15 September 2010
Nearly 200 professionals have signed up to attend the Jersey Child Protection Committee's 'Our Children, Our Future' conference later this month and there is now a waiting list.
GPs, teachers, youth and charity workers are among those signed up to hear from UK and Jersey child protection experts at the 1 day conference at the Grand Hotel on 24 September.
During the conference, which is the first Jersey conference in many years to focus on promoting the welfare of vulnerable children, the JCPC will also announce the publication of Jersey’s new child protection procedures.
If the event is a success, it could become a regular fixture in the calendar of the JCPC, the independent body overseeing the statutory and voluntary agencies that work with the Island’s children.
The conference is aimed at all Jersey professionals who have contact with vulnerable children and their families. Delegates from Guernsey are among those who are attending.
Independent chair of the JCPC Mike Taylor said “There is a real hunger for people to get together, share ideas and learn.
“The conference will also help inform the first Children and Young People’s Plan for Jersey, which has been commissioned by the States of Jersey’s Children’s Policy Group.”
Programme and speakers
The conference is just one response to the JCPC’s recommendations on training in its recent Serious Case Review (SCR) into the care of a child known as BA, the first SCR in Jersey to closely follow the UK Government’s Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance.
The SCR highlighted the need to identify neglect and respond to it, and to learn from research and other SCRs on safeguarding practice. These are both issues that will be covered by the 2 keynote speakers, who are experts in child protection from the University of East Anglia:
- David Howe, professor of social work
- Marian Brandon, senior lecturer in social work
Professor Howe will speak on the effect of abuse and neglect on children and young people. Marian Brandon will speak on safeguarding, having researched which interventions prove most effective in keeping children at high risk safe.
A number of professionals from Jersey agencies will present workshops in the afternoon.
Mike Taylor said “If it’s a success, the JCPC will consider running more conferences to maintain the momentum of the Island’s commitment to improve child protection services for all children.”
The process of publishing and implementing Jersey’s new child protection procedures will be confirmed at the conference, which will be attended by Andrew Williamson, author of the 2008 Inquiry into Child Protection in Jersey.
gov.je