Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd
Blue Sky Offices Shoreham, 25 Cecil Pashley Way, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, BN43 5FF, UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44 (0)1273 434 943
Email: [email protected]
Charity 4Children has called for a “system which sets sights high for vulnerable children” following the Home Office’s recent review of procedures to identify those at risk of abuse.
The report, published last weekend [29 July], said multi-agency working was key to early and effective identification of risk, improved information sharing, joint decision-making and coordinated action.
However, the document concluded multi-agency approaches do not supersede a single agency’s duty to identify, protect and support a child or vulnerable person.
Ensure children are protected from deplorable abuse
Crime prevention minister Norman Baker said: “This coalition government is determined to tackle child abuse in whatever form it takes and MASHs have a clear role to play in this.
“This report sets out evidence from a wide range of approaches across hundreds of local authority areas. As a result, local agencies are now better placed than ever before to make informed decisions about how best to ensure children and vulnerable adults are protected from deplorable abuse and exploitation.”
Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASHs) support professionals to ‘join the dots’ and understand threats so they can take action to prevent them according to the review.
Further reading: Will MASH make our children safer?
Commenting on the findings, 4Children CEO Anne Longfield said: “The government review published today is right to highlight the need to develop new strategies to prioritise and better understand children’s lives and the extent of child neglect in local areas, and particularly the need for greater integration in local service delivery.
“We need a system which sets sights high for vulnerable children and which expects and enables all professionals to work together to co-ordinate determined meaningful action in response.”