Comment on child protection and SoS statement on Arthur...

Charlotte Ramsden, ADCS President, said:

“Removing a child from their family is the most serious state intervention in family life and there is rightly a clear framework set out in legislation on how and when local authorities should seek to do this. Indeed it’s important that where children need to come into care they do, but our system is based on the principle that wherever possible children are best placed in their family, this sits at the heart of social work and is enshrined in the Children Act 1989. The tension between early intervention and the prompt removal of children from a dangerous situation must be acknowledged as should the real difficulties and dilemmas faced by our staff when making complex, life changing decisions to keep children safe from harm based on the multi-agency information assessment and analysis available at that time. We welcome the recognition by the Secretary of State for Education that the effectiveness of the multi-agency system is crucial to assist in these decisions and that the plan for the national review and the JTAI reflect this. ”

ENDS

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