Foreword
Heather Stevens 179

ABSTRACT: Children's services planning is the multi-agency strategic planning process for vulnerable children, which is hosted by the four Health and Social Services Boards for Northern Ireland. This article sets out its legislative and policy framework, and examines Children's Services Planning in one board area, in terms of the structure adopted and process issues arising. Its suggests the Children's Services Planning offers lessons regarding process for wider partnership working, and, in particular, the regional strategy for children's rights and needs.

ABSTRACT: This article has been adapted from a paper that was presented to the Regional Conference ‘Think Global Act Local’, held in the Adair Arms Hotel in Ballymena on 29 November 2002, in order to launch the Children’s Services Plans for the four Health and Social Services Board areas in Northern Ireland, for the period 2002—2005. The paper considers how ‘cross-cutting’ Children’s Services Planning has developed in Northern Ireland, and explores the emerging shift from historically based planning to planning based on needs assessment, driven by the emphasis on holistic understanding of children in Need. Core elements include the development of interagency databases to capture need and supply of services at a very local level (electoral ward); enlarging work on outcome measurement; the consolidation of inter-agency and inter-sectoral planning forums; and the emergence of frameworks for involving service users, especially young people. The paper reflects on the application of the Hardiker (1991) Model in Northern Ireland, and goes on to describe how congruence across the Children and Young People’s Committees has been achieved through commitment to four common, underpinning themes — Needs Led Planning and Resourcing, Equality and Human Rights, Promoting Social Inclusion, and an Integrated Approach to Family Support. The latter theme is particularly developed in this paper, suggesting that a number of conditions now exist that could drive family support led strategies in the domains of prevention/diversion (Hardiker Levels 1 and 2) and intensive support (Hardiker Levels 3 and 4). In conclusion, the paper argues for the consolidation of Children’s Services Planning as a core local framework that can strengthen regional strategy, and identifies sonic of the key challenges for the future.

Are you serious? Involving young people in Children's Service Planning
Stieneke Willis, Fiona Mullin, Geraldine Murphy, Emma McCaffrey, Michael Harrigan, Nicola Rodgers & Darren Boyle  213

ABSTRACT: This paper was written by the Making A Difference Today (MAD2DAY) Group, which is a group of young people who came together over the past 24 months in order to support the participation and involvement of young people in the Western Area Children’s Services Plan. This group, supported and mandated by the Western Area Children and Young People’s Committee, has been based on the core principle of peer-led involvement in planning, and has recently hosted the ‘Are you Serious?’ Conference held at the Broomhill Hotel in Londonderry on 30 June 2003, at which some 120 young people representing organisations throughout the Western Area came together to give their views of the services available to them.
The paper was delivered to the ‘Think Global Act Local’ Conference held in Ballymena on 29 November 2002 to launch the four Children’s Services Plans for Northern Ireland by Fiona Mullin, and to the ‘Child Care in Practice’ AGM at the in Belfast on 29 May 2003 by Stieneke Willis. It addresses the experience of the young people in MAD2DAY, and sets out a number of challenges that need to be taken up in order to create the conditions that will enable the views and experiences of young people to be incorporated into the planning process.

Whatever You Say ...Say Nothing'. Youth for Youth, Reflections on a 2-Year Youth Partcipation Project
Peter Bryson 217

ABSTRACT: From January 2000 to December 2002 Save the Children worked in partnership with a group of young people, concerning their experience of the conflict and their invisibility within the new political context in Northern Ireland. This paper will consider the learning realized through this partnership with children and young people, reflecting first on the difficulties in working directly with the issues of experience and identity within the context of ongoing conflict, second on the expectations of young people and organisations working for change within this problematic and sensitive context, and finally on the barriers young people experience working for change within a fluctuating political environment.
Despite the fact that the number of young people involved in this initiative was small it is hoped that the reflections and learning within this paper may be of use to those interested in exploring the challenges of partnership approaches with young people.

Starting from Scratch
Maurice Leeson 228

ABSTRACT: The following is a full account of a paper presented at the conference "Think Global Act Local' held on 29 November 2002 to mark the launch by the four Health and Social Services Boards of the Children's Services Plans 2002 - 2005. In this paper, I provide a voluntary sector perspective on the changes in the past 3 years in the process of children's services planning, the unique contribution this planning process has to make and the challenge ahead.

The Effects of Maltreatment on Children's Health and Well- Being
Helga Sneddon 236

ABSTRACT: Although our society has put in place various forms of legislation to protect children's rights, many children are still subject to various forms of maltreatment such as sexual, physical or emotional abuse and/or physical or emotional neglect. All of these can have serious detrimental effects on the victims. Previous literature in this area has tended to focus on sexual abuse. In contrast, this paper provides an overview of all the different types of maltreatment in terms of characteristics of victims, the range of consequences, mediating factors and types of interventions that may be offered.

HEATHER STEVENS, Head of Children and Young People’s Unit

The Children and Young People’s Unit, which is part of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, is currently developing proposals for a 10-year overarching strategy for children and young people. It is planned to publish a draft Strategy for public consultation in Spring 2004. The papers in this edition of Child Care in Practice provide a number of valuable perspectives that will contribute to this work.

For example, in relation to the participation of young people in decision-making processes, the article by the Mad2Day group of young people from the Western Board Area is a refreshing and different read. It gives adults key messages to consider when involving young people in Children’s Services Planning. In the Children and Young People’s Unit, we have a group of young people aged from 12 to 18 that meets and gives us views and opinions on the strategy development. The area of involving young people and younger children in decision-making processes has been a recurrent theme in our consultation work and we intend to highlight it as a key area for consideration in the strategy.

Ann Godfrey’s paper and Maurice Leeson’s paper focus on the multi-agency, partnership approach used in Children’s Services Planning. In his paper, delivered to a conference on Children’s Services Planning, Maurice Leeson talks about the background to the approach used in Northern Ireland, and highlights the advantages that the multi-agency approach can bring to the process.

Ann Godfrey points out that Children’s Services Planning is a model for the direction of the strategy for children and young people, and she advocates joined-up working at government level to mirror the approach used in the Children and Young People’s Committees. A joined-up way of working is indeed our aim in developing a strategy for children and young people, and we have learnt much from the approaches used in Children’s Services Planning.

Eamon McTernan takes us through the Hardiker model and its use in Northern Ireland to help identify need and plan appropriate services. He discusses the shift from historically based planning to needs based planning. He also talks about the importance of a co-ordinated strategy for children and young people and reflects on how Children’s Services Planning can be a useful model.

Another key theme we have identified is that of children being brought up in a society emerging from a period of conflict, with very particular needs for support services for children and their parents. Peter Bryson writes about a 2-year project he was involved in which looks at the effects of conflict on children’s lives and encourages the use of appropriate service planning in order to improve children’s rights. Children’s rights are a fundamental element of our approach to the strategy and Bryson’s report gives a valuable insight into this important area.

Dr Helga Sneddon gives us an overview of the different types of abuse and maltreatment suffered by children in our society today. She also looks toward the future and how we might better protect children and offer early intervention programmes for the children concerned.

John Devaney and Trevor Spratt give us a report on the Fourteenth National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in Missouri, USA earlier this year. The conference report highlights some of the key research issues and advocates a wider perspective in seeking new ways of working with children who are victims of child abuse and neglect.

The edition concludes with a book review of The Role of Concurrent Planning; Making Permanent Placements for Young Children.

I have been privileged to have been invited to write the foreword for this edition. It is challenging and thought provoking, and inspires all of us working in the area of children’s rights and needs to share our knowledge and experiences to help make Northern Ireland a better place for children and young people. The Strategy will provide the Vision and context within which that can happen.