Understand How to Safeguard the Well-being of Children and Young People
Task B : Roles and Responsibilities of Organisations
• Social Services
Social Workers have a responsibility to provide support and care for vulnerable children and their families. They may have been alerted to a particular situation for example; if parents are struggling to care for their children or there are other challenging situations such as drug abuse, domestic violence and reports of abuse to the child(ren). Social Workers are always involved in the intervention of situations involving the abuse or harm of children or young people.
Residential Care Workers have a responsibility for ‘looked-after’ children who reside in care homes and not with their families. With usually high vulnerability, these children and young people need to be cared for and the Residential workers have a specific duty of care to provide safeguarding of their health and welfare.
Family Support Workers have close contact with vulnerable children and their families. They have a responsibility to care for and provide support for them, usually through home visits or through local children’s centres. They are often called upon to give opinions and monitor families that give cause for concern in regards to health, safety or welfare.
• Health Visitor
Health Visitors have a responsibility to monitor the health and development of children under the age of five. Their usual first point of contact is during home visits and at clinics and health centres. With crucial skills, they are usually the first people to identify concerns about a child’s safety and welfare. They are able to gather information and have the ability to recognise vulnerability and signs of harm, neglect or abuse in both parents and children. They have contact with multi-agencies and support the work of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB). They also work closely with both midwives and school