Today (15th December 2023) the Department for Education have published its revised statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.
This revision to the guidance focuses on strengthening multi agency working across the whole system of help, support and protection for children and their families, keeping a child-centred approach while bringing a whole family focus, and embedding strong, effective and consistent multi-agency child protection practice.
The update includes:
- principles for working with parents and carers that centre the importance of building positive, trusting and co-operative relationships to deliver tailored support to families
- expectations for multi-agency working that apply to all individuals, agencies and organisations working with children and their families, across a range of roles and activities
- new national multi-agency child protection standards that set out actions, considerations and behaviours for improved child protection practice and better outcomes for children
Alongside the statutory guidance, the DfE have also published guidance on Improving practice with children, young people and families which provides advice for local areas to embed working together to safeguard children and the children’s social care national framework in practice.
