) Using your own words discuss the main reason why children and young people may need to be cared for away from their families.
People who abuse children come from all social backgrounds, all walks of life, different races and cultures. They can parents and other people the child knows well like family friends and relatives and it is not so common for a child to be abused by a stranger.
Children and young people under the age of 18 need to be cared for away from their families, if they are in severe danger or significant harm is caused to them such as child’s physical, emotional, mental health or development is impaired as a consequence of abuse or neglect and the most important priority is to make them safe. So if a particular adult presents that danger, the adult may be asked to move out of the family home voluntarily or stay away while the enquiry takes place and if they don’t move out, then social services can apply for an emergency protection court order. This would enable the child to live away from home until it was safe for them to return.
Also children and young people may need to be cared for away from their families, when an investigation finds that a child needs protection, and the social worker will take whatever steps are most appropriate and least disruptive to the child. Children are only removed from their homes when they’re in immediate danger and nothing less disruptive can protect them.
Another reason why children may be cared away from their homes its because of challenging behaviour and some times offending behaviours which may be too much for the people around to take in or even this can cause a risk to other people around. This challenging behaviour could be due to disorders and illnesses like Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder because it is a serious disorder and can affect the young people.
Family break down is another reason as to why children may be cared for away from home. This can be because the parent is a drug addict, alcoholic or some times it could be because of mental problems that the parents cannot stay with their children. In this case the Social Service Department will have to take the child to a safe environment where he or she can develop fully.
Children can also be cared for away from home because of their illnesses and placed in Children’s home for children who need multiple needs. For example a family could have a child with severe learning and physical disabilities and other children to care for at the same time, so this children with the disability may end up not getting the care he or she deserves may be because the family can not afford to look after the child and some times can end up being neglected.
(b) When working with children and young people what are the main pieces of legislation that inform your practice?
Some of the legislation that in the practice of working with children are;
The children’ act 1989
Data protection act 1998
Sex offences act 2003
The national health and community care act 1990
The Children Act 1989
The Children Act 1989 is essentially a balancing Act between the rights of the children and the parents and the duty of the state to protect children considered to be in need. This act is also based upon the belief that children are best looked after within their families generally, having both of their parents playing a full part and without option to lawful actions. Diversity of the children was for the first time considered as Britain comprises of many different children from different background therefore through the Act, the local authorities have to consider children’s race, religion, culture and so on. Therefore while providing the care service to the children, they should make sure that they provide what’s best for the child and consider things like their languages in providing services like fostering.
The Court decisions about what type of care they will receive in future should be responsive to their needs. All the family members like parents, grandparents and other relatives should continue to have a role to play in the lives of their children even when they are living apart from them. Anything that doesn’t seem to right concerning the children, their issues must be determined as quick as possible so that least disturbance is caused to the child's life. To reduce delay the court must draw up a timetable at an initial hearing in respect of subsequent proceedings and the court must have regard to a prescribed Statutory Checklist of the factors to be taken into account in deciding the future of children.

Data Protection act 1998
It gives people rights to see information held on them and rights to confidentiality and accuracy of information. The act regulates the handling of personal information about clients to be kept well and safe on a computer or in a manual filling system and also this law reinforces common sense rules of information handling, which most organisations try to follow anyway. It is there to ensure that organisations manage the personal information they hold in a sensible way. Organisations must keep the information accurate and up to date, they must only keep it for as long as they need it for a specified purpose and they must keep it secure. Some organisationsdo not release information when they could do so. Unfortunately, some organisations continue to use the Data Protection Act 1998 as an excuse not to do something, rather than seeing it as good business sense to treat their customers and their information with respect. Sex offences act 2003
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 was implemented on 1st May 2004 and strengthens the registration requirements for sex offenders on the one hand, and carefully reforms and modernises the law on sex offences on the other. It also covers child sex offences and offences involving an abuse of a position of trust towards a child. Part 2 contains measures for protecting the public from sexual harm, including the rebuilding of part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997, with some amendments. Part 3 contains general provisions relating to the Act, including minor and consequential amendments and commencement provisions. Under this act, the legal age for the child to consent is 16 years and at this age they can also receive advice on things like contraception.
Human Rights Act1998 states that all individuals that every should be treated equally and fairly with dignity regardless of where they come from, race, religion, sexuality and colour
c. How do policies and procedures assist children and their families when they are being looked after away from their home?
Policies and procedures assist children and their families being looked after away from their home in so many different ways such as the following;
The aim of a Child Protection Policy for a Voluntary or Community Group working with children is to outline the practice and procedures for paid and voluntary staff, in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people. It is aimed at protecting the child and the worker, recognising the risks involved in lone working with children and young people. It is therefore advisable that any group seeking to implement a Child Protection Policy adopts the key recommendations or The Safe from Harm Guidelines.
The local authority has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children looked after by the local authority whether at home or away from home. The policies and procedures minimises risks that could be caused to the child but which allow children to participate in social and leisure activities in the same way as their peers.
Children looked after and families away from home should be encouraged to maintain and develop friendships and relationships which all children should be able to experience.
Decisions about children’s social activities should be taken in partnership between the child, parent, carer, and those with parental responsibilities.
Also the policies and procedures enable Young people and their families to give their views on appropriate and inappropriate arrangements.
The policies and procedures also help the service users to live in a safe environment in such a way that the children will be protected from staying over other places as long as they are in care. For example, when a foster carer is being assessed, and while they are offering a fostering service, they may identify in advance family members or friends who would be regularly available to look after a child overnight. The family Placement worker should arrange for police checks to be carried out on all those People, in advance of arrangements for overnight stays being made thus protecting the Child.

As regarding child protection, in case the child is being abused in any way and there are signs and evidence showing that he or she was abused then the law has to come in and investigations will be carried out to find out what really happened before they can take any case further. The local authorities have the responsibilities to protect the welfare of the children in conjunction with other organisations according to the Children’s act of 1989 that they should protect the children from significance harm. This safe guarding of the children applies to both children living with their families and those living away from their homes.

The policies will help the children and families being looked after from unfair discriminatory practices because the child have the right to be treated equally and fairly among the other members regardless whether they live with their families or not.

Children being looked after by the local authorities do not pay for the services provided to them like accommodation you may find that children are given accommodation, put in shared accommodation or foster homes with out paying for any services and this service provision applies to the children who were born in the united kingdom or those who are entitled even if they were not born here. And you find that those children who are not eligible for the services, their parents will be asked to pay for the services their children use and its not the responsibility of the government or the local authority to meet the needs of that child. (d) Look at the main organisations that provide care for children and young people and describe the different roles of individuals that work with this client group.
The organisations that provide care for children and young people are;
The Adolescent & Children's Trust came into being late in 1992 in response to changes in childcare policy. Instead of Local Authorities continuing to place children in their care into large children's homes, they were encouraged to provide home-based care in the form of fostering. This move was also consistent with the rapidly emerging philosophy of care in the community.
These developments led to a huge increase in the demand for families and individuals who were willing to take youngsters between 0-18 years into their own homes. In addition, many of these families and individuals would be offering homes to youngsters who had suffered extreme levels of physical, emotional and material deprivation, before coming into foster care.
These rapid and radical changes made it extremely difficult for Local Authorities to meet this need. It was concern for the lack of adequate provision that led a group of Local Authority social services managers, who were also qualified and experienced social workers, to create TACT.
The Adolescent Children's Trust is a registered charity that provides child-centred services to Local Authorities throughout the UK.
Their aim is to help children of all ages and all ethnic groups, to grow and mature as unique and confident individuals through the continued creative development of appropriate child-centred services.
At its heart, TACT has a dedicated team of well-trained, experienced staff and foster carers. They are able to provide appropriate family placements for all age groups and time-scales.

The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) is the United Kingdom leading charity specialising in child protection and the prevention of cruelty to children. It was founded in 1884 as the London SPCC by the Reverend Benjamin Waugh. The NSPCC is the only UK children's charity with statutory powers that enable it to take action to safeguard children at risk of abuse and to provide a number of services to help families.
It has a free 24hour child protection help line for any one worried about a child who may be in danger. The line can organise investigations if you are worried that a child may be suffering abuse and also offer advice and counselling. The help line is both open to the children and the adults. The help line also helps parents who think and feel they are in danger of abusing their children and it offers counselling to adults who were abused as children.
It also has a net work of child protection team and they have protects covering united kingdom. Their team is staffed by trained social workers and they work closely with the police and the social services to help abused children and their families. The NSPCC's mission is to end cruelty to children. Their vision is a society in which all children are loved, valued and able to fulfil their potential. In other words, a society that will not tolerate child abuse - whether sexual, physical, emotional, or neglect.

The NSPCC's core values are based on the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child. They are:
• Children must be protected from all forms of violence and exploitation
• Everyone has a responsibility to support the care and protection of children
• We listen to children and young people, respect their views and respond to them directly
• Children should be encouraged and enabled to fulfil their potential
• We challenge inequalities for children and young people
• Every child must have someone to turn to
The NSPCC also offered confidential help line for the children who do not have the confidence to talk to people about their problems and also for other concerned people who may call to give information about children cruelties.

The Local Authority has to make sure that the children are well protected and their welfare. This can be done also if they work at a team with member of different organisations that look after the children and carers. Working as a team with local authorities and the voluntary sector, the Government is determined to raise standards for children who need the active support of social services. The Government is providing the necessary leadership, guidance and funding for local authorities to apply our demanding agenda for action. The local authorities will be expected to draw up and follow personal action plans to achieve a range of targets. The Government will closely monitor developments and pursue authorities where standards are not acceptable. The local authorities have very exacting responsibilities regarding children and their families. Nowhere is the challenge of social services work better illustrated. The decisions are difficult, and the out come of misjudgement serious on whether it means removing a child from their family without good cause or leaving a child too long in a dangerous setting. A lot of authorities have the right intentions in their approach to this difficult field and many people working in it bring skill and dedication to what they do.

According to some article I read about from the internet it shows that, there is a sample evidence, from recent SSI and Joint Review reports, from the Children's Safeguards Review, and from the recent report on Looked after Children by the Health Select Committee, that standards of delivery and achievement are unreliable, and that though many children benefit from social services, too many are let down.
All local authority services in all boroughs have an impact on children's lives and well being in so many different aspects. These could be regarding high standard of education, or a safe and healthy environment for them to live in, or to provide safe places to play because the local authorities have to contribute to the children’s services. But those children and families who need the help of social services are likely to be amongst the most vulnerable and excluded in our society also known as children in need, disabled children, children who need protection, children in trouble with the law, children who need to be cared for away from home.

Social Services are also another organisation that takes care of children and young people. They have a very important duty of promoting and protecting the welfare of the children especially children in need in their areas and make sure that the upbringing of the children by their families is promoted and it is consistent with the child’s welfare and safety. Social services for children cannot be seen in isolation from the wider range of children's services delivered by local authorities and other agencies. The Government is committed to taking action through a broad range of initiatives to strengthen family life, to reduce social exclusion and anti-social behaviour among children, and to give every child the opportunity of a healthy, happy, successful life. The Government is committed to taking action through a wide range of initiatives to reinforce family life to reduce social exclusion and anti-social behaviour among children, and to give every child the opportunity of a healthy, happy, successful life.

The social service department hold a central register of all the children in their local area considered to be at risk of abuse and for whom there is an inter agency protection plan. Registration takes place as a result of child protection conference which makes decisions about the level of risk to the children and whether they should be placed on the register. Register do not reflect true extent of child abuse for some reasons like every case of child abuse is reported and also many cases resolved without the need to enter the children on the register.

Here are some of the professional who work with the children and young people and they include the following;
• Social workers
• Key workers
• Personal adviser
• Counsellor
• Therapist
• Supported housing manager
• Speech and language therapy

Social worker has to make sure that he or she provides the needs of the child. She has to make assessments in order to monitor the progress of the child and find out what their problems are in order to provide them with the care they deserve.

Key workers have to make sure that the young person is fine by helping him or her with the day to day activities such as;
• Cooking
• General cleanliness
• Sorting out things like benefits, bank accounts and so on
• Education progress
• Well being and so on.

The counsellor’s duty is to make sure that the child or young person feel better. They have to find out the particular problem bothering the child and then focus on that problem in order to make the children feel better about their experiences and well being.

Supported housing manager has the duty to manage different houses where the children are placed. They are also responsible for managing the finances of the scheme which they get from the social services.

Bibliography and references
Christine H, Frankel J- child minding, a guide to good practice (Stanley Thornes 1999) www.everychidmattere.co.uk www.directgov.co.uk www.gawwk.co.uk http://www.nspcc.org.uk/ www.communitycare.co.uk/Companies www.youngfoundations.co.uk