Laws to Protect Children

Children Act 2004

• Ensures governemnt, health services and social services work together to support and protect children
• Aims to make sure all children are safe, healthy, happy and succesful (also providing economic stabilty).

Adoption and Children Act 2002

• Makes it a legal requirement for local authorites to provide an adoption and support service (e.g. counselling).
• Considers child welfare to be the most improtnat thing.

Childcare Act 2006

• Makes it a legal requirement that childcare is available for all working parents.
• All carers for children under 5 must help them work towards the early Years Foundation Goals.

Protection of Children Act 2002

• By law, the government must keep a list of people who have comitted crimes; making them unisutable to work with children.
• Organisations that work with children must carry out police or DBS checks on their employees.