Impacts of Changes to Child Care Services in the UK

Impacts of Changes to boor C be servings in the UKDiscuss how the changes to nipperrens go currently being promoted by the government are likely to blow on the lives of children in need, their families and social workers undertaking their statutory duties.An EssayThis sample is effectively in two lucks. In the first part we shall discourse and delineate the measures that the government are currently promoting and then, having done that we shall critically rate how they impact on the motley subsections outlined in the title.The MeasuresThere are many measures that overhear been introduced in the recent past and therefore are currently being promoted by the government. Perhaps one of the most heavy is the topic serve Framework for children, young people and maternity run (NSF 2004). This was published in Sept 2004 after a long finis of credit. It was arguably triggered by a number of events which highlighted the need for some family of central insurance instrument to help to guide the various master key agencies in their efforts to provide a seamless help for the child in need. (Zeigler et al 2005) (Meadow 1995)Perhaps the defining trigger to the evolution of this document was the sad death of Victoria Climbie, whose case in 2000 highlighted the deficiencies in the ability of the various agencies involved to effectively communicate and share vital information which king have averted the tragedy that subsequently overtook the 8 yr. old girl. (Saraswat 2005) This coincided with the publication of the NHS architectural plan in July 2000The subsequent Laming enquiry identified 108 separate areas where improvements could be make. This was followed up by the announcement by the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn, announcing the inception of the home(a) Service Framework. This was expedited further by the problems that arose as a result of the Bristol magnificent Infirmarys Heart Surgery policies. The Kennedy report (2002) again mad e a number of recommendations which became encapsulated in the National Service Framework hospital care for children.In 2002, the government announced that it was commissioning a major(ip) review of the infant and Adolescent Mental Health Service which it anticipate being completed by the end of 2006, which clearly whitethorn easy have items of major importance to the wel farthere of the child in need. (Benger et al 2002)The Green Paper Children at happen was announced by the curate of State for Children, itchgaret Hodge, in 2003. It was intended to be a discussion document which encompassed the areas of childcare provision, childrens services generally and the identification and procedures pertaining to children at hazard. The major policy shift that accompanied this move was the transfer of office for childrens Social run from the Department of Health to the Department for education and Skills. This also coincided with another Green Paper entitled Every Child Matters. Its main theme was the provision of revitalize measures for childrens care and protection.At about the same time the Specific Performance Service Targets were issued (2004). These cover primarily health issues and many were targeted particular propositionally at children. Very in brief after this, the National Standards, Local hazardion Health and Social bring off Standards and cooking Framework 2005/6-2007/8 was published in July of the same year (2004) which was an umbrella publication covering both the NHS and all the Social Service Agencies. It covered guidance on policy, finance and targets to be met.The Childrens pecker went before Parliament in March 2004 which brought together the major run arounds of the antecede Green Papers. At about the same time the Child pauperization Review (Aug 2004) was also published which contained some major recommendations for action to denigrate the effects of Child poverty in the UK. Its professed goal was, after reviewing the chang es in policy and social welfare that were required, to halve the level of child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020. In the specific context of this essay, one of its major targets was to entrap in place welfare support to encourage those parents who could work, to get certify to work and to provide a degree of financial stability where that was not possible.The effectsOne of the major goals in the governments policy (exchequer Child Poverty Review 2004) is to bring about social reform by improving a childs life chances. It aims to do this by two major strategies. Firstly to improve the general measuring of health of children and secondly to improve their financial stability ( by tackling square deprivation). Clearly the NHS reforms are primarily aimed at the various health issues and the National Standards are aimed more at the social problems.It is a key feature of these measures that co-operation and multidisciplinary teamworking are the preferred mechanisms that all ow achieve the stated goals. ( puny et al 2005) This is the core of the major changes that will impact on the workers in the various caring disciplines.If the government is successful in implementing all of the strategies that are covered by all the above programmes it could produce a major shift in the emphasis that is currently placed on child care and child safety and protection issues. (Pheby 2000)As far as the Childrens neb is concerned, it gives all children potential access to the Social Services and those children who have specific identified needs should find it easier to get targeted help for those needs. As far as the actual Social Workers and, for that matter healthcare professionals in general, are concerned, the theory is that the childrens services are now envisaged as an about completely integrated service, where planning, facilitation and implementation is done on a multidisciplinary basis. It is hoped that this will cut down on duplication and thereby improve e fficiency. righteousness is also an essential feature of many of these measures.As far as the most socially vulnerable children as concerned, the key responsibility for their welfare still rests with the Social Services, as their responsibility, as defined by the Children Act (1989) is essentially unchanged. The major difference with the current legislation is that the Social Services will head a multidisciplinary team approach to furnish to airless the gap between the outcomes in this group and the outcome for the average child.another(prenominal) major change will be the setting up of a database that will be shared across all relevant agencies that have a legitimate interest in a childs welfare. This should allow all interested parties to share intelligence and information that may be helpful in framing a response to a particular child with a particular problem.Most of what we have refered to frankincense far is theory and remaination. Perhaps this should be contrasted with th e reality of the situation. Brandon (et al 2005) produced a review document covering an assessment of the last 20 austere case reviews in Wales, they highlighted a number of process failures in the methods of service delivery. It was a useful document in so far as it was able to pin-point the areas where the service is less than seamless. Specifically it found deficiencies in aspects of training and also the actions and role activity of the lead professional in many cases. The authors produced a very pertinent statement as part of their conclusion which is worth quoting verbatimConsultation could often be apply prior to, or in place of referral. The barrier to the collation and summary of relevant information often appeared to be a failure to understand and understand expertise rather than a lack of communication as often postulated in review reports. Skilled use of expertise and consultation in a co-ordinated manner could result in more pixilated assessments and promote greate r professional trust, confidence and challenge.In that short divide is encapsulated the practical difference between the governments rhetoric and in effect(p) intention and the actual reality as the grass root workers try to adjust to the processes of reform.Mercifully, we should observe that the majority of the legislation that we have presented here is really empowering and enabling rather than prescriptive or mandatory. Perhaps we should therefore expect something of a learning curve from all parties as it slowly deeds its way into common practice.ReferencesBenger and Pearce 2002 Quality improvement report Simple interpolation to improve detection of child abuse in emergency departments BMJ, Mar 2002 324 780 782.Brandon, Dodsworth, Rumball 2005Serious case reviews learning to use expertiseChild cry out Review May 2005, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 160-176(17)Child Poverty Review 2004HM. TreasuryHMSO August 2004Children Act 1989.A Government Bill 1989Children at Risk 2003Green Paper HMSO 2003Childrens Bill 2004Hansard March 2004Every Child Matters 2003Green PaperHMSO Oct 2003Kennedy report into Heart Surgery at the Bristol purple Infirmary 2002Learning from BristolHMSO January 2002.Laming enquiry 2003Death of Victoria ClimbieHMSO 28 January 2003Little M, Kohm A, Thompson R. 2005The impact of residential placement on child development interrogation and policy implicationsInt J Soc Welfare 2005 14 200209Meadow 1995 parental Perspectives in Cases of Suspected Child Abuse BMJ, Sep 1995 311 697.National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services 2004HMSO 15th kinsfolk 2004,National Standards, 2004Local Action Health and Social Care Standards and Planning Framework 2005/062007/08HMSO July 2004NHS PlanHMSO July 2000NHS Specific Performance Service Targets 2004NHS National numberHMSO June 2004Pheby, Carl Henshall, Deborah Henshall, Brian Morgan, and Simon Wessely 2000 Diagnose and be damned BMJ, Apr 2000 320 1004.Saraswat 2005 Child abuse and trichotillomania BMJ, Jan 2005 330 83 84.Ziegler. Sammut. bagpiper 2005Assessment and follow-up of suspected child abuse in pre-school children diary of Paediatrics and Child Health, May 2005, vol. 41, no. 5-6, pp. 251-255(5)***********************************************************************************************PDGWord count 1,829