"It's everyone's job to make sure I'm alright"
Report of the Child Protection Audit and Review
Foreword
The Executive's vision for Scotland's children is
'A Scotland in which every child matters, where every child, regardless of his or her family background, has the best possible start in life.'
All children in Scotland deserve to be cared for and protected from harm and to grow up in a safe environment in which their rights and needs are respected. Unfortunately, not all children are properly cared for or protected and sometimes the environments in which children live are harmful to their development and wellbeing.
Every adult in Scotland has a role in ensuring all our children live safely and can reach their full potential. Parents, whether living with their children or not, have the most important role to play and other family members will contribute greatly to a child's wellbeing. However, even happy children who are well cared for by their families, sometimes need the support of other adults around them, for example, at times of family stress, in the absence of a parent or when playing outside their homes. As children grow and extend their horizons beyond their homes, organisations such as schools and youth groups have a particular role in safeguarding children. They also educate children about risks and how these can be managed.
The aim of this review is to promote the reduction of abuse or neglect of children, and to improve the services for children who experience abuse or neglect. It pays particular attention to the needs of the small number of children whose family or environmental circumstances are so poor that their future wellbeing is placed at serious risk.
The review, which is the subject of this report, represents the widest enquiry yet carried out into child protection in Scotland. It was carried out by a multi-professional team, was based on up-to-date information on the subject, was informed about systems in other countries, was supported by information and views provided by a wide range of agencies and organisations and - not least of all - had the benefit of views expressed by children and young people themselves affected by abuse and neglect.
All the work which has gone into the review has confirmed the progress which has been made in the past decade to improve protection for Scotland's children, particularly:
- the sound legal framework of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 which places meeting children's needs to the fore;
- the readiness of many services to embrace joint working in order to secure children's welfare; and
- the committed goodwill and sustained efforts of professionals in those services.
But the task of protecting children is never done. There are still persistent and serious problems to be tackled in Scotland, as this report outlines. This is the right time to take the opportunities presented by earlier improvements:
- to boost the performance of agencies which have a major role in protecting children from harm and neglect, not only individually but - since no one holds all the pieces - as partners; and
- to secure much better improvements for children's lives from the extensive efforts and resources which are committed to protecting them from harm.
The recommendations in this report are founded on the findings of the Review and are designed to introduce change and improvements. They are presented as the basis for a realistic action plan to improve the protection of Scotland's children in the next decade.