Child protection law still has kinks

The Protection of Minors Bill, currently open for consultation, appears to be on the home stretch after a sinuous journey that has already taken five years. The current bill is the third version – and arguably the best yet – providing clout to frontline social workers and clarity to foster carers. An attempt has been made to create a holistic and unified legal blueprint for the protection of abused children. But the law-to-be requires an apparatus that will take much effort before social workers will be able to wield the conferred powers effectively and efficiently. The great news is that social workers will finally get the clout they have long sought. A refrain within Aġenzija Appoġġ has been that their ability to intervene in instances of child abuse has been limited, and their range of actions has been narrow. This law will dramatically change that: the director (of protection of minors) will be empowered to intervene muscularly, to enter any household and conduct investigations, and to impose ‘social contracts’ or treatment programmes. These care plans are a powerful home-based remedy – parents can even be ordered to undertake psychological counselling, parental skills...