Walsall Safeguarding Children Board Newsletter
Autumn 2013
Our Improvement Journey As many readers will know, Walsall’s safeguarding practice was recently inspected again by Ofsted and the progress made over the last year was recognised: we are now adjudged to be “adequate”. Clearly, we will all want to do all we can to further improve the quality of safeguarding in Walsall, but all involved have made a good start. As part of the drive to continue our improvement journey, the WSCB has recently approved its business plan for 2013/14. Our strategic objectives for this year can be summarised as: 1. Continuing to work to further improve the effectiveness of the WSCB and, thereby, to play our part in continuing to improve the effectiveness of safeguarding in Walsall 2. Learning and Improvement 3. Ensuring that the views of children and young people are heard 4. Ensuring that our multi agency work to combat Child Sexual Exploitation is as good as it can be. I’m sure that all involved in safeguarding Walsall’s children, in whatever capacity that may be, will want to play their part in helping the WSCB and each individual member agency achieve these objectives. We owe it to the children and young people of Walsall to do so. If any readers of this Newsletter wish to raise any issues with the WSCB, please don’t hesitate to contact me via the WSCB Team at The Hollies. Robert Lake Independent Chair WSCB
Bridging the Gap: A Conference about Parental Mental Health and Safeguarding Children In March 2013, Ofsted published a report entitled ‘What about the children? Joint working between adult and children’s services when parents or carers have mental ill health and/or drug and alcohol problems’. During summer 2012, Dudley was one of ten local authorities to be inspected by Ofsted and Care Quality Commission. The inspection identified the need for improvements in a number of areas. Following this, joint work took place between Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, Walsall Safeguarding Children Board, Dudley Safeguarding Children Board and Virtual College Safeguarding Children EAcademy, to organise a conference to take place in both boroughs. On 21st May 2013, 130 professionals from a wide range of organisations attended a conference about parental mental health and safeguarding children at the Forest Arts Centre. Presentations were given by a variety of speakers on perinatal mental health, ‘The Toxic Trio’ (parental mental health, parental substance use and domestic abuse), the impacts of parental mental health problems on children, and a whole family approach to supporting parents with mental health issues was showcased. A young carer bravely spoke about their experiences in caring for their mother with mental health problems, and their younger siblings as a result. The Saltmine Theatre Company delivered ‘The Story of One Child’. An actress performed a monologue of the story of a young baby, her mother and a social worker, entitled ‘Becky’s World’. It was a powerful insight through the lens of a mother with mental health problems and her social worker. It highlighted some of the tensions practitioners face and attempts by parents to mask the realities of their illnesses. A series of questions from delegates were then posed to the key partners panel. There was also an array of stalls showcasing the work of various agencies. Feedback revealed that delegates found it very useful to have the opportunity to look at the stalls and available resources. We would like to thank everyone involved in making the conference a success, including those who organised the conference, the speakers, those who showcased their work, members of the key partners panel, and the venue staff. A more detailed report about the conference can be found at www.wlscb.org.uk.