Advocating Child Safety

Advocating Child Safety is an online strategy development and partnership working resource for all those who influence the safety and wellbeing of children. The resource was supported by the Department of Health and focuses on policy and practice in England.

Advocating Child Safety aims to provide a common agenda and starting point for the different local organisations (including ‘early implementer’ Health and Wellbeing Boards) which contribute in some way to children’s safety and health, including of course, road safety officers and their local authority colleagues in highways, transportation, planning and environmental health. There is also information to support engagement with communities and elected members, including links to relevant scrutiny questions which can help to ensure that injury prevention is included in local agendas.

The need for this resource has been consistently emphasised through CAPT’s Making the Link involvement with the wide range of practitioners and professionals who comprise the broader public health workforce.

The public health draft outcomes framework includes hospital admissions for unintentional injuries among the under 5 and 5-18 age groups, while the recent Department of Health public health update and way ahead report confirmed that accident prevention is specifically included in local authority roles and responsibilities. The update report commented that “Ahead of the formal transfer there is much that can be done to build the local relationships and develop local agreements and shadow arrangements to test elements of the new approach to public health”.

Wherever local areas are in their journey of closer collaboration, Advocating Child Safety highlights the opportunities for joint working around the ‘golden thread’ of children’s safety and wellbeing.