Researching Reform are strong advocates of Kids Company, one of only a handful of organisations in the UK who actually understand children. The charity, headed by Camila Batmanghelidjh, focuses on helping the most vulnerable children in our society and has recently published a report which shows the extent of the problems inside the social care system.
The charity has just announced that it will be launching a large campaign in June, highlighting the reality that the system is not fit for purpose and offering suggestions on how to improve social care and child protection. In our day-to-day work with the system, we often come across startling inadequacies, and a lack of interest in actually trying to understand family dynamics and root causes. Perhaps time is an issue, however these difficulties have persisted since the inception of social work and go to the heart of how social work is perceived, who engages in it and the kind of training delivered for such an important job.
The interview Camilla gives for Community Care is a very interesting one. She talks about the current culture in social care and how the system is failing children through a lack of resources and poor internal structures.
Batmanghelidjh makes the following observations about social care today, many of which we are very familiar with and no doubt our readers will be too:
“Social care is so snowed under in some areas they just can’t take more cases. It’s created a destructive culture. I’ve heard it from social workers, they come to see me privately, even heads of children’s services.”
Camilla goes on to note:
“There’s a cultural trend where you develop a sense of agency over what you can control and deny everything else existing. The children’s sector is a good one for government to do this with because there isn’t a powerful contingency coming back saying ‘over my dead body are you going to deny this’. Kids can’t sue them, kids can’t take them to the European parliament. They can’t do anything.”
As a final thought during her interview Camilla concludes:
“People think soldiers are heroes, and they are, but there is another type of soldier….That’s the worker who’s surviving in very challenging social work structures. Kids have told me they feel like soldiers too because they are responsible for themselves in this system. When workers and children perceive social care contact as an act of surviving war, you know you are looking trouble in the eye.”
And that is the key point. A system, which is supposed to provide shelter and support for the most vulnerable is in fact just another battle field, filled with lost souls, defecting leaders and the blood of our children on our government’s hands.
We wish Kids Company lots of luck and much success with their campaign and hope that our ministers listen, and take action. Meaningful action.
Phill Ferreira said:
Reblogged this on The Story of my Twin Boys , Oliver and Oscar Ferreira.
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forcedadoption said:
Simple solution! No punishment without crime .Stop taking children from parents who have not been charged or convicted of a crime against a child or children.The “ss” could then concentate on saving children who had been physically or sexually abused instead of wasting time with guessing games deciding (with a crystal ball?) that babies and young children were at risk from emotional abuse some time in the future.
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Natasha said:
Thank you, FA.
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daveyone1 said:
Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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Dana said:
Its all very well saying and having legistation that it should be the last resort to take children from their homes and that kids should have contact with their family if they are in care but it all falls down when social workers do not facitate it! They are no real checks and balances, they take the kid, just in case. They should not be in the position to stop contact but they do and are not penalised for doing it! The machinations of social workers are responsible for children growing up believing they were not wanted by their family.
Its interesting to see that research can be carried out comparing similar maltreated children left in their homes instead of taken into care with those that have taken into care! It seems its down to an individual social worker if the child ends up in care or not! That should not be the case. FA is correct when he states, no punishment without crime! The child should not be taken unless there is clear cut evidence that a parent has harmed their child and is convicted via criminal court. The system harms more children than it proports to protect!
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Natasha said:
Thank you, D. The system is really in need of some serious focus with an overhaul which reaches as far back in the process as the training of social workers and the syllabus they cover. It really needs to be improved from the inside out.
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Dana said:
It is my belief the social workers go into their careers with a view of protecting the child and they are the rescuers! They accept the views and training put forward by older more experienced social workers. As time goes on they may find they are not the rescuers and the child should really be left at home with a little support but they have become a cog in the wheel of the system systematically taking children into care any that come to their attention. Not much thought goes into any other options because its easier to take the child and they won’t be blamed if anything bad happens to the child on their watch. Why does it continue? Maybe they are not allowed to go against what their managers say! They have said there is a crisis in social care as some have left and and the job isn’t attracting social workers the way it once did. That should be ringing alarm bells. Others stay because the promotional and/or financial benefits outway listening to their conscience! Without a doubt there are low empathy people and psychopaths masquerading as social workers!
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dick100 said:
They do. The entire system is built around this. It is not just social workers but paediatricians, lawyers and judges as well.
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Dana said:
Camilla is not the only one who states the child protection system is not fit for purpose!
http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/comment/columnist/a-child-protection-system-that-is-not-fit-for-purpose.22597600
The rewards are too great for some-but not the children!
http://www.the guardian.com/comments free/2014/may/13/troubled-children-investment-extreme-britain-outsourcing-care
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Dana said:
http://www.theguardian.com/comments free/2014/may/13/troubled-children-investment-extreme-britain-outsourcing-care
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Dana said:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/13/troubled-children-investment-extreme-britain-outsourching-care
I hate predictive text! I hope this is correct but article can be found on the Guardian website, the reporter is Polly Toynbee.
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Dana said:
Its not worked! Article is Now troubled children are an investment opportunity.
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Natasha said:
Thanks, Dana. I don’t think government is going to change the way it views child welfare – like everything else, an economic problem. I really do think it’s up to the public to lead the way on this.
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dick100 said:
It has to be realised the problems are;-
1) modern social work and the Child Abuse/Child Protection system is built around a Moral Panic/ Child Rescue movement and NOT social work .which provides help for families/ removal of kids where necessary / work with families to send them home.
2) Forced Adoption because they were no kids to adopt at a time a powerful lobby lead by BAAF were promoting adoption as a marvellous way of transferring working class kids to middle class professional homes. How could you refuse such an opportunity ? So they came up with kids from Care. So kids were soon being taken into Care for this.
Read
“Folk Devils and Moral Panics”.
This does not deal with child abuse but the whole nature of Moral Panics as such.
All this happened 42 – 44 years ago so it is hardly surprising it is entrenched.
It began with the Moral Panic started by G Henry Kempe and his paperback “The Baby Battering Syndrome” in the states, making him a celebrity and as there are 50 states campaigners could start a Moral Panic in the next state for similar laws to the last one.
Paeditricians,lawyers and judges founded their careeers on it.
This is why the whole thing is run like a 17th century witchhunt – it is !!
Also read
“The Politics of Child Abuse”
It is an eye-opener.
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Natasha said:
Thank you, Dick. The system definitely focuses on all the wrong elements and gets swept up by conflicts of interest. How can we expect our support services to deliver proper assistance when there’s widespread malfunction and mistrust within each.
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dick100 said:
It has to be realised the modern system, coming from America 40 years ago WAS a Moral Panic. Also councils saved money by cutting care to families.
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