Barefoot Social Work
  • Blog
  • About Barefoot
  • Contact
  • Resources
    • Guidance
    • Legislation
    • Tools

Children and Families Minister Addresses NSPCC Conference

17/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Today Edward Timpson, Children and Families Minister, addressed the NSPCC conference about how social work reform and innovation can help better protect vulnerable children. He became a Member of Parliament in 2008 after winning a by-election in the constituency of Crewe and Nantwich. In September 2012, he was appointed as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education, and following the 2015 general election, he was promoted to Minister of State for Children and Families.

You can see the whole speech here, but I've summarised/quoted the main points below.

He started his speech with a little self-deprecation, saying how thrilled and surprised he was to be back in office, before drawing attention to his own upbringing, in a household with adopted and fostered siblings, and his work with children in care. He says he believes “the protection of vulnerable children… [is] the most profound responsibility we have as a society".

He said that during the last parliament he had worked to “strengthen the child protection system… with major reforms to social worker recruitment and assessment”. Also “the first independent children’s trust in Doncaster”, he claimed, are “freeing up local authorities so that they can set up new models of delivery”.

Child sexual abuse and NSPCC report

Referring to investigations in Rotherham, Rochdale and Oxford he said: “we’ve been able to shine a light on a police and social care system set up to protect children, but that all too often turned them away, leaving them in the hands of callous abusers”. He also said that “the Prime Minister has appointed Karen Bradley as a minister in the Home Office to tackle [CSE] alongside [him] - recognition that child sexual abuse is about child protection... but also about prosecution too”.

Centre of Expertise

Timpson reported that a “new Centre of Expertise” will try “to understand what works when it comes to tackling and preventing child sexual abuse”.

In addition, he acknowledged “that while CSE is dominating the media, we must not lose sight of neglect”. That’s why, he said, they’re “looking at having a campaign to encourage the public to report all forms of child abuse and neglect”.

Social work reform

“At the heart of good child protection is, of course, good social workers”. He said that “the introduction of a new assessment and accreditation system for children’s social workers” will offer “a rigorous means of assuring the public that social workers…have the knowledge and skills needed to do the job”. His department will also continue to support “projects to bring the brightest and best into social work through Step Up to Social Work and Frontline”.

Innovation programme

Timpson said that he was “especially keen to see much closer working between the voluntary sector and local authorities - something the Children’s Social Care Innovation programme is encouraging and seeing take root.”

There’s a “£1.2 million initiative with SCIE - The Social Care Institute for Excellence - that aims to help us learn better from serious case reviews (SCRs) and improve their quality, and which includes a pilot to improve how SCRs are commissioned”.

There’s also a “£1 million funding for the NSPCC to introduce the New Orleans intervention model in south London - which aims to improve services for children under 5 who are in foster care because of maltreatment by promoting joint commissioning across children’s social work and CAMHS teams.”

Character and resilience

Timpson’s “brief has been extended to include character and resilience”, placing “a greater emphasis on helping children… develop the qualities and life skills that will give them a strong foundation for social life”. He told the audience of social care professionals that “there’s a need to get better and smarter about how we equip our sons and daughters with the attributes they need to find their feet today and truly flourish.”

He concluded his speech by asserting that he is a “pragmatist and simply [wants] to do what’s best by and for children, wherever they are and whatever their circumstances.”
0 Comments

NSPCC launch an updated parents guide to sites, apps and games. 

13/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
I've written a couple of posts recently about Protecting Young Children Online and Protecting Big Kids Online. I was thrilled at how many times they were viewed and shared (Thank you!) and I hope they have helped you to feel more confident in safeguarding your children in the digital age. Since I last posted I've found the new Fire HD Kids Edition. It has some great easy-to-use parental controls where you're able to manage usage limits, content access and educational goals, plus there's a 2 year worry free guarantee! It looks fab!

Children’s apps and websites were in the news on privacy grounds earlier this week, after the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced a review of how these services collect data on their young users. It will form part of an international project, coordinated by the Global Privacy Enforcement Network, and will look at 50 websites and apps, particularly what information they collect from children, how that is explained, and what parental permission is sought. The websites and apps will include those specifically targeted at children, as well as those frequently used by them.

So how can parents decide which sites, apps and games are appropriate?

Today I was emailed about the NSPCC's updated Net Aware guide which helps parents to understand what their children are doing online and hopefully maintain open channels of communication. It's a huge database providing information on sites, apps and games. It tells you what it is, why kids like it and provides an age rating to help parents judge whether it's appropriate for their child. After having a look through the site I realised that I probably haven't heard of half of them before. 
Picture
Research by the NSPCC earlier this year found that many parents have gaps in their online knowledge and don't talk about the right issues with their children. For example, Tinder, Facebook Messenger, Yik Yak and Snapchat were all rated as risky by children, with the main worry being talking to strangers. However, for the same sites the majority of parents did not recognise that the sites could enable adults to contact children.  

Although eight out of ten parents told the NSPCC that they knew what to say to their child to keep them safe online, only 28% had actually mentioned privacy settings to them and just 20% discussed location settings. 

One of the best ways of safeguarding your child online is to maintain open channels of communication. Here are my top tips:
  • Ask your children to tell you about the sites they like to visit and what they enjoy doing online.
  • Ask them about how they stay safe online. What tips do they have for you, and where did they learn them? What is OK and not OK to share?
  • Ask them if they know where to go for help, where to find the safety advice, privacy settings and how to report or block on the services they use. 
  • Encourage them to help. Perhaps they can show you how to do something better online or they might have a friend who would benefit from their help and support.
  • Think about how you use the internet as a family. What could you do to get more out of the internet together and further enjoy your lives online?

Take a look at the NSPCC guide and let me know what you think. 

0 Comments

    Author

    I'm a Qualified Children's Social Worker with a passion for safeguarding and family support in the UK.

    Archives

    August 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014

    Categories

    All
    Adolescents
    Adoption
    Adverse Childhood Experiences
    Aggression
    Anti-Social Behaviour
    Assessment
    Attachment
    Attachment-Based Family Therapy
    Austerity
    BASW
    Behaviour
    Bereavement
    Cafcass
    CAMHS
    CBBC
    Celtic Knot
    CEOP
    Child Development
    Childhood In The Digital Age
    ChildNet
    Child Protection
    Children
    Conduct Disorder
    Conferences
    Conservatives
    Coursera
    Court
    CPD
    Crime
    Debate
    Depression
    Direct Work
    Election
    Emotional Distress
    Evidence
    Evidence Based Practice
    Family Justice Council
    Family Rights Group
    Futurelearn
    Global Developmental Delay
    Government
    Green Party
    Health
    Home Start
    Human Rights
    Identity
    Internet
    Labour
    Liberal Democrats
    Manchester Metropolitan University
    Media
    Mental Health
    Missing From Home
    Motivational Interviewing
    Movies
    Net Aware
    NSPCC
    Online Safety
    Oppositional Defiant Disorder
    Parenting
    Parents Charter
    Phd
    Playdough
    Policy
    Politics
    Poverty
    Psychology And Mental Health
    Reflective Practice
    Research
    Resilience
    Risk
    Safeguarding
    Statements
    Support Services
    SWET
    Teenagers
    The Clinical Psychology Of Children And Young People
    The Open University
    Tools
    UKIP
    University Of Edinburgh
    University Of Liverpool
    University Of Wolverhampton
    Welfare
    Your Family
    Your Voice

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About Barefoot
  • Contact
  • Resources
    • Guidance
    • Legislation
    • Tools