Commenting on Care Inspectorate Wales’ report, ‘Rapid review of child protection arrangements – interim findings’, Rocio Cifuentes MBE said:
“I welcome the report’s focus on ensuring consistency of practice across Wales and making sure that children’s rights to participate in decisions are strengthened. Whilst some positive elements have been identified, along with best practice examples, it’s clear that more actions need to be taken to ensure that these systems work seamlessly and effectively for children and their families. I cannot help but feel frustrated by seeing yet another report that highlights that effective child protection is hindered by ineffective information sharing and a lack of engagement with children themselves to understand their lived experience.
“I continue to raise these concerns with Welsh Government and urge for action to be taken as an absolute priority to address these underlying challenges. I’m also undertaking a piece of work pressing for stronger focus on improving the governance and accountability arrangements surrounding Wales’ child protection system so that we can be certain that practice is changed as a result of these reviews and reports.”