Analyse The Key Issue In The Children And Wellbeing Of Elijah

1.

The key issue in this case is the well-being of Elijah. In the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) s.9(1) states that “the safety, welfare and wellbeing of the child/young person are paramount.” This law is relevant to this case as clearly there are clearly some issues between Sophie and her son which is affecting the child. Previously the police were called to Sophie’s house in the early hours of the morning by neighbours. The neighbours stated that they heard screaming coming from the house roughly around 2am. There was concern about a possible domestic dispute. The explanation for this was simply that Sophie couldn’t get Elijah to sleep and has been struggling to do to so for the past few months. The house

His mother Sophie has no explanation as to how he acquired them. Elijah’s disrupted sleeping pattern has caused tension for Sophie, which resulted in her screaming at the young child. This could possibly have consequences for Elijah in the future, and so providing assistance through services surrounding this issue is necessary to improve both clients’ well-being. In this case, I would still have a legal obligation according to the Mandatory Reporter Guide (MRG). As a mandatory reporter, I would be required to make report to Family and Community Services due to my concern about Elijah’s safety and well-being. I feel that the burn marks and household tensions are of enough concern to make a report. The reports which are thought to require further action are classified into two categories generally. These categories are ‘Family support issue’ or a ‘Child protection notification (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2011). The reports which are classified to be a family support issue should be referred to support services available, whilst the child protection notifications are dealt with through a separate process (AIHW, 2011). In this case, I believe this is a family support

“There is no greater problem in family law today than the problems of adequately addressing child protection concerns in proceedings under the Family Law Act.” (Family Law Council, 2009, p. 15). Over the past decade there has been two main reforms which are reducing the overall number of child abuse related reports in Australia (AIFS, 2014). One of these is improved intake and referral pathways into family support services for vulnerable and at-risk families (AIFS, 2014). The primary assumption supporting this contemporary reform regarding child protection agendas has been credited to families being able to access “the right services at the right time” (Adamson, Bromfield, Edwards, Gray, Hilferty, Katz, et al., 2010). After a report to Community Services an assessment if risk will be made and it will then be determined if the concerns for Elijah’s safety requires statutory intervention (AIFS, 2011.) Conducting investigations to determine whether there is a risk of significant harm to a child is the main task of child protection departments (AIFS, 2011.) Child abuse and neglect negatively affects a child’s development. This can include physical, psychological, cognitive, behavioural and social aspects. It can result in attachment difficulties, trauma, physical health problems and learning