NCJ Number
205760
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2004 Pages: 115-136
Date Published
March 2004
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the new child welfare and protection policies proposed for England from a legal perspective in relation to early and coordinated intervention, sharing information between agencies and with children and families, partnership with children, information management, and structural and legal change, as well as immigration and asylum, youth justice, and the entire family justice system.
Abstract
In Great Britain, the last 2 to 3 years have brought numerous changes in services and processes that affect the lives of children and youth and their access to justice. These have included legislative change on domestic violence, support for children leaving out-of-home care, and a major reform of court services so as to combine public and private law to establish the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service. In a number of ways, the current British Government's agenda for change indicates a willingness to refocus priorities on children and youth, indicated by a flood of initiatives, new systems, and advice. Central responsibility for children's services has been transferred to the politically more powerful Department for Education and Skills. The Children's Trust model, which is already being piloted, intends to address the frequent problems posed by organizational boundaries that cause fragmentation of responsibilities and funding. Also, proposals to safeguard children include a number of interrelated issues that involve extensive information-sharing. The lack of coherent information management systems that can be shared by local authorities and the National Health System must be addressed. There is little or no consistent or comprehensive guidance to agencies on the retention of records. Further, in the field of child protection, the liaison between education services and other agencies, particularly social services, has not be consistently characterized by either good practice or mutual respect. The added value of multidisciplinary work and training is not universally recognized. Any structural change should be accompanied by a corresponding cultural change with government and society, so as to give children greater legal, moral, and personal status than they have currently. Children have complex legal and social support needs, including separation, loss, and trauma. They also require access to properly resourced, good-quality legal advice from practitioners capable of dealing with immigration and child law issues and equipped with skills in communicating with children and youth who have suffered separation and loss as well as other trauma. 34 references