Social services failings

[mamaxbear]

The recent stories that have come out about Sara Sharif and Isabella Wheildon have really made me feel sick to my stomach. Innocent little girls being murdered by their parents and family, what is going on? I understand the huge pressures children’s services are under, but when will there be a change? I’ve had social workers involved throughout my whole childhood, my mum used to verbally and physically assault me and my siblings. We witnessed DV almost every weekend, she drank with her partners and it would just be carnage. When social workers came to assess, they saw that our home was tidy and we had food in the cupboards and off they went. It breaks my heart to think what these little girls and probably thousands of other children have been through or are currently going through. I have a 3 year old daughter myself. My heart hurts for these children.

And more time to effectively do the job ... maximum caseloads is vital.

Well said. You have a horrendous job with little support.

When it comes down to it, most people don't really want social workers to have more power over them.
Most posters on mumsnet would be outraged if a social worker could gain access to their home, see their medical records, interview their children alone, strip and examine their children etc etc.
See the number of outraged threads when schools or nurseries just make referrals and the parents don't feel it's justified.
Of course everyone wants scumbags to be monitored and the right children to be safeguarded, but no one wants to submit to the level of potential state intrusion into their own lives to make that happen.

And I can 100% guarantee there's not enough appetite for actually paying for it.

We get so many serious case review reports in my line of work and it always terrifies me and I’m health not SW …..whenever I see something on the news, my first thought is for the child….but my second thought is I hope all those preofessionals involved have documented everything and are up to date with all mandatory contacts

@AllYearsAround just fyi we do access medical records (hospital visits, referrals for addictions or mental health and medications). We do not need consent for this and don't disclose this unless asked. We do need consent for GP checks which would be the GPs specific notes on their system, It's part of our screening when a new referral comes in to assess if it meets threshold for further intervention.

So DS was adopted by us age 8. His birth mother who was of course hugely damaged herself, lived on an estate that was pretty much a no go area for police and all professionals really. The poor social workers were sent out single manned to check on him.
How do we all think that worked out? Obviously she mainly didn't let them in. If she did let them in, she seemed to take it as a personal affront if she couldn't make them cry. And once it was known which car they drove, tyres were slashed and the car keyed. Because DS was absolutely feral, barely ever went to school and so had no other influences other than Mum and the estate, he absolutely despised the SWs and certainly wouldn't have trusted or confided in them.
It took eight years to get him out permanently. And God knows how many social workers compromised their mental health to do it. They are worth their weight in gold.

Yes but all that info stays within the MASH. It's only used to make screening decisions. Very few people get to see that information including the social worker who comes out and assesses the family. Even under a s47 there is info shared in the MASH that doesn't get passed to the assessing social worker. I guess the general public isn't aware of how info sharing works within a MASH but it's not quite the same as what was being described in the post above.

What a refreshing thread. Thank you all for not bashing my profession (apart from OP 🙄) and showing some understanding and compassion.

@TheSilkWorm sorry I'm in Northern Ireland so this information is saved and accessed by any social worker involved with the case. It's slightly different here hence why there's less child deaths I suppose.

I think the job you do is very difficult.

There is clearly the need after tragic events like Sara Sharif's death for discussion and reflection about what warning signs were missed, how can similar events be avoided in future, what resources/procedures can be improved to better safeguard children - but if we want things to improve for neglected and abused children, these discussions are better had in a constructive and meaningful way, rather than vilifying social workers and trying to assign 'blame'. Unless there are examples of gross wrongdoing by social workers and individual instances of malpractice/not following procedures, I can't really see the point in doing that - it's just going to hound social workers out of the profession and isn't going to help anyone.

100%.
I know when I was in frontline as a SW I didn't always visit children as often as I wanted/needed to, I didn't stay as long as I felt necessary, I didn't argue to progress plans up to CP/PLO if I was on the fence, I know there were things I missed, missed opportunities to spend time with kids and wait for them to feel ok to disclose. I know I could have done a better job. I know there were things that came out later with families I worked with and it's devastating to think I might have missed a sign. But the reason for all of that is that I was trying to do a high standard of work for a large number of children within a 40 hour work week, and get to pick my own kid up on time and have some kind of downtime at the weekends and just do the best I could within the time I was given. The main thing social workers need is lower caseloads. But nobody wants to do what is needed to get there because it costs money.

As far as I know, if there is a concern regarding the child being physically hurt, it can be examined by a doctor. There was a thread on here some time ago by a mum who's kid was examined at school without her knowledge because of someone making allegations of abuse.

I understand religious believes should be respected but if there is a suspicion of abuse child's safety should take priority.

I think in theory this is great thinking but also, people do need the opportunity to do better and improve their parenting, women need better resources to escape abusive partners etc. Going into care is not a positive thing for many children given the outcomes for kids with experience of care are really poor with more engaging with criminal activity than educational achievements. So there's almost a fine line between lesser evils especially given how limited appropriate placements for children in care are - more children than ever are now in unregulated placements like bnbs etc. Unless the government allocates much more funding to overhaul the entire system, more people commit to becoming trained and safe foster carers and community resources in general are better and more consistently funded we will continue to have these tragedies.

Only with parental consent. A child may be asked to show a teacher an injury in school but they cannot be examined by a doctor without parental consent and a teacher can't do more than just confirm that a child appears to have an injury (and shouldn't be asking a child to take clothes off or looking at anything other than extremities really, maybe a tummy or back if the child is young enough for this to be appropriate). If a school is so worried about an injury that they call the police to attend the police can take police protection and then an examination can take place but this would have to meet the legal threshold which is high.

Just imagine if everyone parented properly social services would not exist

Social workers imo get far too much blame.

(1)The first issue is the actual parents

(2)Then friends/family/neighbours/teachers/anyone else who turn a blind eye

(3) The law and governnents which isn't strong enough to implement real powers of control to social services and fund them sufficiently

Only then, should we consider what social workers didn't or couldn't do. A lot of them are good and care deeply but if there aren't correctly resourced, things will never change. Yes, I'm.sure thry do many wr9ng calls at times but I think they get a disportionate amount of blame for things that are largely out of their control.

I had to go through the court system with Ex and my overwhelming feelings was the lack of "common sense" that was applied, mainly because SW & Judges have to constantly balance "rights" and are so fearful of discrimination.

In my case Ex was abusive and the DC absolutely did not want to live with him. Thankfully they were at an age that meant they could state their wishes however I witnessed, at times, the extent that the SW went to to provide balance. I guess she was fearful that she could be judged as discriminating so I can see why Sara was given over to an abuser because the positive traits of the Dad has to be portrayed.. I now offer support to women going through family courts and the pattern is very prevalent.

I'm not blaming SW because they have to act according to the "rules" rather than act on their life experience and instinct. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to have such responsibility yet have to operate within so many restrictions. From what I see they aren't allowed to use their instincts and they have to go out of their way to ensure they don't have a bias towards parents, especially Dads.

Has to be an injury sighted, and either an allegation or an injury with no sufficient explanation, for paediatricians to agree to do a medical examination

Are time is also wasted being dragged into contact issues between parents instead of speaking to their solicitors. They report the other parent for parenting differently but causing no harm it's relentless and really pisses me off. We don't accept contact only referrals however the absolute pettiness and calls from parents about it is time wasting.

There needs to be some evidence….and it needs to meet a threshold….so for example, brusing in a non mobile baby then yes….brusing to forehead or legs on a toddler, and parents giving a plausible explanation, then no….. …..I would take that previous thread with a pinch of salt…..parental consent is required unless the courts decide otherwise…..and parents would still be informed

I’m starting to find you quite rude now. I simply put forward my own personal experience of social workers and children’s social care, you can’t make everybody’s experience good. I understand it is your profession, but don’t be rude.

Well in the situation I mentioned here someone did call the police, they came to school and examined the child. One phone call is all it took.

Amen!

Imagine being a fca in cafcass and mainly dealing with this.

Except they didn’t …..you can’t believe all these threads on here…..a lot of it is Billy bollcoks