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Researching Reform

Researching Reform

Monthly Archives: March 2017

Child Protection ‘Rosie’ Reappears In New Virtual Reality Game.

31 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in child welfare, Researching Reform

≈ 8 Comments

In 2011 we wrote about a then new virtual reality game produced by Kent University, designed to help train social workers called “Rosie, Virtually Safe”.

The idea was excellent – to simulate real life child protection scenarios, in a safe environment in order to train social workers. The reality was unfortunately very different. Poor graphics, terrible narratives and even more concerning multiple choice options which lacked depth and understanding left the ‘game’ really wanting.

Now, six years on, and with a new interactive experience under her belt, Rosie has made another appearance in ‘My Courtroom: Rosie’s Family Goes To Court‘.

In this virtual reality game, which outlines a private family law matter this time around involving Rosie and her biological father, social work professionals are invited to discuss solutions and look at potential issues arising from the scenario.

If early user experiences are anything to go by there appear to have been some encouraging improvements in the new game. Unlike the first game “Virtually Safe”, you now get to see Rosie and meet her. You can also hear her thoughts, which is clever and hopefully will foster empathy and a better awareness of how children feel, though much will depend on the quality of thought featured in the game.

Interestingly, several social workers said the new game triggered emotional responses from them which motivated them to engage better with the simulation – an important point, as emotion and its huge potential for problem solving when channelled properly, is often left out of the equation in social work.

Other fantastic additions include the highlighting of cultural variations within the family courts and the placement of subtle signs of neglect to test the ‘player’ in the ‘game’.

Researching Reform was kindly invited to Kent University in 2012 shortly after the first Rosie game was produced. We had played the game and we were very concerned by one particular aspect. We couldn’t see any ‘best practice’ scenarios or guidance within the game. When we asked the professors who had created the game whether best practice guidelines could be accessed within the game, the professors confirmed that there weren’t any. All the game required of its player was a text book defined ‘good enough’ response, which is currently nowhere near ‘good enough’ in real life. Whilst there is no indication that “My Courtroom” includes any best practice guidelines, information published suggests that at least discussions about best practice should be encouraged. It’s a start, but we hope the game also includes a very thorough set of options to the dilemmas it poses, which include cutting edge child protection responses.

Have you played “My Courtroom”? We’d love to know what you think of the game.

UPDATE 6TH APRIL, 2017 – It looks as if a second version of the game will be made for service users. We’ll keep you posted.

Rosie Goes To Court

 

 

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The Buzz

30 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in Researching Reform, The Buzz

≈ 8 Comments

The latest stories we feel should be right on your radar:

  • Australia: Royal commission reveals scale of child sexual abuse in Anglican church
  • Northern Ireland: Family Drug And Alcohol Court Stalls Over Political Crisis
  • England: Former children’s TV presenter admits historic child abuse charge

Buzz

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How Will Brexit Affect Children And Families?

29 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in child welfare, Researching Reform

≈ 11 Comments

Prime Minister Theresa May has signed the letter which kick starts the UK’s departure from the EU. Whilst this is just a formality and we are unlikely to see big changes on the ground as a result of Article 50 being triggered, questions are now being asked about the impact of Brexit on families, and family law and policy.

At the moment most of the commentary is based on speculation. Last year concerns over what might happen to children being looked after by EU citizens were raised, with some fearing that carers or guardians would have to leave Britain and in so doing place children in precarious situations.  Bleak views suggesting that Brexit would lead to the erosion of children’s rights were also expressed.

Across social media platforms, family lawyers have suggested that things may not change as drastically as we imagine, with the UK simply enacting its own legislation and policies to mimic those currently shared with the EU, whilst others see Brexit as an opportunity to improve on existing family legislation in order to provide a much more tailored set of laws for families in the UK.

However the child protection debate after Brexit continues to raise concerns. Child trafficking in particular is a big issue, with a Parliamentary watchdog warning that the UK could place more children at risk  by leaving the EU, as it would effectively lose some very important legal protections for this group of vulnerable children.

The Children’s Society also published a report looking at the impact of Brexit on children’s rights,  which raised concerns over child safety and called on the government to clarify its position in relation to ensuring children were not placed at risk during and after the separation process. Some commentators though, have taken the view that the debate on trafficking and border control is not as clear cut as it might seem, offering thoughts on how Brexit could either aggravate trafficking, or reduce it, depending on where you stand in relation to border control and its effects on freedom of movement.

Although no one knows what the long term effects of Brexit will be on children, families and child welfare as a whole, worrying short term signs are already there. Theresa May has announced plans to make welfare cuts which are predicted to plunge more than a million children into poverty, no doubt a move to try to bolster the economy ahead of Brexit’s full implementation.

Researching Reform predicts a very serious economic downturn for the UK, as it tries to steady itself after leaving the EU. This will undoubtedly have a devastating effect on child welfare. What do you think?

poverty_0

Image courtesy of The Children’s Commissioner 

 

 

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Being Mum And Dad – BBC Documentary Tonight

28 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in child welfare, Researching Reform

≈ 3 Comments

The BBC has produced a documentary featuring former Manchester United and England footballer Rio Ferdinand, who lost his wife to breast cancer in 2015. The programme, called “Being Mum and Dad”, looks in depth at the emotional as well as practical difficulties bereaved parents face after the death of a partner or spouse.

The programme is an effort at helping bereaved parents so that they feel they can come forward and seek help, perhaps more so fathers who are finding it hard to transition into primary carer roles and are unsure about who they can turn to. It also explores the kind of support children need when they lose a parent.

You can watch the documentary tonight on BBC 1 at 9pm.

We are also adding some organisations who help families, parents and children cope with the loss of a family member:

  • Jigsaw4U – for parents and children
  • Winston’s Wish – for children
  • Child Bereavement UK – for parents and children

Rio ferd.png

 

 

 

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Question It!

27 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in Question It, Researching Reform

≈ 6 Comments

Welcome to another week.

A report by Oxford University’s Rees Centre, based on several international studies looking at placement and outcomes of siblings when they are fostered highlights some serious concerns about the separation of brothers and sisters in social care.

The findings support current government policy which is that siblings should wherever possible, be placed together.

The report tells us that about 19% of children and young people entering care, assessed as needing to be placed with siblings, are placed apart from them. It also offers a call to action, urging social workers and fostering providers to focus on facilitating sibling placements.

Key recommendations include:

For Social workers –
 Involve young people more in placement decisions. Involving young people in their placement
decision leads to better outcomes and this applies equally to sibling group placements.

For Fostering providers – 
 Recruit foster carers who are able and willing to foster sibling groups, such as those with greater housing capacity, and those with more experience in caring for multiple children with a range of needs. Foster carers should help facilitate contact between siblings placed apart where appropriate.
 Identify incentives for foster carers to take sibling groups. Consider financial benefits, training and adequate support.
 To help inform service planning, consider the developing body of evidence around the impact of
intervention programmes designed to support siblings in foster care. The intervention studies in this review show promising early findings in relation to the greater frequency of sibling co-placements, but also improved quality of the sibling relationship for children in foster care.

We think these suggestions are in the main positive, however the offer of financial incentives remains, to our mind, a problematic solution and one we have written about many times in relation to different child welfare topics.

Our question this week then, is this: do you agree with all the suggestions above, and do you have any of your own you would like to add?

Thank you to the National IRO website for sharing this report.

face_question_mark

 

 

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Twice As Many Fathers Compared To Mothers Feel Flexible Working Damages Their Careers

24 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in child welfare, Researching Reform

≈ 2 Comments

The Women and Equalities Committee have started looking at how fathers in the workplace are coping with juggling careers and parenthood.

For many single and lone fathers especially, this balance can prove hugely problematic. For an excellent summary of some of the problems please see our previous post, where you can read highlights from leading fathers’ charity DadsHouse’s report to the Committee.

And, find out more about the committee and the recent evidence session it held, below:

  • Watch Parliament TV: Fathers and the workplace
  • Inquiry: Fathers and the workplace
  • Join the conversation on Twitter: #Fathers
  • Women and Equalities Committee

Parliament’s website tells us the purpose of the first evidence session:

  • Whether there is evidence that fathers—from different groups and backgrounds—have the support to balance work with caring responsibilities for children, and what evidence there is of demand for change;
  • What is known about fathers’ current experiences of support for their caring responsibilities in the workplace;
  • What factors and challenges might be contributing to any dissatisfaction among fathers about their current situations;
  • How effectively government policies (particularly its flagship policy of Shared Parental Leave) support fathers in the workplace, what more can be done, and what the effects on workplaces and on mothers would be

For our part, we’d like to see more creches in the workplace, more options for flexible and remote working, and an egalitarian policy for both fathers and mothers which ensures parents can work and also be there for their children.

Some interesting stats from the Committee’s page:

Twice the number of fathers compared to mothers believe that working flexibly will have a negative impact on their career, and 44 per cent said they had lied or bent the truth to their employer about family-related responsibilities.

What do you think about this latest inquiry?

Dadandchild

 

 

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In The News

22 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in News, Researching Reform

≈ 5 Comments

The news that should be right on your radar:

  • Dioceses lack ‘robust’ child protections
  • Children in UK’s poorest areas 10 times more likely to go into care
  • Theresa May’s welfare cuts will drive another million children into poverty, Institute for Fiscal Studies forecasts

boy-reading-newspaper-new-001

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“More And More Paedophilically Inclined Men Start With Child Abuse Images.”

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in child abuse, Researching Reform

≈ 5 Comments

A leading expert in Germany on paedophilia running a rehabilitation programme has warned that an increasing number of men are accessing child abuse images online to act out their fantasies.

This, only days after Britain’s senior child protection officer proposed that all paedophiles who access these images should be spared jail.

Dr Beier’s key points in the interview, make for important reading:

  • Paedophilia is not a choice;
  • Not every paedophile commits sex offences against children and not every sex offender is a pedophile;
  • There are two types of offenders – those paedophylically inclined and those who use children as substitutes due to the lack of relationships with those their own age
  • Paedophiles know that sexually abusing a child is wrong, so there is no diminished mental capacity involved;
  • More and more paedophiles are exploring their sexual orientation by accessing child abuse image online and;
  • Reoffending rates among sex offenders remain very high.

Crucially, Dr Beier believes that the answer to reducing offending lies in offering support to juvenile offenders with ‘sexually conspicuous behaviour’, getting their families involved so that they feel supported as many paedophiles feel isolated and alone, and for countries across the world to join forces to create effective programmes which reduce the accessing of images online and sexual offences against children.

Another significant point Dr Beier makes is that reaching out to paedophiles who are not yet known to the justice system is perhaps the most important aspect of tackling child sexual abuse. He says allowing paedophiles the opportunity to come forward to seek support voluntarily is the way to prevent sexual offences in the first place.

This expert’s views should serve as a warning to our government – before we remove jail time with a view to offering offenders counselling, we need to have effective programmes in place first.

Dr Klaus Beier.png

 

 

 

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Question It!

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in child abuse, Question It, Researching Reform

≈ 7 Comments

Welcome to another week.

A medical researcher in the Netherlands has concluded that the surveys Dutch doctors use to detect child abuse very often leads to false accusations.  As of 2011, all emergency rooms and GPs in the country have to fill out a child abuse detection questionnaire whenever they treat a child. It is currently the only country in the world which has this kind of mandatory screening for child abuse.

The article tells us:

“Schouten investigated over 5 thousand such questionnaires from five Utrecht doctors. For her study, she kept track of how many negative and positive scores there were, and then how many of those children were in touch with child welfare or were reported to the child abuse hotline in the following 10 months. She found that in 92 out of 100 cases the suspicions were unfounded. And in 1 out of 100 cases, signs of child abuse were missed. “

The researcher proposes that instead of accusing parents straight off, developing good communication with families and approaching any injuries with a view to working out what caused them first, are far better ways to safeguard children.

Whilst the UK does not employ exactly the same methods when it comes to detecting child abuse, the GMC have issued ethical guidelines for doctors which are at face value positive and pro communication and support. This is an extract from the guidance:

“Child protection is a difficult area of practice that can involve making decisions that are emotionally challenging, complicated by uncertainty and sometimes go against the wishes of parents.3 Doctors should work with parents and families, where possible, to make sure that children and young people receive the care and support they need. But in cases where the interests and wishes of parents may put the safety of the child or young person at risk, doctors must put the interests of the child or young person first.4 Failure to act when a child or young person is at risk can have serious consequences for both the child and their family.”

However, there are similar problems with incorrect diagnoses of abuse here. Whilst child abuse referrals have soared, the level of child abuse actually detected has not increased.  In the past false accusations have been made through diagnoses based on photographs . Other methods such as secretly filming parents and diagnosing mothers with controversial mental health disorders have also been used to detect abuse, but continue to cause debate.

Our question then, is just this: what could the UK child protection system do to ensure better detection of child abuse and a reduction in rates of false diagnoses? 

We have very strong views about this, but we’ll hand over the floor to you.

face_question_mark

 

 

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Tomorrow Is National Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day

17 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by Natasha in Researching Reform

≈ 7 Comments

In order to raise awareness around the issue of child sexual exploitation (CSE), March 18 has become the day organisations, government bodies and people around the world unite to try to tackle this issue.

The Metropolitan Police have already released stats on the extent of CSE which shows that this crime has shot up by 50% in London since 2014. In reality, what the stat may indicate is that the crime has become more visible since child protection went to the top of the government’s agenda 3 years ago.

Police forces around the country are also backing the Helping Hands campaign, which you can follow on Twitter with the hash tag #HelpingHands. More information on the day itself can be accessed on Twitter, too. 

Whilst it’s all well and good everyone backing the idea of preventing child sexual abuse, rallying cries from leads in this area are falling flat, not least of all because police forces and the government have made it clear that the severe lack of resources to fund this kind of work means exploitation is still rife. 

For us then, Crime Commissioner, Vera Baird’s words about the Helping Hands campaign, seem a little hollow:

“Doing all we can to keep the most vulnerable members of our communities safe is incredibly important to me and I give my full backing to this campaign.

There is lots of proactive work taking place to raise awareness of this issue and educate people about spotting the warning signs and I will ensure Northumbria Police continues to do all it can to tackle this completely unacceptable abuse.

Anyone who comes forward seeking help will be listened to and given the protection they need.

Absolutely no child or young person should be left to suffer in silence and our officers are committed to seeking justice for victims and put offenders before the courts.”

Nevertheless, an important day and if just one child is protected as a result of it, worth every tweet, post and news article.

HH

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