D1: Justification of the Procedures That Are Needed When Reporting Abuse

D1: Justification of the procedures that are needed when reporting abuse

This stage is deemed as important as it is important to identify where or not a child is being abused. This stage is necessary as abuse could be identified at a much earlier stage, this in turn will mean that the abuse will be stopped at an earlier stage than opposed to letting the abuse go unnoticed until it is too late. This procedure is put into place in order to act as a pre-interview yet a key source of evidence to use against those conflicting the abuse onto the child.

The second stage of reporting abuse is known as the initial inquiry. This is the process in which the professional fills in what is known as a CAF form. The CAF form is used to gather information about who else is involved in a child's life and to assess the child's needs and strengths. A CAF form is usually filled in by a professional that is working with a child. Whilst filling in the form, the professional will be able to identify the severity of the child’s case and which abuse type in particular they are suffering from. Due to the CAF form they have filled in, they will then decide to arrange a meeting to discuss the contents of the form with other professionals that may be seen to be working with the child and their family. The CAF form acts as a source of communication between all professionals as it tends to bring together which professionals are needed in order to provide for the child. These services can be seen to carry out their own investigations in order to find more evidence for the potential abuse case. For example, a police officer may find it necessary to check a child’s house or to conduct interviews with neighbours, friends, and other family members before actually interviewing the parent themselves. If the circumstances of the child is too severe then the police may place what is known as an EPO upon a child. An EPO is an order that is made under the Children’s Act, which enables a child to...