Review Prompts Proposed Changes To Children Law

Health and Social Care is asking that changes be made to Guernsey's Children Law following an independent report calling for an urgent review of the system.

The Outcomes Report used feedback from key stakeholders to look at the family care and justice system as a whole. The system is in place to support families with disputes, work with young offenders and, ultimately, to keep children safe.

Many agencies are involved in the system, including the Children's Convenor and the Child Youth and Community Tribunal.

The report found that they could be working together more effectively in order to streamline the service.

Its recommendations included an urgent review of how the system is governed, including better monitoring of cases, more reviews of serious cases and a joint focus on set outcomes for each child.

'It is crucial that all persons understand and appreciate that they are all part of a single system with the objective of delivering the key principles,' wrote Martin Thornton who carried out the review. 'The system should not be seen as a fragmented set of agencies each operating in their own area, but as a complete whole'.

'Some problems cannot be easily overcome. A global shortage of social workers with experience in children's work is one such example. All that can be done in such cases is to mitigate the impact of the problem as far as possible and not allow a feeling of being defeated by the problem.'

As a result of the report, Health and Social Care has come up with a proposed set of changes to improve the system, most of which refer to the Children Law.

The changes aim to reduce unnecessary delays, avoid duplication of processes and determine outcomes for children more quickly.

The committee has been working with the Children and Young People's Board - a group set up to represent those involved in the system - to guide the proposals.

It says it has engaged with professionals in the service to consider the impact that the proposed changes will have on the operational running of the system.

Vice President for HSC, Deputy Tina Bury hopes the changes will see an improvement for some of the Bailiwick's most vulnerable children:

"The changes being proposed to the Children Law and the processes involved should greatly improve the wellbeing and outcomes for children involved in the family care and justice system.

We know that children involved in the family care and justice system are amongst the most vulnerable in our society, so it’s vital that the Children Law and processes work as smoothly as possible so that children and their families are given the care and support they need at the right time.

'On behalf of the Committee for Health & Social Care I would like to thank all those who contributed to these improvements."

The Policy Letter is due to before the States on 28 September.