ESsay final one

In the modern society, there are several number of issues happening on daily basis but not every issue is a legal matter. The legal issue deals with the ascertainable factors of the society ensuring a standard procedure is executed in order to rectify the complications and quandaries of regular society. These sets of standard legal practice are usually applied on individual, a group or even a community within the sectors like health, family, mental, assets etc. When an issue arises the first step is to identify the situation on whether the assistance of legal authority is required by the law, if so then those issue can be recognized as legal issue. According to Payne (2015), in the world of social work the legal issue is not just only about dealing a legal matter but other than resolving a problem it can be connected with similar other cases taking place in the future where previous issue can be used as a reference of procedure. Furthermore, if the issue is something unlike and new the verdict given by the court can the used established as the law and an Act can be made in or be included in the section of the existing Act. When talking about legal issues, it does not necessarily mean that every case needs to go to the court before it can be solved as there are opportunities to resolve some of these cases prior going to court. As many agencies work alongside with government working accordingly to the legislation issued by the government handing them over enough power and authority to interfere in certain issues in lawful manner in order to solve them using their intervention technique (Schwartz, 1986).

This essay will look forward to discussing working with children as a child protection practitioner and how its legislation influences the working method by looking at the limitations and strengths of legislation when it is applied to the specific field of practice. The legislation writing which deals with the issues taking place to ensure the safety and protection of the children in Northern Territory of Australia are known as the Care and Protection Children Act 2007. This Act helps to notify the worker, the client about the professional responsibilities, informing about how to utilise this act as a form of its strength also highlighting the limitation.

Every state and territory in Australia has its own legislation and procedure, as it is the same with Northern Territory which is placed in accordance also influenced by the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Child (UNCRC). The agencies that deals with the legal issues have their every freedom to work autonomously and can be government organisation or non-government organisations who also can work hand-in-hand to ensure the wellbeing and protective environment for the children of Northern Territory. All the other states and territories have their own legislation just like Northern territory in order to ensure protection of their children and their Acts are also synchronized with the UN’s Convention on the Rights of Child but the legislation stays different due to the agreement between the state and federal government (Detrick, 1999). To ensure the protection and wellbeing of the child working alongside with the Care and Protection of Children Act the role of a social worker will be influenced by the organization’s structure, the legal procedure and the condition of the framework within which practitioner needs to deliver their services.

Although after many legislations introduced and many awareness created still the number of children getting abused is still high which is concerning of the government of Australia as they seek to avoid any further disruptions by looking back at history to the incidents like The Stolen Generation. No matter it is a first world country or a third world country issues the violence against children has always been concerning. The legislation in Australia is highly influenced by the UN’s Convention on the Rights of Child is an international protocol which works alongside with many other national and international legal system (Detrick, 1999). The purpose of such convention is to ensure the agreement is met between the federal and the state legislation in order to restructure the framework ensuring the rights and protection of the people within the community. The convention of UN tends to work alongside with the non-governmental organisations where the association could be profit or non-profit but their aim is to ensure safety and welfare of the children. These organisations uses the state and federal laws as a tool to ensure their service. Violence against children, child abuse youth rights, youth discrimination and their administration like adoption service, youth welfare service are some of the most discussed topics when dealing with care and protection of children. When working in any field of practice where children are involved, it is crucial for the practitioner to identify any current risk involved such as violence, child abuse or any potential harm that the children might be exposed to in the future, it might be by their family members, friends etc (Parton, 2011). Alterations and necessary amendments can be made by the UNCRC causing a change in the current government legislation affecting the laws and Act in order to develop to defense mechanism and efficiency of the Child protection system of the nation. Additionally, the practitioners who are working with organisations developing social policies in order to protect the rights of the children and wellbeing of the youth system are affected by the changes in the legislation as this impact their working technique as they adjust their approaches to serve the client and the community where the children are exposed to any harm causing mental or physical suffering.

Chenoweth & McAuliffe (2005) argues that, when dealing with a case where laws and acts takes place, the role of the social worker is highly affected and restricted in the given field. Although the Care and Protection of Children Act 2007 is influenced by the UNCRC followed by the mutual agreement of state and federal authorities but sometimes it can create difficulties for social worker when dealing with the client, for instance, when working in a family the first role of the social worker is to provide support and guidance delivering the service according to the clients demand and interest but when in the family a child gets involved and due to the circumstances the mental and physical condition of the child was being ignored, that is when the practitioner’s focus has to shift from the client to their child as protection of the child becomes their first priority and then ensuring the required service to meet the clients satisfaction if possible. In any field, a social worker has to work for the best interest of the child and then work on their specific targets. Munro (2010) states that, when working with children and ensuring their safety a practitioner is bound to follow the care and protection of the child laws because it was specifically made to deal with various issues in work practice and for the importance of the laws. According to the Care and Protection of Children Act 2007, a social worker can always approach for early intervention if any hint of harm, violence or threat against children is found or even by the social or economic rights of children the necessities of the child is not met which could harm the child’s living conditions. With the applied Act and legislation, the amount of impact a social worker can create on a particular scenario is limited, as Care and Protection of Children Act 2007 indicates its main focus of the Act is based on the best interest of the child where different sections and division of amendments is formed within the Act to provide justice, safety and ensure rights of the child. The first people responsible to ensure safety and wellbeing of a child is his/her parents, unable to do say may result in loss of parental rights and the child will be handed over to the legal authority for care that is the CEO (Detrick, 1999). Afterwards through the legal procedures between the parents, legal authority and the court will be held in order to assess the condition and future of the child and upon a mutual decision a verdict is given by the court ensuring best interest of the child. Also, it is the responsibility of the social worker to estimate their strengths and limitations when working in a legal framework while providing services to the client groups.

Before establishing an Act, the concerns and perspective of the social workers are taken under consideration to meet its distinctive requirements providing the workers with best ethical method of practice for example, in many of the cases the client’s information identity is kept hidden for security reasons by taking the client’s permission prior to grabbing that information. Such confidentiality is provided in human service work in order to ensure client of their safety and the procedure is conducted under strict supervision of laws and legislation. Just like any social worker a child protection worker also has to undertake several training and education including diploma, certificates or even a degree that qualifies them as a responsible individual to take necessary decisions under complex situations. Daniel & Taylor (1999) states that, the Care and Protection of Children Act 2007 of Northern Territory has its own distinct strength as the Act has been established before introducing any changes and adjusting it under the agreement of the UN’s Convention which results in more rights of the children of NT. Care and Protection Act not just only concentrates of the factors of threats related to a child under the supervision of their parents but the cultural impacts and negative influence of the communities towards the child such as sexual assault, criminal activity, drug and alcohol abuse etc. Other than safeguarding and securing rights of the children the Act was also reflected with creating awareness among the communities surrounding Northern Territory concerning parents with safety of their child and notifying with the current legal rules and regulations that is under practice.

Around several countries UNCRC plays a vital role in developing and assisting the government working alongside with current laws and legislation in state and nation in order to develop the children care and protection act. The role of the child protection worker can be presented with number of complexities and limitations. Sometimes they have to work affiliating with other social workers where need to the child protection service has been required due to involvement of a child within the family. In such cases where one group is dealing with their main client which is the parents and a child protection worker was involved as a safety measurement of the child involved, it is everyone’s first priority to safeguard the child first. If the child is old enough their consent must be taken on whether he/she is willing to continue living with the parents but if the child is too young to decide then the practitioner must decide what is best for the child not letting the parents to make any decisions at that particular period. The Care and Protection of Children Act provides enough flexibility for the social worker to intervene whenever they think it is required as a precautionary method ensuring the protection of the child. Payne (2015) mentions early intervention in social work field can produce the client with a chance to prevent any further harm, which can be done by collecting substantial sign and indication of physical threat thus it can be put down before it could take place, which is why the author encourages practitioners to use the method whenever necessary without hesitation and suggests that they need to be backed up by the organisation at any given point. The Care and Protection of Children Act 2007 has made several adjustments to the regulations which could create controversies among the communities. As many of the people questions taking away of children under legal custody is the rightful thing to do. As in many cultures beating or being too harsh towards the children can be identified as the method of teaching discipline to the children as many parents has been using this under their cultural settings. And if a child is taken away from parents for such activity the whole community perceives it as a serious disrespect and crime against their culture and traditions. For such reason, a social worker must be aware of the cultural differences when working with any family as their decisions might go against some of the community’s cultural norms and tradition causing dispute with the society. But nonetheless the best interest of the child will always be a worker’s first motive which is backed up by the laws and legislations. When a child is taken away from their parents and is put under legal custody, the person responsible to take care of the child is the CEO under whom the court decides to put the child for up to three months within that timeframe the decision regarding handing over guardianship to the child’s existing parents or relatives has to be made which will be later monitored by the police authority when necessary ensuring a safe and secure future (Detrick, 1999). Although the Act tries to its best to ensure the child gets to live and grow within the culture and tradition of their biological parents. By the law every child deserves to have an equal happy life with a positive future which needs to be ensured to the services providing love, affection and care to guarantee physical and mental wellbeing.

Care and Protection of Children Act is considered as one of the most important and debated Act that is in practice within Australia. As there are controversies surrounding the taking away of the child from their parents as many argues as it is not the best decision for the child when the consent of the child is not taken and the cultural differences and traditions are not taken into consideration before taking the decision. However, it is solely CEO’s responsibility to decide the best interest of the child. Whereas the role of the social worker is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child as their first priority before taking any decisions for their clients.

REFERENCE

Chenoweth, L., & McAuliffe, D. (2005). The road to social work & human service practice: an introductory text. Cengage Learning Australia.

Daniel, B., & Taylor, J. (1999). The rhetoric versus the reality: A critical perspective on practice with fathers in child care and protection work. Child and Family Social Work, 4, 209-220.

Detrick, S. (1999). A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

Munro, E. (2010). Learning to reduce risk in child protection. British Journal of Social Work, 40(4), 1135-1151.

Parton, N. (2011). Child protection and safeguarding in England: Changing and competing conceptions of risk and their implications for social work. British Journal of Social Work, 41(5), 854-875.  Payne, M. (2015). Modern social work theory. Oxford University Press.

Schwartz, W. (1986). The group work tradition and social work practice. Social Work with Groups, 8(4), 7-28.