Child protection consultant and trainer Perdeep Gill believes Shannon Matthews and her siblings should have been taken into care before the kidnapping took place. The serious case review concluded the thresholds for care had not been met. So in the interests of democracy, and a little bit of fun, on a late Monday afternoon we decided to put the case to the test. Take our thresholds quiz and find out where you stand.
News today that Zenna Atkins, Ofsted chairman, is stepping down. This comes just days after she informed us that chief inspector Christine Gilbert would not be renewing her contract next year and would be "prepared to discuss" leaving earlier.
One year on from the introduction of SCIE's "Think child, think parent, think family" guidelines, three new films have been launched on the charity's Social Care TV site looking at how the approach is working in practice. 
Headlines splashed across the papers this week have revealed Jon Venables - jailed aged 10 for his part in the 1993 murder of toddler James Bulger - will appear in court next month charged with possessing and distributing indecent images of children.
For all those who thought reality televison had nothing to offer the world of social care (except last night's Dispatches: Undercover social worker...), think again.
Channel 4's ratings-winning-reality-TV-behemoth, Big Brother - which is about to commence its 11th and final series - has announced the three charities which will benefit from the proceeds of its telephone votes.
All eyes glued to the TV on Monday night for Channel 4's much hyped episode of Dispatches "Undercover social worker".
The publicity tells us this will be a "disturbing investigation" which uncovers "a lack of resources, inadequate staff support and training, high workloads, poor morale and overwhelming amounts of red tape and "box-ticking".
Following April's damning Audit Commission report into Doncaster Council - which blasted Doncaster for its "deep-seated culture of poor governance" - the government has published a draft detailing its intervention into the troubled council's administration.
Its first decision: to appoint a new chief executive, in the shape of Rob Vincent, chief executive of Kirklees Council - who the government said has a "track record of improvement" -and three commissioners.
The Children’s Services blog covers the latest news, views, gossip and analysis in children’s social care. It is aimed at professionals working with these children, young people and their families. The blog is written by children's beat editor Camilla Pemberton. |
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