Latest statistics

A timely warning is coming from latest statistics. According to figures from the BBC, there has been a 20% fall in child protection orders in Wales last year. Further there were 1,120 care orders made by its 22 local authorities between March 2020 and January 2021, down from 1,400 the previous year. These numbers echo those being released across the UK.

What’s the problem?

As we’re coming out of lockdown this decline would normally be viewed as a positive. However, we must be warned that these statistics likely paint a false picture. A high percentage of safeguarding referrals usually come from education and health settings and young people haven’t been as visible to those protective adults during lockdowns for understandable reasons. Schools, youth workers and social workers have been unable to keep a close eye on the most vulnerable children due to Covid restrictions. This means that there’s potentially a whole generation of children and young people who are being traumatised, and not being safeguarded. We share the views with our customers who strongly believe this is unacceptable.

Use the Safety Link

We created the Safety Link last year to provide an essential safeguarding tool for our customers and mitigate against these situations. It provides real-time safeguarding information at the touch of a button. Any child or young person who reports feeling ‘scared’ ‘unsafe’ or ‘unhappy where they live’ on their One app automatically triggers the Safety Link. This allows organisations to target their constrained resources to safeguard the situation in the most effective way possible.

Young people are very good at understanding the risks that are present in their everyday lives and through the use of Mind Of My Own apps they can continue to have their voices heard in what’s been the most difficult of circumstances for everyone.