1. The Concept of Significant Harm The Children Act 1989 introduced the concept of Harm’ as the threshold that ‘Significant justifies compulsory intervention in family life in the best interests of children and gives local authorities a duty to make enquiries to decide whether they should take action to safeguard or promote the welfare of a child who is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm. There are no absolute criteria to rely on when judging what constitutes significant harm. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010 (now archived) gives the following definition: of the severity of ill-treatment may include the degree and the extent of “Consideration physical harm, the duration and the frequency of abuse and neglect, the extent of premeditation, and the presence or degree of threat, coercion, sadism, and bizarre or unusual elements. Each of these elements has been associated with more severe effects on the child, and/or relatively greater difficulty in helping the child overcome the adverse impact of the maltreatment. Sometimes, a single traumatic event may constitute significant harm, e.g. a violent assault, suffocation or poisoning. More often, significant harm is a compilation of significant events, both acute and long-standing, which interrupt, change or damage the child’s physical and psychological development. Some children live in families and circumstances where their health and development are neglected. For them, it is the corrosiveness of long-term emotional, physical or sexual abuse that causes impairment to the extent of constituting significant harm. In each case, it is necessary to consider any maltreatment alongside the child’s own assessment of his or her safety and welfare, the family’s strengths and supports, as well as an assessment of the likelihood and capacity for change and improvements in parenting and the care of children and young people.” Under s31 (9) of the Children Act 1989 as amended by the Adoption and Children Act 2002. ‘Harm’ Means ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development, including for example, impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another; ‘Development’. Means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development.
1. The Concept of Significant Harm The Children Act 1989 introduced the concept of ‘Significant Harm’ as the threshold that justifies compulsory intervention in family life in the best interests of children and gives local authorities a duty to make enquiries to decide whether they should take action to safeguard or promote the welfare of a child who is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm. There are no absolute criteria to rely on when judging what constitutes significant harm. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010 (now archived) gives the following definition: “Consideration of the severity of ill-treatment may include the degree and the extent of physical harm, the duration and the frequency of abuse and neglect, the extent of premeditation, and the presence or degree of threat, coercion, sadism, and bizarre or unusual elements. Each of these elements has been associated with more severe effects on the child, and/or relatively greater difficulty in helping the child overcome the adverse impact of the maltreatment. Sometimes, a single traumatic event may constitute significant harm, e.g. a violent assault, suffocation or poisoning. More often, significant harm is a compilation of significant events, both acute and long-standing, which interrupt, change or damage the child’s physical and psychological development. Some children live in families and circumstances where their health and development are neglected. For them, it is the corrosiveness of long-term emotional, physical or sexual abuse that causes impairment to the extent of constituting significant harm. In each case, it is necessary to consider any maltreatment alongside the child’s own assessment of his or her safety and welfare, the family’s strengths and supports, as well as an assessment of the likelihood and capacity for change and improvements in parenting and the care of children and young people.” Under s31 (9) of the Children Act 1989 as amended by the Adoption and Children Act 2002. ‘Harm’ Means ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development, including for example, impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another; ‘Development’. Means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development.