Protecting children by supporting families

This chapter critically examines the persistent dichotomy between child protection and family support and its implications for children’s rights under Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It argues that effective safeguarding requires an integrated approach that combines protection with sustained support for families. Drawing on research, policy analysis, and practice evidence, the chapter shows how risk-focused systems often default to investigation and monitoring, with insufficient attention to relational, preventive work that strengthens caregiving environments. It explores how organisational structures, eligibility thresholds, and resource constraints create service gaps, leading to episodic, crisis-driven interventions that undermine children’s long-term safety and stability. The chapter outlines a conceptual model for integrating family support in child protection, emphasising early help, partnership with parents, and attention to structural determinants such as poverty and inequality. It examines the implications of this model for assessment, planning, and multi-agency collaboration. The chapter contributes to the volume by reframing protection as a continuum that includes support, not an isolated function. It calls for policy and practice reform that aligns systems with children’s rights to both protection from harm and positive family life, recognising that sustainable safety depends on supported, not surveilled, families.