The UK child protection system is laudable. Why risk it with reform? | Ray Jones

The government plans to scrap local safeguarding children boards, which have improved the way agencies work together

As the government ploughs ahead with plans to abolish local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs), turning over the ground on which good child protection has flourished and helped to nurture fertile multi-professional and multi-agency working, it is urgent to reflect on what will be discarded.

The boards’ genesis goes back to the mid-1970s and the response to the inquiry following the death of Maria Colwell. The inquiry identified concerns about how agencies and professionals worked together – for Maria it was about social services, health, school, education welfare, housing, police and the NSPCC.

Related: How can child abuse and neglect be prevented? - live Q&A

Although we cannot predict and prevent every child’s death​,​ the UK is generally very successful at protecting children

Related: Can new partnership keep vulnerable children out of care?

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from Children | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2FOMCfd