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Public inquiries have become a standard governmental response to managing matters of public interest and concern, including child abuse, in a number of countries, but questions have been raised over whether they are worth the time, money and resources. This paper examines experts' perceptions of the aims and outcomes of public inquiries, before moving on to consider whether there are more effective and efficient ways of investigating national scandals. Based on findings from a thematic analysis of the proceedings of a four‐day expert summit, and semi‐structured interviews with 16 participants who have been involved in child abuse inquiries in the UK and elsewhere, it concludes that public inquiries are not fulfilling all of their competing objectives. While a limited number of inquiries into the care and protection of children have had a positive impact on policy or practice, or successfully raised public awareness overall, there is little evidence of effectiveness. There is a need to: rethink the purpose, scope, methodology and impact of such inquiries to ensure that they are more effective and cost‐efficient; place children, victims and survivors at the centre; and use a wider range of professional expertise and skills. 'Examines experts' perceptions of the aims and outcomes of public inquiries... [and] consider[s] whether there are more effective and efficient ways of investigating national scandals' Key Practitioner Messages: Victims should be at the centre of any process to investigate serious cases of child abuse.Serious cases should be investigated by multidisciplinary teams comprising individuals with a range of different skill sets and capabilities.Cases where things have gone wrong should be considered alongside evidence from cases where children are well protected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the Founder's lecture of the same title presented at the BASPCAN Congress, 'New Directions in Child Protection and Well-being', in April 2015 in Edinburgh. In a very schematic way, it attempts to critically review changes in child protection policies in the UK since the first BASPCAN Congress in 1991. It argues that while there are similarities, there are also important differences. The nature of the problems to be addressed has become both broader and more complex and this is reflected in developments in policy and practice. At the same time, the challenges for child protection have become increasingly politicised such that the narrative of professional and system failure has become more dominant and pervasive. This has the effect of deflecting political and policy attention from the size and nature of the social problems to be addressed. The paper concludes by considering the most recent developments and their possible impact including the statutory Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse chaired by Justice Lowell Goddard. Key Practitioner Messages The changing political contexts are significant for the way in which practice is and can be carried out., In many ways, developments over the last 24 years can be seen as a story of growing social awareness and progress rather than one of 'blame and failure'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews existing evidence and debates in relation to young people and sexual exploitation in the light of new empirical evidence generated through primary research. This research explored the types of sexual exploitation that practitioners had worked with in the preceding year and Local Safeguarding Children Boards' responses to young people's sexual exploitation. The findings indicate that there may be several models of sexual exploitation operating simultaneously in any particular area, and the article therefore suggests that the discourse on young people's sexual exploitation that has dominated policy and practice for more than a decade in the UK requires reconsideration to account for the complex forms of sexual exploitation young people experience in the 21st century. The paper suggests that, in order to provide young people with the most appropriate support, practice responses need to be developed from the concrete conditions in which young people are subject to sexual exploitation, rather than applying abstract 'models' that fail to capture the lived experience of the young people concerned. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages There is confusion in relation to identifying child sexual exploitation., Several models of child sexual exploitation may be operating simultaneously in any one place and at any one time., Practitioners need to account for the agency and decision-making process of young people when working with those who are sexually exploited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While violence against children is a common occurrence only a minority of incidents come to the attention of the authorities. Low reporting rates notwithstanding, official data such as child protection referrals and recorded crime statistics provide valuable information on the numbers of children experiencing harm which come to the attention of professionals in any given year. In the UK, there has been a strong tendency to focus on child protection statistics while children as victims of crime remain largely invisible in annual crime reports and associated compendia. This is despite the implementation of a raft of policies aimed at improving the system response to victims and witnesses of crime across the UK. This paper demonstrates the utility of a more detailed analysis of crime statistics in providing information on the patterns of crime against children and examining case outcomes. Based on data made available by the Police Service for Northern Ireland, it highlights how violent crime differentially impacts on older children and how detection rates vary depending on case characteristics. It makes an argument for developing recorded crime practice to make child victims of crime more visible and to facilitate assessment of the effectiveness of current initiatives and policy developments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages UK recorded crime is not routinely disaggregated by age and there is limited consideration of the changing patterns of crime against children., Practitioners working to reduce offending against children and to support victims through the criminal justice system are not being provided with the appropriate data to measure throughput through the system., Lack of information on the reasons why cases remain undetected means that strategies to reduce case attrition are essentially 'flying blind'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In common with the rest of the UK, child care and protection practice in Scotland has undergone unprecedented change over the last ten years, including a wide-ranging three-year Child Protection Reform Programme. In 2006, The University of Dundee's Centre for Child Care and Protection and Barnardo's Scotland Research and Development team were commissioned by the then Scottish Executive to undertake a process review of the Child Protection Reform Programme (Daniel et al., ). Drawing on findings from the process review, this article considers the impact of the Child Protection Reform Programme. The process review concluded that, in the view of the respondents, the Child Protection Reform Programme made a substantive contribution towards the improvement and delivery of child protection services in Scotland, particularly in terms of raising awareness and increased multi-agency working. It was beyond the scope of the review to measure outcomes for children as a result of the reforms. Since the completion of the Child Protection Reform Programme, national policy emphasis has broadened from 'child protection' towards integrated support for children under the Getting it Right for Every Child reforms of children's services. The paper concludes with a discussion around where 'child protection' now fits within this context of universal support for children and argues that there is a need to ensure that the valuable work which was done to improve child protection services in Scotland under the Child Protection Reform Programme is not lost. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the United Kingdom there is growing awareness of the need to identify and support the small number of children who are living in families experiencing multiple problems. Research indicates that adverse experiences in childhood can result in poor outcomes in adulthood in terms of lack of employment, poorer physical and mental health and increases in social problems experienced. It is acknowledged that most of these children are known to child welfare professionals and that some are referred to social services, subsequently entering the child protection system. This paper reports research conducted with 28 experienced child welfare professionals. It explores their views about families known to the child protection system with long-term and complex needs in relation to the characteristics of children and their families; the process of intervention with families; and the effects of organisational arrangements on practice. The research indicates that these families are characterised by the range and depth of the problems experienced by the adults, such as domestic violence, mental health difficulties and substance misuse problems, and the need for professionals to have good inter-personal skills and access to specialist therapeutic services if families are to be supported to address their problems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the reform of English children's services, children's trust pathfinders were launched in 2003 by the British government to promote greater inter-agency co-operation between children's services and professionals. This paper reports on early findings from a multi-method, longitudinal national evaluation of the implementation and impact of all 35 children's trust pathfinders. Using data from a 2004 survey of 35 children's trusts managers and in-depth interviews with 107 professionals conducted in 2005, results show strong endorsement of an integrated children's service vision. However, arrangements for co-operation on governance and strategic developments were more advanced than for procedural or frontline professional practice. In this transitional period, professionals were negotiating a balance between targeted and universal service provision and, concurrently, establishing the scope of formal strategic partnership bodies (including local safeguarding children boards) with potentially overlapping remits. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people leaving out of home care are arguably one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society. Compared to most young people, they face particular difficulties in accessing educational, employment, housing and other developmental and transitional opportunities. Care leavers have been found to experience significant health, social and educational deficits including homelessness, involvement in juvenile crime and prostitution, mental and physical health problems, poor educational and employment outcomes, inadequate social support systems and early parenthood. These poor outcomes reflect a number of factors including ongoing emotional trauma resulting from experiences of abuse and neglect prior to care, inadequate support while in care, accelerated transitions to adulthood and lack of guaranteed ongoing financial and other assistance to help facilitate this transition. Young people leaving care do not currently receive the ongoing support that a good parent would be expected to provide for their children. Using relevant literature from the USA, UK and Australia, this paper examines the factors that contribute to these poor outcomes and potential policy and practice reforms that may lead to better outcomes for care leavers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the author's opinions on the recommendations of Great Britain's National Commission of Inquiry Into the Prevention of Child Abuse regarding child abuse in Great Britain. Information on the Commission's report; Views on government policies related to child abuse; Discussion on child welfare services; Views on family violence; Discussion on the training of different professional groups that are involved in child protection.