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- Consultation re Children's Commissioner
- 05/08/2011
- *Establishing A New Office Of The Children's Commissioner For England (OCCE): Consultation On Legislative Proposals Launch Date: Thursday 7 July 2011* Closing Date: Thursday 29 September 2011 In 2010, the Secretary of State for Education invited Dr John Dunford to undertake an independent review of the Children's Commissioner. The aim of the review was to identify ways in which the impact and cost-effectiveness of the Children's Commissioner could be improved. Read more >>
- Have your say on positive youth
- 05/08/2011
- *Have Your Say on 'Positive For Youth' Discussion Papers *The Government is developing a new cross-Government policy statement on services for young people, to be published in the autumn. Building on the outcomes from the Positive for Youth Summit it has worked closely with stakeholders including young people, the voluntary sector, local authorities, government departments and businesses, to co-produce a series of themed discussion papers on which they are seeking comments. Read more >>
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Young Lives Consortium
The Young Lives Consortium is based in Wakefield West Yorkshire and is the governing body covering the voluntary and community organisations for young people in the Wakefield District.
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Munro Special
Munro Review: Child protection services must be freed from 'unhelpful targets'
Children's social care services should be freed from government targets and every council should appoint a principal child and family social worker, Professor Eileen Munro's review of the child protection system has claimed. The review, which was commissioned by government after a spate of child protection scandals, argues that a one-size-fits-all approach to safeguarding and "tick-box culture" is preventing local areas from focusing on the needs of children. Munro claimed too many forms and procedures are preventing professionals from being able to give children the help they need. "That is why I am recommending that unhelpful targets for completing assessments within a set timescale are removed," she explained. "Professionals should instead concentrate on making good quality assessments that really focus on delivering the right help for the child, and checking whether that help has improved the child’s life." Read more and CYP Now:
Munro Review: Sector welcomes final report's proposals
Senior figures in the children's sector have given a cautious welcome to proposals to shake-up child protection, calling on the government to back key reforms. Professor Eileen Munro’s final report makes a total of 15 recommendations, including a call for professionals to have greater freedom from government controls and the ability for local areas to develop their own child protection services. Bob Reitemeier, chief executive of the Children’s Society, said that for the Munro report to truly make a difference to children's lives, the reforms will need to be implemented in full with clear support for frontline staff and backed with appropriate resources. "It is vital that social workers have the time and space to make decisions that are in the best interests of children and it is equally important for children to have their voices heard, allowing them to actively influence decisions about their lives. "It will also require a change in culture that genuinely supports professional practice and does not seek to blame social workers when things go wrong. "But there must also be careful monitoring and effective accountability in place to guard against the return of excessive drift and delay." Read more at CYP Now:
Munro Review: ADCS urges immediate action on recommendations
The Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) has urged the government to "act quickly" in implementing the recommendations of Professor Eileen Munro's review of the child protection system. Matt Dunkley, president of the ADCS, argued that some of Munro’s recommendations, such as the proposal that suggests reforming serious case reviews, should be implemented immediately. But Dunkley warned that plans to introduce a statutory duty on councils and their partners to offer "early help" to all children and young people in need would require additional funding from government. "It is right that providing early help can reduce the need for child protection interventions that are more complex and more expensive, but this is over a long period, at a time when referrals to children’s social care continue to rise and funding for early intervention has been reduced," he said. Read more at CYP Now:
Munro Review: Campaigners warn 'early help' duty must be backed with funding
Government funding is essential if proposals to place a duty on local authorities to provide "early help" services are to be successfully adopted, campaigners have warned. In the final report of her review of child protection
In the final report of her review of child protection, Eileen Munro recommends that family problems should be addressed before they escalate to child protection issues.
Munro said the arguments for early help are three-fold:
· A moral argument for minimising adverse experiences for children and young people
· An argument of "now or never" arising from the evidence of how difficult it is to reverse damage to children and young people’s development
· It is cost-effective when current expenditure is compared with estimated expenditure if serious problems develop later
But senior figures in the sector have said the proposals will come to nothing if they are not backed with substantial government funding. Read more at CYP Now:
You can download the full report from:
http://www.education.gov.uk/munroreview/downloads/8875_DfE_Munro_Report_TAGGED.pdf