Scottish government must invest in family support without delay, say charities
Children’s charities in Scotland are urging the Scottish government to invest in family support immediately after years of austerity has impacted on vulnerable families.
A report by the charities, ‘Challenges from the Frontline – Revisited,’ highlights the devastating impact of the rollout of welfare reform on children and their families and the effects of local [...]
Lifestyle judgements made about prospective adopters need to stop, says Williamson
“Too many lifestyle judgements” are made on potential adopters resulting in too few adoptive parents to go around, the education secretary has warned.
Gavin Williamson said that an overly bureaucratic system that places too high a burden on parents who want to adopt is making it harder for people who want to give a child [...]
COVID-19 restrictions put children at risk of child abuse
The COVID-19 restrictions may have caused harm to children with child abuse going unreported, research has found.
With the closure of schools, many children will have gone under the radar of teaching professionals who are often the first to report potential abuse or neglect, the research by the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Community Healthcare [...]
Child sexual abuse helpline sees surge in calls after lockdown restrictions eased
There has been a large surge in calls to a national child sexual abuse prevention helpline, figures have shown.
Between June and August – just after lockdown restrictions were eased – there was a 47% increase in the number of calls to the confidential Stop It Now! Helpline compared to the first three months of [...]
New standards launched in Scotland protecting the rights of children in secure care
The Scottish government has produced new national standards which set out the support that children should expect from professionals when in secure care.
The support that should be provided to protect the rights of vulnerable children and young people before, during and after community or secure care is set out in The Secure Care Pathway [...]
‘Deep-seated and systematic’ issues found in family court system’s response to abuse
There are continuing concerns around how the family court system recognises and responds to allegations of, and proven harm to children and victim parents in private law children proceedings.
The Ministry of Justice has responded to a consultation on ‘Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases,’ and said that [...]
