A Practitioner's Tool for Child Protection and the Assessment of Essay

A Practitioner's Tool for Child Protection and the Assessment of Parents - Essay Example Approximately two years ago, a friend of mine Claire has told me a story which has impressed me greatly. Her neighbours, a young couple, had an eight-year-old son and Claire has noticed that the boy was not sociable - he never talked to anybody and she was trying to approach him he started to cry and closed his face with hands. She also noticed bruises on his arms and legs. She decided to talk with his parents but she knocked on their door, a drunk has opened it and told not to intervene in his life, he knows better how to deal with his son. Later Claire has found out that the mother of the boy had mental problems and most of the time was in the hospitals, while the father of the boy was used to drinking. As the result, nobody took care of the boy and, most likely, his father often beat him up. When she has finished the story, I could not say anything. I knew that in such cases the special services should be informed, but did not know whether we had the right to intervene. Now I know that in this case, the intervention in family life is compulsory because the child needs protection. The partnership with parents should be still encouraged. When the child is of sufficient age and understanding, he should be kept fully informed of the processes involving his and decisions about their future should take account of their views. This boy is not of sufficient age to understand the harm being done to him, however, the cooperation of his father with social workers might improve the situation in the family.First steps The first step to be taken in this situation is to contact Social Services or the police. Once it is done, the law states that the police have the responsibility to investigate the case and they cannot ignore this information.