Eight Principles of the Key Principles in Child Act 1989 - Essay Example

CHILDREN ACT 1989 The Children Act 1989 is based upon the belief that children are generally best looked after within the family, with both parents playing a full part and without resort to legal proceedings. The welfare of the children is the paramount consideration. In this essay I am outlining the importance of the Child Act 1989 to reform the law relating to children; to provide for local authority services for children in need and others; to amend the law with respect to children's homes, community homes, voluntary homes and voluntary organisations; to make provision with respect to fostering, child minding and day care for young children and adoption; and for connected purposes The Key principles in Child Act 1989 and the purposes are: Partnership and participation Partnership requires informed participation. The Act therefore requires that parents and children must be consulted during the decision-making process and notified of the outcome. There is a new requirement placed on local authorities to establish a procedure for considering representations (including complaints) about the discharge of their functions under this part of the Act. The Act emphasizes that, where possible, children should participate in decision-making about their future well being. Subject only to the child's understanding, such participation requires that a child is provided with relevant information and is consulted at every stage in the process of decision-making. Corporate delivery of service by Local Authority It is the general duty of every Local Authority to: Safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need and So far as is consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children by their families by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children's needs and design it to help prevent abuse and neglect. The keynote to achieving this aim is careful joint planning and agreement in the provision of services within the family home, assisting and enhancing the parental authority. Local Authority has crucial role to play: For children accommodated in residential care, nursing or mental nursing homes. For welfare of children accommodated in independent schools. To investigate if ordered to do so by the Court in any family proceedings and in discharges on Education Supervision Orders. To be well informed that a child who lives, or is found, in their area is the subject of an Emergency Protection Order or is in Police protection Children's Involvement in Actions and Decisions As per the Children Act relative to the Department of constitutional affairs, since the act and the strategies impact directly upon young people in their own right particularly in areas such as helping the vulnerable and increasing confidence in justice. They also influence the future habits of young people in areas such as proportionate dispute resolution and democratic engagement. As with other stakeholders the DCA benefits from gaining the views of young people on policy in these areas. In view of this, Learning to Listen states that in all government departments: A visible commitment is made to involving children and young people, underpinned by appropriate resources to build a capacity to implement policies of participation. And that The contributions of Children and young people, proportionate to their age and maturity, are taken seriously and acted upon, and feedback from children and young people confirm this.' Giving children and young people an active say in policies ensures that they genuinely meet their needs After all it is the child who will have to live with the outcome of the procedure. The Children Act 1989 states that children's wishes and feelings should be incorporated into the decision-making concerning them. Legally based intervention Children's act 1989 is fully equipped with the legal laws and norms that strengthen the cause of Child welfare. These legal intervention are mostly carried out in assistance of Local authority Duty to Investigate - Significant Harm: The Local Authority has a duty to investigate when there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. The investigation will include an objective of the needs of the child, including the risk of abuse and need for protection, as well as the family's ability to meet those needs. Legal laws are in place to handle Emergency Situations, Emergency Protection Orders and Police Protection Order: Further on legal intervention, under Section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989 the court must have regard in particular to: - 1. The ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in the light of his age and understanding) 2. Their physical, emotional and educational needs 3. The likely effect of any change in his circumstances 4. Their age, sex, background and any characteristics of his which the court considers relevant 5. Any harm which he has suffered or is at risk of suffering 6. How capable each of his parents, and any other person in relation to whom the court considers the question to be relevant, is of meeting his needs 7. The range of powers available to the court under this Act in the proceedings in question. Culture In section 1(3) of the Act, attention is drawn to relevant factors such as the child or family's ethnicity, culture, first language and religious background. The Local Authority is required to make such provisions as it thinks appropriate to provide the following services to children in need Occupational, social, cultural and recreational activities. The act makes it desirable for Children to have broad understanding about everything related to the cultural background and the ethical development. Educational Institutes plays a crucial role in these areas. It's guidance to the educational department that along with the scientific approach to the curriculum, they must include the history, cultural awareness and traditional attributes that a child has the right to know and understand itself better. Substitute care helping There are concrete information and steps in the Child Act 1989 defining the substitute care helping measures that are to be taken primarily in collaboration with the local authority. The key activities, which the law has come up relative to substiture care, are: If need be, Children to be accommodated by health authorities and local education authorities, where a child is provided with accommodation by any [Health Authority, Special Health Authority,] [National Health Service trust] or local education authority Also, children to be accommodated in registered residential care, nursing or mental nursing homes Guidelines are set for the welfare of children accommodated in independent schools. Also, there are provision of services for children in need, their families and others along with day care for pre-school and other children. Law enables children to have provision of accommodation for children in general and children in police protection or detention or on remand, etc. For a better Substitute care for Children, law has been in place for registration and regulation of voluntary homes. Specifications have been issued on duties of voluntary organisations and of local authorities. Rules have also been set in place for the welfare of privately fostered children. Child Minding and Day Care for Young Children forms important part of the Child act in reference to the substitute care and various amendments of adoption legislation are done to take care of the requirements of the Children. Rationalization Over the last 16 years, statutory intervention into the private sphere of Childcare in the UK has become rather narrowly rationalised in terms of preventing children from coming into public care. The main legal provision in the UK for children's welfare remains the 1989 Children Act, which contains two separate sections addressing the different circumstances. Section 17 sets out the duties of local authorities in regard to Children deemed to be 'in need' while section 47 addresses those identified as suffering or being at risk of 'significant harm' Schedule 11 contains provisions enabling the Secretary of State to direct local education authorities in England, or the governing bodies of schools maintained by them, to bring forward proposals for the rationalisation of school places, and for such proposals to be made by him. The expressed rationale for the emphasis upon getting parents and children ready for work and school is to save them from poverty. The underpinning theory behind much of the drive to supervise the conduct of the poor by government that poverty is directly transmitted from generation to generation and here lies the responsibility to put a pause to this problem. The underlying philosophy in the provision of services is to work in partnership with parents and children to prevent the breakdown of family relationships and minimise the need to have recourse to Court or emergency protection. The Children Act remains an important piece of legislation and one that is particularly relevant to the work of youths. The National childcare Act 1989 represents a major breakthrough in British social policy. It represents the first time that government has accepted that childcare is a public as well as private responsibility. Read More