Role of the safeguarder in the children's hearing system

Acknowledgements

This research into the perceptions of stakeholders about safeguarders operating in the children’s hearings system would not have been possible without the cooperation and involvement of social workers, reporters, panel members, sheriffs, solicitors and safeguarders. We fully acknowledge the time and effort this involved and are very grateful to them.

Our warmest thanks also go to the management and operational staff of Children 1 ^st, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, Children’s Hearings Scotland, Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, Scottish Legal Aid Board and social work departments for their considerable help throughout and particularly for assistance in access negotiations for the research team so that they could undertake the fieldwork in a limited timeframe. In particular, we would like to thank SCRA’s research team for their considerable, patient and invaluable assistance in determining the variables / parameters available and in selecting and anonymising the “ SCRA sample” (see Chapter 2) and staff at Children 1 ^st (“sheriff sample”) and the relevant local authority (“paired report analysis”) for similar assistance.

The support of the Scottish Government and its Research Advisory Group was also invaluable in defining the parameters of the research, commenting on progress and draft reports, and advising the Research Team in the production of this Report.