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?

And most social workers are lefties.

WTAF does this mean?

@nitsandwormsdodger

Don’t wait to be sure Report report report Any tiny thing that a kid says or does that is a concern , don’t mull it over, or wait to be certain or concern yourself with the ramifications —Just report !

See I dont think this would help much. Social services are stretched to the limit. Piling more and more reports of vague suspicions onto them wouldnt help, it would just pull them in more directions.

@TooMuchPaper

Time and time again people post on MN expressing concerns about a child. Time and time again they are told to keep their beak out, how do they know what that parent is going through, they are judgemental, it's a snapshot of a moment and probably means nothing. It's depressing.

This. And for all people are saying 'people reported in this case and it didn't help' - sure, but any stigmatising of reporting possible abuse as 'judgemental' is not good. Report report report. The child's safety should come first.

Cuts or budgets or overworked aside, a child died partly because they failed to take the appropriate action. Or any action.

True. But people need to understand that SWs have multiple cases at any one time with these risks. There are many many children in homes with massive risks.

@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.

This is brilliant advice.

If you want to do something that will make a difference, then do whatever you can to help those less fortunate than yourself (and not just in a financial sense). So volunteer with a charity, give to food banks, support local initiatives that work with children in the holidays, befriend the younger mums, single mums, less well off mums, have their kids over for tea. Anything that can make someone feel less alone, keep an eye on a potentially vulnerable child etc.
See what is going on in your town or city and get involved!
Don't just sit at home and feel upset by the situation, that's pointless. Actually do something!

@nitsandwormsdodger the little boys family and friends did report report report. It did nothing.

And for those saying social services aren't to blame, they want to the house, saw the bruises and said it wasn't anything to be concerned about. They were idiots and should absolutely be held accountable.

It’s just so awful. So much has to change doesn’t it? Everyone wants to pass the buck and make someone else accountable. There has to be so many areas in a child’s life where their welfare can be properly observed, monitored doctors, dentists, teachers, hospitals referrals to interagency child protection for non attendance of appointments. This should ring alarm bells especially in hospital cases if a child doesn’t attend because they can’t bring themselves. The threshold should be lower to trigger a referral.
Neighbours, friends, parents, relatives, group leaders, anyone who is able to observe and monitor the welfare of a child who notices any red flags.

Maybe more can be done in terms of charitable work in schools giving children safe words or such like for when they are in danger. These are ideas and I know many won’t work but god we have to try and never let this happen. My heart hurts for this poor little boy. Xxxx

The threshold should be lower to trigger a referral

For that to stand a chance of having an impact-a huge cash injection would be needed from the government to hire huge numbers of staff.

The social workers saw the bruises and said they had no concerns even after it was reported many times by grandparents. They SHOULD be held accountable, they should be sacked!

[quote rightsideoftheroad]@nitsandwormsdodger the little boys family and friends did report report report. It did nothing.

And for those saying social services aren't to blame, they want to the house, saw the bruises and said it wasn't anything to be concerned about. They were idiots and should absolutely be held accountable.[/quote]
100%.

Report, report, report.
Use your eyes.
Become a thorn in the side of the local police and welfare
Get strident and pointy elbowed and insist in writing, on a welfare check if you have a concern.

And hope that these two go the same way as Daniel Pelka's parents, preferably by the end of next week.

Firstly don't make it political, I don't feel for instance the mass abuse of young vulnerable girls that took place in Rotherham, and abuse replicated in towns over the UK would have been uncovered if we were still under a Labour government.
We also know Blair and brown apologised for failing on child poverty.
I don't think it's a political issue.

The sw didn't examine him properly but they were there.
The sw were feeble and didn't put the child first, they listened to words only and didn't speak to Arthur alone or examine him.
People take huge risks reporting stuff like this, it let's them down as well when they don't investigate properly.
It's no different to when baby Peters sw looked at him in his buggy and a face smeared in chocolate to hide bruises.

So probably, changes in law, putting children not adults at the center of their care and life.
Remembering that whilst some reports are malicious, actually many people agonise about making reports and often loose alot by doing so, also making the the target of potential abuse. So at least investigate properly, a life maybe at stake.

More education to the general population on child rearing, techniques for all sorts of behaviour, and what's normal.

@PoddingtonPea21

One common factor in all these cases is social services and the police and decisions not to act.

Flame me, I think they need to be held legally accountable for death by neglect of duty. Until that happens we'll see it again and again.

100%

I agree @PoddingtonPea21 - neglect by duty.

@manysummersago

I am no Tory fan but how ridiculous to suggest that in voting for them you are voting for child abuse.

Baby P, Shannon Mathews, Rotherham grooming gangs, Victoria Climbié, all happened on a labour watch.

It’s a fair point, there’s far more complicating factors than ‘blame the Tories’. However. The last ten years have presided over horrific levels of cuts to services. Social workers have fewer agencies to refer to, as services have all been cut, peoples benefits and access to emergency financial help are cut, lack of social housing. Even under labour these services were underfunded. There’s lots of chat about early intervention but in practice that needs a shit load of money in universal services.

Ultimately there is a society wide issue about how we support and care for our most vulnerable people. How we normalise parenting support and sharing the wealth. How we judge and stigmatise others and avoid contributing to judgemental attitudes that can make it harder for vulnerable people to admit they need help. How social
Workers are not respected as a profession, vilified - how are people supposed to trust them and access support that they need? And like pps have said, signs of abuse and neglect are everyone’s responsibility, informally and in every setting.

Good post, @Heruka

If people want social workers ‘named and shamed’ in the media and held personally responsible, I think very quickly we will have none left as they will all just leave.

Blame the social workers.

Feel angry briefly.

Go back to your life.

Does anyone actually feel they've done enough just blaming people who have chosen a life of dealing with things you don't want to deal with. Everyone knows what the SW should have done in hindsight. Everyone. But if every SW removed every child who might be at risk, two things would happen. The already terrible care system would break down. And SWs would be accused even more than they are of being baby snatchers.

Are all the people who never make a mistake in their job planning to retrain as SWs? Or become foster families? Or is it that you know how impossible those roles are and you don't want to do them but it makes you feel better to say you could. And then continue to let someone else do it?

Every single one of us makes mistakes at work. But in the case of SWs, doctors, nurses and others, those mistakes are terrifying. And believe me, when I was a SW I didn't sleep well.

@MintJulia

And hope that these two go the same way as Daniel Pelka's parents, preferably by the end of next week.

What happened to them?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/14/daniel-pelka-mother-magdalena-luczak-dies-prison

Daniel Pelka 'Mum'

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/29/killer-father-of-schoolboy-daniel-pelka-found-dead-in-prison

Daniel Pelka 'stepdad'

Neither of them survived long in prison.

And while I hate that I feel this way, those who have committed such crimes can never be allowed out, no risk of parole, no chance of ever getting near another child.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Cuts or budgets or overworked aside, a child died partly because they failed to take the appropriate action. Or any action.

True. But people need to understand that SWs have multiple cases at any one time with these risks. There are many many children in homes with massive risks.

Exactly this. In order for social workers to be more effective something needs to be done about budget cuts and staffing levels so that the appropriate time and attention can be given to high priority cases.

Having spent years in a related field having 35+ cases - how can you prioritise when all of them are complex and hold the same amount of risk. At the end of the day all of these people are human and something needs to be done about the immense pressure they are under.

People make mistakes in their jobs everyday but in these types of jobs the consequences are absolutely abhorrent. So why not support these people in doing the best job they can and protecting children rather than dump tonnes of cases on them and give them a workload which is simply unmanageable and will result in these kind of consequences?

I think everyone understands social workers are overworked but I do think the problem here isn’t money, it’s that we can’t just accept some people are nasty bastards.

Sure Start wouldn’t have saved this boy.

In the financial services sector, the regulator (PRA and FCA) introduced a senior managers regime which makes those people that run financial services companies personally accountable if there are major failings that result in customer or market harm. There is more personal culpability for the protection of your money than there is of children. Just let that sink in.

The director of Solihul’s Director of Children’s services retired before the case and had previous held a role at Stoke on Trent council and left before inspectors found serious failings in that department. She was paid a lot of money. The failings were on her watch. Why shouldn’t she be held to account? These people are public servants, entrusted with taxpayer money to keep kids safe and yet there’s no accountability? As Nazir Afzal (former Chief Prosecutor) said on Twitter if these departments can’t keep kids safe, they need to flag it in every report that they do not have the funds and resources to guarantee safety. Instead there is a endemic box ticking and sweep under carpet culture in our public sector. We all know how whistleblowers get treated (e.g. Staffordshire NHS) so there’s no incentive to speak out.

All the social workers I have met who work in or have worked in this area are traumatised by it.