This insight is more than 6 months old...
Please note that this insight was first published in May 2022, and therefore whilst the subject matter is still relevant, it may not represent the most up to date information in this area.
Introduction
The overview report of the Serious Case Review into Child Q makes for difficult reading. Suspected of carrying drugs, Child Q was strip searched (involving the exposure of intimate body parts) by police officers who attended the school without an appropriate adult being involved or there being challenge on the part of school staff. Very early on in the overview report the author is clear that “the strip search of Q should never have happened and there was no reasonable justification for it.” (para. 2.3, p.6). There has been a significant fallout as a result of the incident and in this safeguarding insight I do not intend to revisit these arguments, but instead look at the less well known role of appropriate adult, and how this role encapsulates a safeguarding approach within the criminal justice system.
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