Inter-agency perspectives on core group practice

Abstract

Core groups have been introduced into the child protection system with little central guidance. They have a pivotal role in formulating and implementing child protection plans, engaging parents and fostering inter-agency partnerships, whilst remaining accountable to the commissioning body, the child protection conference. This paper, based on small scale research, elicited and compared the responses of school teachers, health visitors and social workers to issues around their respective roles, the management of core groups and their understanding about the core group tasks and highlighted congruence and conflict in their understanding of the system, of their own roles and responsibilities, and that of the other groups. It raises major questions about the extent to which child protection can become a truly corporate responsibility, as well as how the production of procedures and training does not automatically lead to a streamlined and clear operational system.