To think we need action on child protection

[stargirl1701]

The details of the latest cases have been horrifying. There seems to be no answer from any quarter as to how to stop this happening again. Funding is obviously an issue as both social workers and health visitors have unsustainable case loads.

I wonder if what is also needed is the view of the ordinary person. Do police officers and social workers become numb to their constant exposure to horror? I know my own reaction to the bruising on both Arthur and Star: it's clearly not a normal childhood bruise pictured on either child. I say that as parent of 10 years and a primary school teacher of more than 20 years experience.

The Children's Panel system in Scotland uses lay members effectively. These are volunteer roles in which enhanced PVG status is required. Do Child Protection referrals need to be assessed by a panel like that rather than be left to judgement of the over-stretched social worker team? Volunteers serve for 3 years in a local area outwith their own. The last recruitment campaign garnered 2000+ applicants.

We need a new approach. It is madness to carry on with a system that is so clearly failing to ensure the safety of vulnerable children. More funding would obviously help but there does seem to need to be reform of the system.

Op - why don’t you start a thread that’s more honest, maybe….

Let’s talk about how shit social care workers are at their jobs and blame them for the murder of children?

Professionals involved in protection are giving you real reasons why services are stretched but you want to keep bringing it back to incompetence.

So you’re a teacher eh? You think that gives you an authority to speak on the issue?
Well I did first aid training last week, it doesn’t make me a Doctor.

@halloweenie13

I've been thinking of a career change recently and especially with the horrific cases that have been happening, have been looking at doing the think ahead social worker training scheme. It seems the entire industry needs more people who genuinely care and will speak up and be a voice for those that don't have one.

Please consider it. We really do need people to step up.

It’s heartbreaking - I’ve just donated £100 to NSPCC becouse I don’t what else to do.

@Hertsgirl10

If you’d been wrongly accused you’d think differently . We were and I complained to everyone And everywhere after the investigation was complete as I wanted (and got) full apologies and the allegations removed from our records as it was incorrect data (had to go to the ICO) .

A CP investigation is harrowing for parents and traumatic for children if it’s not warranted and just the result of a malicious referral i would never say at least it was taken seriously as it was traumatic and deeply unfair.

I did think each time we sat there been quizzed or the house being looked at that these sw were here , in my house wasting their time and there would be poor children elsewhere at real risk and that would be missed

@JHMJHM where? When? What’s it being used for? Because we have no staff, no time, stupidly high case loads and often hold high complex risks as individual practitioners. Added to that we have a country full of pitchforks at the moment baying for our blood. People don’t have a clue how horrendous it is. It’s infuriating that we are working our god dam arses off in poor conditions.

@TonkinLenkicks

Yep.

Nobody goes into CP and expects it to be easy. It’s not.
Low pay, lack of status, high pressure - lots of criticism.
I do it because I give a shit. Everyday I advocate and fight for dc in a way that’s impossible to evidence here and I have plenty of peers who do the same.

We need more staff and more money and more services.
More more more.

If we don’t get it we’ll be back here next week or sooner with lots of Pearl clutching and wailing and pitchforks and so on it goes.

We’ve told you what is needed wtf won’t anyone listen????

I work for a formerly inadequate local authority in a social work team. It was never as bad as 50 children per social worker but it was pretty bad. People don't want to work for inadequate councils so you are always, always short staffed and the referrals keep coming so the staff you do have get more and more children, then they go off sick because the stress is horrible, and if they are agency they just leave with no notice.
This is an untenable situation. The LA I work for is pulling itself out and mainly by somehow finding a magic money tree. I don't know how but they seem to have a lot of money to spend on staff and recruitment. Pay people enough and they will do it. The more you pay the more people come on board. We are now at a level of staffing that caseloads are normal. They also invested a lot in training and support. It needs political will from local and central government and it needs MONEY. These children need to get a proper service and if the staff aren't there then they cannot get it. It's impossible.

OP, you might be interested in "The Promise". Review of child protection in Scotland, and promises to make it better

My personal experience of Social Services, is that they are not really interested in child-abuse until it's too late. My children sat in their headteachers school office and told a social worker and police officers that their father was punching them. This was the fourth referral within the space of two years. I left the father because he was abusive. My children repeated this allegation, whilst in the fathers parents care, on a supervised visit where the social worker turned up. One of my children asked the Social Worker not to tell their dad as they will get into trouble. The children's family support worker believed they required trauma therapy.

Despite this, and despite having had pictures of bruises, and previous health visitors saying that they believed their father was a threat to them, evidence of his drug use, and referrals made whilst I was pregnant out of concern for his abuse towards me, Social Services decided there was no proof of substantiated abuse. They sat in my house and told me that until my children ended up in hospital with broken bones there would be nothing they could do. They told me that because on a preprepared supervised visit, where the dad was warned that they would be there, and despite being told by my eldest that he would be nice to them whilst the social workers were there, that the children appeared happy, therefore they couldn't prove they were being abused. I was criticised, for reporting abuse and that I should accept they were not meeting the threshold for action as the abuse was considered "low-level ". I was told that in continuing to investigate and then Social Services doing nothing that it was doing more harm than good, and then in the family court I was threatened with reversal of child custody, or worse that my children would be taken into foster care if I continued to raise concerns about the claims my children were making about their father abusing them. Both my young children asked why no one cared about them being hit, and why it was that their dad wanted them to be quiet. The oldest one of the two affected, asked me why these people who said they would helper, left her to go to her dads where they knew she was being hurt.

In Social Services defence, this wasn't just a Social Services problem. The children's school were also less than useless. The family courts are too interested in fathers rights to consider whether or not he was in fact actually being abusive. I wouldn't dare report the abuse that my children are continuing to report receiving, and either today. It's not going to do anything, it's only gonna make things worse.

Whenever I've seen these news articles about these poor children with black eyes and bruises all over them and Social Services not bothering to intervene, it just makes me weep and despair. It's not funding, it's not a lack of action or referrals, it's a threshold that is too high. It is a lack of understanding how even "low-level "abuse is utterly damaging. Even if children don't get killed by their parents, they become emotionally damaged. Emotionally damaged children become emotionally damaged adults.

I wasn't just unlucky either, unfortunately the stories about my local authority dealing with abuse, especially where it concerns domestic violence, are all the same. Our local newspaper even wrote an article about a child who was killed in their dads care, and when the mother tried to raise concerns she was painted as a vindictive ex partner.

The entire system is broken, it's not a local social services issue, it's not a Bradford issue, it's not a Birmingham issue, it is an entire behavioural cultural problem within the industry. My children are lucky, they're not going to get killed by their dad, just long-term emotionally damaged and the occasional injury. There are plenty of children with much less luck than them who are left at Social Services mercy. I just don't know when this is going to be enough. When are we going to rise up and do something about this?

@Upyouranty

What can we do? This is not a new thing is it. We’re shouting from the rooftops HELP us but on we go trying desperately to protect children. The complete ignorance of the general public is starting to anger me now. Does it ease people’s conscious that there’s a professional to blame than accept that we all, as individuals are responsible for this. Especially Tory voters. Where’s the head of social work? Stand up and make our voice heard. Useless!

I’m feeling a bit angry today, can you tell I’m posting on here instead of arguing with stupid people on Twitter...

[quote BalloonsOnFire]@Hertsgirl10

If you’d been wrongly accused you’d think differently . We were and I complained to everyone And everywhere after the investigation was complete as I wanted (and got) full apologies and the allegations removed from our records as it was incorrect data (had to go to the ICO) .

A CP investigation is harrowing for parents and traumatic for children if it’s not warranted and just the result of a malicious referral i would never say at least it was taken seriously as it was traumatic and deeply unfair.

I did think each time we sat there been quizzed or the house being looked at that these sw were here , in my house wasting their time and there would be poor children elsewhere at real risk and that would be missed[/quote]
@BalloonsOnFire

I actually have due to being in a DV relationship in the past, at the time they (social workers & school) helped me get away and supported me so much.
I actually cried when they left me alone because I was scared I wouldn’t have any back up if he found me.

Anyway from that I have been under suspicion every time I take any of my children to hospital, and when 1 started a new school, my daughter (11) was messing around with make up and had a reaction, the school thought it was not what I explained and called social services, I had to take her to the doctors to prove it was what it was. Which was annoying but if everyone was treated in a suspicious way then not much could slip through the net, nobody could be offended because we’re all ‘suspects’ as a standard, I know this isn’t how it should be but what’s happening now isn’t working.

They was judging your house that’s their job, but sadly one thing I don’t understand and Arthur’s gran said the same that the house was clean so the case was dropped.
Obviously houses should be clean as a standard with children in the house but just because it isn’t shouldn’t mean automatically it’s abuse and the same the other way around.

I think as annoying as it can get, believe me I know, we soo must look at the bigger picture and understand that protecting all children is all of our job and if we get suspected but they kid down the road dies because a doctor is too afraid of being reported or losing their job, it’s worth us all being reported if need be.

I think it’s sad that social workers are in the position they’re in and always are the ones to get the blame, people don’t understand just how manipulative people are, this is why I say the narrative needs to change and everyone needs to be treated as they’re guilty, because if you’re not guilty then there’s nothing to worry about.
Social services are NEVER in the papers for saving a child are they? Never for helping families or any of the good work that’s done, every single day. The media have so much to answer for because sometimes the perpetrators get less stick than the social workers.

Sorry this is a but waffling on.

@Hertsgirl10 in spite of my post above, I do completely accept your point that sometimes Social Services end up getting more flack from Society than the perpetrators. Whilst I agree with the coverage about the lack of action by Social Services in all these cases, and I've had my own personal experience of, it is true to say that in fact the ultimate accountability sits with the people who are abusing the children in the first place. The anger, first and foremost should focus on these people, but it's not unreasonable to say that a service that is meant to protect children, and is failing in many instances, for whatever reasons, need to be held accountable for their failings. We shouldn't need Social Services to step in, but often unfortunately in many cases we do.

I've been a social worker for 11 years and hand on heart I have never felt numb to suffering.

Families need help with the basics - acceptable housing, an incentive to work not fear of loosing money by doing so - I have advised people not to work when looking at their finances because of the impact it will have on their benefits - it's madness. Mental health services are severely stretched and at times non-existent. Nursery fees are extortionate. The big problem I see is extended families not being there to step in - many problems I see would usually be resolved by this but so many people are parenting completely alone and it is hard.

Lockdown meant a lot of children were not seen - this was appalling and really highlights the importance of children being seen by health visitors/nurseries/school/clubs/family and friends. Remember little star was a baby in the midst of a pandemic - I wonder who actually saw her, professionals were pushed to do virtual visits and these are useless for really getting a sense of a child.

Physical abuse or chastisement is taken very seriously in my local authority. I wonder if there is a way that the family courts could share just little glimpses of cases where children have been removed from harm...but how can social workers share the cases where they have worked to keep a child at home and the good outcomes for families? Confidentiality just wouldn't allow it and the media are only interested in the harrowing side of the work.

@lockedinandout thank you for sharing your story and i am so sorry you and your children had to go through all this. i really hope and pray that things are better for you and your family now. You story really demonstrates what is wrong here. The fact that there is an abuse "threshold" and that until bones are broken and kids are in hospital they cant do anything says it all really. I am speechless. I cannot begin to imagine how you must have felt when your kids were with their dad.

After listening to SW excuses, I totally believe that there is a threshold for child deaths per annum as well. They say that 50 per year is the norm and apparently had it not been for them it would have been more. While that is probably true, the callousness this is being said with is astonishing. They seem to think 50 per year is acceptable. That it is just a statistic. Whereas what was different with Arthur and Star is that the public can clearly see what those 50 are going through on a daily basis.

It does scare me that these children were known to services, reports were made, and yet still this happened.

I always considered it a great thing that where I live there are a number of community organisations offering support to parents and also keeping an eye on kids in vulnerable situations. But now I find myself feeling that even that isnt good enough because even where the community is spotting this stuff and there are people around the child reporting problems repeatedly, it's not keeping the child safe.

Lockdown meant a lot of children were not seen - this was appalling and really highlights the importance of children being seen by health visitors/nurseries/school/clubs/family and friends*

This. I wrote to my mp lately to complain about this. Our local HV team are still not doing face to face visits. I asked why and was told that for one, the local NHS small hospital (an outpatient only centre) has refused to have them hosting HV clinics any more due to Covid. I was horrified. These are state owned buildings, and this is an important service being provided, this hospital simply should not be allowed to refuse to have them there.

I fear their workload is so heavy they end up turning a blind eye to things

I’m a Police Officer-I used to work in an investigatory role but left that department due to the unrealistic workload. This is typical public sector. I was meant to have about 10 cases; I actually had over 30. All you could think of is how can I get rid of these cases. And no one cared-the answer was “suck it up”.

@Idontlikeworms

I've been thinking of Poppi Worthington, she had no justice at all. All these cases are unthinkable and tragic.

What happened to Poppi, and the injustice of her "father" getting away with what he did weighs on my mind a lot.

We need to do better.

I’ll just leave this here

Another issue is fear of litigation. We all watch our backs more than we ever used to. I know that if I spot what I think is a safeguarding issue, make a referral, but I turn out to be wrong - then the family can complain about me. At best that involves me in literally days of work responding to a complaint. At worst I lose my job.

That is just so wrong. There should never be any kind of come back for making a referral for a child you believe to be at risk. Even if you're wrong.

@YeOldeNameChange

I fear their workload is so heavy they end up turning a blind eye to things

I’m a Police Officer-I used to work in an investigatory role but left that department due to the unrealistic workload. This is typical public sector. I was meant to have about 10 cases; I actually had over 30. All you could think of is how can I get rid of these cases. And no one cared-the answer was “suck it up”.

It's not a deliberate blind eye. But yes, when you have 20 children to visit in a week across 15 houses scattered across the county some of whom won't be home necessitating double trips you do not have the time to spend really seeing what is going on. It's impossible.

I don't see that being at school would have made a huge difference as multiple reports were made for all these children from credible people. Social workers had all the information they needed. Children that age wouldn't have been out of the home for very long at school/nursery. It was done in plain sight.

Does anyone else remember the NSPCC public awareness adverts that used to be on the TV?
They were raising awareness of the need to report concerns about children, and showed a situation depicting a child, with the NSPCC number included.

@Musicalmaestro

Does anyone else remember the NSPCC public awareness adverts that used to be on the TV? They were raising awareness of the need to report concerns about children, and showed a situation depicting a child, with the NSPCC number included.

I do and I seem to recall there were a lot of complaints. They were quite harrowing but my God, they were nothing compared to what we have been seeing of late. We need more of them, now more than ever.

Apparently, one main issue was that parents did not want their children knowing this sort of thing happens. Loss of innocence and all that. I've even read comments here saying that poor Arthur shouldn't have been covered in the TV news as children were watching! Hells teeth, why not use these cases to teach your children that if they ever think someone in their class is being hurt then they should tell a grown up?

I really don't understand how various professionals saw these children and failed to protect them.

Their grandparents and other family members were also raising the alarm in both cases. I just read the grandfather of Star was accused of being homophobic.