Conference to discuss meeting the needs of disabled children and young people in Cornwall

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The needs of disabled children and young people in Cornwall will be top of the agenda at a Conference being staged by Cornwall’s Local Safeguarding Children Board at County Hall on Tuesday, November 13th. The Conference – “Disability – The Challenges of Safeguarding – improving the outcomes for disabled children and the children of disabled parents” will look at how disabled children and young people are protected in Cornwall. This is the second Conference to be staged by the county’s Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), a multi agency statutory organisation containing representatives of all the key agencies working with children, young people and families. The Board, which replaces the former Area Child Protection Committee, has an independent Chair and is responsible for ensuring that all local agencies and organisations work together effectively to safeguard and protect children in Cornwall. Its membership includes representatives of Health, Education, Children’s Social Care, Probation, Police, Youth Offending Team, Connexions, District Councils, Child and Family Court Advisory Service, Adult Social Care, the Crown Prosecution Service and the NSPCC. Delegates at the Conference will include representatives from all the key agencies who work with children, young people and their families and, particularly, with disabled children and their families. Parents of disabled children in Cornwall and disabled children and young people themselves will also be taking part in the day. They will be welcomed by Terry Lello ( Lib Dem), the County Council’s Lead Member for Children, Young People and Families. “Cornwall has been at the forefront in recognising that Disabled Children’s needs are a priority” said Terry Lello. “We signed up to the Every Disabled Child Matters Charter to ensure that a structure was in place to deliver the very best service for each and every child” . “Delivering that structure is a challenge, and we are working with all partners to ensure that disabled children, their parents and carers receive the support, advice and information on the range of services available to them.” “Disabled children and young people want fun things to do, they want to change negative attitudes to disability and they want the right to a good education. Parents would like not to have to fight for support, to be included in their communities and to find educational provision that meets their children’s needs. I am looking forward to this conference that will inform and stimulate debate and will be a positive move forward in meeting the needs of all children in Cornwall”. There will also be a display of art work by children from Curnow School, and a not to be missed demonstration by power chair football team Celtic Storm during the lunch break. The event will be chaired by Ruby Parry, Assistant Director for Social Care and Family Services for Cornwall’s Children’s Services Authority. “Historically disabled children and young people have not been afforded the same rights to protection as non disabled children” she said. “Nationally there are few accurate figures about how many children are identified as being at risk. What we do know, however, is that disable children are under-represented on child protection registers as we would expect higher numbers given their vulnerability. This Conference will enable us to consider why this is the case and discuss ways of improving the current situation. “