How do we protect these children? There must be more we all can do!

[AnotherThingToDo]

I’m haunted by these poor children who have to endure this torture. How many more are there who aren’t in the news because they haven’t died?

Experts, people in child-protection roles, people with experience: how can people who feel angry and devastated by this channel this emotion into actually making a difference?

We hear time and time again how resources are limited. Is there more that society can do?

100% my experience Meandmini3
LAs and HAs and children's trusts have targets to meet..... if there are 'too many' children, then apparently that means you have to find a way to lose them off your list, rather than the LAs getting more support to manage those larger than average caseloads.

I’ve just seen on the news that an MP in Solihull has questioned the lenient sentences.

Will he be pressing for more funding? I won't hold my breath.

And let's not hear any rubbish about "We can't afford it."

There has been plenty of money sloshing around for Boris Johnson and his mates.

What struck me was that (based on the reported timeline) Arthur’s school were not informed of the abuse allegations from social workers or the police. It was the grandma who told the school and the school then phoned the social care team to enquire about it only to be told there wasn’t an issue. Any little niggle or signal from a social worker would have had my school making sure that little boy was in school under the vulnerable criteria or at the very least (if parents were insistent that they were worried about Covid) visited at home for an ‘eyes on’ doorstep or garden check in by school staff. Yes schools were partially closed because of lockdown but the apparent lack of engagement between professionals was appalling.

Peregrina

This is what I mean
If I was a manger in that social work dept I’d have all my staff at his next local council meeting.
I’d let any local papers/ news channels know and I’d stand there and let him and the rest of Solihull know exactly what was happening.
It’s there but for the grace of god- any one of those SW could have been called to that address and if the reason they didn’t take things further is due to lack of funding, exhaustion and size of caseload then they need to let everyone know.
As you say there has been plenty of money found and wasted over the the last couple of years.

@Cassimin

Peregrina

This is what I mean
If I was a manger in that social work dept I’d have all my staff at his next local council meeting.
I’d let any local papers/ news channels know and I’d stand there and let him and the rest of Solihull know exactly what was happening.
It’s there but for the grace of god- any one of those SW could have been called to that address and if the reason they didn’t take things further is due to lack of funding, exhaustion and size of caseload then they need to let everyone know.
As you say there has been plenty of money found and wasted over the the last couple of years.

People are dying in the back of ambulances, at the scene of their accident/incident. 6m waiting in agony, for years, for hip knee back hernia operations, even cancer treatments delays.

Do you really believe people are really that bothered about spending billions more to save a few children from "problem" families?

Little Arthur has already slipped down the medias attention.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Years in related fields here.

The lost important thing is to encourage and nurture circuit breakers. In every abusive family which isn't one any more there is a circuit breaker. Either a woman who doesn't let an abusive man into her house or a man who decides the violence of his father won't be repeated in his house. And yes, there are female abusers (as in this case) but the vast majority of family violence is male in origin or partnership.

Don't make a relationship a goal for women. We are taught it's better to have any man than no man. Support single mothers, make it a great thing. Make it financially possible. Make it a celebrated thing. I can't tell you how many men go on and on about being single dads because it gets them kudos but women are supposed to be ashamed.

Support women's charities, women's businesses and women's health. Happy, healthy women with choices make better ones.

Male circuit breakers need support too. Good intervention in schools when we see issues. Throw love and support at the bullies and arseholes. Lots of male role models and stop idolising men in the media who do terrible things. You hurt someone, you don't get in the TV any more.

Housing. When people aren't forced to be in housing with each other or stay there if they're abused, it's more dangerous.

And have eyes on the kids at school who aren't OK. There was a thread about drug dealers parents on here and everyone was saying their child wouldn't be friends with the kids. Mine would. She wouldn't be at their house! But at mine the child would bewelcome.

Kids need unpaid, friendly, concerned adults.

Brilliant post

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10275347/Police-probe-hospital-carer-impregnated-patient-baby-sent-family-Ghana.html#comments

Sorry for the daily fail link, but hopefully common sense can be applied in certain instances, like this one where offering the child to families as a first port of call is always the right one.

@Kippersfortea

I felt so saddened by the recent Case that I stayed up last night and did an online safeguarding course. I couldn't have slept anyway after listening to the recording of him, it will be haunting me for some time. I have already done courses in domestic violence and mental health awareness and various first aid type courses. I want to be able to help somebody if I am put in the situation too. I have had to report abuse before and I would do it again.

This is a great idea - where is this course please?

Octavia174
So nothing gets done?
SW just accept it?

Do you really believe people are really that bothered about spending billions more to save a few children from "problem" families?

This is part of the problem - it's most definitely seen as a problem for other people. It doesn't happen to nice families like us. That's one reason for having universal services - if e.g. the Health Visitor goes to see all families with children under 5, then people won't feel they are being picked upon. But the current Government especially doesn't believe in the 'nanny state'.

@Cassimin

Octavia174 So nothing gets done? SW just accept it?

Yes. Nothing will be done, BJ has just announced another investigation, what will that find that ALL the other investigations didn't?

The Tories are market based, their view is that if people don't want to be SW's then so be it.

Councils cannot conjure money out of thin air, even if SW's stopped doing their day job and went to campaign etc, they would be ignored.

Just as the collapse of the NHS has been ignored, Tory ministers do not use these services.

If you want real change, then vote for parties that believe in well funded public services but we wont, we like parties that promise tax cuts :(

More support for mothers is key, not damning them if they aren't coping with parenting.
Instead, women get shamed and turn away from a judging and unsupportive society.

@Cassimin

Octavia174 So nothing gets done? SW just accept it?

No, lots of them leave! What do you think social workers can or should do? Seriously, tell us!

Octavia174

How do we know if Sw would be ignored if they campaigned?
Has this been tried before?

NynaeveSedai

I think you should join up and try to do something about it so the public have it shoved in their face.
Remember the nurse crying in the car during the Covid crisis. I can’t remember any Sw being on the tv being this vocal about their situations.

@Cassimin

Octavia174

How do we know if Sw would be ignored if they campaigned?
Has this been tried before?

Public sector unions have been highlighting these failures for years, there has been numerous reports into child abuse... all ignored.

Would you support strike action? Do you know how hard it is to go on strike?

Have not seen the 100s of marches done by NHS unions on pay and conditions over the years?

What has any of it achieved? NHS has 110k staff shortages.

Government know the issues, they simply do not care.

FFS they still allow flammable cladding on buildings, despite the outrage of 80 deaths.

@Cassimin

NynaeveSedai

I think you should join up and try to do something about it so the public have it shoved in their face.
Remember the nurse crying in the car during the Covid crisis. I can’t remember any Sw being on the tv being this vocal about their situations.

....and what good did it do? even the nurse who looked after Johnson left the NHS

Mean

Without what happened to him subsequently surely his situation with his mum already meant he was vulnerable. He did have extra input from agencies.

meandmini3

I’m appalled to hear that as teacher there is now way to confidentially report concerns to another professional without first telling the parents.

In Banking if you have a concern about illegality/money laundering you must not do anything to “tip off” the customer so you must not give away any concern at all. If you do, you, as an individual, will be fired for gross misconduct and potentially prosecuted.

Yet with children teachers must effectively tip off abusive parents and give them plenty of opportunity to cover up abuse?

Id love to know what funding went into place under Blair and brown?
I know they admitted they failed children under their long tenure, child poverty and so on.
We know Rotherham girls were ignored and side lined as other consideration were deemed more important.

I'd love to know what funding had to do with proper lifting of his t shirt.
Proper investigation of the photo which to anyone shows a far worse bruise than a child's boxing glove.
The police resources used to threaten the worried family...

The NHS, school and social care need removing from politics because let's face it, Labour failed as well.

Octavia174

How do we protect these children? There must be more we all can do

So this thread is pointless then?
The answer is in two sentences
We can’t.
We can’t.
Other than ‘ you get what you vote for’ and ‘contact your local MP’ nothing constructive has been said.
Sw spend years wanting to do this job, more years training, get their qualifications through hard work. Seek suitable employment, apply for the job, attend the interview, get the job!!!
Then do the job, get stressed out, put a lot of their energy into doing what they can, go off sick, decide they can’t cope so leave.
Then along comes the next one.
I read earlier about circuit breakers, I think maybe their needs to be a circuit breaker here.

Mean just another occasion where parents are put first not children.

Elf is correct but no one will hear it. It’s nothing to do with politics.