Unit 10 Caring for Children in Health and Social Care

Unit 10

P1 Outlie why children and young people may need to be looked after away from their families

Following the imposition of a care order

Every local authority has duty to consider the welfare of all children. The children acts of 1989 and 2004 are responsible to ensure that all children stay with their families as far as possible. But if a child needs to be taken away from the family for any reason they should be cared by the local authority. Those children are called looked after children. Many children can have multiple behaviour problems and they often require one to one support. They should be supported individually. Sometime many children get excluded from the school it can be because they have difficulties in developing relations with other people. There can be many similar situations where local authority might need to impose care orders to the overall benefit of the child and the families. It means that the social services who works under the local authority have duty or responsibility to look after the child and make decisions for them as they might not be mature enough to make decisions for themselves. In some cases child might need to be put in foster care. Therefore, it is each local authorities’ responsibility to ensure that an appropriate placement is found. However some time children might not be able to go back to their family because of some consequences or a young person might have reached where they are able to live independently.

With the agreement of parents.

Sometime many parents find hard to cope with their parental responsibilities. It can be because of the poor financial status or lack of knowledge about parenthood. Therefore, some parents might decide to send the child away from them so the child can have beneficial period of time and can receive quality care. Once the situation gets better the child can go back to the family and cared by them.

Potential reasons why a child might be looked after

Bereavement and upheaval

Potential illness or incapacity

Suspected or actual maltreatment

When any authority decides to take any child away from the family there can be many reasons either related to family or children own personal needs. For example: family member might be suffering from an accident and might not be able to look after the child properly. Due to their condition they might start according or abusing their child. Therefore, the child might need to be cared away from their family and for their own safety. There are many other reasons which lead the child to be looked after.

Bereavement and upheaval can be a reason. It is when someone from the family pass away. In some cases it can be single parent family and if they pass away the child will be looked after by the authority. It can be a traumatic experience for the child as they are vulnerable and they will have to face such tragedy. It can be highly unpredictable and can affect the child quite badly. It can affect a child’s study and reduce their ability to concentrate. Therefore, all the needs should be met to make them comfortable.