Child protection systems fail older children, report warns
Laura McCardle
Monday, November 24, 2014
Existing child protection systems are failing to meet the complex needs of adolescents, an analysis of safeguarding practice has concluded.
That Difficult Age: Developing a More Effective Response to Risks in Adolescence warns that interventions are largely centred around the needs of younger children and fail to address the issues faced by young people and the risk it can expose them to.
In particular, the report produced by Research in Practice and based on evaluation of existing practice, warns that the current child protection system is proving to be ineffective because it focuses on the prevention of harm to younger children, who are at risk within their own family.
As a result, the report, which has the backing of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), calls for the creation of an adolescent-centred approach that takes a range of factors, including increased risk-taking and gang involvement, into account.
Such a system would enable child protection workers to focus on developing young people’s resilience and a greater understanding of the role adolescent choices play in the threat to their safety, the report adds.
Dez Holmes, director of Research in Practice, said the findings highlight the need for a fundamental redesign of the wider child protection system.
She said: “This analysis compels us to question whether the current child protection system should be the dominant construct for keeping our young people safe.
“We hope to instigate a debate about this, and inspire local leaders and national policymakers to consider whether a new approach is needed – one that works with adolescent development, puts relationships at the heart of protection and is resilience-focused.
“Given the current discourse around issues affecting teenagers such as mental health and wellbeing, drug and alcohol use, and child sexual exploitation, the time seems right to fundamentally question our overall approach.”
Jenny Coles, chair of ADCS’s families, communities and young people committee, said that the quality of bids submitted to the Department for Education’s £100m Innovation Fund proves that the sector is keen to do things differently for young people.
She said: “Adolescents are facing all kinds of risks and threats which require a sophisticated and integrated response.
“This report provides us with a call to action to think about how we as practitioners, and society as a whole, can best support young people in the future.”
The Innovation Fund, launched in October 2013, supports projects designed to improve children's services.
