Hi downtothesea. Just want to acknowledge that you're right in that for every family we can sort out there will be others who are missed, thats exactly what motivates me on to the next case, and the next. I know that in this job you can never rest on your laurels.
You're also right that in some cases neglect and abuse can be allowed to go on for too long out of some misguided respect for the parents rights. Personally I am able to priorotise the child's rights as thats the culture i trained in.
In regards to your comments about trying to change the profession for the better, well im currently involved with the Family Justice Review which aims to shorten the length of delay in the family courts, I also contributed to the recent Munro review and I write for an industry magazine in the hope of putting a bit of food for thought out there. Sorry to shatter the illusion that all we do is roll around in piles of money and moan on internet forums :p .. but joking asside, you do have some valid points.