Child Protection Guidance 2021

Part 4: Specific support needs and concerns 153 National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 Version 1.0 September 2021 4.133 Policy, strategy and local process. The Scottish Government aims to make stronger links with housing, education and justice to focus recovery from parental alcohol and drug use and support beyond health. The national approaches to alcohol and drug harms are outlined in Rights, Respect and Recovery (Scottish Government 2018) and the Alcohol Framework (Scottish Government 2018). Article 33 of the UNCRC addresses the wider impact on children of harmful drug use, requiring public authorities to take all appropriate measures, including legislative, administrative, social and educational measures, to protect children from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as defined in the relevant international treaties, and to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances. The section below on Child Criminal Exploitation is also relevant. 4.134 The Framework to Reduce the Use of and Harm from Alcohol and Drugs (Scottish Government/COSLA 2019) describes the roles of Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and governance within integration authorities. Audit Scotland (2019) has reported on the efficacy of current approaches. Child Protection Committees, Adult Protection Committees and Chief Officers must work together to ensure local procedures, services and assessment frameworks are in place, that transitional protocols are in place for vulnerable young adults, and that there are evaluative mechanisms to ensure an understanding of how well services are working locally in relation to child protection response in this context. 4.135 Substances, policy and law. While non-specialists should not be expected to know or judge compound details, a broad sense of the landscape may be helpful. Introductory training tools and graphics may be accessed at (Adley/ UK Drugwatch 2017) . A recent Scottish Parliament research briefing summarises legislation and policy (Davies 2017). Resources and References – Parental alcohol and drug use Physical abuse, equal protection, and restraint 4.136 Article 19 of the UNCRC requires public authorities to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse. 4.137 Physical abuse is the causing of physical harm to a child or young person. Although there is a distinction between inflicted and non-inflicted physical harm, some accidents may be attributed to neglect and lack of supervision. This might include exposing a child to parental alcohol and drug use or domestic abuse, which may constitute an “aggravation by reason of involving a child” under section 5 of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, for the purpose of the domestic abuse offence in section 1(1) of that Act. 4.138 In addition to the common law of assault, section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 contains provisions dealing with the treatment of children and young people by persons of 16 years or over who have parental responsibilities in relation to them or who have charge or care of them. That section makes it an offence for such persons to treat that child with cruelty (described as wilful assault, ill-treatment, neglect, abandoning, exposing, or causing or procuring such treatment in a way which is likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health). 4.139 Professional guidelines and evidence reviews are available about assessment of suspected physical maltreatment, including, for example: suspicious bruising; human bite marks; burns and scalds; fractures; inter-cranial injuries; abusive head injuries and facial or mouth injury.