Working together to keep children safe; 2nd Annual Child Protection Conference

Tuesday 6 October 2009, Stirling Management Centre, Stirling

Keynote address by Adam Ingram MSP, Minister for Children and Early Years, Scottish Government

Featured speakers include: Beth Smith, Director, Multi Agency Resource Service (MARS); Jane Scott, MARS Implementation Coordinator; Fiona Mitchell, Co-ordinator, Scottish Child Care and Protection Network; Professor Brigid Daniel, Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling; Harriet Dempster, President, Association of Directors of Social Work; Enid Hendry, Director of Training and Consultancy and Safeguarding Information Services NSPCC.

Chaired by: Steven Naysmith, Society Editor, The Herald

The need for fluid inter-agency information exchange and the sharing of expertise and good practice in the field of child protection has never been greater. Scotland's child protection system is widely regarded as the most robust in the UK, however two recent HMIE reports have labelled inter-agency working and information-sharing in two Scottish Council areas as ‘inconsistent' and ‘unsatisfactory'. Recent cases have also starkly highlighted that abuse, neglect and death are all live threats to children in Scotland today. The importance of encouraging members of the public to report suspected cases of abuse or neglect and the need for child protection agencies to be able to react to changing circumstances in a swift and coordinated manner is becoming increasingly key to keeping children safe.

The new Multi-Agency Resource Service (MARS) - to be based in Stirling - will be officially launched by the Scottish Government this summer. It will be the first hub of child protection expertise in the United Kingdom. The MARS will aim to develop a network of practice, policy and research expertise to aid professionals in the field. It will encourage and foster inter-agency collaboration to share knowledge in working with complex situations, helping councils and all other child protection agencies overcome the challenges presented by difficult cases and share good practice.

Specifically, the MARS will aim to:

Act as a critical friend to organisations involved in challenging child protection work;
Develop a community of expertise;
Help agencies identify perceived and actual gaps in skills or experience at a strategic planning, operational management or practitioner level;
Help agencies access support at various levels to assist in the handling of complex child protection work; and
Put processes in place to facilitate and support access to external skilled practitioners, consultants or trainers with the aim of reinforcing or increasing local levels of expertise.

Hearing from the Scottish Government's Minister for Children and Early Years, Adam Ingram MSP, the newly appointed Director of the MARS project, Beth Smith and leading practitioners and academics in the field, this will be an important opportunity for all those involved in keeping children safe to examine the MARS initiative, consider how the service could help your organisation make child protection in Scotland safer and more successful and explore existing examples of good practice in inter-agency working and information sharing.

In association with

If you have any queries regarding the conference or would like find out more information, please email mbellamy@mackayhannah.com

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The event code to book on-line at www.phrevents.co.uk is "child"

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private sector, central government and agencies
Public Sector Rate - £250.00 + VAT
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Reduced Rate - £210.00 + VAT
registered charities with income less than £1M, third sector organisations, academics and community organisations
Supported Rate - £115.00 + VAT
registered charities with income less than £1M, third sector organisations, academics and community organisations
Conference Papers Only - £75.00 + VAT

Schools Rate - £170.00 + VAT
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