ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at child protection in England and Wales from the perspective of the different agencies involved. It does not address practice as that has already been well covered. Instead, in keeping with the emphasis in this book, I intend to address child protection issues from a management perspective. The agencies that will be considered are social services, police and crown prosecution service, health (health visitors, community child health doctor, child psychiatrist and general practitioner) and education. In the section on health I also consider briefly the case for the inclusion of adult psychiatry in child protection. Each section will look at:
The main responsibilities of the agency/profession
The main responsibilities of the agency in relation to child protection
The child protection role(s) of the senior agency managers (that is, those likely to be on Area Child Protection Committees)
Issues and dilemmas in child protection for that agency.
