What is child protection?

Child protection refers to the processes involved in consideration, assessment and planning of required action, together with the actions themselves, where there are concerns that a child may be at risk of harm This includes both familial and non familial harm – also known as contextual safeguarding – and gives consideration to the relevance of wider relationships and the location of harm.

Child protection processes fall at the urgent end of a continuum of services which include prevention and early intervention The Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) approach promotes and supports planning for such services to be provided in a way which best safeguards, supports and promotes the rights and wellbeing of children, and ensures that any action to meet needs is taken at the earliest appropriate time to prevent acute needs arising.

Children who are subject to child protection processes may already be known to services They may already have a child’s plan in place Child protection processes should uphold children’s rights They should build on existing knowledge, strengths in planning and partnerships to reduce the risk of harm, to meet the child’s needs.