Safeguarding children; the role of family support Ruth Gardner Senior Research Fellow University of East Anglia & NSPCC

Safeguarding Children The responsibility and capacity of agencies, groups and individuals to prevent or respond to actual and potential harm to children Could include; businesses; voluntary and community organisations; faith groups Within this, child protection usually refers to statutory interventions

Family support Providing advice and support to parents to help them in bringing up their children Promoting competence and meeting basic developmental needs…as opposed to identifying and treating underlying pathology A way of dealing with life crises and problems…which takes account of strengths

A false dichotomy? Prescription---Choice Rules--- Diversity Logic--- Creativity Target--- Context Intellect--- Emotion Challenge--- Empathy Work--- Play

Reflective Practice Engaged in a dialogue between the thinking that attaches to action and the thinking that deals in more propositional (abstract) knowledge Capable of appraisal and self-appraisal and to learn constructively form significant experiences Modifying action in the light of knowledge, experience and current context

Safeguarding in family support Keeping children safe should run through all provision- health, education and child care Visibility is the greatest safeguard for a child Social networks promote competence & are a buffer to stress and risk Family support allows for reflection

Family support and safeguarding Excluded or potentially excluded children Domestic abuse and harm to children Parents who have been abused Distressed and challenging children who may or may not have been harmed The wider family and its network

Reflective practice-only connect Asking questions constructively -getting the bigger picture Dialogue and two way learning eg with children Adapting services to need eg bringing specialists to the child Non-defensive practice eg gaps in knowledge are an opportunity

What is needed More learning and appraisal opportunities for front-line practitioners More service-user (including children’s) forums Quicker access to specialists eg speech therapists More trained advocates

What is needed Keeping safe an outcome for every child in every service, with accountability located Families with more responsibility for outcomes and more choice of methods eg client -held budgets, FGCs A funding formula based on the population of need