My name is Grace. I'm a senior child protection practitioner. I work in the investigation and response area My job is to assess the likelihood of children being at risk of harm. So child protection can receive calls from anyone in the community who have worries for children. Once child protection receive a call, we make an assessment as individuals and as part of a team with our team managers.
To decide how to prioritise that report and look at what the next steps are that we need to take. So there are a couple of really key skills to have to be a child protection practitioner and to really support children the way that they need to be supported. You need to have resilience and patience, empathy, and have a real emotional intelligence and awareness to to what others might be going through.
And particularly what parents are going through. It's really important to succeed in this role and be able to develop positive relationships with the families you work with. When I first started the role, I expected it to be a challenge. But when I came into the role and when I started, it was so much more than that and so much more is involved.
We assess risk, and that's what the primary role is. And it's important that I'm able to share that risk with my colleagues and particularly with my manager. And that decisions about children aren't just down to one person. It's a collaborative effort. It's a team effort. And there is definitely a level of experience that you can go to, to, to make sure that the right decisions are being made for children at the right time.
For those thinking of working in their child protection sector, you can make such a difference to even one child's life. What keeps me going in this job is knowing that there are so many children out there that are in need of protection and in need of support. And unfortunately, that isn't going to change any-time soon. So my job matters because those children need a voice and children need a champion, and children need an adult that will never let them down.
And that's what a child protection practitioner can be.
Updated