Are any social workers able to give me advice/opinion?

[Hauntingnotespizzicatostrings]

I wasn’t too sure where to post this but I just wanted to ask whether something I would like to do would be appropriate.
I will keep it brief.
I applied for my childhood social care records a few months back and have received them today.
I have had a quick look over them and will plan an evening with some comforting things around me to sit and read through it all as there is allot to go through but what I have already read is very upsetting to read yet despite this, this period of my childhood was the least abusive and most settled due to the presence of social services.
Within the small amount of looking over I have repeatedly seen hauntingnotespizzicatostrings was reluctant to talk due to information being relayed back to parent, or hauntingnotespizzicatostrings was clearly withdrawn, appeared very upset and was reluctant to engage etc. Clear evidence of abuse and parent with a history of abuse of children and domestic violence amongst many other things we stated in what I have so far looked at.
My question is this. Would it be appropriate to write a letter to the local child social care department highlighting what I think went wrong in the work that was done which led to things both not being addressed and worked on and also to problems worsening after they had left.
I don’t wish to cause any trouble to anyone, I don’t wish to open anything up, I simply wish to put my views across in the hope of helping other children that experience the same or similar situations.
I’m just not sure if this is appropriate as I’m sure there has been an awful lot of progression in the way that things are approached and understood in the last 20 years but I just feel like I was hugely let down. I feel obliged to write a letter in the hope that other children don’t have the same experience. Perhaps it’s a silly idea, I’m not sure.

I think it sounds very valuable...would you consider writing an anonymous blog about it all? It could be very powerful in that you will get to share all of your thoughts and experiences in retrospect and others can learn from it. Or, write a book....the mistakes these professionals made could be learned from. It's educational and as I said before, very valuable information.

Social worker here - can I firstly just offer my sympathies - I know the kind of content you are likely to be reading having had to view historic files - I hope you have some good support around you to help you process things. I think it’s a beautiful idea to let them know where things could be improved - there are local boards set up specifically to look at serious cases - it may be worth contacting them directly to ask for signposting advice about who could take your advice. Best of luck and it’s very worthwhile xx

@FortunesFave I understand the potential benefit of that to some people but I don’t think it’s something I could ever do myself.
For me it’s about understanding and healing. I need to do that privately. I expect I will do some writing but it won’t be something I want to share. I’m quite selective in who I can open up to and trust. I have many mixed emotions today and I think this is going to help on my journey of full self acceptance and emotional healing.
From what I have looked at so far I think I am starting to be able to do something that I have never quite managed before. I am able to look at the child I was and empathise with her and truly understand. I feel so sad that she had to live that life, it wasn’t fair.
The anonymous letter to the appropriate people is something I would be interested in doing though. I just don’t know if it’s an appropriate thing to do.
@trashcanjunkie I don’t expect it’s something I will talk about with others, I just needed to do this for myself.
It took me around a year to apply for the records after finding out I was able to but I’ve done it and I’m glad that I have.
I don’t know if they would regard it as a serious case as although there was some abuse logged (from what I have read so far) the actual situation was not recorded as I didn’t ever speak about how it truly was.
What I have read just makes me so sad. There is verbal and physical abuse logged. Alcoholism was present and the environment being highly chaotic and unsuitable. Reports made by school and neighbours and other professionals stating that I was extremely vulnerable yet the case was closed. I just don’t understand.
There is also evidence showing that parent has history of domestic violence and abuse of children and I just feel that I wasn’t heard or protected.
I feel a bit silly posting on here as I say I wish to deal with it privately but then here I am airing my dirty laundry!
I suppose it’s because it’s anonymous it feels safe. I think I will have allot of processing to do.
Thank you both for your advice, I appreciate it.

Personally, I would write it as a complaint. You will find the address on the LA Website.

That way, you won't be ignored and they will have to give you a response.

Historic files are written terribly OP, I'm a SW and previously LA. My files are horrible. The way they wrote back then.

I wonder if it's worth contacting a training provider or a university. You can write a complaint now but complaints are not taken seriously. I think it would be better to put something together on phrases, comments, how it's written like - zebedee did not engage today rather than writing - we found it hard to engage with zebedee. Only little things and but they change the way it's read and put the onus back on the SW rather than the child. Taking that to a uni social care department would be more valuable in terms of learning opportunities for new SWs.

@Hauntingnotespizzicatostrings
I think you’re very brave to do what you’re doing by looking at your records. I wonder, do you see a therapist? I ask because I had what I suppose you’d call a breakdown a few years ago, linked to my childhood which was no was as awful as yours sounds. I had a few sessions of therapy organised through my OH at school as I needed time off work and it massively helped me to think through my feelings and come out the other side.
I do hope you get some closure, and yes, I think it’s a great idea to write to Social Services as you’ve suggested. I wish you well xx

Please be careful before you write a complaint.

What do you want to gain from it? They might not apologise as then they could be held liable. Please talk it through with a professional so you're not disappointed with any result you may or may not get.

I’ve seen a few posts mention complaints. I’d like to emphasise that is not what I wish to do, I have absolutely zero intention of doing so. What I would like to gain from this is a personal viewpoint put across on how future social work can avoid the same mistakes that were made in my situation, that is all. So that the same mistakes aren’t repeated with other children in the future although as I said, I’m sure that social work approach and understanding has evolved since then.
@SnowWhitesSM I do like the idea of writing an anonymous letter to training social workers. I have no Ill intention in writing, simply to put a view across of what went wrong to avoid the same in the future for other children.
@Soontobe60 I am working through things yes.
Closure is a funny one isn’t it. I don’t think I will ever get full closure as I know I cannot possibly get all the answers my heart truly needs but acceptance and understanding is what I hope to fully achieve. That is enough.
This isn’t who I am, it is a part of who I am and I want to leave it in the past after fully working through it all so it no longer affects my mental health.

As a fairly recently qualified SW I always found the not-what-to-do learning much easier to take on board, and I really like the idea of improving things for the next generation. Are there any univerities near you that train SWs? It might be worth getting a few counselling sessions to figure out how best to deal with it and put it all to bed.