Monthly Archives: November 2012

DoH has published a report on taking a public health approach topreventing violence in England.

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The Department of Health (DoH) has published a report on taking a public health approach topreventing violence in England. Issues highlighted include: the impact of childhood exposure to violence on the child’s health and behaviour in later life, and the cost of violence to the NHS each year (an estimated £2.9 billion). Interventions considered include: family and parent support programmes, programmes developing children’s life skills, and work with high-risk young people.
Source: DoH Press Release 02 November 2012
Further information:
Protecting people promoting health: a public health approach to violence prevention for England. (PDF)

The British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect has published a report about family involvement in serious case reviews

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The British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (BASPCAN) has published a report about family involvement in serious case reviews. Practice recommendations included: guidance rather than prescriptive practice should be used to inform levels of family participation; local protocols should be clear about the reasons for seeking family involvement; and decisions about which family members and significant others to involve should be made on a case by case basis, with no pre-determined exclusions.
Source: The British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (BASPCAN)12 November 2012
Further information:
Family Involvement in Case Reviews Report: Executive Summary (PDF)

Report into how to support and protect young people at risk of suicide

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The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People has published a report written by Queen’s University Belfast and NSPCC about how to support and protect young people at risk ofsuicide. Recommendations include: develop a decision making tool to identify childhood adversities linked to poorer outcomes; make children identified as at risk of suicide subject to an agreed intervention plan; and provide professionals in greatest contact with young people with training on identifying and responding to depression.
Source: Children & Young People Now 12 November 2012
Further information:
Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) 12 November 2012
   Still Vulnerable: The Impact of Early Childhood Experiences on Adolescent Suicide and Accidental Death. (PDF)
   Young person’s report: The Importance of Having Someone to Talk To: A report about childhood experiences and teenage suicide and accidental death. (PDF)

Ofsted has published an example of good practice when working with families with chronic problems

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Ofsted has published an example of good practice when working with families with chronic problems. The Swindon Borough Council’s ‘LIFE’ programme involves practitioners from multiple agencies working alongside families to understand the problems they are facing and develop ways of increasing families’ capacity and reducing risk factors. Outcomes of the programme include: an 80% average reduction in police call outs; 13 children no longer subject to child protection plans; and 10 children on the edge of being taken into care have been supported to remain safely with their families.
Source: Ofsted Press Release 13 November 2012
Further information:
Working with families through the ‘LIFE’ programme: Swindon Borough Council (PDF)

The Department for Education has published a review of the Edlington case written by Lord Carlile

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The Department for Education has published a review of the Edlington case written by Lord Carlile at the request of Michael Gove. Recommendations include: compliance with the Troubled Families Programme should be the subject of an annual report; Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) should work closely with Children’s Services on the assessment and treatment of conduct disorders; a designated family judge should be asked to participate as an advisor in all serious case reviews; two versions of serious case reviews should be produced, a closed version and an open one; and there should be national agreement on threshold guidance, shared with all professionals.
Source: Department for Education press release 16 November 2012
Further information:
The Edlington Case (PDF)

Community Care has published findings from a survey about social workers in family courts

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Community Care has published findings from a survey about social workers in family courts. Findings include, of the 185 social workers and guardians asked: 55% said they felt their professional judgement is ‘never’ or only ‘sometimes’ respected by judges and lawyers; and 35% said they felt ‘very’ or ‘quite’ unconfident when giving evidence and being cross examined.
Source: Community Care 14 November 2012

The Department for Education are consulting on draft legislation on ethnicity and “fostering for adoption

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The Department for Education are consulting on draft legislation on ethnicity and “fostering for adoption”. The two draft clauses up for discussion place a duty on local authorities to give preference to “Fostering for Adoption” placements and remove the express duty on adoption agencies to give due consideration to religion, race, culture and language when matching children with prospective adopters. The deadline for submissions is 30 November 2012.
Source: Department for Education
Further information:
Draft legislation on Adoption: Early Permanence through ‘Fostering for Adoption’ and Matching for Adoption. (PDF)

ChildLine has published a report about children’s experiences of sexual grooming

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ChildLine has published a report about children’s experiences of sexual grooming. Findings include, during 2011/12: 5% (15,993) of contacts received by ChildLine were about sexual abuse, making it the fifth most common reason for contact; in 413 counselling interactions the child specifically described aspects of sexual grooming; and in cases involving grooming where the age was known, the age group with the highest number of counselling interactions was 12-15 year olds (62%).
Source: NSPCC Press Release 15 November 2012
Further information:
Caught in a trap: the impact of grooming in 2012. (PDF)

In demand: therapeutic services for children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse.

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In demand: therapeutic services for children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse.
Summary: Reports on an NSPCC study into the estimated need for services across the UK for sexually abused children and young people. Findings include: low specialist service provision with need outstripping availability; limited referral routes; significant waiting lists necessitating more reactive than preventive work; and less accessibility for teenagers, children with disabilities and those from Black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee groups. The need for training, and the commissioning of services to meet the shortfall in provision is identified.
Publication details: Child Abuse Review (Vol.21, Iss.5) Sept-Oct 2012 pp 318-334
Authors: Debra Allnock, Lorraine Radford, Lisa Bunting, Avril Price, Natalie Morgan-Klein, Jane Ellis and Anne Stafford

Bed sharing: is it worth the risk?

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Bed sharing: is it worth the risk?
Summary: Considers the risks of co-sleeping in relation to sudden infant death, in a report on the Dr WE (Bill) Parish Memorial Lecture 2012 given by Professor Ed Mitchell of the University of Auckland Department of Paediatrics. Looks at the research around this topic and concludes that bed sharing has more risks than benefits.
Publication details: Community Practitioner (Vol.85, Iss.11) November 2012 pp 14-15
Authors: Chloe Harries