July 2010 Archives

Photographs taken by children in care, care leavers and the sons and daughters of foster carers are on show at City Hall, home of the Mayor of London, until next Friday, August 6th.

The young photographers are all involved in The Fostering Network's Leading Our Lives project and took the pictures during skills-based workshops across England.

I'm halfway through this book, one of the more reflective and discursive takes on the 1993 Bulger murder - the backdrop to Jon Venables' recent recall to prison and second conviction.

It's by Blake Morrison, who has also written an interesting opinion piece in The Guardian.

Picture credit: Priscilla Coleman/Rex Features

Big feature in The Observer about female genital mutilation that will make your toes curl and your stomach turn. We've been hearing that social workers have been told to be on the look-out during these school holidays for girls who might be at-risk. (Pic credit Rex Features)

Doncaster has received a grant of nearly £1.3 million to help sort out its troubled children's services department according to local papers. Details will be outlined in a report due next week which will reportedly warn the authority is still failing in education for children in care.

Also in the Guardian, a piece about charities being under threat from council budget cuts (which we already knew) but it makes the point that Cameron's Big Society is also under threat as a result. Methinks the flaw in the grand plan is becoming clear.

The Scottish Government has just launched a new strategy on carers including a specific young carers strategy. It's backed by £5m investment in respite breaks for carers.

Finally, C4EO has a pod-cast from nine children in care reflecting on their experiences and what they want in a carer- rich! is one very honest answer that has come up.

Jon Venables - who was just ten when he took part in the murder of toddler James Bulger - has been jailed for two years for downloading and distributing indecent images of children.

You can find more details on the story here and here.

The Guardian reports that after the sentence was passed, Venables' solicitor released a statement in which Venables apologised for his actions and said he had thought about Bulger's death "every day" since 1993.

Picture credit: Rex Features

David Cameron launches his citizenship volunteering service for school leavers today...or rather the new model of national service. The £50million scheme apparently aims to get a "disaffected generation of teenagers from different racial and social backgrounds to join in local community activities". All seems a bit vague to me but good luck to him. (Pic credit: Rex Features)

The Daily Mail also gives us another offering- the increasing number of young children being diagnosed with special educational needs apparently means teachers and parents are "overlabelling" children. Figures show that 31,350 youngsters aged between two and four were assessed by schools or nurseries as having special needs in 2010 - up 19 per cent from two years ago. The paper says this is sparking fears that medical conditions are being attributed to normal antisocial traits or below-average performance. God forbid that teachers are actually getting better at identifying learning needs of children these days?

General cheering and rejoicing as Clegg announces that the family unit will be closed at Yarl's Wood detention centre...although he overreached himself by claiming the whole centre would be closing. The Home Office had to rapidly clarify the situation yesterday. 

Couple of things for your next break. Britney Spears has been declared a fit mum while David Clark, of Solace, makes the point that being a director of children's services is a mugs game really. True, really when you think that they are being held responsible not just for social services but for children's services in health and police when Ofsted comes to call. Just think about the fate of Sharon Shoesmith after Baby P case when police and health were just as much to blame. (Pic credit Rex Features)

Deputy chief of Kensington and Chelsea council, Anne Marie Carrie - also executive director for family and children's services at the borough - has been appointed the new chief executive of Barnardo's.

She will take over from the popular, and outspoken, Martin Narey who, earlier this year, announced he would be stepping down in January 2011 after four years in the role.

A little scan of websites this morning came up with these two items of interest.

The Children, Schools and Families select committee has had a makeover.

It's now known as the Education select committee (surprise, surprise) and the new members have been announced.

Marion Davis, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS), has written to Education Secretary Michael Gove calling for the role and purpose of independent social workers to be "dismantled".

Speaking at the ADCS's conference in Manchester, Davis revealed she had expressed her views in a letter, writing: "Removing this role from the family justice system would not only contribute to reducing delays in care proceedings, but would also reduce costs."