Child Protection
Information and advice for young people
If you are being hurt, treated in a way that makes you feel scared or unsafe, or you feel very alone or unhappy, please tell someone about it so they can try to help you. Talk to someone you can trust, like a teacher or a nurse at your school. They will listen to you and support you, and talk through what can be done to help sort things out.
Remember that you can ring ChildLine anytime on 0800 1111 or you can talk to a trained social worker at Kirklees Council by ringing 01924 326097 during the day, or 01924 326489 at night.
Neglect
Neglect matters is a guide for 11-17 year olds which tells young people how they can recognise neglect, who they can turn to for help and what they can do about it. It is produced by the NSPCC.
Child protection and what the law says
If a baby, child or young person has been abused or it is believed they may be abused in the future the law says that the local authority (Kirklees Council) has to find out what has happened so that children can be protected from any further harm.
A social worker, sometimes together with a police officer, will visit and talk to everyone in the family. The social worker will talk to all children who are old enough to find out how they feel and what worries them.
If there are a lot of concerns about a child a meeting called a child protection conference will be arranged. People who know the child and their family, for example a teacher, a doctor or a health visitor, will be invited to this meeting, together with parents, their partners, and the children. The conference will talk about what has happened and what can be done to help. If necessary a plan will be agreed of all the things people should do to help the child and the family - this is called a child protection plan. Every child who has a child protection plan has a social worker who will see the child regularly to talk about everything that is happening.
The law says social services must make sure that children are safe. If it is not safe for a child to continue to live at home the social worker will see if the child can stay with another member of the family. If that is not possible the social worker will arrange for the child to stay with a foster carer or in a children's residential home until it is safe for the child to go back home.
Legal advice
Legal advice for children and young people is available free from the Children's Legal Centre. The freephone number is 08088 020 008.
