The wrong approach?
“The role of Government, both central and local, is not to get involved in the detail of service provision. It is to set the broad objectives, to resource services adequately and to hold those delivering services to account…” Chris Mills looks at the decision by Coventry City Council to appoint a retired high court judge to advise it on child protection.
Keanu Williams - some reflections on the Serious Case Review
“Improvement will come not from kicking people out or revising the rulebook. It will come from an increasing awareness of how human factors interact with organisational safety.” Chris Mills reflects on what we can learn from another failure in child protection.
Sixteen principles for better and safer practice
“Sometimes it seems that there is something about child protection that defies all attempts at improvement. The case of Daniel Pelka, and the uninspiring report into his tragic death, only serves to deepen frustrations.” Chris Mills outlines sixteen principles for better and safer practice.
Frontline Friday 9th August 2013: Our favourite frontline blogs this week
Here’s our list of ten frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 5th August 2013, from unemployment to zero hours contracts, property taxes to policing protests.
The child protection ship is sinking: but everyone is too busy putting fires out to notice
“The ship that is child protection is both on fire and letting in water fast. The passengers, made up of children, need help but the crew are badly managed, under represented and exhausted. Is it not time to build something new and fit for purpose?” The Secret Social Worker asks some difficult questions about the state of child protection.
Ugh!! More from Ofsted
How depressing it is to read yet another glib document from Ofsted! I don’t know how many people will be fooled with this one, but it cuts no ice with me. I shall certainly be responding to the consultation and leaving them in no doubt what I think. The headlines speak of plans for “tougher” child protection inspections. But […]
Six months in… social work and social care
It’s six months since we launched this version of Guerilla Policy. Here’s a selection of some of our favourite posts we’ve published in social care and social work - from child protection to cuts, recruitment into social work to leaving the profession.
‘The one and only one’
For many years social work assessments have been the main focus for debate and questions within the media and social work practise. First we do the Initial assessment, then if we need more information we complete a more fuller core assessment. The time scales for these assessments were set in guidance regardless of the need […]
Race to the bottom commissioning
Writers are obsessed not just with words but with wordcount. That innocuous, humble figure in the drop-down menu or nestling innocently in the bottom left hand corner of your screen should be a record of achievement. Instead, too often it’s a curse, an ever-tightening straitjacket on the creative flow. Blogging at least allows me to […]
Adoption: Threats and divisions as Gove loses patience
We’ve known for some time now that as far as working with children in care are concerned, adoption is the government’s absolute priority. A series of announcements over the past 15 months or so have focused on different aspects of the process. Last week came the latest and potentially most radical, where failing authorities could […]
The big question?
“I don’t think the government have a clue what constitutes success in social work so they came up with some half arsed timescales and a quick look around the basics of what we do and then tell us we are ‘outstanding’.” Social Worker X asks some fundamental questions about social work and doubts whether how we measure ‘success’ fits with the reality of protecting children.
Normal service will not be resumed
“Listen to ministers and you could be forgiven for believing that although cuts in the public sector are necessary, services will be maintained.” Abe Laurens describes the adverse impact on the fostering sector of benefit changes and how these will effect the number of placements available.
Information can support families and safeguard children
Back in June of 2012 I blogged about an idea I’d had 18 months before. It was an idea I wasn’t really getting anywhere with because my circle of influence didn’t include the right decision makers to move that idea forward. It’s over here if you wanted to read the frustration. But, there’s good news, so I […]
Put up or shut up
“So my call to the men and women in the street is a simple one, if you really care about child protection then pay up, its not free.” Social Worker X spells out the realities of what social workers need to do their jobs in a safe and efficient way.
The #Rotherham #UKIP case – Will Nigel Farage and Michael Gove now apologise?
When the story broke that three children had been moved from a foster family in Rotherham, reportedly for being members of UKIP, I went out and talked to social workers, solicitors and care leavers. Consistently I got a response that the reported account was implausible, and there was almost certainly a more complex story to […]
Should more children be taken into care?
In this post I want to look at some more of the failings identified by Michael Gove. I had planned to tackle ‘Failing No 1’ next, because it seems to me that the issue of too many local authorities not meeting acceptable standards for child safeguarding is very fundamental. However, because of recent letters published […]
Ignore us and we’ll go away
Social Worker X seeks to educate Michael Gove on the realities of child protection - and spells out what his criticisms would mean in practice.
The God Syndrome
Simply Social Work responds to Michael Gove’s recent comments and to the recurring image of social workers as potential saviours - and instead argues for a reflective profession that listens to young people rather than ‘rescues’ them.
Give over Gove!
Last Friday Education Secretary Michael Gove gave a speech to the Institute of Public Policy Research on ’the failure of our current child protection system’. I guess it‘s never too early in a speech for rhetoric and Mr Gove was setting out his stall early. As the title of the speech says, in his view we are […]
Can we get rid of unnecessary guidance?
“The problem, I think, is not the length of guidance but its quality. The real problem is that the proposed guidance to replace Working Together is badly drafted and foolishly seeks to combine guidance on child protection with the framework for assessment.” Chris Mills of the Child Protection Blog makes the case for short, clear and useful child protection guidance.