Prevention is first line of protection

17 March 2009 1 min read Ravi Chandiramani Social Care Editorial

Lord Laming's report on the state of child protection has injected great urgency in efforts to keep children safe from abuse and neglect. All 58 of his recommendations to improve practice through better procedures, training and lines of accountability have been accepted by the government. The spotlight is on child protection like rarely before.

This being the case, local authorities might be tempted to pump increasing resources into safeguarding children in need, and in turn allow some of their preventative services to be sacrificed. That would be a terrible mistake. Prevention is the first line of protection. Indeed, Laming says himself that "a more determined commitment to universal preventative services will facilitate the identification of children in need". Hence, his call for an increase in health visitors. Elsewhere, he says sufficient resources must be in place to support early intervention and prevention, and that such programmes "should not be in competition for resources" with child protection work.

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