Multi Agency Working

2150 Words9 Pages
Multi-agency working is ‘a shared process of both planning and direct delivery of services with co-location of staff and services’ (Hughes and Prior). It involves ‘working as a process involving collective goals for service provisions but with independent execution of the various tasks and activities by each professional at the point of service delivery’ (Edwards et al; Ward). Co-operation, Collaboration and Co-ordination are all key factors when working to safeguard children (Davis 2011). The advantages of multi-agency working include a better knowledge and understanding of other agencies due to services being more integrated and professionals being more aware of the roles of others. Multi-agency working also has the potential to provide more…show more content…
Effectiveness of multi-agency working is achieved through shared objectives and concern for quality (Poulton and West 1999). Milbourne et al (2003) stated that if individuals have previously worked collaboratively then effectiveness of multi-agency working can increase. High profile cases such as Victoria Climbie, Daniel Pelka and Baby P all show evidence of failed multi-agency working where services have failed to work together in order to protect children from harm and therefore being unable to save these children’s lives. The serious case reviews of these children have further highlighted and reinforced these facts. One of the primary reasons of the failure of multi-agency working in the Victoria Climbie case could be due to the barriers between services. Each profession and service that a child could come into contact with follow a different set of rules, responsibilities and duties to children at risk (Anning and Mog 2008). These boundaries could be the cause of a particular professional failing to intervene in a child’s…show more content…
This hoped to result in less families slipping through the net, as well as professionals making fewer wrong decisions (Anning and Mog 2008). Despite these reforms in the 2004 Children Act, the death of Baby P led to intense criticism of the local authorities with regards to how the case was handled. Services failed to work together to save Baby P’s life as there was little evidence in the serious case review of professionals working together. The Children Act (2004) and the Every Child Matters guidance put emphasis on the fact that all local authorities are required to deliver services together in order to safeguard children . Following the Baby P serious case review, the Children, Schools and Families Act (2010) proposed to establish clear protocols for inter-agency working in order to promote the welfare of children. However, the serious case review following the death of Daniel Pelka in 2012 stated that there were several missed opportunities to protect Daniel Pelka and to uncover the abuse he was
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