Safeguarding Children

Safeguarding children

The aim of this assignment is to identify the key legislation relating to the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004.

In the first half of the assignment, the author will identify and discuss key principles from the Children Act 1989; this includes discussing issues surrounding parental responsibility. This will be followed by examine the concept of significant harm used to determine the threshold criteria in child protection cases.

The focal point of the second half of the assignment centres on the key principles established in the Children Act 2004. The assignment will concentrate on the effectiveness of interagency co-operation and the barriers that arise due to lack of consistency.

To conclude part of the assignment will focus on the effectiveness of the legal framework, which currently governs the safeguarding children within the UK.

Key sections from the Children Act 1989/2004 and case studies have been used throughout the assignment for research purposes and to provide evidence of childcare law and practice.

On October 14 1991, the old laws relating to children and their welfare in England and Wales were abolished and replaced with the Children Act 1989. The Act focused on children’s rights to be protection from abuse and exploitation with the main principle centring on the belief that children were best looked after within their family. Previous childcare laws were deemed too complex, conflicting and spanned across numerous statutes (Allen, 2005).

Legal requirements for child protection, as initiated under the Children Act refer to several key principles in determining what course of action to take to safeguard children. The main principles include paramount consideration of the child’s health and wellbeing; reducing delays in decision-making, application of a court order in the child’s best interests, the child’s active participation and collaboration during the...