Child and the Law - Case Study Example

The relevant legal duties which are owed by the local ity to Justin. The relevant procedures which will need to be followed in order that such a referral may be made in relation to Justin. The background context in relation to recent concerns about the education of children in local authority care. How the establishment of Children's Trusts may improve the lot of children such as Justin, and how decision making in such a situation relates to relevant child rights theories. Cases such as that of Justin are tragic and yet all too common in present day Britain. The multiple needs of the child, together with the fact that he has been acting as a caregiver for his mother, make the case a multifaceted one in which several different agencies need to be involved. The basic duty of care towards Justin involves assuring he receives parental care or in loco parentis care, adequate educational opportunities and medical provisions for the "signs of depression" that might incapacitate him or even put his life in risk if they were allowed to develop into full-blown depression. All these facets need to be taken into account. Taking each part of the account of Justin in turn, this analysis will first consider the "education supervision order" which he is under and also the fact that he has been "taken into care on a voluntary basis by Hoppingdean Social Services on a number of occasions". An education supervision order is an order that is granted by a family court under the provisions of section 36 of the Children Act, 1989. The Education Supervision Order (ESO) has a clear and compelling reasoning behind it. The ESO is designed to "ensure that the child receives an efficient full-time education, suitable to his or her age, ability and any Special Educational needs; and that the Child benefits fully from the education received" (cumbria, 2006). At the present time it appears as though the general provisions of such an order are not being met for Justin. Thus the fact that his "frequent absences" have left him without the peer group vital for social development at this age, and that despite the "remedial work" being offered by the school he "has fallen far behind on his schoolwork" shows that he is clearly not receiving an efficient education. The blame for this cannot be put at the school's door, as they appear to be meeting Justin's needs as far as is feasible for a general Comprehensive school. Neither, under the exceptional circumstances within which the family is living, can the blame be put on the mother who is suffering from depression and alcoholism. Normally the parents/parent would be required to attend a magistrate's court to discover why the elements of the ESO are not being met, but this would not be appropriate in this case. The question arises as to whether the fact that Justin has been taken into care on a number of occasions on a voluntary basis should offer the way forward: should Justin be taken into care on a full-time basis, thus transferring responsibility for the ESO onto the Local Authority Social Services Department. As it is the child exists in a kind of limbo in which no one agency, or his mother, is fully responsible for what is occurring to him. He clearly is not thriving within this situation, as his educational problems and initial signs of depression graphically illustrate. Some other action is needed. The case of Justin could be seen as an embodiment of the need for some kind of integrated services for at risk children in the United Kingdom. It was the realization of this need that led to the creation of the Children's Trusts. The Trusts were created in order to keep up with the Children Act of 2004. As the National Evaluation of the Trusts suggests, English Local Authorities and National Health Service organizations serving children, young people and families are expected to take steps to unify or co-ordinate these services . . . .Children's Trusts are the emerging framework in which improvements in outcomes for children and young people are to be brought about. (National, 2004) It can be seen that the Children's Trusts are based upon two broad trends within attitudes towards the care of children. Both these trends are relevant to the case of Justin. The first trend was catalyzed by the Laming Report into the death of Victoria Climbie, which focused on "the protection of the child's welfare and the provision of services targeting more vulnerable children, young people and families" (National, 2004). Justin and his mother clearly fall into this category as Justin is clearly "vulnerable" in both educational, social and medical senses. The overall family unit is also vulnerable, due to the status of his mother as single parent and the fact that she suffers from depression and alcoholism. The second trend leading to Children's Trusts was the focus on "the promotion of the child's well-being and the provision of universal and preventative services" (National, 2004). This is a more proactively positive trend, suggesting that children should be nurtured within their talents and prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that life will give for them. Justin may, in some ways at least, fall under the category of "preventative" services. Thus the appropriate agencies must be responsible for preventing the first signs of depression from turning into full-blown depression, with all the negative ramifications that would thus incur. The fact that his mother suffers from both depression and substance abuse, the symptoms of the former need to be treated as soon as possible while the conditions for a development of the latter must be avoided. The first Children's Trusts were set up in order to avoid the terrible situation that occurred within cases such as Victoria Climbie: Ministers hope they will prevent further child protection scandals like the murder of Victoria Climbie by bridging the gaps in the care system. Eight-year-old Climbie was starved and tortured to death despite being known to four social services departments, two hospitals, three housing authorities, two police child protection teams and a specialist centre run by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. According to the children's minister, Margaret Hodge, children's trusts will raise standards by pooling staff and resources and sharing information about vulnerable children and families. (Guardian, 2003) The sheer number of organizations and agencies that were aware of Climbie showed a positive propensity towards caring for children, but one in which that same 'sheer number' led to confusion. It would have been far better for the thankfully rare cases such as that of Victoria if just one overarching agency had been responsible rather than numerous ones being responsible for individual aspects of her care. The same can be said for the less serious, and more common, cases such as Justin. While there appears to be no threat of Justin being tortured to death, various aspects of his current condition do lead to cause for concern. If his education is allowed to carry on slipping, and his depressive symptoms develop into a full-term depression then his future may be bleak. How might the recent creation of a Children's Trust enable better services to be offered to Justin First, the existence of "joint teams" and "inter-professional networks" (National, 2004) should enable a coordinated approach to Justin's problems. Thus various details of Justin's case could be jointly considered. For instance, the fact that he has been very isolated at school has led to the lack of a peer group, which in turn has led to a poor attitude and thus academic performance. These might be included under the "educational" segment of Justin's care, but in fact stem from the "social" circumstances in which he has had to care for his mother on a regular basis. Essentially, Justin has not been allowed to be a child/teenager, but rather has been forced to be a caregiver for a parent who, under more ideal circumstances, would be caring for him. Both these educational and social problems have probably led to the medical problem of an emerging depression. Thus the "social", "educational" and "medical" needs of Justin are in fact inter-related, and the Children's Trust will enable them to be considered in an inter-related manner. Children's Trusts tend to attract employees who want to work in a collaborative manner, in which "joint training of staff, maintenance of a stable workforce, commitment to integration at all levels and a history of joint-working" (National, 2004) lead to the consideration of the child or young people as a complete individual rather than as a one-dimensional case. Thus the tendency to consider the child as a "school pupil", a "social services client" or as a "medical patient" is rendered null and void through the collaborative approach in which all three types of identity are considered simultaneously. The case of Justin will be helped by the "children's champion" which is probably at work, or will soon be, within the recently set up Children's Trust. As The Guardian suggests, these champions will help to organize, a range of professionals: social workers, family support workers, health visitors, school nurses, educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, and child and adolescent mental health professionals. . . (Guardian, 2003) It is interesting to note that all the above categories of workers (except for the speech and language professionals) could be used in the case of Justin. Thus social workers and family support workers would be used to help decide whether Justin should be taken into full-time care or, if not, how his family life should be organized to keep as intact a unit as possible. Health visitors might be used to evaluate the ability of Justin's mother to adequately look after her son, as well as the influence that his periodic task of caring for her has on the boy. Educational psychologists would be used to evaluate Justin's situation at school and whether he should be entered as a boarder at Hogarden. Child and adolescent health professionals would be used to evaluate Justin's mental health, especially the signs of depression that have recently been noted. The fact that all these groups can work in conjunction with one another within the Children's Trusts shows the advantage that these organizations for complex cases such as Justin's. There are some doubts and concerns about the efficacy of the Children's Trusts however: Care trusts are NHS bodies which commission and provide adult health and social services, while children's trusts are run by local government. Although based on the flexibilities of the 1999 Health Act - including pooled budgets and joint commissioning - unlike care trusts they will not necessarily be single integrated bodies. The first wave of children's trusts have been developed by councils and primary care trusts, although some involve hospital trusts and private and voluntary sector organisations that provide children's services. The first 35 trusts vary widely in scope and size but the government may decide to prescribe a number of models on which to develop the new organisations after the pilot schemes are evaluated in three years time. (Guardian, 2003) The case-history does not say whether the Children's Trust that has been set up is or is not a "single integrated body". If it is then all may be well for Justin's future care, if not, then the specter of a further layer of ineffective bureaucracy, and thus a further chance for confusion and a lack of care will exist. The fact that the various agencies are meant to be communicating and liaising with one another may bring about the belief that they actually are. This may not necessarily be so, and the belief may lead to even less coordination than would exist if the various agencies were officially acting separately from one another. In this case they may feel the need to liaise because there is no official contact, but if the Children's Trust is in place this might not occur. To conclude, Justin's case needs to be addressed as soon as possible. First, the decision of whether he should continue in the kind of care limbo in which he is sometimes in care and sometimes not should be carefully evaluated. In his individual case it may work, but the fact that he has increasing educational, social and mental health problems suggests that it is not the ideal situation. Second, the decision on whether he should be a boarder at the school that specializes in dealing with situations such as his needs to be made as soon as possible. As weekend visitation with his mother will be available, perhaps this would the ideal situation. This would enable his mother to get the treatment that she needs for her alcoholism and depression that she probably cannot receive while she is trying to look after Justin. Justin would also be placed within an educational and social environment in which he is allowed to focus on his own development and the solving of his problems. The family unit would be maintained through the weekend visitation and holiday times. If his mother's condition improves, and if Justin manages to catch up with his academic work and improves mentally, then he may be able to move back home in a year or two. The Children's Trusts provide an ideal environment in which the unique features of each case are considered and dealt with on a systematic basis. They are not a panacea for children's care, as one does not exist, but they move much further towards a coordinated and logical environment in which to care for children. ___________________________________ Works Cited National Evaluation of Children's Trusts, Phase 1 Interim Report, October 2004. The Children Act, 1989. The Children Act, 2004. The Guardian, "Q&A: Children's Trusts". July 10, 2003. www.cumbria.gov.uk/childrenservices/welfare/supervisionordr.asp Read More