Social Work Resources

Child care and justice have merged to become Children and Justice Services. We aim to provide support and care for children, young people and their families so that, wherever possible, young people can remain with their own families in their own communities.

We work with children, parents and other agencies providing family support that is focused on promoting the welfare and development of children, young people and their families. Social Work Resources has a duty to protect children.

Whilst this is seen as a shared responsibility with other agencies and the community, Social Work has particular responsibility to investigate allegations of child abuse. These responsibilities are carried out in the framework of jointly agreed child protection procedures.

Justice staff work within the context of a Community Safety and Social Inclusion Policy to provide services that enable people to participate effectively in response to the problems and consequences of crime. Justice offers a wide range of services in courts, local offices and specialised teams to people referred by the courts, prisons and other agencies.

Our aim is to work with offenders to reduce their criminal behaviour and promote community safety. This is done by helping prisoners resettle following a period in prison, addressing responsibility for offending, providing programmes that offer realistic alternatives and raising awareness about how offending affects victims.