Protecting children is everyone’s business, says AM

Looking after vulnerable children is everyone’s responsibility, Assembly Member Joyce Watson has said.
The Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales believes that the prevailing mentality that someone else will look after a vulnerable child needs to be reversed.
Joyce Watson AM said,
‘Adopting a passive disposition towards the wellbeing of a child or children should be transformed into a proactive mentality of assuming responsibility for a child’s health.
‘We must become a nation that protects children and not let it be someone else’s business.’
Speaking during a debate on ‘Arrangements for Children into Care’, a report by the Assembly’s Children and Young People’s Committee, of which she is a member, Joyce Watson said that the early stages of the process must work correctly if the child is to be treated fairly.
‘The core assessment made before a decision is taken on whether or not to place a child into care is the foundation upon which all other matters concerning their immediate future is decided. If we get this wrong, we are letting the child down.’