We have a statutory responsibility to intervene in families to protect children at risk of harm. In a few cases this can mean removing children from families and making alternative arrangements for their long term care.
We want to improve the way this system works, and to strengthen our partnership with schools, health, the police and others to ensure no child at risk slips through the net.
Protecting children from domestic violence and sexual abuse remains our top priority. The harmful impact of child exploitation is becoming an ever growing concern as is the impact of self-harm, with increasing numbers of children being admitted to hospital.
Our priorities to 2023 are:
Protecting and supporting children where there is domestic or sexual violence and abuse
We will:
- Protect children from the harm of domestic abuse
- Support children and young people who live in families where there is domestic abuse
- Ensure adult and children’s services work together with the whole family
- Ensure all services support parenting in addition to dealing with any immediate need
For more information please see our DSVA Action Plan and Strategy.
Helping children experiencing emotional distress and reducing the impact of self-harm
We will:
- Ensure you and your family has the right information and support to help you if experiencing a crisis
- Make sure you know how to ask for help
- Help you and your family develop alternative strategies for dealing with emotional distress
- Provide good information so children can keep themselves safe, particularly from the risks online
For more information please see our CAMHS Transformation Plan.
Preventing exploitation
We will:
- Be there to help young people break free from exploitation
- Work together to disrupt all exploitation
- Better understand the impact of young people as perpetrators of exploitation and develop an offer to intervene
For more information please see our Exploitation of Children Strategy and Toolkit and Adolescent Safety Framework (Safer Me).