Assessing Child at Risk

4638 Words19 Pages
How would you assess a child at risk - what would you look for, what would inform your judgements ? General Considerations: Everyone who is concerned in professional capacity with the protection of children needs to have a clear understanding of the main points of child care law as encompassed within the Children Act 1989.It is important to note firstly that the child's welfare shall be the court's paramount consideration; that L.A's have a statutory duty to investigate where they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is 1. suffering 2. or is likely to suffer significant harm and to assess the needs of the child and the family including the likelihood of significant harm and the need for protection. Following from this then S.W's need to realise before they qualify that they have a function of social control. That one of their functions, as made explicit within the Children Act 1989, is that of offering a child a protection service. Thus the child should be, at all times, the focus of a case of suspected or actual child abuse. The investigative process should involve gathering information from other key professionals, and liaising with other investigating agencies. Similarly, any action should be taken in collaboration with the other agencies involved. Arrangements for the protection of children from abuse can only can only be successful if the professional staff concerned can do all they can to work in partnership and share and exchange relevant information. Also implicit within the Children act 1989 is the need to work in partnership with families Considerations for practice: 1. The child's welfare psychological/physical i.e Growth Charts, Failure to thrive. 2. Predictive factors from main research i.e Bereavement, abused parents abusing themselves, etc Note CLUSTERS, not individual aspects. 3.Parental factors i.e parents
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