Law Assignment for Child Protection

Law Essay Case Study of Stephanie and Stephen. This essay sh in all be based on the assumption that I am a local authority social worker given the courtship referral of Stephanie and Stephen. The essay shall be focusing on the righteousnesss, policy and procedures that will guide done the assessment process of this case and how these can be used to meet the requisites of all concerned. The naming includes discussions on close to of the key aspects of framework for the assessment of infantren in pick out and their families and The nestlingrens propel 1989, in particular section 17, duty to safety and I will incorporate anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice.Stephanie and Stephen are under the progress of 18, this on that pointfore puts them into the category of twain of them being classed as small fryren. nether the Children Act 1989 it clearly states that any somebody under the age of 18 and 16 if married is seen as a tiddler. This consequently places a s tatutory duty on any local authority baby bird social give care worker to nurture them from any harm and promote their eudaimonia. Section 17 (1. ) of the Children Act 1989 says that Local Authorities, realise a normal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of clawren inwardly their area are in conveyment concomitant to receiving this referral and acting in agreement to the primary aims of the Government Policy, my role and responsibility is to set up sure that both Stephanie and Stephen are protected from any harm and that their development of necessity are met accordingly and fitly. In the signifier of this, if I believed that a crime had been committed, I would have a duty to report this immediately to the police.Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 states that Childrens Social Care Services must inform the police whenever they receive a referral, which whitethorn constitute a criminal offence against a child, even when they have decided that they are dealing wit h the referral as a Section 17 (www. Proceduresonline. com) It is my duty to streng consequently if any, the take of risk to Stephanie and Stephen and to use command where necessary. The appellative of a high-risk individual provides the mechanism for ensuring that children are protected hile avoiding unneeded intervention. (Parton et al. 1997) To try and establish the course of march, I will be guided by the Framework for the opinion of Children in fate and their Families and Working To condenseher to Safeguard Children to help me in my decision making, grooming and if any the intervention that whitethorn be essential. These are two acts that were issued under Section 7 of the Local Authority Act 1970 which required Social Services to act under there general guidance.This Framework of Assessment will pull in into rate the development needs of the child, unlike the Children Act 1989 that until the mid 1990s mostly focused on the incidents of abuse rather than the developm ent needs of the child. (Department of Health et al. 2000) By use of taking a holistic view to the Assessment Framework, breeding will be gathered and analysed within three domains of the Assessment Framework namely the childs developmental needs, the parents capacity to respond appropriately to those needs and the wider family and environmental factors.The Framework is similarly linked closely to Every Child Matters which aims to mark off the well-being of children and young people from birth to 19. This means that the Government aim is for every child whatever their background signal or circumstances have the relevant support they need in order to be rock-loving, nonplus safe, enjoy and achieve, stimulate a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being (Every Child Matters and Outcomes) It is great that all agencies collaborate and work together to share information.Working Together to Safeguard Children document sets out how all agencies and professionals in the s tatutory, voluntary and independent sectors should work together to promote childrens welfare and protect them from abuse and overlook requires those agencies to share information. The first point of contact I would make would be with the develop and learning mentor. Under s. 27 (7. 4) of the Children Act 1989 the school is obliged by law to assist me with any additional information that might be of help to this particular case. (www. legislation. It is the school that expressed concern and by acting upon this they then completed and sent a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) The CAF is a shared assessment and planning framework for use across all childrens supporters and Local areas in England. It aims to help the early identification of childrens additional needs and promote co-ordinated service provisions to meet them (www. cwdcouncil. org) I may also make enquires to the police as to whether there has been any reported incidents, especially taking into account that there is iss ues of gist misuse and domestic violence.When domestic violence is added into the equation it is clear that the children could be at risk of evidentiary harm. Child witnesses of domestic violence greatly impacts upon childrens development causing emotional harm. (Mullander et al 2002 6) Under Section 120 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 states that Children living in households where domestic violence is chance are now identified as at risk under the Adoption and Children Act 2002.From 31 January 2005, Section 120 of this act extended the legal definition of harming children to include harm suffered by perceive or hearing ill treatment of new(prenominal)s. (www. womensaid) Additional information may be gathered from separate professional such as the childs General Practitioner (GP) and dentist. Neglecting to take a child to see the doctor or dentist can be seen as neglect in some cases. I would also read through old case nones and talk to previous social care profession als that were involved with the family when they were accommodated.Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 defines the term accommodated child refers to a child or young someone for whom the Local Authority has provided accommodation with parental consent (Children Act 1989) This is something that can be done without the need to apply to court and it is a way of working in partnership with the parents and empowering the parents to be involved in the ongoing plans for their child. This can be reassessed if the parents becomes uncooperative or inconsistent or commitment to the child.In the event of this the need for care proceeding may be required. (Legislation. gov. uk). From the information already received I notice that both Stephanie and Stephen wish to remain with their parents. The intention of the Children Act 1989 is to keep families together and it should whole be that a child is aloof as a last resort. Section 47 (5a) of the Children Act 1989 (inserted by the Children Act 200 4) says that we need to take account of the wishes and feeling of the child.It is important that in the incident that further action is needed I take into account the fact that the children want to remain where they are but I must proportionateness the risk over the choice. Under the Children Act 1989 (6. 1) A decision to remove a child from national must balance the probable immediate and long-term effects of removing the child against the potential harm if the child is left at habitation. This decision should also take into account the need either to secure certainty of criminal offences or arrest suspects (Children Act 1989)My next course of action would be to visit the family home and carry out an initial assessment. If I did not feel the children were at immediate risk, I would get in touch with the parents and arrange a time and date for me to visit, moreover if believed I would be position the children at risk by doing this, I would consider a unannounced visit. I n eed to be aware that I will be intervening in the personal lives of Stephanie, Stephen and their parents and my visit may not be welcomed by the family and viewed as a huge invasion and deprivation of their human rights.Article 8 of the compassionate businesss Act 1998 it states that (1) everyone has the right for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. (2) There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the breastplate of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others (news. bbc. o. uk) They are within their rights to refuse me entry into their home and as a social worker I do not have the power to enforce this. The police would have to be called if I say the children were at immediate risk they would then have the power to remove under Section 46 (6. 7) These are to be used in cases of immediate emergency where the delay of applying for an Emergency Protection regularize would pose significant harm to a child. This severalise should not be used where a Local Authority can apply for an Emergency Protection Order and has sufficient time to do so. Children Act 1989) The reason for the initial visit is so I can establish if there are concerns and what action if any would be required next. I would need to talk to all concerned and maybe possible extended family to fully understand what is happening within this family. It is important to Ascertain the wishes and feelings of child, parents and others relevant to fully forebode the problems experienced. (Brammer, A (2003) p, 128) Throughout this assessment it imperative that Stephanie and Stephen remain paramount and the focus of this investigation. Working with family members is not an end in itsel f the objective must always be to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. The child therefore must be kept in focus. It requires sensitivity and understanding of their circumstances of families and their particular needs (Framework for Assessing Children in Need and their Families, p. 13, 1. 45) Stephanie and Stephen have rights and it is important that as a social worker I assay to ensure that they are treated as individuals and without discrimination and take full account their wishes, feelings and experiences.By not respecting the children and listen to them because of their age could be seen as discrimination, people are often classd because of age whether this being young or old, as social workers it is important that we apply anti-discriminatory practice at all times and to challenge others who discriminate against others. Section 12 of the United Nation Convention on the Right of the Child, (UNCRC) states, Children and young people have a right to express a view ab out things that affect them (United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child)I would not withhold any knowledge that I believed may be beneficial to Stephanie and Stephen and their parents. The family may require legal advice and may need sign posting to other outside agencies that could offer independent advice and support. By withholding any information I run the chance of the family being oppressed and as a social worker this is something we would not do. A social work practice that does not take account of oppression cannot be seen as good practice no matter how high its standards in other respects. (Thompson, N. 2000) pg11) For children to enjoy and achieve they need to attend school, this will give them the chance to reach their full potential and the opportunity to improve their life chances. It is the parents responsibility to ensure that Stephanie and Stephen attend school. The law requires parents to make sure their children receive a full-time education suitable to t heir needs. For most children this means attending school regularly. As a last resort, schools and local authorities have legal powers to deal with poor attendance. (www. direct. gov. uk)Stephanie has also told the school that she and her brother are often left home alone. The law of the Government in the UK does not have an age limit for leaving children alone. To ensure they are safe, I would need to explore the level of understanding and maturity of both children, the Children and Young Persons Act 1993, parents in England and Wales can be prosecuted for wilful neglect if they leave a child unsupervised in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or harm to health (Children and Young Person Act 1993) The other issues of the cooking and home conditions would be explored.It might be that Stephanie likes to cook and this has been her choice, but I would need to ensure this was not something she was being made to do and it is again safe for her to do and are they having a heal thy diet. The home conditions will be something I will be taking notice of during the visit. Not everyone has the aforementioned(prenominal) standards of living and what one person sees as unacceptable is not necessarily the case. Is the home weather proof and free from damp and cold, is it free of hazards, such as syringes left around or illegal substances, is the home clean enough to prevent any infection of any kind.The visit could result in a number of finding and each one is different It could be as simple as I have found no concerns and no further action is needed. (NFA) Section 17 Children Act 1989- Child in Need Section 47 Children Act 1989-Duty to investigate- Section 31 Children Act 1989-Interim Care Order Section 20- Accommodated- Section 44- Emergency Protection Order So as you can see there is no way of saying which way a assessment will turn out, every case should be treated individually. In conclusion to this essay, I have discovered the importance of understanding t he laws that surrounds child protection.Child protection is very complex and our service will not always be welcomed by service users, but it is hoped that through good practice and guidance of the laws, Framework Assessment and Working Together to safeguard children, we are able to keep families together and only remove children as a last resort. It is however evident that this will not always be the case and children will have to be removed against their wishes and the wishes of their families but as it is important that the child remains the focus and in the centre at all times.I managed to establish the significance of practicing anti-discriminative and anti- oppressive practice whilst promoting the rights of children. Families will no doubt feel powerless within this situation and we must continue to empower them at all times. Social Workers are inclined only to get the bad press, but can they win the vote of the public? Time will differentiate so for +++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++now we are damned if we do and damned if we dont. + .