All countries must seek to work out the ways in which they will protect vulnerable children within their own cultural, societal and legal context. In recent decades important work has been undertaken to better understand the differences in approaches to child protection and family welfare across international jurisdictions. While the number of children dying from abuse and neglect has decreased significantly in most economically wealthy countries, there is a still a concern in many countries that the child protection response remains focused on reacting to the harm child have experienced, rather than preventing this. Many countries continue to see a rise in the numbers of children notified to authorities due to abuse and neglect, particularly around physical neglect and emotional harm, despite decades of efforts to address child maltreatment.

This presentation draws upon international research evidence, undertaken by the speaker and others, to discuss how a focus on childhood adversity can ensure a more comprehensive understanding of the fuller range of harms children experience, and the roles that different professionals can fulfil. In addition, the presentation will discuss how this can also help us to view both how we intervene and when.

The presentation will be informed by findings from research projects that have sought to look at how adversity impacts on children across their life, how children can be supported to speak to safe adults about any concerns, and how professionals can work together to keep children safe while also helping families to address issues of concern.

In doing so, the presentation will address the question, what would a strong child centred, child protection system look like?