The Children Act 1989 and child protection: what paediatricians need to know

Abstract 

The Children Act 1989 was a radical piece of legislation and, as a paediatrician involved in the Cleveland Inquiry, the concept …a child is a person not an object of concern', was a welcome step towards children's rights and, in the future, a commissioner for children?

Under the Act, parents have responsibility, not rights.

Children are generally best looked after in their own homes—the levels of abuse in foster care, children's homes and schools are high — but are more children running away or ‘chuck-away kids’ as in the USA?

The Act insists on parents being involved every step of the way, but the Law does not say as partners. Therefore, it cannot mean equality but more a series of discussions of problems and intended outcomes agreed with the carers.

Family support involving all the children's agencies when there is a child in need, or one in three children in a city like Leeds, needs financing.

Court procedures remain totally unsatisfactory with aggressive adversarial family courts (with notable exceptions), such that giving evidence is often easier in the criminal court.

Keywords: Children Act 1989, paediatrician, responsibility, child maltreatment, family courts

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