The Management of Child Protection Services by Robert Sanders

Author:Robert Sanders [Sanders, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General
ISBN: 9780429807329
Google: GAKaDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-05-23T04:55:18+00:00

Interagency training

According to Working Together (1991) ‘Interagency training is essential if interagency procedures are to function satisfactorily’ (paragraph 7.7). This statement reflects the very high emphasis accorded by government to joint training in child protection. The guidance provides information about the kinds and levels of training required by various staff, which may be summarised as in Table 4.3. The ability of training together with professionals from different disciplines to reduce barriers to understanding and thereby increase the effectiveness of joint working should not be underestimated: ‘...the mastering of the basic “cognitive maps” of other professionals is one of the hallmarks of the inter-disciplinary experience’ (Clarke 1993). There is considerable potential for friction and conflict between professionals from different disciplines with different cultures and different value systems. However, after 25 years of different occupations working together in a structured way to protect children, there is evidence that the considerable ignorance as described by Hallett and Stevenson (1980) of the training, role and perspective of other professions continues. This is not to say that joint training is invariably beneficial, and there are variations in the quality of interagency training provided. There are pitfalls that need to be avoided in the provision of such training.

Table 4.3: Staff child protection training needs (Working Together 1991)

Training in/for Target group Content

Joint Investigation social services NSPCC health service police joint investigation and subsequent intervention

Joint Interviewing police social services understanding each other’s role; how to work together on interviewing team; how to interview children

Professional Staff all professional groups in direct contact with children (including local authority lawyers) involve trainers from different agencies; help staff to understand the role of other agencies; level and type of training dependent upon agency’s child protection involvement, but all staff to be trained in recognition and immediate action

Other Staff telephonists receptionists what to do with reports of suspected child abuse

As pointed out by Armstrong and Riches (1988) training together cannot replace the need for basic professional competence training. It follows that whilst there are potential benefits of joint training at all levels of a professional career (Mathias and Thompson 1997), there is a need to be clear about the distinction between what training is best undertaken within the professional development and what is best undertaken jointly. This is of course an issue that is not restricted to child abuse and child protection training; there are many areas where working together between professions facilitates intervention, such as family support for children with disabilities, work with adults with a mental disorder, and adoption.

The Social Services Inspectorate report (1988) expressed concern over serious deficiencies in training. Stevenson (1994) notes, ‘It is generally agreed that some of the events described as inter-professional did little more than bring together a mixed audience in one room and did little to enhance mutual understanding or give clarity to the concept of interprofessional work’ (1994:133).

Another potential hazard that interagency training must address is that different professional groups have different preferred methods of learning. The work of Kolb (1984) on individual learning

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.