Social services

**English assassin** · 12-22-2005, 11:31

http://society.guardian.co.uk/childr...672419,00.html

At the risk of this being a Why oh why post, why do these things keep happening? How many reports like this have we had in the UK (answer: a lot) According to other reports, this family had had a number of visits from health workers and others, and one from the police investigating domestic violence, and yet still these conditions were not discovered until the family themselves called paramedics. (And I suppose we should be mildly grateful they did)

Its slightly illiberal, but is it too much to ask that the police, social services and health workers should have a simple rule that whenever they visit a family with young children they should insist on seeing ALL the children and ALL their bedrooms? That and one central database recording all child protection information regardless of what agency it came from ought to stop these cases.

Slightly more controversially I suspect social services departments need a collective kick up the arse too.

**Louis VI the Fat** · 12-22-2005, 14:35

Originally Posted by English assassin

http://society.guardian.co.uk/childr...672419,00.html

At the risk of this being a Why oh why post, why do these things keep happening? How many reports like this have we had in the UK

About the same amount as everywhere else in Western Europe, if it's of any comfort. This sounds all so very familiar.

**master of the puppets** · 12-22-2005, 17:20

ok, screw torturing terrorists, go after those A-holes, can't say they don't deserve it right.

its a disgrace that anyone anywhere would let this go on, how could people have not noticed any signs of trauma, or lack of social activity that is many times induced phycologicly after such cases.

...ugh, i'm starting to hate the world more and more.

**Taffy_is_a_Taff** · 12-22-2005, 17:25

What a pair of turds.

Social services don't even have an excuse this time (unlike their excellent understanding multicultural "don't interfere with immigrants raising their children" excuse that was used for a couple of notorious child abuse -by Africans- cases over the past few years).

**Crazed Rabbit** · 12-22-2005, 18:54

Goodness knows we have child abuse over here, but at least we do something about it when its found out.

Crazed Rabbit

**Slyspy** · 12-22-2005, 20:03

So do we. But the point here is that it could of been discovered far far earlier (ie before one child was hours from death) had all the relevent authorities actually spoken to each other and, in some cases, done their job properly.

**Adrian II** · 12-22-2005, 21:11

Originally Posted by Crazed Rabbit

Goodness knows we have child abuse over here, but at least we do something about it when its found out.

Crazed Rabbit

Oh sure. Remember the huge scandal about the foster-kids in Florida given into the care of criminals last year? We discussed it here, Kukrikhan explained some of the legal and political issues to us. In 1999 incoming Governor Jeb Bush had promised to fix the understaffed, inadequate and disorganised Child Welfare Agency. They are still waiting for his reforms five years on. We are all guilty of this sort of neglect, on both sides of the ocean.

**Crazed Rabbit** · 12-22-2005, 21:31

True, but I was talking specifically about social services finding an abused child and doing nothing about it. From EA's post, it seems as this is not a unique incident.

We have some problems with our child services being understaffed or commiting terrible blunders, but usually, when they physically go to a house with abused children, they do something about it.

Crazed Rabbit

**Geoffrey S** · 12-22-2005, 21:57

Originally Posted by English assassin

Slightly more controversially I suspect social services departments need a collective kick up the arse too.

That they do. As was said by Louis IV the Fat, this seems to happen far too often in many nations. There must be some kind of authority they can be given, or some kind of regulations to force them to check properly. More often than not they either do nothing or don't have the authority to force a decision, leaving problems till it's too late.

All I can say is I'm glad it was found out before it got worse.

**JAG** · 12-22-2005, 22:11

As to the questions posed, I honestly don't know what we can really do to make sure we do not fai la single child. A kick up the arse, more funding and more staff is all I can really think of, what else is there?

**Samurai Waki** · 12-23-2005, 11:17

Wow. What a disgrace to humanity.

**InsaneApache** · 12-23-2005, 11:27

Originally Posted by JAG

As to the questions posed, I honestly don't know what we can really do to make sure we do not fai la single child. A kick up the arse, more funding and more staff is all I can really think of, what else is there?

Well you could try recruiting staff with the right qualities and then train them to spot and root out the abusers. Perhaps a database that is accessable to all the relevent multi-agencies. Maybe a bit of the stick as well for those who fail to undertake their duties, as in criminal neglect.
What I don't understand about this is the fact that the parents were only seen once by a midwife/health visitor. Now I know things have changed in the last 25 years since my eldest son was born but once!!
Someone wasn't doing their job properly.