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Child welfare and safety
• IT is understandable that some parents whose children have come into care express unhappiness and sometimes anger (New Journal Letters). People who have had no experience of the system must also wonder how decisions are made.
As a social worker with 35 years’ experience, I have often had to make difficult decisions with families to try to keep them together while making sure I protect children from harm. As social workers we have a duty to give children the best possible start in life.
Despite the stereotype, I have also seen many children in care flourish with the right support.
Children only come into care when there are serious concerns for their welfare and safety.
There are often worries that parents’ ability to care for their children is affected by mental illness or drug and alcohol use or concerns about domestic violence, and evidence or suspicion of direct abuse.
These decisions are only taken after social workers and many other agencies have done all they can to help parents provide a better and safer life at home.
If a parent does not agree to their child coming into care, the local authority has to apply to a judge in the family courts.
The decisions are made in private in order to preserve the privacy of the child and the family.
If children can’t go home quickly, contact is encouraged and supported. But sometimes parents are too distressed or not able to make the changes needed to give children a happy and stable life. This can leave parents and children with lots of mixed emotions. Even if a parent understands why their child is in care, this does not stop them feeling angry and at times guilty about the situation. In these circumstances children need a chance to settle, and understand for themselves what has happened. They also need to be really involved in planning with the social workers for their future.
We always try to place children in or as near to London as possible and in foster care. Currently 73 per cent are placed within 20 miles of Camden. However there are times when it’s important for a child to be placed further away, such as near to extended family, or in very specialist care as their needs are so great. We also work to ensure public money is spent wisely. Because of this we have been successful in reducing the number of children in care over the last two years and have reduced our spend on placements by £400,000.
My staff are extremely dedicated professionals, passionate about protecting children.
They work with other professionals, in health and education, to ensure they make the right decisions for children. For this, they have been rated as among the best in the country. I am really pleased to be able to say our focus on preventative services – supporting parents and children who are having difficulties in their own homes – is having really positive results. We have more families staying together with our support than ever before and fewer children on the child protection register. If people have concerns about the welfare of a child and the parents’ ability to look after them, I urge them to seek the help of social services and not put the child’s welfare at risk.
HEATHER SCHROEDER
Director Children,
Schools and Families
Camden Council
A lazy option to put a child in care and not work with the familyI FIND the words of Councillor John Bryant (Letters, July 26) to be entirely inappropriate. He states the decision to take a child into care is a last resort.
I think, as this case shows, and the many parents I help, it is often a first resort, with no attempt whatsoever to keep the family together. It is just a lazy option to put a child in care and not work with the family.
The parents did not abuse the girl. Indeed his comments in the letter say she was well loved. Spurious reasons were given that the mother had mild depression and the father was too rigid in his parenting. I would think you could apply that to a large section of the population.
Certain cultures are a little more strict with girls and social services should work with people from different cultures and allow for it.
Salma begged to come home. She was very unhappy in care. This is an example of a care system that does not work to keep families together and punishes them if they ask for help. Not once was Salma listened to by the judge or social workers.
How can ignoring a child’s wishes be declared to be in her best interests? I would like to offer my sympathies to the family and say that we do not believe the council’s platitutes that there was no other option for this child than to be placed hundreds of miles away in care.
WENDY JOHNSON
Address supplied
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