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Sunday 8 November 2009

Thinking about Baby P

The verdict of a journalist who knows more than most about the social care system:

My experience of many social workers is that they are overworked, highly stressed and very defensive. Many are also highly committed. They are up against a system that condemns them when they are seen to be too zealous—and condemns them again when they fail to remove children to a place of safety. They are also subject to the horrors of social work fashion, the current mantras being “good enough parenting and “capacity building” in families. This is all fine stuff, but it is founded on the belief that parents are (almost) always the best option for their children. This clearly isn’t true in a number of cases, and the risk assessment system is picking up too few.

Social workers are also hampered because they know how inadequate and under-funded the foster care system is—and hesitate to remove children into a system which doesn’t guarantee good care. Despite all this—and I see the perils of their situation—they, too, should examine their consciences.

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