Children's Needs – Parenting Capacity - Digital Education Resource ...

8 Children’s Needs – Parenting CapacityLegal and policy contextSafeguarding and promoting children’s welfareThe Children Act 1989 places a duty on local authorities to provide a range ofappropriate services for children to ensure that those ‘in need’ are safeguarded andtheir welfare is promoted. Children are defined as ‘in need’ when they are unlikelyto reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their healthand development will be significantly impaired without the provision of services(s17(10) of the Children Act 1989).Although many families cope adequately with the difficulties they face, othersneed the assistance of services and support from outside the family to ‘safeguard andpromote the welfare of the children’, which is defined as: protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s health or development; ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with theprovision of safe and effective care;and undertaking that role so as to enable those children to have optimum lifechances and to enter adulthood successfully.(HM Government 2010a, p.34, paragraph 1.20)The Department of Health ‘regards safeguarding vulnerable children as a highpriority and is supporting the NHS to improve safeguarding arrangements’ (Departmentof Health 2010a, p.6). Providing support to parents in order to improve outcomes forchildren is part of the Government’s strategy to improve public health. In the WhitePaper Healthy Lives, Healthy People (Cm 7985 2010) the Government seeks to give‘every child in every community the best start in life’ through reducing child poverty,increasing the numbers of families reached through the Family Nurse Partnershipprogramme and the number of Sure Start health visitors (p.7, paragraph 11(c)). Thestrategy acknowledges that improving the health and wellbeing of women before,during and after pregnancy is a ‘critical factor in giving children a healthy start in lifeand laying the groundwork for good health and wellbeing in later life’ (p.17, paragraph1.17). There is also a commitment to invest in early years support in order to improvechildren’s development; a key factor in their future health and wellbeing. The valueof supporting good parent-child relationships in order to build the child’s self esteemand confidence and reduce the risk of children adopting unhealthy lifestyles is alsorecognised. For families with complex needs the strategy sets out a commitment tolocally co-ordinated support to prevent problems from escalating.