Professionals and their Organisations have Responsibilities 

Children and families have rights inside the child protection sector which are protected by multiple layers of legislation. Practitioners and organisations working in children’s social care have a legal responsibility to deliver those rights. 

This commission is about the injustices and gaps that have been created by a system which has failed to meet the needs and rights of children and their families.   

If you are a child protection practitioner or organisation delivering children’s social care or working inside the system: this commission is an ally in the fight to create a humane, efficient and sustainable social care system for families. 

It will look at the nature of human rights and the responsibilities of organisations and professionals to engage in meaningful child welfare practice. 

The commission understands that the children’s social care sector may be wary about engaging with a review which is going to place poor practice under the microscope, but it is only through such an investigation that meaningful change can happen.

And it is change that will benefit both families and practitioners. 

The commission welcomes every child protection practitioner who wants to make a difference, who wants to find ways to resolve the problems inside the sector and who understands the importance of investing in an infrastructure for families which will support and empower them. 

In order to do this practitioners must allow families to express their truth, and to hear what they say. 

The commission privileges the voices of children and their families, but it will also enable other narratives to be heard alongside theirs so it can bring about change. 

Children’s social care practitioners and the many different professionals working in the field should be supporting families wherever possible. A system which focuses on prevention rather than cure, and which can support children and families through life’s challenges can prevent families from buckling under the weight of oppressive problems such as acute poverty.