To think some posters are naive about SS?

[fudgeraisinbiscuit]

I see many posts where people seem to believe either that SS will offer support and that parents who are loving and coping but struggling can contact them for a hand-hold, or posts where people believe a not ideal yet normal situation can and should be reported.

AIBU to think posters are naive about what SS actually do?

No. It's about every social worker being accused of stealing children.

@Skarossinkplungerridesagain

I didn't say anybody was stealing children. I said that there is such thing as targets for adoption. And there are.

If anyone’s still interested, there’s an interesting bit about targets here.

childprotectionresource.online/forced-adoption/

Another SW that thinks they're above being questioned and gets aggressive and abusive if anyone does. I find that quite worrying actually.

Oh jfc

Sorry guys, the critics were right, the system is fucked then.

I think some people have really misunderstood what the targets were about. It's a good thing to get kids that are going to be adopted to be adopted quicker. It's a good thing to give children stability and permanency and the chance of a decent family life.
It's a bad thing to let them move between foster homes and back and forth to parents and not know where they can call home and where they are going to end up.

Again, try and think of this from a childs pov rather than as a parent.

So do I tbh holly

Interesting factlet:

The John Hemmings named in that article got banned from Mumsnet.

Can't believe you're keeping all that expert knowledge to yourself

I mean, if you want to call something covered widely in SW press including Community Care "expert knowledge"....

(in response to tessliketrees)

However, some of the cases he had did not go on to harm their children I believe.

Suggesting that perhaps SWs aren’t always right.

Claw, the forced adoption website, hardly impartial is it?
And one of their 'had to flee the country to escape social workers snatching our baby' stories is about a Marie Black from Norfolk.

Do you thought no this might be the same person as the Marie Black from Norwich who currently serving a life sentence for child abuse offences?

I believe that people are not clear about what SS actually do once they are involved with a family.
My son died from an accident which had no negative effects on him at the time but killed him a while later. Because of this, my other [alive] children were taken into the 'care' of the local authority.
SS's involvement was at the very least, distressing and at the most, offensive and destructive.
I was once told by a SW that by not wearing make-up I am proving that I cannot look after my children because [due to not wearing make-up] do not take care of myself!
Anyway, OP, yes I do agree that many people are not aware that SS don't really help families. One of the SWs told me [during yet another of their apologies] that he and none of his colleagues, entered the profession to destroy families but once in, that's what they do.

Even social workers make mistakes, used to call them soft cops

Anyway, OP, yes I do agree that many people are not aware that SS don't really help families

But they do. We know they do, lots of them. And they also help children whose families do not.

But they do. We know they do, lots of them. And they also help children whose families do not

The kind of opinion you quoted is only going to become more prevalent as councils can only afford to keep statutory services. The people I know who work in young peoples disabilities teams are also getting a hard time because of the huge cuts they have to make.

It's really sad.

What Pengwwn said rings so true. I had SS involvement when I had PND. Admittedly, I had harmed my child and I completely understand why they needed to be involved but the way I was treated was very heavy handed and they seemed to completely miss that I was also incredibly vulnerable. It was the complete lack of transparency, the rapid turnover of social workers and just general unwillingness to provide anything financial to help (e.g. paying for extra nursery care) that added to the stress of a very difficult time. If I didn't have the amazing support system I'd had at the time I would have likely taken my own life.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=i6v1AkxL_t8

I watched this a few years and I’ve never forgotten it. The original post has been taken down and it looks like another user has reposted it.

Some things are stranger than fiction.

I remember at one point a social worker gave me 'homework' which consisted of some parenting questions to answer. One of those was 'at what age is it appropriate to let a child watch porn?' wtf did that have to do with my situation?!

(The answer is bloody never you weirdo.)

takingsmallsteps

So glad you were able to resolve things.

Why do sw's become aggressive and even abusive during discussions like this? They weren't like this 20 odd years ago, they used to help families and come in for a cuppa and chat. No one was afraid of them, but they are now!!

Optimusprimesmother that video looks very dodgy, who are those people? Where are they? I am not spending 6 minutes of my life listening to people when I have no clue who they are. Can you give us a clue?

Thank you Pengggwn. Darkest time of my life but I came out of the other end a lot stronger. 😊 The guilt ate at me for a long time after but I've let it go and trying to enjoy my family.

Social workers are not one identical group, in fact they are a pretty mixed group as there have traditionally been several routes into the profession. Some are pretty intellectual with a clutch of degrees, others will have taken an OU and council grown route. They have been drives to fill posts with overseas workers at times. There will be the good, the bad and the ugly like any other group.
The councils that run the teams don't have the money to do it properly and that impacts on caseloads and family support offered. It is far from perfect but definitely not run to make money!

As a former child protection Social Worker I can say it’s an incredibly difficult, nuanced and often heart breaking job. Evaluating risk is very challenging. Thresholds are very high and while Social Workers do hold a powerful position, decisions to remove children do not rest solely on them.

Parents can be deceitful, older children have been taught to be dishonest and do not trust authority. You have to go into homes which are filthy, scary and being threatened is a pretty usual occurrence. Removing a child is not an easy decision and there are inadequate foster care and/or children’s homes.

Yes there are crappy Social Workers, like in any profession. But most went into the profession because they wanted to help people and were passionate about Social Justice. In my case you had to have high marks, write an exam and take an ungraduate degree at the same time. You also have to complete unpaid placement. I did extensive professional training and while I was well paid it was not exceptional given the hours, stress and skill required of the job.

There isn’t enough support for parents who are struggling. There isn’t enough professional support/ management for Social Workers. Way too much time is spent doing paperwork to cover your ass rather than help people. In the end I left which is something I still feel conflicted about.