NCJ Number
220452
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: July-August 2007 Pages: 209-222
Date Published
July 2007
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The study examines the effectiveness of the Scotland Area Child Protection Committees (SCPC) in relation to its constitution, structure and membership, function, infrastructure, and finance.
Abstract
For 40 years, Child Protection Committees (ACPCs) across the United Kingdom have provided the major mechanism for the strategic implementation, development, and monitoring of interagency child protection policy and practice in local areas. However, the composition and functioning of these committees are being reviewed and changed. Given the interest in changing the composition and functioning of the ACPC in Scotland (SCPC), an external evaluation was commissioned. The findings determined that the SCPC is not unique in experiencing its difficulties, and that the issues are problematic for other types of multidisciplinary groups. However, the SCPC was found to be focusing on changing structure, and not on attention to process and relationships. The review identified some practical steps that could be taken immediately; the most significant areas for attention were relationship building and improvement of the effectiveness of the multidisciplinary working committees through improving issues of authority, trust, and negotiation among their members. These steps take time, along with careful routine and ongoing attention to the process of working together within an overall framework of recognition; time spent on these areas would be an essential investment towards securing better decisionmaking for children. The SCPC has considerable strengths and it is important that its members are credited with the good work. The areas which work less well are typical of many CPCs. These areas are: inadequate connections with children’s services policy formulation; inability to progress important issues; and lack of influence on and by practice. Data were collected form document analysis, self-completed questionnaires, face-to-face and telephone interviews, and issue tracking. Documents such as minutes of meetings, policy and training materials, and guidelines were scrutinized to gain an understanding of how the SCPC is designed to work compared to how it actually functions. References