Learning lessons from serious case reviews - interim report 2009-2010
Ofsted
Serious case reviews are local enquiries into the death or serious injury of a child where abuse or neglect is known or suspected to be a factor. They are carried out by Local Safeguarding Children Boards so that lessons can be learned. Ofsted has published two previous reports about serious case reviews. Previous reports have criticised the quality of a large proportion of serious case reviews. However, an evaluation of the 85 latest reviews indicates an improvement in the proportion of reviews judged to be adequate or better, and a reduction in those judged to be inadequate. In this review, 17 were judged to be inadequate, 38 adequate and 30 good. In cases falling below standard, many of the lessons are similar to those drawn out in the two previous reports. A common finding was that none of the main agencies had a complete picture of the child's family and a full record of the concerns. Holistic assessments of risk were not made routinely and agencies tended to respond reactively to each situation rather than by seeing the whole context. In some cases there was a lack of focus on the child when working with the family, including a failure by professionals to communicate directly with or observe the child so that they could understand the child's daily experience of life. There were examples of poor communication and information sharing between agencies, inadequate identification of child protection needs, individual staff error, poor assessments leading to inappropriate plans, and inadequate management oversight and decision-making.
The report can be downloaded from the Ofsted website.
April 2010Byron Review progress review - Do we have safer children in a digital world?
Department for Children, Schools and Families/UKCCIS, Professor Tanya Byron
In her progress review, two years on from her first report 'Safer Children in a Digital World', Professor Byron identifies the UK as the world leader in child internet safety but advises that Government and Industry need to make faster progress in delivery if the UK is to stay ahead of advances in technology. Key successes in improving safety highlighted, include:
- 'Zip it, Block it, Flag it', a public awareness campaign for parents
- creation of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), a coalition of government, charities and industry
- publication of a groundbreaking internet safety strategy.
New recommendations include:
- UKCCIS must better engage with, and listen to, children, young people and parents to ensure that work focuses on the issues which are important to them, for example underage children on social networking sites and the issue of children's easy access to pornography.
- Industry should speed up work on a self-regulated code of practice without delay – to keep pace with the changes in new technologies, such as wifi access on mobile phones.
The report also includes recommendations on how the Government and UKCCIS can improve education for children and young people, and make parents more aware of the strategies that already exist to help ensure their children's digital safety. The Government has welcomed Professor Byron's recommendations and asked UKCCIS to consider these and agree a full response by July 2010.
The review report can be downloaded from the DCSF website. A background research review on children's online risks and safety is also available from the DCSF website.
March 2010Physical punishment: improving consistency and protection
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This report by the Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children into physical punishment in various settings aims to determine if this is an area in which change was needed in order to strengthen the safeguards for children. Physical punishment is prohibited in all maintained and full-time independent schools, in children's homes, in local authority foster homes and early years provision; the prohibitions have different enforcement mechanisms. Any use of force can be charged as a criminal offence. However, in cases where the punishment is mild and where the person administering it is a parent or acting in place of a parent (in loco parentis) they are able to argue that they administered a "reasonable punishment".
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
March 2010The Government's Response to Lord Laming: One Year On
Department for Children, Schools and Families
'The protection of children in England: action plan – The Government's response to Lord Laming' set out the Government's shared commitment to improving in safeguarding practice following the publication of Lord Laming's report, 'The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report', in March 2009. 'One Year On' provides an overview of progress against Lord Laming's recommendations and set out future priorities. The report summarises the progress and sets out how the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit will seek to make a difference over the coming year. The Unit's priorities have been developed alongside practitioners and key stakeholders.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
March 2010The Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children: First annual report to Parliament - 2010
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This is the first annual report on safeguarding progress, which includes the views of the Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children about the implementation of the recommendations in Lord Laming's report, The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report. It also sets out to advise the Government on the effective implementation of safeguarding policy.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
March 2010'Drawing the Line' - A report on the Government's Vetting and Barring Scheme
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) is one of the Government's responses to the Bichard Inquiry which followed the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman by Ian Huntley. Its aim is to prevent harm to children or vulnerable adults by those who seek to work with them either as paid staff or volunteers. From November 2010 people wishing to work with children in specified settings or in specified ways will be required to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). The aim of this is to provide assurance that there are no grounds for believing that they present a risk of harm to children and that they have not been statutorily barred from working with them. The report takes into account public concerns about the Scheme and checks that the Government had drawn the line in the right place in relation to the requirement to register, particularly with regard to the frequency of contact with children which should trigger the obligation to register with the ISA.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
December 2009Working Together to Safeguard Children consultation
Department for Children, Schools and Families
In The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report Lord Laming made a number of recommendations which the Government has proposed to address through the revision of Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance. This revised draft guidance addresses 17 of Lord Laming's recommendations, as indicated in the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit's earlier pre-consultation. The revised draft also updates the guidance to reflect changes to the policy and legislative landscape since Working Together was last published in 2006.
The consultation can be downloaded from the DCSF website. The closing date for responses is 11 February 2010.
December 2009Safeguarding children and young people: a scrutiny guide
Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA)
The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) have published a new guide to support overview and scrutiny committees in fulfilling their critical role in relation to safeguarding children.
Safeguarding in this context is used to mean both child protection services and other activities designed to make children safer at home, at school, in their communities or using public services. The guide is designed to assist both councillors and officers in shaping and developing local safe services. The document includes:
- suggestions for approaches to scrutiny
- key references and advice for further reading
- a series of questions that committee members may want to consider when testing whether local arrangements are robust.
The guide can be downloaded from the IDeA website.
December 2009Further guidance on effective practice for Local Safeguarding Children Boards - A Summary Outline for consultation and a call for evidence
National Safeguarding Delivery Unit (NSDU); Department for Children, Schools and Families
Lord Laming published The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report in March 2009. This was an independent report on the progress being made across the country to deliver effective arrangements to protect children, and to identify any barriers to effective, consistent implementation and how these might be overcome. He recommended that the DCSF must provide further guidance to Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) on how to operate as effectively as possible. The National Safeguarding Delivery Unit (NSDU) is seeking views on the proposed outline guidance and issues that it should cover, the style and format of the practice guidance and how to produce the final practice guidance. It also welcomes contributions of evidence of models or templates of effective local practice, exemplars of good practice and case studies which relate to any of the proposed issues identified here.
The consultation and evidence call can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
The NSDU has requested that responses be submitted 29 January 2010, emailed to: lscb.guidance@ndsu.gsi.gov.uk
December 2009Working Together to Safeguard Children: Safeguarding Targets and Indicators Pre-consultation
National Safeguarding Delivery Unit
In The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report Lord Laming made a number of recommendations which the Government has proposed to address through the revision of Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance. In advance of the launch of a formal consultation on the revised guidance before the end of the year, the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit (NSDU) has now published a pre-consultation document outlining the proposed treatment of the 17 recommendations from Lord Laming's progress report that will be addressed through revisions to Working Together.
The consultation can be downloaded from the
Department for Children, Schools and Families website. The closing date for responses is 17 December 2009.
November 2009When to suspect child maltreatment
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)
This guidance provides a summary of alerting features that should prompt a healthcare professional to consider, suspect or exclude child maltreatment, including neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and fabricated or induced illness.
The guidance is available from the NICE website.
July 2009What boys talk about to ChildLine
Over the past five years, the boy-to-girl ratio of callers to ChildLine has increased, changing from one boy for every four girl callers to one boy for every two girl callers. Bullying was the single biggest reason for boys' calls in 2007/08, making up 22 per cent of boys' calls or 12,568 calls. Family relationship problems constituted the largest additional reason for boys calling ChildLine. Twenty-two per cent of calls mentioned family relationship problems as a main or additional concern. In 2007/08, 4,780 boys rang ChildLine to disclose sexual abuse. Boys' calls about sexuality have more than tripled in the last five years, increasing from 980 per year in 2002/03 to 3,510 calls in 2007/08.
The report is available from the NSPCC website.
July 2009Disproportionality in child welfare - Prevalence of black and ethnic minority children within 'looked after' and 'children in need' populations and on child protection registers in England
C Owen and J Statham; Department for Children, Schools and Families
It has long been known that children from black and mixed ethnic backgrounds are over-represented among children who are looked after, and that Asian children tend to be under-represented. This report analyses the differences between ethnic groups but provides no simple answer to the question of why the disproportionality and disparity exist.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2009Safeguarding children from emotional abuse - What works?
J Barlow and A Schrader-MacMillan; Department for Children, Schools and Families
Emotional maltreatment is an inadequately researched and poorly understood concept, despite increasing awareness about the harm it can cause to children's lives. This review of the literature summarises the evidence about what works to prevent child emotional maltreatment before if occurs and also to prevent its recurrence (i.e. once it has taken place), and focuses on the parents or primary carers of children aged 0-19 years. The review found a lack of evaluations of the effectiveness of interventions in the treatment of emotional maltreatment.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2009Systematic reviews of interventions following physical abuse: Helping practitioners and expert witnesses improve the outcomes of child abuse
P Montgomery et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This report was commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as part of the Safeguarding Children research initiative. The aim was to undertake a series of systematic reviews to investigate whether effective interventions exist for children and families where a child has experienced physical abuse. The focus of this review is on secondary prevention of adverse child outcomes and recurrence of abuse in children who have experienced maltreatment. The interventions that target these outcomes have been grouped into three categories: child-focused, parent-focused and family focused interventions.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2009Safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation guidance
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This guidance is aimed at local safeguarding children board (LSCB) partners, practitioners and other professionals working with children and young people. It is intended to help them safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people who are at risk of, or who are being, sexually exploited. It is supplementary to, and should be used in conjunction with, the Government's statutory guidance, Working together to safeguard children.
The guidance is available from the DCSF website.
June 2009Noticing and helping the neglected child: Literature review
B Daniel, J Taylor and J Scott; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This review found that the evidence about parental characteristics associated with neglect was complex and few clear cut pathways identified, but poverty and the cumulative effect of multiple adverse factors played a role. There was little evidence on whether and how parents may seek help from professionals, or on whether professionals are able to recognise neglect, with the exception of health visitors. The authors also found very little research about children's and parents' views.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
April 2009Neglected adolescents - a literature review
M Stein et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This review highlighted the substantial incidence of neglect of adolescents and the need for the development of more age-sensitive definitions for research and practice purposes. The review was not able to identify interventions aimed specifically at adolescent neglect.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
April 2009The child, the family and the GP - Tensions and conflicts of interest in safeguarding children
H Tompsett et al.; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This research found that GPs interviewed saw their role in most cases as referring patients / families on where concerns were raised, while key stakeholders expected GPs to have fuller engagement in all stages of child protection processes. Being able to protect and consider children when the doctor / parent relationship was the usual focus of consultation, was the GPs' most frequently cited conflict of interest. The important role of the health visitor in safeguarding children was highlighted, both for parents and as a key fellow professional for the GP to refer to.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
April 2009Government action following Lord Laming's progress report on safeguarding
Measures announced following the report include:
- The appointment of a new Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children, Sir Roger Singleton, who will report annually to Parliament.
- A new cross-Government National Safeguarding Delivery Unit.
- The Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance to be revised.
- Strengthening the role of Local Safeguarding Children Boards and clarifying their relationship with Children's Trusts.
- Two members of the general public to be appointed to every LSCB.
- Measures to improve support for frontline social workers; to address recruitment and retention; and, to begin to raise the morale of the profession.
- A 'programme of action on health visiting'.
The report is available from the DSCF website, as is the government's response.
March 2009Safeguarding the young and vulnerable: The Government's response
Department for Children, Schools and families
This is the Government's response to the third joint Chief Inspectors' report on arrangements to safeguard children, published in July 2008, which made a number of recommendations to improve safeguarding arrangements for children and young people. There are specific recommendations relating to children in custody, those detained in the asylum system, leaving care, and those in families where there is domestic violence.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
December 2008Review of the use of restraint in juvenile secure settings
Following the inquests into the deaths of Gareth Myatt and Adam Rickwood, the coroners recommended a review of the use of restraint in juvenile custody. The review has now reported and the government has responded, accepting almost all recommendations. The review recommends that pain-inducing techniques could continue to be used 'in exceptional circumstances', but aims to more tightly regulate and monitor the use of restraint.
The review and government response are available from the Ministry of Justice website.
December 2008Learning together to safeguard children: developing a multi-agency systems approach for case reviews
Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)
This report presents a systems model of organisational learning that can be used across agencies involved in safeguarding and child protection work and could help identify why certain factors at work are likely to lead to good or poor safeguarding practice. The model has been adapted from accident investigation methods used in aviation, engineering and, more recently, health.
The report and accompanying guidance can be downloaded from the SCIE website.
October 2008Sex offender disclosure pilot launched
A year-long pilot has been launched in four areas, allowing parents, carers and guardians there to request information from the police about people in contact with their children. If police checks show that the person has a record for child sexual offences, or other offences that might put the child at risk, they may share this information with the child's parent, carer or guardian.
More information is available from the Every Child Matters website.
September 2008Safeguarding Children
Ofsted
This report is published every three years by eight inspectorates to assess how well agencies are working at both national and local levels to safeguard children and young people. The latest review has found that most children now feel safe in their homes and communities, and are receiving the quality of care and support that they need. However, some children and young people are still not well enough served by public services. This is particularly the case for those who are looked after by their local authority, who are in secure settings or are asylum-seeking children.
The report is available from the Safeguarding Children website.
July 2008Children's and young people's experiences of domestic violence involving adults in a parenting role
A Worrall, J Boylan and D Roberts; SCIE
This research briefing reviews the evidence on children's experiences of domestic violence. It states that professional understanding of, and responses to domestic violence should be informed by the perspectives of children and young people. The authors also conclude that multi-agency provision is essential if children and young people affected by domestic violence are to have their differing needs attended to, and that housing, health and education responses should be as much a priority as child protection and criminal justice responses.
The briefing is available on the SCIE website
July 2008Young runaways action plan
The action plan for young runaways sets out the government's future work on this issue including:
- Assessments and support for each young runaway
- Review and development of emergency accommodation provision, to ensure young runaways have somewhere safe to stay.
- A new indicator on young runaways within the National Indicator Set
- Guidance relating to particularly vulnerable groups of missing children, including making links to victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking
- New resources to educate young people about the dangers of running and encourage them to seek support rather than run away
The action plan can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
June 2008Good practice guidance for the providers of social networking and other user interactive services 2008
Home Office task force on child protection on the internet
The first UK Social Networking Guidance provides advice for parents and children which is intended to help provide material for any media literacy, education, awareness or campaign work. It also gives recommendations for good practice for service providers to support a safer environment for young users.
The guidance is available from the Home Office website.
April 2008Social Networking: A quantitative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behaviours and use
Ofcom
This report seeks to understand how both adults and children use social networking sites. Almost half of children aged 8-17 who use the internet have set up their own profile on a social networking site, and some under-13s are by-passing the age restrictions on social networking sites. There is evidence that both adults and children may not think enough about privacy and safety, giving out sensitive personal information, for example. Two-thirds of parents claim to set rules on their child's use of social networking sites, although only 53% of children said that their parents set such rules
The report can be downloaded from the Ofcom website.
April 2008Byron review report: Safer children in a digital world
The recommendations from this review into children's use of the internet and video games include:
- a UK Council for Child Internet Safety
- new transparent and independently monitored codes of practice on areas such as user generated content; improving access to parental control software and safe search features; and better regulation of online advertising.
- an awareness campaign on child internet safety
- reforms to the classification system for video games
The report is available from the DCSF website. The government's response is on the DCSF website.
March 2008The Use of Restraint in Secure Training Centres
Joint Committee on Human Rights
The Committee views current UK law, allowing the use of 'distraction techniques' which cause deliberate pain in Secure Training Centres, as an unacceptable contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It welcomes the Government's suspension of two restraint techniques in December 2007 and recommends abolition of all distraction techniques without delay. It suggests a series of specific measures to ensure compliance of Secure Training Centres with human rights standards, including amendments to their contracts, staff training and provision of information on restraint to detained children and their families.
The report is available from the Committee website.
There has also been a ministerial statement on the progress of the review into the use of restraint, available from the Ministry of Justice website.
March 2008Staying Safe: Action Plan
Department for Children, Schools and Families
Staying Safe is a cross-government strategy for improving children and young people's safety. Many of the measures listed have already been announced in the Children's Plan. The strategy also includes:
- measures to encourage schools to take pupils outside the classroom
- issue new guidance on safeguarding disabled children
- an action plan to help runaway children
The full document is available from the Every Child Matters website.
February 2008Information sharing on child sex offenders
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has announced that new powers announced last year will be piloted in Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Cleveland and Warwickshire. Parents in these areas will be able to check with police whether people given regular unsupervised access to their children have convictions for paedophile offences.
February 2008ContactPoint data security review
Deloitte
This independent review into the security of the ContactPoint database to keep details of all children concludes that the importance of information security appears to have been ingrained in the project. However it notes that risk can only be managed, not eliminated, and therefore there will always be a risk of data security incidents occurring. Recommendations are made to increase the security of the database.
The reports are available from the Every Child Matters website.
February 2008Analysing child deaths and serious injury through abuse: what can we learn?
M Brendon et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families
Serious case reviews are carried out when abuse and neglect are known or suspected factors when a child dies (or is seriously injured or harmed), and there are lessons to be learnt about inter-agency working to protect children. At least every two years, an overview analysis of serious case reviews in England is conducted to draw out themes and trends. The findings of this biennial review analysing 161 cases included:
- Although 83% of the families had been previously known to children's social care, just 12% of the children were named on the child protection register
- A total of 47% of the children were aged under one, but 25% were over 11 years, including 9% who were over 16 (many committed suicide). Many older children were 'hard to help' and neglected by agencies.
- There was evidence of domestic violence in two thirds of families, and mental health problems or substance misuse among well over half of the parents or carers. All three issues were present in a third of cases.
- The police tended to be the agency most involved with these families,
- In families where children suffered long term neglect, children's social care often failed to take account of past history.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
January 2008The Border and Immigration Agency code of practice for keeping children safe from harm - consultation
Home Office
The UK Borders Act 2007 provides for a Code of Practice designed to ensure that in exercising functions in the United Kingdom the Border and Immigration Agency takes appropriate steps to ensure that while children are in the United Kingdom they are safe from harm. This includes the conditions in which parents and children may be detained together, identifying children at risk of harm and referring children to the appropriate agencies where necessary.
The consultation is available from the Home Office website. The deadline for responses is 25 April.
January 2008ChildLine Casenotes: Calls to ChildLine about running away and homelessness
NSPCC
This report analyses calls to Childline about running away or homelessness. In 2006/07, 2,304 children and young people called ChildLine to talk specifically about running away. A third mentioned physical abuse, and 12 per cent were under 12 years old. The most frequently cited reason for running away was an inability to get along with parents/carers. Children calling about homelessness were mainly older. In 2006/07, 2,724 children and young people called ChildLine to speak about homelessness. Around half of these said they had been thrown out by their parents or carers.
The report is available from the NSPCC website.
December 2007New inquiry into risks from internet and video games
The Culture, Media and Sport Parliamentary Committee has announced a new inquiry into the potential benefits and risks from using the internet and playing video games to consumers (including children and young people). This is in addition to the current Byron review.
More information is available from the Parliament website. The deadline for responses is 30 January 2008.
December 2007Risk and childhood
N Madge and J Barker; RSA
This report from the RSA's Risk Commission discusses the range of risks that children and young people face, society's views on them and their actual prevalence. The main conclusions are that taking risks cannot always be avoided, can be seen as a 'normal' part of growing up and is often seen as positive by young people. However, being at risk unintentionally is not the same as knowingly taking risks. The risks children face and take depend on their age, sex, where they live, and their cultural and social background. In many respects, risk stands as a present-day proxy for inequality.
The recommendations for action include: schemes to promote community cohesion and provide 'cushioned' spaces for children and young people; an evidence-based approach to issues such as discouraging young people from smoking; and more male role models and supervision for children.
The report is available from the RSA website.
November 2007Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006: Independent Safeguarding Authority Scheme Consultation
This consultation seeks views on a range of policy issues to ensure the successful implementation implementation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority scheme, under the terms of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. It is jointly published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Home Office, and the Department of Health.
The consultation is available on the DCSF website and the deadline for responses is 20 February 2008.
November 2007NSPCC finds computer retailers unhelpful on child safety
Staff from the NSPCC acting as customers found that when they asked at 14 stores for a computer suitable for a child to use, none mentioned child safety software/parental controls. In another 14 stores, when directly asked what child safety software was available, only two were able to offer clear and authoritative advice.
More information is available from the NSPCC website.
November 2007Report from review of Section 58 of the Children Act
This report sets out the results of the review of Section 58 of the Children Act 2004 which limits the defence of reasonable punishment. This is no longer available for parents who are charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm; inflicting grievous bodily harm; or causing cruelty to a child. It would still be available to the charge of common assault.
Following public consultation, a MORI parents' survey and research with children, the Government has decided to retain the law in its current form, but to work to promote positive parenting.
The parents' survey shows younger parents to have more negative opinions about smacking than older parents. 46 per cent of current parents believed it was 'sometimes necessary to smack a naughty child' and 39 per cent disagreed. The children in the research talked about what made discipline effective, such as clear explanations. Most of the children rejected smacking, while about a quarter were uncomfortable with it, but thought it was acceptable if a child had been really naughty. A few who had been smacked regularly with little explanation showed patterns of aggressive behaviour.
The consultation report and other documents are available from the DCSF website.
October 2007Chairs of independent review of restraint in juvenile custody announced
The Youth Justice Minister, David Hanson, and the Children's Minister, Beverley Hughes, have appointed Andrew Williamson and Peter Smallridge as co-chairs of the independent review of restraint in juvenile secure settings.
The review, which was announced by David Hanson in July, will encompass policy and practice on the use of restraint across a range of juvenile secure settings, including Secure Training Centres (STC), Secure Children's Homes (SCH) and Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). It is expected that the review will report to Ministers within six months.
More information is available from the Ministry of Justice website.
October 2007Review into children and new technologies
Dr Tanya Byron has been asked by the Department of Children, Schools and Families on the best ways of helping parents and their children get the best from new technologies while protecting children from inappropriate or potentially harmful material.
More information is available from the DCSF website.
September 2007What do we know about children's use of online technologies? A report on data availability and research gaps in Europe
E Staksrud, S Livingstone, and L Haddon; EU Kids Online network
This report examines the available research on children and the internet in the 18 countries originally participating in the EU Kids Online network. It identifies key research gaps, for example that nearly all research on children's online activities neglects their lives offline (e.g. their social networks, their parenting, their attitudes to risk-taking or coping with psychological distress). The researchers also note that the agenda is led largely led by adult concerns such as stranger contact and pornography rather than children's which focus more on issues such as bullying.
The report is available from the EU Kids Online website.
September 2007Comparing Children's Online Activities and Risks across Europe: A Preliminary Report Comparing Findings for Poland, Portugal and UK
U Hasebrinket al. (eds); EU Kids Online network
This initial report looks at children's access to and usage of the internet, their online skills and the balance between risks and opportunities. It also looks at the differences in societal attitudes in the three countries and how this could affect parents' actions in relation to their children's internet use.
The report is available from the EU Kids Online website.
September 2007Independent review into the use of restraint in child custody
New rules governing the use of restraint in secure training centres (STCs) have been passed in the House of Lords (The Secure Training Centre (Amendment) Rules 2007). The amended rules permit restraint "for the purposes of ensuring good order and discipline". This considerably widens the circumstances in which staff can use force including the use of painful nose, rib and thumb "distractions".
The Government has also announced a joint review on the use of restraint on children in custody, across the Home Office and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The review will be led by an independent chair and should report within six months of the chair being appointed.
The Lords debate is available on Hansard.
July 2007Consultation: Staying Safe
This consultation from the Department for Children, Schools and Families provides an overview of Government policies to keep children safe from a range of risks including abuse, accidents, crime, bullying, domestic violence and online risks. It also looks at how children can be given more opportunities for positive activities and outside play.
The consultation is available on the DCSF website and the deadline for consultation responses is 31 October 2007.
July 2007Review of the protection of children from sex offenders
The proposals in this review include introducing a legal duty for police and probation services to consider the disclosure of information about convicted child sex offenders to members of the public in all cases. The presumption will be that the authorities will disclose information if they consider that an offender presents a risk of serious harm to a member of the public's children. The example is given of a single mother who might be sharing a home with a registered offender.
It is also proposed that those on the Sex Offenders' Register should have to provide more information including email addresses and information about their relationships. Community awareness campaigns to educate parents about ways to protect their children are also recommended.
The review can be downloaded from the Home Office website.
June 2007Barring Consultation: Implementing the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the Northern Ireland Order 2007
This is a consultation on the policy and processes for barring people from working with children and vulnerable adults under the new vetting and barring scheme to be introduced by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. It includes the list of automatic barring offences.
The deadline for responses is 14 September 2007 and the scheme will come into force from Autumn 2008.The consultation is available on the DCSF website.
June 2007Proposed changes to increase the use of physical restraint in secure training centres
The Ministry of Justice has laid before Parliament The Secure Training Centre (Amendment) Rules 2007, which would increase the occasions on which painful physical restraint could be used on young people in custody. Currently this is only allowed where the young person may harm themselves or others or cause significant damage to custody. These rules are to be changed to allow restraint for the purpose of "ensuring good order and discipline".
More information is available on the website of the Howard League for Penal Reform.
June 2007Section 58 of Children Act 2004 Review (Consultation)
This review seeks the views of parents on physical punishment as well as evidence from those working with children and families on the practical consequences of the changes in the law brought about by section 58 of the Children Act 2004. This removed the defence of reasonable chastisement for an offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on a child, although the defence would still be available for common assault on a child.
There will be two parts to the review: an opinion survey of parents, and a public consultation focused on practitioners. The deadline for consultation responses will be 10 August 2007.
The consultation is available on the DCSF website.
June 2007UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: UK report
The UK government is in the process of preparing its third report on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Every state that has ratified the UNCRC is required to report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on how it is fulfilling its human rights obligations. A draft of the UK report is available for comment until 6 June 2007 and will be submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child by 15 July 2007. The committee will examine the UK's progress on adhering to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child later this year.
The draft report can be downloaded from the Every Child Matters website.
An NGO report is also being submitted, coordinated by the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE).
May 2007Guidance on abuse linked to a belief in spirit possession
This guidance provides advice to practitioners and managers to help them identify and deal with abuse that may be linked to a belief in spirit possession. The guidance is aimed at all agencies working with children, and should be used together with the statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2006).
The guidance can be downloaded from the Every Child Matters website.
May 2007NSPCC survey on children's experiences of violence
In this survey, 42 per cent of children said they had been hit, punched or kicked - and nine per cent attacked with a weapon or object - at school. More than one in five (22%) said they were scared of violence directed against them in school. One in four children said they had witnessed domestic violence between adult family members.
The survey is part of the NSPCC's 'Don't Hide It' campaign urging children to speak out about abuse. More information is available from the NSPCC website.
May 2007Court of Appeal rules that social workers do not owe parents a duty of care
In this case where children were placed on the child protection register, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the right to respect for family life in the Human Rights Act 1998 did not give rise to a duty of care to the parent of a child on the part of a local authority when exercising, through social workers, its duty to protect children from abuse. Since the local authority's principal duty was to the child in need of protection, there were found to be strong reasons for not having a duty of care to the parents.
The judgement in the case is available online.
May 2007Children and Young People's Concerns about their Sexual Health and Well-being: Final report to the Scottish Executive
The Centre for Research on Families and Relationships and ChildLine Scotland
This study analysed calls to ChildLine Scotland during 2003 and 2004, that featured, as the main problem, one of the five sexual health issues: facts of life, sexual abuse, pregnancy, relationships or sexuality. These acccounted for about a quarter of all calls.
The policy recommendations include needs based sex and relationships education which does not promote a restrictive view of normality to encourage young people to accept themselves and others; children and young people to be given a clear understanding of their rights, in the context of their sexual health and wellbeing; universal access to confidential services; and greater social recognition and associated education that abuse is often perpetrated by those children know and love, including by women, to help children recognise what is happening to them and seek help.
The report can be downloaded from the Scottish Executive website.
March 2007Towards a Public Service Agreement on safeguarding
J Mesie, R Gardner and L Radford, NSPCC; DfES
The study examined international literature about measurement of performance in relation to safeguarding and applied the evidence by constructing a model of the main features of a safeguarded
society.
Outcome measures were proposed relating to:
- Primary prevention - taking universal action to promote conditions so that problems do not arise;
- Secondary prevention - focusing on individuals or families who are vulnerable, but may not yet have problems;
- Tertiary prevention - targeting individuals or families who have problems to minimise their adverse effects; and
- Quaternary prevention - optimising the prospects for children where problems have resulted in their placement in substitute care.
The report can be downloaded from the DfES website.
February 2007Calls to ChildLine about sexual abuse
ChildLine casenotes
This report reviews calls to ChildLine about sexual abuse in 2005/06. In 2005/06, a total of 11,976 children spoke to ChildLine about sexual abuse. Recommendations from the report include measures to make it easier for children to tell someone about abuse, safely and confidentially; giving children information and advice about sex and sexual relationships; raising public awareness about the child sexual abuse within the family; prevention work with perpetrators and their partners; raising awareness of the existence of female sex offenders; and offering all sexually abused children therapy and support to help them overcome the effects of their abuse.
The report can be downloaded from the NSPCC website.
February 2007Children and Safeguarding: Children's Views for the DfES Priority Review
R Morgan, Children's Rights Director; Commission for Social Care Inspection
This report is intended to feed into the Government's review on safeguarding for children. It gives up to date views from children and young people living away from home or getting help from children's social care services about staying safe from harm.
The report can be downloaded from the CSCI website.
January 2007Children's Consultation on the Children's Index: A Children's Views Report
R Morgan, Children's Rights Director; Commission for Social Care Inspection
This report gives children's views about the Government's proposals about how the new Children's Index should work. Children consulted felt that that only people who actually work with them, such as teachers, doctors and social workers, should be able to look up information on them on the Children's Index. Otherwise they felt that their privacy could be breached, or the information could get into the wrong hands.
The report can be downloaded from the CSCI website.
January 2007Young People's experience of adult mental health facilities
Office of the Children's Commissioner
The research conducted for the Commissioner by YoungMinds, the children's mental health charity, tracks the experiences of 16 young people across England and Wales who had been admitted to adult psychiatric wards in the last 18 months. Despite a target recommending that placements in adult care be phased out or only used in emergency circumstances, a number of the young people spent extended periods of up to a year on adult wards.
The young people highlighted that they were not involved in decisions made about their care and treatment, including discharge arrangements and medication, or provided with information about their rights. They reported being moved rapidly between facilities with little warning or explanation. Many felt unsafe during their time on adult psychiatric wards, and there were few leisure or educational opportunities.
The report can be downloaded from the Children's Commissioner's website.
January 2007Consultation on Safeguarding Children from Abuse linked to a Belief in Spirit Possession
The Department for Education and Skills is consulting on draft non-statutory guidance for all agencies on child abuse linked to a belief in spirit possession. The intended guidance is supplementary to the statutory guidance on safeguarding: "Working Together".
More information is available from the DfES website.The deadline for responses is 9 March 2007.
January 2007Protocol for Managing Serious Incidents established
The protocol has been agreed by the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, the Healthcare Commission and Ofsted. It has been created to deal with cases involving abuse or serious concerns about the welfare of children - primarily in institutional settings or settings that fall outside existing registration, regulatory or inspection arrangements - where there is a need for management and coordination at a regional or cross-regional level due to the complexity of the issues raised, or the number of agencies involved.
The protocol can be downloaded from the Every Child Matters website.
January 2007Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006.
The Act aims to address failings in current vetting and barring schemes identified by the Bichard Inquiry Report. It provides the legislative framework for a new vetting and barring scheme for people who work with children and vulnerable adults.
November 2006 Children's services (26)
ContactPoint database switched off
The ContactPoint database was switched off at noon on 6 August 2010. The database will be destroyed using Government-approved security standards and processes. Tim Loughton MP, Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Children and Families, said that it was disproportionate and unjustifiable to hold records on every child in the country, accessible to large numbers of people. He stated that the government was exploring the practicality of a new national signposting service which would focus on helping practitioners find out whether another practitioner is working, or has previously worked, in another authority area with the same vulnerable child.
More information is available on the Every Child Matters website.
August 2010The Children's Plan two year's on - a progress report
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The Children's Plan built on the Every Child Matters framework. In this report the Government takes the opportunity to chart the progress that has been made so far and share their next steps. The report states that DCSF policies have made a real difference to children's services benefiting children and young people, their families and practitioners. It also states that the Children's Plan has driven improvements by putting the child at the centre of policies, meaning services work more closely together to meet all the needs of the child. Examples given of progress for children and families include:
- over 3,000 Sure Start Children's Centres – offering integrated services to over 2.4 million children under five and their families;
- free early learning and childcare places for disadvantaged two-year-olds – more than 20,000 places now offer to 15 per cent of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds;
- over 4,000 people now trained as Early Years Professionals;
- 90 per cent of schools offering extended services
- over 2,000 families supported by Family Intervention Projects
It also sets out next steps, including new guarantees for parents and children of what they can expect from services, with the aim of ensuring that parents' and children's needs are central and partnerships within and between schools and children's services, to ensure services work together to intervene early and successfully. A new Children's Plan website has also been launched. This includes case studies and a video showing how the Children's Plan has made differences to practitioners, parents, children and young people over the past two years.
The report can be accessed on the DCSF website. See also the Children's Plan website.
December 2009ContactPoint - Lessons learned from the early adopter phase
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The report evaluates the initial phase of the ContactPoint rollout. The report states that early feedback from practitioners is good, with more than 75 per cent stating they believe ContactPoint will be helpful in their future work. ContactPoint is an online directory that provides a quick way for authorised practitioners to find out who else is working with the same child. It's aim is to ensure faster and better contact between children's services professionals across England. ContactPoint was developed in response to a key recommendation of Lord Laming's inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie, which among other things highlighted the need to improve information exchange between different agencies working with children. The evaluation follows trial of the system by 18 early adopter local authorities as well as children's charities Barnardo's and Kids. The database is now in the process of being rolled out nationally.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
November 2009Organisation, Outcomes and Costs of Inter-agency Training for Safeguarding and Promoting the Welfare of Children
J. Carpenter et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This research aimed to develop an evidence base for inter-agency training to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The study addressed how inter-agency training was organised, and the type of training delivered and its effectiveness and value for money.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
November 2009ContactPoint: Consultation on Proposed Amendments to the Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This database aims to make it easy for a practitioner to find out who else is working with a child or young person. The ContactPoint regulations provide a legal framework for the operation and maintenance of the system. The consultation covers three proposed minor amendments:
- to give effect to the previously-announced Government commitment in response to Sir Roger Singleton's review of safeguarding arrangements in independent schools to "...ensure that pupils who receive education in schools in England, but who are not ordinarily resident in England, are covered by ContactPoint";
- replacing the definition of 'parental responsibility' used in the ContactPoint regulations with the definition of 'parent' to match that used by schools for the collection of schools' census data; and
- a change of terminology so that 'targeted and specialist services' are called 'additional services' instead.
The consultation can be downloaded from the DCSF website. The deadline for responses is 29 December 2009.
October 2009Learning lessons from serious case reviews: year 2
Ofsted
This is Ofsted's second report on serious case reviews. It covers the evaluations of reviews carried out and completed between April 2008 and March 2009 and brings together findings in relation to the practice issues arising from the reviews, the process of conducting them and the emerging lessons. Serious case reviews are carried out when abuse and neglect are known or suspected factors when a child dies (or is seriously injured or harmed), and there are lessons to be learnt about inter-agency working to protect children. They are carried out by Local Safeguarding Children Boards. Of the 173 serious case reviews looked at 23% were judged good and 43% adequate. However, over a third of reviews were judged as inadequate. Further work therefore needs to be done to ensure the review process improves the way children are protected from harm across the country. The findings show that several weaknesses in practice identified in Ofsted's previous report remain. In particular, instances of weak management and lack of joint working within and across agencies remain in some areas. Other examples of weak practice include failure to focus on the needs of the child, insufficient staff expertise, not making adequate risk assessments, and poor identification of ethnic or social cultural issues.
The report is available from the Ofsted website.
October 2009Understanding Serious Case Reviews and their impact: A biennial analysis of Serious Case Reviews 2005-07
M Brandon et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families
Serious case reviews are undertaken when a child dies or is seriously injured, and abuse or neglect are known or suspected to be factors in the death. They are carried out under the auspices of Local Safeguarding Children Boards so that lessons can be learnt locally. This is the fourth biennial overview of serious case reviews across England and was commissioned to draw out themes and trends so that lessons learnt from these cases can inform both policy and practice. This analysis highlights that practitioners who are overwhelmed, not just by the volume of work but also by its nature, may not be able to do even the simple things well. Good support, supervision and a fully staffed workforce is crucial. Information about men was very often missing and in many reviews so was information about the child.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2009Effectiveness of the new Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England: Interim report
A France et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This research looked at how Local Safeguarding Children Boards manage their safeguarding role and if the new systems and arrangements are 'fit for purpose' and are influencing and improving frontline practice. The research involved a national mapping exercise as well as in-depth interviews.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2009The protection of children in England: action plan - The Government's response to Lord Laming
HM Government
This action plan sets out the Government's response to Lord Laming's recommendations in 'The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report.' Actions include revising the core statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, a new Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children, and a cross-Government National Safeguarding Delivery Unit. The report also covers inspection arrangements and local leadership and accountability. A £57.8 million Social Work Transformation Fund will be invested in training.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
May 2009New Ofsted arrangements for the inspection of children's services
Ofsted has published details of how its inspection of children's services will be conducted under the new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA). The frameworks published are the arrangements for the new Ofsted rating for council children's services and the programme of inspection of safeguarding and looked after children, which includes unannounced inspections of child protection services in every local authority in England. Inspections will begin in June.
More information is available from the Ofsted website.
May 2009The first frontline professionals start using ContactPoint
Up to 800 frontline practitioners including social workers, health professionals and head teachers have started using the ContactPoint database. They are based in 17 local authorities in the North West and national voluntary sector partners Barnardo's and KIDS.
More information is available from the DCSF website.
May 2009Care applications by local authorities have risen
Cafcass statistics show that care applications by local authorities have risen since November following the publicity around the Baby P case. A survey by the Local Government Association also shows that local authorities are having increasing difficulties recruiting and retaining child social workers.
More information is available from the Cafcass and LGA websites.
May 2009Review of the involvement and action taken by health bodies in relation to the case of Baby P
Care Quality Commission
This report highlights the failings of the four NHS trusts in the care they provided to Baby Peter. Since his death, it shows that trusts have taken some measures to improve their child protection procedures. However, more work needs to be done to: ensure sufficient staffing levels; improve attendance of healthcare staff at child protection case conferences; and address communication problems when making referrals.
The report is available from the Care Quality Commission website.
May 2009Understanding parents information needs and experiences where professional concerns about non-accidental injury were not substantiated
S Komulainen and L Haines; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This project explored parents' experiences of situations where concerns of Non-Accidental Injury (NAI) were raised and how they remembered and reflected on these. Most parents preferred open and honest face-to-face communication regarding what was going to happen as a result of the child protection enquiries and particularly about the child's medical care. They expected clear communication, preferably in writing, that their case was closed. Many parents stated that being subject to child protection investigations left them distressed and had a long-lasting effect on the whole family.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
April 2009First stages of ContactPoint initiated
Department for Children, Schools and Families
Training for some officials on ContactPoint has started. ContactPoint is an online directory of basic contact information for all children designed to ensure easier and faster contact between doctors, nurses, social workers and police when they suspect a child is at risk. It contains the name, address, date of birth, GP and school of every child in the country and the name and contact details of any professional working with that particular child. Frontline practitioners will start training and operating the system in these areas in the spring and across the country from the summer.
More information is available on the DCSF website.
January 2009Laming progress report on safeguarding
Following the conviction of the adults accused of causing or allowing the death of Baby P, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, has asked Lord Laming to prepare an urgent report of progress being made across the country to implement effective arrangements for safeguarding children.
More information is available from the DCSF website.
November 2008Children and Young Persons Act 2008 receives Royal Assent
The Children and Young Persons Act legislates for the recommendations from the Care Matters white paper and includes provisions in relation to well-being of children and young people, private fostering, child death notification to Local Safeguarding Children Boards and appropriate national authorities, the powers of the Secretary of State to conduct research and applications for the discharge of Emergency Protection Orders.
The Act is available from the OPSI website.
November 2008New action on runaway children
The Government has announced that it will develop plans to provide more help to the estimated 86,000 children and young people in England who run away from home and care each year. A new cross-Government Working Group will:
- Develop an action plan to drive forward the work on young runaways by June 2008;
- Conduct a review of emergency accommodation provision - for completion by summer 2008;
- Review the "Missing from Home and Care" guidance - for completion by the end of 2009; and
- Consider data collection methods - full technical consultation autumn 2008.
A new measure on the number of young people who run away from home or care will be included in the National Indicator Set
More information is available from the DCSF website.
January 2008ContactPoint database postponed
There has been statement to Parliament that there will be a five-month delay in rolling out the ContactPoint database. An independent assessment of security procedures will be undertaken by Deloitte. The change to the timetable will mean deployment to the "early adopters" local authorities and national agencies in September or October 2008, and to all others by May 2009.
The statement can be read on Hansard.
November 2007Making ContactPoint work
R Morgan, Children's Rights Director for England; Ofsted
Children living away from home, children receiving care services and care leavers were asked for their opinions on the rules for management of the ContactPoint database. Safety and confidentiality were found to be the main issues for these children and young people. They were concerned about paedophiles, people having access to their confidential information without a good reason and staff passing on their log-in details to others because rules are not always followed. One child said "'I will worry my dad could find me".
The report is available from the Ofsted website.
November 2007Understanding the Contribution of Sure Start Local Programmes to the Task of Safeguarding Children's Welfare
National Evaluation of Sure Start Team; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This report discusses collaboration between SSLPs and social services departments around safeguarding. It is based an exploration of the safeguarding policy and practice of 8 local programmes, identified as exemplifying 'relatively good practice', and a study of four local authorities, to enable the fuller exploration of wider partnerships and networking activity across a whole local authority. The lessons from different approaches are drawn out.
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
July 2007ContactPoint: Consultation on draft guidance
This consultation is on the draft guidance for using ContactPoint (formerly called the information sharing index), set up under section 12 of the Children Act 2004. This database aims to make it easy for a practitioner to find out who else is working with a child or young person. It will hold the following information:
- Basic identifying information for all children in England (aged up to 18): name, address, gender, date of birth and a unique identifying number.
- Basic identifying information about the child's parent or carer.
- Contact details for services involved with the child.
- A means to indicate whether a practitioner is a lead professional and if they have undertaken an assessment under the Common Assessment Framework.
A policy statement has also been published on ContactPoint.
The consultation can be downloaded from the DfES website. The deadline for responses is 27 July 2007.
May 2007Narrowing the gap: the inspection of children's services
Ofsted's first overview since taking charge of children's social care inspection found services generally improving but still with many weaknesses, particularly for vulnerable children.
The report examines evidence from 37 joint area reviews of local authority children's services which took place in 2005-06 and the annual performance assessments of 102 councils that took place in 2006. Of the 139 authorities covered by this report, of the 139 authorities covered by this report, 10 were found to be outstanding, 97 good, 28 adequate and 4 inadequate. 'Adequate' services delivered only minimum requirements and were not demonstrably cost-effective.
The most frequently occurring weaknesses included:
- wide differences in health provision between areas and between different groups of children and young people, with the more vulnerable too frequently faring less well
- long waiting times for Child and Adolescent Mental Health services, including for those in acute need
- thresholds governing access to social care services are set too high to ensure children's safety and wellbeing
- shortages of social workers
- delays in investigating child protection concerns and completing assessments
The report can be downloaded from the Ofsted website.
Decision not yet made about release of sex offender information
Despite newspaper reports of pilot schemes allowing parents to know how many sex offenders live in their neighbourhoods, the Home Office has announced that this decision has not yet been taken. A government review of how best to handle information about child sex offenders is underway, but no date has been set for its completion and release.
More information is available on the Home Office Website.
April 2007Children's Databases - Safety and Privacy: A report for the Information Commissioner
R Anderson, I Brown, R Clayton, T Dowty, D Korff and E Munro; Foundation for Information Policy Research
This report reviews the establishment of databases relating to children across social services, education, crime and health. It identifies problems relating to possible 'e-discrimination'; a lack of proven interventions to 'treat' problems when they have been identified; a loose interpretation of data protection law and privacy law; and the potential dangers of sharing poor-quality data.
The report can be downloaded from the Information Commissioner's website.
November 2006Protecting Children's Personal Information: ICO Issues Paper
Information Commissioner's Office
This paper relates to the issues in the above report. It sets out future actions by the Information Commissioner including producing guidance on issues relating to children's databases
It can be downloaded from the Information Commissioner's website.
November 2006 Family relationships (5)
Children and families experiencing domestic violence: Police and social services' responses
N Stanley et al; University of Central Lanchaster and NSPCC
This research examined both the notification process itself and the subsequent service pathways followed by families brought to the attention of children's social services in this way. It also explored which other agencies contributed to services for families experiencing domestic violence and captured young people's, survivors' and perpetrators' views of services.
In England and Wales, the Adoption and Children Act 2002 amended the definition of significant harm provided by the Children Act 1989, adding a new category of "impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another".
Since domestic violence and children's exposure to it represent a widespread social problem, this amendment has acted to draw a potentially large group of families within the remit of children's social services. The growing mountain of police notifications to children's social services of domestic violence incidents where children are involved and the pressures that this has created have been noted by a range of commentators in the UK, North America and Australia.
The notification system has emerged against what is acknowledged to be a background of fragmented services for children and families experiencing domestic violence, and represents an attempt to improve communication and coordination between universal and highly targeted services.
The executive summary for this report is available from the NSPCC website .
September 2009Family legal aid reform
House of Commons Justice Committee
This select committee report criticises the government's approach to legal aid reform, arguing that the Legal Services Commission's proposals for reform are not evidence-based. The Committee has recognised the need to control legal aid costs but note the Government has made little effort to address directly the reasons for rising case costs in family law. The Committee heard that the proposed fixed fees would over-reward simple cases and under-reward the more complex and serious cases (under the level at which special fees for 'very high cost' cases apply).
The report is available from the Committee website.
July 2009Multi-agency practice guidelines: Handling cases of forced marriage
Forced Marriage Unit
These multi-agency practice guidelines aim to help frontline professionals (such as teachers, police officers, social and health care professionals, housing officers) work more closely together and to better identify and protect children and adults at risk of forced marriage. The revised guidelines replace the existing individual guidelines which were tailored for specific professionals and now brings these together into one single document. The guidelines address specific areas where practitioners may inadvertently endanger a victim and give advice on the steps practitioners can take to reduce the risk of harm to victims.
The report is available from the Forced Marriage Unit website.
July 2009Forced marriage: Prevalence and service response
A Kazimirski et al.; Department for Children, Schools and Families
The national prevalence of reported cases of forced marriage in England is estimated to be between 5,000 and 8,000. This estimate does not include those victims who have not come of the attention of any agencies or professionals. The quality of FM co-ordination was significantly affected by existing levels of domestic violence resource and capacity within each of the four local authorities studied. The BME voluntary sector was perceived as performing a central role in addressing the gaps in statutory co-ordination. Such activities were commonly undertaken without LA funding or with very limited resources and capacity. Key partner agencies such as Education, Welfare and Children's Services (CS) were reported by some to be non-responsive to other agencies' concerns about specific cases of FM, and sometimes dismissed it as a 'cultural issue'. Professionals expressed specific concerns about the gap in effective case response for 16- to 18-year-old FM victims. The benefits of prevention activities were clear, and the need for more prevention work was expressed.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
July 2009Dealing with child contact issues: A literature review of mechanisms in different jurisdictions
F Wasoff; Scottish Executive Social Research
This report presents the findings of a literature review of mechanisms for dealing with child contact issues in England and Wales, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Sweden, France and Denmark. There is a particular focus on how these jurisdictions address contact issues where there has been a history of intractable conflict, child abuse or neglect or domestic abuse.
The report can be downloaded from the Scottish Government
website.
November 2007 Family services (14)
Safeguarding and looked after children: national results for children's social work practitioners survey 2010
Ofsted
The survey of social workers reveals that most social workers feel well supported by line managers, and are positive about the continuing training available to them in their local authority. However a quarter of newly qualified social workers do not feel that their caseloads have been properly protected in their first year of work and only one in five of all social workers responding felt they had enough time to work effectively with the children and young people on their caseload. Generally, social work practitioners did not feel encouraged to suggest improvements or to have a say in the running of the service.
The report can be found on the Ofsted website.
August 2010A best practice guide for use by all professionals involved with children and families pre-proceedings and in preparation for applications made under section 31 of the Children Act 1989
Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice has published a practice guide for professionals involved with children and their families before proceedings and in preparation for applications for a care or supervision order made under section 31 of the Children Act 1989. The guide is written for all professionals who work with or for children and families where s.31 CA 1989 care proceedings are being considered or applied for. In particular it is aimed at:: LA social workers, LA managers, lawyers for the LA and for parents, Children's Guardians, lawyers for children, HMCS court staff and legal advisers, the judiciary and expert assessors who may be instructed pre-proceedings and within proceedings.
The practice guide is available from the Ministry of Justice website.
October 2009Access to justice - new fee structures for family legal aid
Ministry of Justice, Legal Services Commission
The Ministry of Justice and the Legal Services Commission have published new fee structures for family legal aid that replace hourly rates with fixed fees. The new structure is the latest phase in the government's legal aid reform programme, the stated aim of which is to put legal aid expenditure on a sustainable level to help ensure that resources are prioritised effectively to help those most in need. The scheme introduces more graduation into the fee structure with the aim of ensuring that those advocates who take on more difficult cases are better rewarded than those who take on less complex cases.
The consultation response is available from the the Legal Services Commission website.
October 2009Launch of Think Family toolkit
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The toolkit contains many examples of local practice, research findings, sources of reference and contributions from a range of government departments and local agencies. The toolkit contains:
- emerging practice in implementing Think Family systems and services, and when working with adult services
- targeted support for parents and families and for Family Intervention Projects
- evidence and cost effectiveness for parenting and family interventions
- safeguarding children supported through family interventions
It is available to download or order for free from Teachernet Online Publications.
September 2009Protecting children - Supporting Foster Carers - dealing with an allegation
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This guide aims to provide foster carers and their families with information about what happens if an allegation of abuse or neglect is made against them, or other situations where there is serious concern about their practice or standards of care. It explains what support is available in such situations and provides contact information. It is also aimed at childcare workers involved in investigations of foster carers, looked after young people, their advocates and birth families.
The guide is available from the DCSF website.
September 2009Developing an effective response to neglect and emotional harm to children
R Gardner; University of East Anglia
and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
This report draws on a literature review and interviews with a range of professionals. It argues for a national strategy for child neglect that better reflects the holistic policy framework of Every Child Matters. The report sets out the nature of neglect and emotional harm and the impacts on children, and what constitutes an effective professional response.
The report can be downloaded from the NSPCC website.
May 2008Care profiling study
J Masson, J Pearce and K Bader; Ministry of Justice
The study provides baseline data on care proceedings brought under the Children Act 1989, as a basis against which reforms to the care proceedings system could be evaluated. It profiles characteristics of the children and families involved in care proceedings, the concerns and actions of local authorities and plans for the child's care. The authors conclude that there is no evidence that the local authorities brought care proceedings without good reason. Neglect was the basis for concern in three-quarters of cases; fewer than 10 per cent involved major injuries to children but 40 per cent of cases resulted from a crisis.
The report is available from the Ministry of Justice website.
April 2008Family group conferencing in Australia 15 years on
N Harris; Australian Institute of Family Studies
This paper compares the implementation and use of conferencing in Australia relative to the original conferencing model developed in New Zealand. Sharing and building upon the knowledge developed in separate locations contributes to debates regarding how conferences can better contribute to broader child protection goals.
February 2008Revised Children Act guidance on court orders
This guidance replaces the 1991 guidance and features a number of key changes including: the expectation that core assessments will have been carried out prior to section 31 applications being made; that as part of this, careful consideration will have been given to the possibility of the placement of children with relatives and friends; and the sending a 'Letter before Proceedings' to parents as part of improving communications with families and to enable parents to gain access to legal help.
The guidance can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
February 2008Parental Learning Disability and Children's Needs: Family Experiences and Effective Practice
H Cleaver and D Nicholson; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This research into support for parents with learning disabilities emphasises the serious nature of the problems facing these families. Of the children referred to social services, those living with parents with learning disabilities had significantly higher levels of need than those who did not. Most parents were experiencing in addition poor mental and physical health, domestic violence, childhood abuse, growing up in care, or substance misuse, and many were bringing up disabled children.
Two inadequacies in practice are highlighted: the short term nature of involvement leading to repeated family crises and re-referral, and the lack of collaborative work between adult and children's services despite much Government guidance.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
November 2007Reaching Out: Think Family
Social Exclusion Task Force, Cabinet Office
This report from the Families at Risk Review on whole family support and integrating adults' and children's services sets out the analysis and emerging themes. Issues in the report include extending the integration of children's services to all of the services involved with families at risk; creating incentives for services to focus on families at risk; and the need to better identify families at risk. Full policy recommendations are to follow in the autumn.
The report can be downloaded from the Cabinet Office website.
New Family Drug and Alcohol Court in London
The central London-based pilot Family Drug and Alcohol Court aims to stop children being taken into care by putting families with drink and drug problems on rigorous support programmes. The court will bring together Camden Council, Westminster Council, Islington Council. The Department for Education and Skills has committed £1.35 million to the three-year project and the three London boroughs involved are providing a further £1.6 million.
The same judge will deal with a case at each hearing and there will be a court-based team with all the relevant agencies or departments represented. They will be able to make same-day referrals for help, advice and support in cases where children are exposed to substance misuse in the home.
More information is available from Westminster Council website.
April 2007The Response of Child Protection Practices and Procedures to Children Exposed to Domestic Violence or Parental Substance Misuse
H Cleaver, D Nicholson, S Tarr and D Cleaver, Royal Holloway; Department for Education and Skills
This study looks at how children's social care responds to families where problems require the intervention of both adult and children's services. It found that staff did not always follow government guidance. Involvement of services for domestic violence or substance misuse by children's social workers was low. The authors suggest that a desire to get assessments completed quickly may limit understanding of the child and family's circumstances and reduce the number of referrals to other services.
The executive summary can be downloaded from the DfES website.
January 2007Beyond refuge: supporting young runaways
C Macaskill; NSPCC
This report presents the findings of a research project run by St Christopher's Fellowship and the NSPCC, collating the views of those most closely affected by running away - young people from the London Refuge for Runaway Children, their parents and the professionals responsible for providing support to runaways. It examines why young people leave home and the availability and range of support services to assist those who return to their families.
The study found that the period during transition to secondary school and before that in primary school was a pivotal time when additional support was important; that mediation was most useful in the earlier stages of running away; that there was a lack of services both for young people and their parents; and that social workers' strategies may be inadequate, particularly with regard to child protection.
The executive summary can be read and the full report ordered on the NSPCC website.
December 2006 General (2)
Database state
R Anderson et al.; Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust
This report surveys the main government databases that keep information on all of us, or at least on a very substantial minority of us. It concludes that some of these are almost certainly illegal under human rights or data protection law and should be scrapped or substantially redesigned. These include ContactPoint, the electronic Common Assessment Framework, ONSET, a Home Office system that gathers information from many sources and seeks to predict which children will offend in the future. Databases that were also considered to have significant problems include the National Pupil Database and the National Childhood Obesity Database.
The report is available from the JRRT website.
March 2009The Children's Plan one year on: Progress report
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This document reviews progress on the December 2007 Children's Plan and summarises the DCSF's plans for 2009. These focus on child health, safeguarding children, educational achievement, young people and Children's Trusts. A new announcement in the plan is a £200 million fund to support the co-location of services so families can access services all on one site
The report is available from the DCSF website.
December 2008 Young people (3)
Consultation: Safeguarding Children and Young People who may be affected by Gang Activity
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This draft supplementary guidance is intended to help agencies and professionals ensure that the safeguarding process responds effectively to the needs of children and young people who are at risk of gang-related violence and harm. It should be used in conjunction with, the Government's statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (2006).
The consultation is available from the DCSF website. The deadline for responses is 19 June 2009.
March 2009Reports from seminar on developing guidelines for child-friendly justice
Council of Europe
The seminar, which was held as part of the Council of Europe's child rights strategy meeting, aimed to identify principles of child friendly justice. Export reports were presented on 'Achievements in taking children's rights further in civil justice'; 'Crossing boundaries in the administration of children's justice'; and 'Victims or perpetrators, the necessity of adapting to children's needs'.
The reports are available from the Child Rights Information Network website.
September 2008Groups, gangs and weapons
Youth Justice Board
This research from the Youth Justice Board found that teenagers could gravitate towards gangs and group violence as a result of poor family relationships, exclusion from school, absence of positive role models and a lack of youth facilities. It also found that:
- Mislabelling of youth groups as gangs runs the risk of glamourising them and may even encourage young people to become involved in more serious criminal behaviour.
- Where there is serious group offending and gang activity, young adults are likely to be leading this.
- Group offending is a complex and fluid issue and strategies to tackle it need to be geared to local problems.
- Young people who carry a knife say they do so to protect themselves rather than with intent to use. Young people who have been the victims of crime are more likely to say they have carried a knife.
- Young women can be victims of gangs through vulnerability, abuse and exploitation
The summary can be downloaded and the full report ordered from the YJB website.
May 2007Design:This Way Up
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