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1.2: Safeguarding is much more than just protecting children from direct abuse, any service that works with children and young people have bigger role than protecting from abuse and neglect. The wider aspects of safeguarding include keeping the children safe from accidents, crime and bullying, forced marriages, missing children, actively promoting their welfare in a healthy and safe environment.
1.3: It is important that any one working with children are able to recognise the if a child is at risk or harm because of their vulnerability, the earlier it is recognised the better. Clear lines of responsibility exits to ensure children are protected. Department for education is overall responsible for safeguarding and child protection in England, guidance’s to local authorities for statutory and non statutory, local authorities use guidance to produce procedure’s for services and practitioners, services used for bases for their policy and procedures. All guidelines are intended to make sure that all the services and agencies involved with children work together to improve safeguarding.
1.4: Society has a duty to protect children and young people, we have a network of professional organisations supported by legislation, policy and procedures to do this. Each service involved conducts an individual review of its practices to identify if any changes should be made, the Lscb also commissions an overview report from each individual person. Local authorities are required to notify Ofstead of all incidents involving children that may lead to a serious case review, including where a child has died or suffered harm or neglect, or where concerns are raised over professional practices.
Lessons learned from serious case reviews usually include the importance of
: Sharing information and communication
: Keeping an accurate timeline of events
: Clear planning and roles
: Overcoming the problems from hard to reach families
: Good assessment of the child’s situation
: Early recognition of children in need of protection by mainstream services such as schools or health services
: Partnership working with agencies that parents may be receiving services from i.e mental health services.
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2.2: Essential to safeguarding and encouraging the welfare of a child or young person is having a child’s centred approach. This could include seeing and keeping a child focused through difficulties they could be experiencing. Listening and ascertaining a child’s wishes and feelings will be important for the child, especially if they have formed a strong bond with the professional they are opening up to. It will also be imperative to a child if that professional close to them understands their daily lives and what they might be experiencing, no matter how hard it could be for the adult to hear. Crucially the child or young person will know there are people out there to help and support them when they need advice or guidance.
2.3: The importance of partnership working to safeguard is that agencies and other professionals need to work together, it starts with government legislation right through to local working. Each professional or agency with have a different role of expertise so vulnerable children will need coordinated help from health, education, children social care and the voluntary sector and often the justice services so its important that there is good communication within all the different services available. Safeguarding and