EVERY CHILD MATTERS

Every Child Matters: Ensuring the well being of children and young people



Every Child Matters: Ensuring the well being of children and young people

Every Child Matters, or ECM for short, is a UK government initiative that was launched in 2003, at least partly in response to the death of Victoria Climbié. It is one of the most important policy initiative and development programmes in relation to children and children's services of the last decade, and has been described as a "sea of change" to the children and families agenda. It has been the title of three government papers and the website EveryChildMatters, leading to the Children Act 2004. Every Child Matters covers children and young adults up to the age of 19, or 24 for those with disabilites. Each of these themes has a detailed outcomes framework attached to it which require multi-agency partnerships working together to achieve them (Blair, 2005, 27-28). These include children's centres, early years, schools, children's social work services, primary and secondary health services, playwork, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS) . In the past it has been argued that children and families have received poorer services because of the failure of professionals to understand each other's roles and work together effectively in a multi - disciplinary manner. ECM seeks to change this, stressing that it is important that all professionals working with children are aware of the contribution that could be made by their own and each others' service and plan and deliver their work with children and young people accordingly. It is the central goal of Every Child Matters to ensure every pupil is given the chance to be able to work towards the goals referenced within it. Most of the legislation passed and guidance applies to England and Wales and all maintained schools have implemented the policy; it has also been influential in the rest of the UK and in some independent schools (Blair, 2005, 27-28). The similar model GIRFEC (Getting It Right For Every Child) is the equivalent approach in Scotland.

Analysis

The Government's aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to:

be healthy

stay safe

enjoy and achieve

make a positive contribution

achieve economic well-being.

This means that the organisations involved with providing services to children - from hospitals and schools, to police and voluntary groups - will be teaming up in new ways, sharing information and working together, to protect children and young people from harm and help them achieve what they want in life (Blair, 2009). Children and young people will have far more say about issues that affect them as individuals and collectively. Over the next few years, every LA will be working with its partners, through children's trusts, to find out what works best for children and young people in its area and act on it. They will need to involve children and young people in this process, and when inspectors assess how local areas are doing, they will listen especially to the ...