Safeguarding Children and Childrens Welfare - Essay Example

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN Introduction Safeguarding children is a concept that goes beyond child protection such that children are protected from being neglected, impairment of their health and development, and making sure they are being brought up in the circumstance that are safe and effective i.e. they have life chance that are optimum preparing them to enter adulthood successfully (M, 2008). From my own opinion, the safeguarding of the children is very crucial to ensure they have grown under proper condition and circumstances. Therefore, this literature review entails the knowledge that Early Years Practitioners at the nursery level should uphold to ensure children safety have been accorded with when safeguarding them and how they are implemented within the practice? From my research, here is the knowledge that Early Years Practitioners need to have concerned with protecting children against all ill things may happen to their life. The effective sharing of information has been seen to provide solutions to the problems which are emerging related to children which in return has been seen essential to implement children’s protection services and failure to share information or poor information sharing has resulted to demise or serious injuries toward the children. And for the organization to ensure the welfare and the safety of the children has been upheld it should make effective safeguarding arrangements to be put on practice,for example, there should be processes and the principles set for sharing information between the staffs of the organization. If practitioner knew that child is at risk or the child abuse has been seen a victim of child abuse, he or she should report or share the incidence with the Children’s Social Care. The advice related with reporting the information on child abuse is known as the Child Protection Procedures, which indicates the process that should be followed when our concern toward action related with child abuse have been heard .Therefore, this protection procedures are part of practitioners obligation to ensure children safety have been taken care of and promote wellbeing in other word known as “Safe guarding”. Therefore, this protection procedures and guidance is intended for the use of: child minders who are minding about the children welfare and ensuring that their rights of childhood have been adhered to, by ensuring day care providers who have been registered are complying with the guidance written in the Protection Procedures document. The ‘Lead responsibility’ in the respect of safeguarding involves the lead practitioner in early years provides support, advice and guides other members or staff in case of the child-minding setting. Furthermore, the lead practitioner should attend child protection course at advance level to help him or her to know how to identify, comprehend them and respond to behavior accompanied with child abuse activities. On the other hand the practitioner should provide training the staffs to ensure they understand the Children Protection Policies and in correspondence to procedure of the setting and become updated on issues relating to safeguarding the children. Therefore, all staff must be introduced to the training with an aim of making them aware of their roles and responsibility to toward protecting children and safeguarding them against all ills can happen to them. Also training help in making the practitioner aware of the inappropriate behavior that adults have toward the children. The practitioner must also been trained on how to identify the significant behavior changes seen from the children and their deterioration of their general wellbeing and appropriate should be taken on how to rectify the known changes. Also all the practitioners or providers should ensure there is an appropriate supervision to all staff who come into contact with the children, and out of the supervision this helps the practitioners to be outspoken on the critical issues thereby on other hand providing a safeguarding function. Safer requirement should be upheld to ensure that people being given mandate to look after the children are suitable and therefore, there should be an effective system that helps to shortlist staffs according to their suitability. In case allegations have been raised against child minders, he or she should follow the Children Protection very keenly while contacting the Social Care with an aim of getting to know whether the child has been harmed in anyway or at risk of that significant harm. Another issue to discuss toward how staff should be bearing in their mind about children’s welfare, is that they should disclose any warning or convictions that may affect their level of performing their work with children effectively. Therefore, providers must take people suitable for work i.e. he or she checking criminal record books and clarify whether they have supervised on not. Therefore, providers should make sure they have recorded details concerned with qualification of the staff and make sure that they have undergone complete and successful vetting processed. Staff should also ensure no influence of alcohol or substance distracting their consciousness which will in return their ability of taking care the children and the providers should ensure the practitioner works directly if there is confirmation under medical advice that the medication is unlikely affect ability of staff members to take care of the children properly Here are the questions that practitioners he or she should be answering relating with safeguarding the children. Staff should be able to define what abuse, child neglect is and any harm toward the child, on the side of Neglect, has been as the failure of the parent or the child care taker in providing his or her needs i.e. physical needs thus resulting to impairment of health of the child. Example of indications of neglecting a child, providing inadequate food, clothing, shelter etc., children lacking protection from physical and emotional angers. Furthermore, neglecting has been shown when the children lack medical care and failing to supervise the one taking care of the children while on the side of the abuse, they can be categorized according to physical, sexual and emotional abuse (Hagan, 2006). Physical abuse it entails all about physically harming the child which can be caused by the care taker or the parent e.g. hitting, poisoning, drowning etc. On the side of sexual abuse, it involves forcing or luring child or young person take play part in performing sexual activities i.e. raping or oral sex or non-penetrative acts, for example masturbation kissing and others. In addition, abuse of sex is not perpetrated by male gender only but also women can also commit sexual abuse. Lastly, emotional abuse involves children receiving emotional mistreatment, which may result from the environment in which children may be subjected to e.g. feeling unloved, worthless or less valued. It also entails serious bullying and making children feel frightened always an act of preventing the child from normal social interaction can affect child emotionally. Therefore, the idea behind knowing the types of abuses that children undergoes is to help staff to know what we call child and how they should approach it to ensure that children are safeguarded at their childhood. There should be guidance on possible signs that may indicate signs of the child abuse, for example, single mark may or may not be significant of the child abuse which can be resulted from the abuse or the normal accident. For example, bruising from beating with sticks or belts can be seen on the body of the child especially buttock, back or lower legs while on other children human bite marks can be seen, making clear outline of the set of human teeth may appear to be circular bruise (Bifulco, 2013). Therefore, staff need to be advised on how they can differentiate the adult bite compared to other child bite. The other sign of head and facial bruising and bruised eyes should be treated with caution especially related suspicion of why child has the facial bruises. Therefore, there should be proper advice on those who handle related cases with children so that they can investigate how, why and when the child got the bruises. Here we got another part of child abuse i.e. Female Genital Mutilation which has said and classified as an offence and an illegal and Early year practitioner should teach their staff on effects of FGM and how they barbaric even according to the Bible, therefore they should create awareness to the public on how bad to circumcise women. When allegations are made against member of staff or child minder there should be procedure followed responding to them, for example, within an organization if allegations concerning child abuse are suspected should be reported to the staff at the higher level for child protection. The allegations made should be reported to the Children’s Social Care or to the Police for further investigation or informing within one working day to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) which is responsible for acting toward those who have abused children in any way. Therefore, the known senior manager should take ad from the LADO on how to inform the parents of the child which ensure proper protocols and consultations have been involved (Featherstone, 2010). The Children Act 1989 has described purposes for various group of people. Social workers been directed to lead an assessment and complete the work within 45 working days of pointing out the needs of the child from the referral to Children’s social care. Also these workers should conduct thorough interview, initially starting with the child to ensure the distress has been minimized and there is maximize of likelihood thus providing the information they require out of the child correctly and shunning suggestive questions. (M, 2008) Lastly, the interview should be conducted to the family member separately and/or together with the child concerning the child welfare in a such way that after an interview there should be findings and decisions written down, which informs the relevant agencies and families whether the child is in need, and also whether there is need or plan for providing support toward the child (Broadcast K, 2009). Lastly, workers should inform the referrer on the action that has to be taken, on the other hand, police should assist the agencies to investigate the concern about child’s welfare and whether his or her welfare has been moved against or not, such that Local authority children’s social care report the crime to the police if incase one has been seen guilty (Downs & al, 2004). While on side of professionals, after assessing the child and family out of the information provided they agree on action and services that would assist child and they local authority children’s social care whether action is required immediately .Still under the Children Act 1989 has helped local authorities to assess the reasons for assessing whether the child and family requires services which has been done so with an aim of improving or safeguarding children’s welfare In conclusion, staff should ensure they have gained knowledge, skills and proper qualifications required toward taking care of the children welfare (Engdahl, 2011). Children’s welfare should be what everybody in the society is minding about to ensure it is maintained. Therefore, after understanding children’s welfare properly will in return result to lack of mistreatment against the children, lack of child abuse and no neglecting of the children which is the aim of understanding each and every child welfare (Cleaver, 2009). References Bifulco, A. G., 2013. Understanding Adult Attachment in Family Relationships Research,Assessment, and Intervention. Abingon: Oxon:Routledge. Broadcast K, G. J., 2009. Critical Perspectives on Safe Guarding Children. Uk: Joly Willey & Sons Ltd. Cleaver, H. &. u. I., 2009. Children need parenting capacit:child abuse mental illness, learning disability,substance misuse and domestic violence. London: TSO. Downs, S. & al, e., 2004. Child welfare and family services:policies and politics. Boston`: Pearson A and B. Engdahl, S., 2011. Welfare. Detroit: Gale Cengage Learning . Featherstone, B., 2010. Gender and child welfare in society. Chichester,West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Hagan, J. F., 2006. Bright Futures guidelines for helath supervision of infants,children and adolescents. Elk Grove Village,IL: American Academy of Pediatrics. M, B., 2008. Safeguarding Children and Schools. London: Jessica Kingsley. Read More