Quote: "Child protection is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect."
This category of social work focuses exclusively on children, ensuring their protection and welfare.
Child Protection: Child protection focuses on safeguarding children from harm, neglect, or abuse. It involves identifying and dealing with risk factors and taking measures to protect vulnerable children.
Child Development: Child development involves studying the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social growth of children from birth to adolescence. It encompasses a wide range of topics, from brain development to socialization.
Child Psychology: Child psychology focuses on understanding the emotional and mental development of children. It involves studying cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of children's lives, including their relationships with peers, family, and society.
Trauma-Informed Care: Trauma-informed care is an approach to social work that recognizes the impact of trauma on children's development and behavior. It involves creating a safe environment, building trust, and empowering children to overcome past traumatic experiences.
Family Preservation: Family preservation involves providing support, resources, and education to families to prevent the need for out-of-home placement. It aims to keep families together and address the underlying issues that led to potential harm to children.
Foster Care: Foster care involves placing children in temporary care with trained foster parents when they cannot remain safely at home. It aims to provide children with a safe and stable environment while also addressing their individual needs.
Adoption: Adoption involves legally transferring parental rights and responsibilities from birth parents to adoptive parents. It aims to provide children with permanent and stable homes when they cannot return to their biological families.
Substance Abuse: Substance abuse can have a significant impact on families and children. Social workers in child welfare must be knowledgeable about substance abuse issues and provide services and treatment to families affected by substance use disorders.
Cultural Competence: Cultural competence involves being aware and respectful of different cultures and their customs. It requires social workers to consider how cultural factors may influence a child's life and to provide culturally sensitive services.
Quote: "The primary goal of child protection is to ensure that all children are safe and free from harm. This includes physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse; neglect; exploitation; and violence."
Quote: "It involves identifying signs of potential harm, responding to allegations or suspicions of abuse..."
Quote: "Providing support and services to protect children and holding those who have harmed them accountable."
Quote: "Child protection also works to prevent future harm by creating policies and systems that identify and respond to risks before they lead to harm."
Quote: "Child protection services must be provided in a holistic way, taking into account the social, economic, cultural, psychological, and environmental factors that can contribute to the risk of harm."
Quote: "It also requires collaboration across sectors and disciplines to create a comprehensive system of support and safety for children."
Quote: "It is the responsibility of individuals, organizations, and governments to ensure that children are protected from harm and their rights are respected."
Quote: "Protecting them from physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and ensuring they have access to education, healthcare and other basic needs."
Quote: "UNICEF defines a 'child protection system' as the set of laws, policies, regulations, and services needed across all social sectors..."
Quote: "Especially social welfare, education, health, security, and justice – to support prevention and response to protection-related risks."
Quote: "Their aim includes supporting and strengthening families to reduce social exclusion and lower the risk of separation, violence, and exploitation."
Quote: "Responsibilities are often spread across government agencies, with services delivered by local authorities, non-State providers, and community groups."
Quote: "It [coordination] is a necessary component of effective child protection systems."
Quote: "Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home."
Quote: "[...] giving them quality education, the fourth of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in addition to other child protection systems."
Quote: "To protect a child has to start from conception; even how the conception took place can affect the child's development."
Quote: "For proper child development to take place, child protection must be put into consideration."
Quote: "These systems are part of social protection, and extend beyond it."
Quote: "Making coordination between sectors and levels, including routine referral systems, a necessary component of effective child protection systems."