Pioneering approaches to protecting children from neglect are being developed by Child and Family Services in Swansea.
The City and County’s social services is at the forefront of innovative ways to train and support social workers in spotting potential neglect or manage families where children are at risk of neglect
The service has attracted internationally renowned professors in the field of child welfare and vulnerable children and families to help develop this vital work.
Neglect is one of the most serious issues affecting children in Wales and the rest of the UK and is the largest cause of children being placed on the child protection register.
In Swansea around 100 children are on the child protection register for neglect. A recent CSSIW inspection of Child and Family Services reported that cases of suspected neglect are being dealt with more effectively in Swansea, but work to tackle the issue continues.
The Swansea Safeguarding Children Board has identified the issues of neglect as a priority for its future work and will develop a multi-agency policy to address this important matter.
Councillor Nick Tregoning, Cabinet Member for Social Services said that Swansea would continue to improve practice in order to provide clear improvements to the lives of vulnerable children and young people.
He said: “We are determined to maintain progress which is why we are working with internationally-recognised leaders in the field to make sure that additional investment in child and family services is put to work in the best way possible.
“Neglect can have a significant and long lasting impact on the lives and well being of children. That is why it is important that children in need of support are identified at an early stage to ensure that they are protected and problems with the family are addressed.
“Clearly, the development work with leading lights in this field will benefit our social workers and our partners in other agencies. Councils elsewhere will benefit from it too.
“However most important of all is that local children and young people will benefit long term from the work that’s done.”
Child and Family Services in Swansea has worked with the Social Services Improvement Agency to develop an innovative assessment training pack for social workers.
The pack is available on each social workers computer and contains a range of materials and information to support social workers to undertake assessments and develop plans in cases where a child may be suffering from neglect.
The materials were developed by a team led by Hedy Cleaver, Emeritus Professor at Royal Holloway, whose research has had a recognised impact on UK policy and practice for vulnerable children over the last twenty years.
Also, the department is being used a pilot site for work in the area of neglect. The research is led by Professor Jan Horwath of Sheffield University and is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. The pilot is focused on developing more effective approaches to identify and respond to cases involving neglect.
In addition Child and Family Services are also a development partner with Civica for their computerised childcare recording system PARIS to improve the systems assessment and planning modules.
