Child Protection

If a social worker hears that a child is being hurt or neglected, the law says that they must make sure that the child is kept safe and no longer hurt.  The child may be being hurt by their parent, an adult relative, someone they know, a stranger, or even by another young person or child.

When a teacher, social worker, doctor or any other professional hears about a child who is allegedly being hurt, they have no choice; they must do what they are told to do in “Hertfordshire’s Child Protection Procedures”.  This is a Plan about what must be done to keep children safe.   It is agreed by Children, Schools and Families, by people working in Health, Education and the Police as being the best way of keeping children safe from harm.

As soon as a social worker hears about a hurt or neglected child, the first thing that they must do is to find out a bit more about what has happened.  They do this by talking to other people that may know the family and the child, and seeing what they think.

The social worker may choose to involve the Chid Abuse Investigation Team, who will help protect any child and who will see if any other laws may have been broken.  If it is thought that a child is being hurt in their home, the social workers may arrange for them to go and stay with relatives or friends where they will be safe from harm.  Or they may ask the person who has been hurting the child to leave the home.  A social worker may go to court and get an Emergency Protection Order if it seems this is the only way to keep that child really safe. This means that Children, Schools and Families will look after that child in a Children’s Home or foster family for a while.

If a child is being hurt in a foster family or Children’s Home, the social worker may move the child to a safer place.  An adult who is thought to have hurt a child within a Children’s Home may be asked not to come to work while the question of this hurt is being dealt with.  If it is another child that is hurting or abusing a child they may also be moved out of the home or family.

After the social worker has done some investigations and talked to people about the claim that the child was hurt, they call a meeting called “A Child Protection Conference”.  This meeting is to make a plan about how best to protect a child from harm.  A number of people who know the child and the family will be invited to this meeting with the child and their family, along with social workers, doctors and teachers as well as the Chid Abuse Investigation Team.  Other people such as an advocate for the child, a health visitor, a school nurse and anyone involved in caring for any member of the family might also attend.

The plan for a child’s protection may include a decision about whether or not a child should come into care, as well as thinking about other ways that a child could be kept safe.  Maybe the parents need some help to care for the children, and so on.