Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013 Rashelle, Lisa, Amanda

An Introduction to the legislation: Safeguarding children - the action we take to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm - is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play.3 2. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined for the purposes of this guidance as:  protecting children from maltreatment;  preventing impairment of children's health or development;  ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and  taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Short summary about the legislation the legislative requirements and expectations on individual services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children; and a clear framework for Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) to monitor the effectiveness of local services. 2. This document replaces Working Together to Safeguard Children (2010); The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (2000);and Statutory guidance on making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under section 11 of the Children Act 2004 (2007).

A child-centered and coordinated approach to safeguarding Key principles Effective safeguarding arrangements in every local area should be underpinned by two key principles: safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility: for services to be effective each professional and organization should play their full part; and a child-centered approach: for services to be effective they should be based on a clear understanding of the needs and views of children.

Early Help: Providing early help is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting later. Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life, from the foundation years through to the teenage years. 2. Effective early help relies upon local agencies working together to: identify children and families who would benefit from early help; undertake an assessment of the need for early help; and provide targeted early help services to address the assessed needs of a child and their family which focuses on activity to significantly improve the outcomes for the child. Local authorities, under section 10 of the Children Act 2004, have a responsibility to promote inter-agency cooperation to improve the welfare of children.

Impacts on children and schools: Child centred approach created more opportunities for children to have their needs and views considered; due to the emphasis on the importance of multi agencies working, this was considered to reduces the numbers of safeguarding issues and cases; a sense of security and reassurance for schools and settings as practitioners ensure they follow safeguarding policies and are aware of who drops of a child and collects them at the end of the school day. Assessment is describes as being paramount and essential when measuring the overall impact of services revolved around the child;