Getting it right for every child & young person in Highland: interagency practice model & child protection procedures 2024
Child protection planning must fit within the wider planning processes in a local area, showing how child protection is integral to wider economic and social objectives. This must be evident through community and integrated children's services planning, the national outcomes shared by national and local government, and the key national policy frameworks. The aim of community planning is to make sure people and communities are engaged in the decisions made about public services which affect them.
Scottish Government's overarching objectives are set out in a National Performance Framework. Most of these objectives have direct and immediate relevance to the safety, security and life chances of children in Scotland. Public Health Priorities for Scotland (Scottish Government/COSLA, 2018) provides the focus for national improvements in healthy life expectancy, reduction of inequalities, and support for sustainable economic growth over the next ten years.
The specifics of local child protection planning and the responsibilities of Chief Officers and Child Protection Committees have been outlined above. Delivery of child protection is part of a continuum of inter-agency services for children and families informed by the GIRFEC policy and practice model.
Services protecting children and supporting their families are defined and influenced by a range of inter-related strategic plans. The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 set out reforms to the way services for children and young people are designed, delivered and reviewed. As part of the Act, the Scottish Government provides statutory guidance (in Part 3) on Children's Services Planning.
The duties placed on local authorities and health boards under this part of the Act included provision of a Children's Services Plan for which they have joint responsibility. For the purpose of Children's Services Plans, a 'child' is a person under 18 years old or a care leaver aged 18-25 years old eligible to receive 'children's services'.
There are overlaps between the requirement to plan for children's services and other related services, including duties included in Part 1 (Children's Rights), Part 6 (Early Learning and Childcare) and Part 9 (Corporate Parenting) of the 2014 Act, as well as the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland Act) 2014, the Community
Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 (including young carers), and the Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. There are duties to report under the Education (Scotland) Act 2016, which establishes a statutory National Improvement Framework. Local authorities and health boards must also jointly publish annual reports on what they have done and will do in order to reduce child poverty in the local area.
Each integration authority is also required to prepare an annual performance report on how the arrangements in the strategic plan are contributing to achieving the National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes. These reports are required to cover all services provided in the exercise of functions delegated to the integration authority, including, where applicable, children's services. From the perspective of children's services planning, the adult health and social care context is important because most children live in families with adults, and because the complex question of supporting good transitions to adult life and services needs shared perspective, resourcing, management and reporting.
While community justice services are mainly focused on adults, there is an impact on children too, particularly where the recipient of a community justice service is a parent or sibling. The Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, implemented from 1 April 2017, established a new local partnership model for required community justice planning and delivery of services.
Services to protect children should take account of national policies to promote the wellbeing of all children, including disabled children and those most at risk, such as children affected by problematic parental alcohol and/or drug use, children affected by domestic abuse (such as Equally Safe – see below), and children at risk of being trafficked.
Within this complex wider planning landscape, there is a need to co‑ordinate purpose, monitoring, data gathering, analysis, format and timing of reporting and review. The Child Protection National Minimum Dataset 2020 will assist in this process.
Children's services should be 'integrated' not just in organisation, but also from the perspective of children, young people, parents, carers, families and communities. In general terms there is a national policy emphasis on provision of early help to prevent escalating need and risk.