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Asylum policy ignores child welfare

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, November 10, 2009
  • | CYP Now
It's a bit much to expect governments to demonstrate consistency. As of last week, under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, UK Border Agency staff have a duty to consider and promote the welfare of children when exercising their functions. That's a welcome and long-anticipated development.

Children in care need to be heard

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, November 3, 2009
  • | CYP Now
Young people from the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) debated in the House of Commons chamber last Friday, the first body of people other than MPs to occupy the green benches.

Homeless teens enter the equation

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, October 20, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The numbers of looked-after children are on the rise as the recession takes its toll on families and social workers become more risk-averse in the aftermath of Baby P.

Target families to end worklessness

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, October 13, 2009
  • | CYP Now
One in six children and young people in the UK - around 1.9 million - live in a household where no-one works. The past few decades have seen the rise of intergenerational worklessness, where unemployment is deeply entrenched in families. This is despite the fact that employment rates have increased overall, the current recession notwithstanding.

Cuts could enhance joint working

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, October 6, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The party conference season is over and national politics is destined for a surreal few months in the run-up to the general election. Expect plenty more short-term children's policy announcements - some even eye- catching - as the main parties try to outmanoeuvre each other to strike a popular chord. Politics in Westminster will become increasingly sensationalised and polarised.

Haringey needs intensive support

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, September 22, 2009
  • | CYP Now
Who would want to work in Haringey children's services? As we reveal this week, care proceedings in the London borough soared after Baby P's death dominated the news.

Focus of spending must be balanced

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, September 8, 2009
  • | CYP Now
It's official: the UK spends more money on child welfare and education than the average market economy. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report out last week, we spend just over 90,000 per child from birth to 18 compared to an OECD average among 30 member countries of just under 80,000.

Policy into practice - Domestic abuse

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, August 25, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The issue: The effects of domestic abuse on young people can be long lasting. More than a quarter experience depression, anger, guilt and low self- esteem later in life. About 750,000 children a year witness abuse at home, according to the Department of Health.

Policy into practice Looked-after children

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, July 28, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The issue: Around 60,000 children in England are in care at any one time. Many of them have suffered traumatic experiences, abuse or neglect. The transition to new adult carers in unfamiliar settings can add to their stress without extended families, friends and siblings around to offer support.

The best champions have empathy

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, July 14, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The challenge to reach out to disadvantaged families has long been the holy grail of children's services, not least in the take-up of childcare.

The next commissioner needs bite

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, June 16, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has fired the starting gun to recruit a children's commissioner for England to succeed Sir Al Aynsley-Green early next year.

Policy into practice Childhood bereavement

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, June 9, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The issue: Over the past few weeks, advertising in shops and the media has reminded us to make a fuss of our dads on Father's Day. However, for many young people 21 June will be a day of sadness, not celebration. Every 22 minutes a child in Britain is bereaved of a parent - this equates to more than 24,000 newly bereaved children every year.

After the circus, the work carries on

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, June 9, 2009
  • | CYP Now
It was Oscar Wilde who wrote: "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness" (The Importance of Being Earnest).

It's time to view care in a positive light

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, May 26, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The recent report calling for a renewed focus on the value of children's homes and earlier reception into care for troubled and damaged children and young people, made fascinating reading.

Lame reaction to protection worries

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, May 12, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The Children's Secretary has talked a tough game throughout the Baby Peter child protection storm, taking swift action at the outset in commissioning Lord Laming to review child protection arrangements in England.

It's good logic to halve child poverty

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, April 14, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The fiscal stimulus, be it tax cuts or increases in government spending, has been all the rage on both sides of the Atlantic, as the boldest way to ride the recession.

Policy into practice - Homelessness

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, April 14, 2009
  • | CYP Now
THE ISSUE: Having just passed the 10-year anniversary of Labour's commitment to halve the number of children in poverty by 2010, more than a million children in England still live in bad housing, enduring overcrowded, unsanitary or unsafe accommodation.

The key to Ofsted's rehabilitation

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, March 31, 2009
  • | CYP Now
Ofsted has attracted its share of flak in recent months, much of it justified. The verdict of its Annual Performance Assessment of Haringey Council in late 2007 as "good" is now notorious.

Prevention is first line of protection

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, March 17, 2009
  • | CYP Now
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.