There is a protocol for dealing with vulnerable children

Feb 25, 2014 News

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The Childcare and Protection Agency like most child care agencies the world over is struggling to meet the increased demands for services to children and families.
Services such as alternative care options for children; training and support for parents to prevent unnecessary separation of children; effective monitoring for children placed in out of home care; mental health and therapeutic services for troubled children and their families; fostering of community awareness and psychosocial support for vulnerable children and families; support for vulnerable children in the school system;  and advocacy  to ensure that perpetrators who violate children are accountable for their actions in a court of law.
Taking the range of services identified, how one can consider that one agency or organization working in isolation from others can successfully meet these demands.  Vulnerable children and families have need for a number of services.
Meeting the holistic needs of vulnerable children and their families or providing them with a continuum of care, require a coming together – a pooling of resources, skills and coordination of the care services. This is called Interagency Collaboration and it has been described as “the process of agencies joining together for the purpose of interdependent problem solving which focus on improving services to children and families.”
Just think of a child or family having to go to several social services agencies for assistance and having to give the background information each time: even when the services are in the same building.  Interagency collaboration has tremendous benefits for vulnerable children and families.
It results in faster access to services, increased quality of case monitoring and support, better decision making, improve ability to provide needed and timely resources; more effective use of limited resources and  reduces duplication of service among other benefits.
The CPA is working towards increasing collaboration with other key Governmental Agencies and Non-governmental Agencies but it is said that true collaboration can only be achieved when the family emerges as full partners in the process.
Working with families is a key strategy in ensuring a child’s continued well-being.  A child’s place is with the family; a child is only placed in an institution as a last resort.
To achieve interagency collaboration is no easy task for it requires participating agencies to be able to see the bigger picture: the benefits to be derived from the partnership for the participating agencies and most of all for the clients served.  Effective collaboration requires the letting go of personal agendas; narrow minded thinking; undue criticism of other professional partners; determined quest for heroism; petty jealousy and the promotion of oneself by berating other partners.
Communication is a key element in relationship building for effective interagency collaboration.  We must communicate and understand the roles and responsibilities of the participating agencies and appreciate each other cultural and operating differences.
The barriers to interagency collaboration are many, but true professionals will work towards removing these barriers if it means improve outputs for children and families.
The CPA is a Governmental Agency whose mandate and functions are set out in the Childcare and Protection Agency Act 2009.  The staff is public servants who have no agenda other than serving vulnerable children and families.  We are still a relatively new agency who having been seeking to forge partnerships with NGOs and other civil society groups from the inception of our establishment for it is the only way to go to building a comprehensive child protection system for Guyana’s children.
The CPA is a national institution and national institutions are known to last forever it is people in them who come and go.  National programmes need to be supported by all citizens, particular ones to improve the lives of our children.
It is of great concern when funding agencies are willing to support NGOs to do programmes that duplicate or overlap national programmes and do not stipulate or encourage the agencies to collaborate with state agencies.  I have travelled abroad and have seen NGOs and Governmental organizations working programmes together to bring relief to the vulnerable with full understanding of each other roles and responsibilities and with no open hostility and mistrust amongst the professionals.
Interagency and inter-professional collaboration is a professional activity that is said to work if the leaders of the participating agencies provide strong competent leadership and encourage the frontline staff to buy-in and work at building relationships.

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