Introduction
Children are society’s prospects and should be protected and nurtured accordingly, away from abuse and neglect. The Children Act (2004) legislation ensures that parents, families and communities receive fair, ethical and legal treatment of children to keep them free from abuse. According to (Dubowitz et al., 2011), a child s welfare can be affected by abuse and neglect in various ways, such as psychological difficulties that can cause educational problems, depression, and trouble maintaining relationships. Moreover, protecting children from maltreatment at an early year and educational setting can effectively safeguard the child’s health and development. Zeanah et al. (2018) state that safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare will result in taking action to ensure the best outcomes for all children. Thus, multi agencies join to share information and goals to intervene early in the children’s learning and achievements. Although multiagency has some benefits, it has its cons too, which inhibit collaborative working. Thus, individuals participating in multiagency work need skills and knowledge to be effective practitioners, such as good communicators (Munro,2019). This essay intends to expound on child protection, safety practices and how multiagency works.
Ways that child welfare can be affected by abuse and neglect
According to (Horwitz et al., 2011), child abuse and neglect are any actions that interfere with a child’s ability to learn, thrive, and grow in their environment. Child abuse relates to the physical, emotional or sexual exploitation by either parents, guardians or the community that is violent or threatening to the child. However, neglect is a form of child abuse that caregivers fail to provide basic needs such as proper shelter, health care, and emotional and safety needs. For example, emotional abuse such as yelling and humiliation will affect a child’s welfare as it will cause a lack of confidence, anger problems, conduct problems and underachievement. Moreover, neglect such as inadequate supervision can cause a child to use drugs, showing that the caregiver may not adequately care for the child. This will impact the child’s overall health and have psychological consequences that lead to high-risk behaviors.
ACE stands for the adverse childhood experiences that have potentially terrifying ordeals that occurred in their childhood. The experiences result in toxic stress due to frequent exposure to violence, abuse and neglect. According to (Jacobi et al.,2010), children that experience toxic stress in early life are at risk of adverse health effects such as mental illness, heart disease and unhealthy lifestyles. Moreover, toxic stress has more effects, such as weakening the developing brain, which later causes lifelong problems in learning behavior., It also leads to more physical illness and poor long-term health outcomes, such as alcoholism, cancer, obesity, and chronic obstructive pulmonary ddisease, amongothers. Gould et al. (2012) show that adults with low levels of parental warmth and affection and high levels of abuse have the highest health risk factors.
Contemporary society has also been the cause of abuse and neglect among children in the modern era. During the pandemic, there was an increase in child abuse as children were isolated in homes to contain the virus. It increased abuse as the signs were not noticeable to others due to stay-at-home orders. According to (Dubowitz et al., 2011), pandemics increased most parental stress and intrafamilial tension, leading to an increase in adverse childhood experiences such as domestic violence, abuse and neglect, causing aggression, depression and emotional problems in children. Moreover, an increase in the use of technology has led to cyberbullying and online threats that facilitate child abuse. For example, a child with access to online accounts who are abused online or given threats tends to be at risk of depression and thus have social interaction issues.
Safeguarding and child protection
The action, practices, and policies taken to protect children from abuse and maltreatment and promote their well-being are referred to as safeguarding. Child protection, on the other hand, is the action taken to protect children who are at risk of harm or are already experiencing significant harm. (Munro,2019) defines safeguarding as the prevention of harm, whereas child protection is the response to harm. It is important as it allows for intervention before the crisis and improves outcomes for those involved while considering the child’s best interests. Also, it allows child protection referrals to help those suffering from significant harm and prevent concerns from escalating. For example, NSPCC advocates against cruelty to children and that every child deserves to be protected. It sets out the policy, statutory guidance and legislation on how child protection works. In addition, local authorities play a lead role in safeguarding and protecting children, but everyone has a role when they come into contact with kids and families to protect them (Parton,2011). Moreover, voluntary organizations, faith groups and private sector providers are responsible for protecting and safeguarding children.
Some agencies, such as child protection services, are responsible for providing child protection and responding to reports of child abuse and neglect. (McFadden et al., 2015) state that the services link children to critical social services and just justice systems. For example, Birmingham’s local children safeguarding partnership objective is to support local agencies in a system where children are safeguarded and welfare promoted. Also, it provides safeguarding learning and development opportunities for professionals working with children and families. The right help and time framework ensures that the various needs are met such as universal, universal plus, additional and significant needs according to the situation involved.
The Children Act (2004) requires local governments to promote and protect the welfare of needy children by providing services that are appropriate to their needs. The child protection process takes place by sharing information, assessing if the child is likely to suffer serious harm, and determining the type of harm. Moreover, the child protection process is check on risk of harm, harm done due to the care they receive and then decide if the child needs a protection plan (Lambert et al., 2014). A child is in this specialist service to be served with emotional support and be helped to develop a family coping strategy while protecting children. As a result, children and young people who come into contact with the child safety system will be assisted by specialist services. It creates a legal obligation to protect children and young people in schools and colleges.
Multiagency working
Multiagency working is teamwork across organizations to deliver services to children with multiple needs. According to (Munro, 2019), It is an approach in which professionals from various agencies collaborate to find safeguarding solutions and provide support to those affected by abuse and neglect. It is important as it effectively addresses a wide range of risk factors while making a unique contribution to early intervention services (Zeanah et al.,2018). Although multiagency has its benefits, it faces some potential barriers, such as a lack of effective communication will lead to a lack of shared understanding making it easier to collaborate. Not promoting a multiagency approach will result in neglect, especially If an individual can make a poor decision, unlike in a shared working. For example, a stressed manager working with vulnerable kids will make a rush decision on where to send the child rather than researching it. It will make a practitioner more strained due to the overloaded work strain, which can be effectively handled in a multiagency environment.
An effective individual practitioner needs skills and ethical considerations in multiagency working. Effective practitioners should have good communication either between the parent and the child. Crittenden (2013) states that this will make it easy to work together and build trusting relationships as there is understanding while the procedure is keenly followed and is effective in direct work with families. Early help is support given to a family when a problem first appears in order to improve outcomes for children. It can help a child’s home and family life, as well as their academic performance and mental health. As a result, it is critical because it helps to reach the child’s full support while reducing the need for a referral to child protection services (Parton,2011). It is effectively accomplished by working together through monitoring programs to respond to the various levels of need that children and families may face.
A social worker can be involved in early help to undertake as the lead practitioner. They assist families and children by improving well-being and assisting in meeting all people’s basic and complex needs, with a focus on those who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. (Jacobi et al., 2010). A social worker helps by recommending other professionals to provide services and assistance that best fits their situation. For example, a social worker can partner with different support agencies to ensure care is taken and provide coping strategies. The Children Act (2004) legislation safeguards vulnerable groups, and their policy is to avoid harm and risk of harm while protecting children from maltreatment.
Keeping children safe within Early Years and Education Settings
The Early Help Agenda safeguards a child who has been identified as experiencing or at risk of experiencing significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect. It supports practitioners as they can spot safeguarding issues because of their close contact with the children and adolescents in their care (Lambert et al., 2014). Moreover, it supports practitioners in working effectively with children and families. It provides an understanding of the child’s day-to-day needs while stimulating their physical, educational and emotional development to ensure the child is protected and safeguarded. It is important as it helps them cope with their day-to-day pressures while working on a collaborative approach to protect them from abuse.
The guidance says to promote children’s well-being working together per the Children Act (2004) in early years and in an educational setting to safeguard and protect the child. This guidance shows that the services offered, such as social services, are free to ensure children are safe in their early years and in school. The role is to identify any abuse on a child, analyze and listen carefully to the abuse, involve a practitioner early to ensure that the child is safeguarded and protected and ensure that their early years and educational setting are safe.
DSL, the designated safeguarding lead, is present in every organization dealing with children’s needs. Their role is to ensure that child protection files are kept up to date and are confidential and stored securely. Also, the person is responsible for child protection and safeguarding across early-year school settings by gathering evidence for any referral. According to (McFadden et al., 2015), a DSL’s role is to assist staff members in carrying out their safeguarding responsibilities and to maintain close contact with social services for children and other services. Moreover, DSL ought to be familiar with the local authority’s safeguarding procedures to ensure safeguarding policy and child protection are met.
Providing curriculum links to educate children about keeping themselves safe is essential to keep children safe in their early years and educational setting. According to (Jacobi et al., 2010), simple support programs for children and parents can be the best way to prevent abuse. Having after-school activities for education helps children to know their rights and thus makes them less likely to think abuse is their fault and more likely to report the offender. Moreover, knowing child abuse and its signs can effectively help keep children safe as it will be easier to recognize and provide early help to the children and improve their lives.
Case study review
The predisposing factors for abuse and neglect may include family crisis, family isolation and inadequate parenting skills. In the case study, moving caused the imprisonment of John, having limited contact with members and Casey has inadequate parenting skills according to how she responds to issues regarding the kids. These factors affect how the kids respond and react to others. The level of need depends on the right time; the right help framework is an additional need. In the case study, the children and the family need substantial support, but it can be managed without social intervention. This family needs food parcel support as Claire struggles to pay the bills. Furthermore, difficulty in controlling behavior where Noah’s behavior is outrageous; this can be supported by the child on specific learning programs to determine and help the child from abuse or neglect.
The professional practitioner can help by partnering with other agencies to ensure the necessary support is met for the children. Working together as a family with the help of a professional can allow identification of the problem and provide a solution at an early stage (Munro,2019). Thus, the role of the practitioner is to be present and offer comfort to the children. For example, in Noah’s case, a practitioner can offer emotional and loving support when acting out rather than distracting them. The strategy can be behavioral therapy for a parent to improve coping skills and strengthen the parent-child relationship while using a positive discipline strategy to avoid abuse and ensure no neglect of the kids. Moreover, having a DSL, according to the children act (2004), will endure that the necessary steps are taken to protect and support children while providing a point of contact between child protection policies where necessary (Parton,2011).
Social workers, child psychologists and academic staff are some of the professionals that could be involved. A social worker will ensure that the family is kept together and doing the best for the family. In contrast, academic staff will ensure a clear understanding of stages of development and recognize signs of abuse or neglect (Crittenden,2013). The professionals are majorly involved as they ensure the child’s welfare and protection in the home setting while preventing and reporting cases of abuse. The psychologist will help deal with the children’s emotional, social and intellectual development. These professionals contribute to the concrete support of the need and emotional competencies of the children.
A family hub can be involved to support the family and children in an early setting to get help in the appropriate manner and at the right time. In the case study, family circumstances have changed, causing challenges. As children develop, the family may require additional and joined-up support services to help with the change in environment for both eth family and children. It will help the practitioners to improve the quality of a child’s home and perform better while supporting their mental health.
Conclusion
in conclusion, a child’s welfare is critical in the early years, and thus abuse and neglect can lead to factors such as depression and emotional and social instability. There are various ways that a child can be affected by abuse and neglect, such as toxic stress. Current stances, such as the pandemic or the influence of the modern era, may accelerate this factor. With this, safeguarding and child protection is essential as it is necessary to ensure every child is safe and the right level of need is offered to provide for the child. Also, specialist services may be offered to support children facing significant harm or those affected. A multiagency working can facilitate it to ensure collaboration, covering, and setting a high ground to prevent abuse. Also, keeping children safe at an early year and providing early help is essential.
References
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