January 2011 Archives

Very quick round-up of things that have caught my eye today.

The Vetting and Barring Scheme (currently on hold) is already being examined in the law courts according to a story in The Telegraph that says a group of health professionals are disputing if minor police cautions should prevent them from working with children.

Thoughtful column from Polly Toynbee in The Guardian about cuts to children's centres and an interesting blog from How Not To Do Social Work on decision making.

Lastly, to make you smile, the ever excellent We Love Local Government has devised some v amusing letters that really ought to be sent (and probably are but in less succinct form).

Happy Monday everyone.

(Pic credit: RowdyKittens on Flickr)

I have just written a story that has made me laugh hysterically and cry at the same time. A review of 10 programmes, put in place by the last government to improve the outcomes for vulnerable children, all had problems measuring outcomes and cost effectiveness.

In fact it was impossible to measure the cost-effectiveness of these services because the five criteria needed to assess cost effectiveness were never embedded in any of the pilots or programmes.

Is it just me or is this the same as building a car without a speed guage, fuel guage, oil guage and without any mirrors or windows?

I simply don't get why there is little effort made to evidence base practice in children's services. I understand that measuring social outcomes are more difficult than health outcomes but the United States at least seems to be making an attempt at it, whereas we seem content to drive blind forever.

Graham Allen, when speaking to Community Care about his list of early intervention programmes, made the point that many he looked at did not even seem to know what they were supposed to be measuring or the outcomes they were looking for.

This then is the real reason children's services struggle and where they will continue to do so. Without evidence councils will make budget cuts based only on how easy a service is to cut. Payment by results is an interesting idea but what are the results we are looking for? Where's the vision of what we are trying to achieve in children's services? There's a lot of talk about creating reslience in children and improving health and well-being. That's lovely but what does it mean in terms of a measurable outcome? How might a resilient, healthy and happy child behave compared to a fragile, unhealthy and unhappy child? And then, for goodness sake, make sure you measure it!

The other very salient point this new report makes is that the people carrying out the interventions are usually social workers and they need to be well-trained, with fewer caseloads and fewer responsibilities so they can take on the extra work requried to measure outcomes. (pic credit: ehud42 on flickr)

Here's the verdict that a lot of people have been waiting a very long time for:

Jurors at the second inquest into the death of Adam Rickwood, 14 - who committed suicide in 2004 while being held at Hassockfield Secure Training Centre - have concluded that the unlawful use of force against the teenager contributed to his decision to take his own life.

The damning verdict also criticised Serco, the private company running Hassockfield, the Youth Justice Board, prison service restraint trainers and Lancashire Youth Offending Team, for failing to protect the teenager, who had a known history of vulnerability.

The youngest person to have ever taken their own life in state custody, Rickwood was found hanging in his cell on August 8th 2004, just hours after being physically restrained by staff using the Nose Distraction Technique - a sharp painful blow to the nose.

Oh dear. It looks like David Cameron has been accused of betraying a second family caring for a severely disabled child... the first, of course, being the well-publicised case of Riven Vincent. 

In brief: Vincent took to Mumsnet when she found herself with no choice but to ask her local authority to take her disabled daughter Celyn, 6, into care after she was refused extra respite support. The prime minister, who made an election promise to Vincent to protect the NHS, hears about it and vows to investigate. The next day, the council says it will review the case.

But as the Guardian opined, Cameron's promise to look into Vincent's case will not stop the pain to come for carers. One is Heather Walker, who today said she feels she has no option but to return her disabled, adopted son Peter to care after her council cut overnight respite support.

Well here's some news that won't surprise anyone working in children's social care. Thousands of children in care are being placed in children's homes and foster placements miles away from their local area, leaving them vulnerable to criminality, drug abuse and sexual exploitation, according to BBC coverage today.

According to the BBC, charities, including Barnardo's, are now calling on councils to increase local provision - something they will be expected to have done from April this year.

Is this an issue that needs highlighting? Will all local authorities have sufficient local provision by April? Is that realistic at a time when both purchasers and providers are being asked to make cuts? Some also point out that out-of-area placements can be vital, for example to sever damaging links in a particular community, such as gang membership, or because the young person needs a specialist, therapeutic placement not available in their own local area. 

But what do you think? Join the debate on CareSpace. 

Frances Done, chair of the Youth Justice Board - one of the quangos set to be axed - has been reappointed as YJB chair by justice secretary Ken Clarke. She will continue her position from 12 February 2011 until the Board is abolished, whenever that may be...

Clarke said her experience will "prove valuable as the YJB transfers its responsibilities to the Ministry of Justice and as we consult on proposals to improve rehabilitation; prevent youth crime and cut reoffending",

Done said: "I welcome the opportunity to continue to take a leading role in the youth justice system at a time of significant change. My top priority will be to ensure that the encouraging progress made in reducing the number of young people who offend, and the number in custody, is sustained as the functions of the YJB are transferred into the Ministry of Justice.'

Was met with a lovely email in my inbox this morning which I have copied and pasted as I thought it might cheer you all up.

Hi,

Last weekend a friend sent me a link to your blog where you recently ran a piece about Birmingham councillor Len Clarke suggesting the City's child care social workers have a penguin complex,

"They live in a different continent to the rest of us, like Antarctica, and at the slightest criticism they all go into a huge huddle, turning their backs and shield each other."

Not sure of the detail in Birmingham, though I'm aware there has been long term grumblings from frontline staff about staff shortages, caseloads and a bullying top down culture -  but on a general note,

.....the last documentary I saw about king penguins surviving the Antarctic winter they were huddled together as the only means of protection through the long harsh winter of bitter winds blowing for weeks/months on end, protecting the next generation by holding their single egg on the tops of their feet to keep it off the frozen ground. They operated a "duty rota" whereby the penguins' on the outside of the huge huddle regularly changed places with those in the middle to retain the heat and support of the group as the only means of them all not being killed off by the harsh, freezing climate. Meanwhile the partner penguins were traipsing miles and miles to find food in the sea, braving predatory seals eager for an easy feast as they entered the distant waters. Those that made it back fed the protective parent and newborns.........the next year they did it all again.....but hardly anyone noticed because the harsh reality of the climate they lived in meant few ventured into their territory to understand properly what went on.......much easier to get it wrong from the comfort of the Council Chamber or the Palace of Westminster I guess.......

 ..........one person sees it as a problem, the other as a miracle of survival against the odds.......one of the problems at the heart of our child care system!! 

Regards

Dave Seaber

Interesting debate in the House of Commons Justice Committee this morning around the family justice system.

Cafcass obviously featured highly with the NSPCC's Barbara Esam suggesting it was not fit for purpose as did Stephen Cobb from the Family Bar Association. However, Linda Lees from the Law Society warned that getting rid of it may not necessarily solve the problem and it was a question of making the current system work. 

"It's about looking at the management systems and the quality assurance systems. Sometimes it delivers a very good service sometimes a very bad service and it seems to vary from practitioner to practitioner," she said 

Jonathan Ewen from Barnardo's slightly side-stepped the question by proposing that independent reviewing officers should take on a bigger role in tracking cases through council systems, ensuring that all the paperwork was ready on a case before it went to court. He also suggested pre-meetings between social workers, judges and guardians and to get rid of the current "watching brief" system.

Barbara Esam highlighted the issue (which often seems to crop up in any Cafcass discussion) of whether Cafcass was right to be prioritising its safeguarding role over its welfare role and ensuring the child's views are heard in court.

A suggestion from the committee of returning to the old system of independent guardians was welcomed by Esam but Lees pointed out that the old system didn't necessarily deliver a consistently good service either.

Ewen also brought up the interesting perspective, (which you would expect from Barnardos but interesting nontheless), that the courts can sometimes fail because of a fundamental lack of understanding of child development. "Very young children, paediatricians tell us, need stability of care and consistency of love." Yet the tension between the rights of the parents versus the welfare of the child was embedded in the system (including social workers, judges and lawyers) despite the law stipulating that the welfare of the child should come first, he said. It was this which was causing the longest delays.

All eyes on the Family Justice Review to solve this conundrum.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has highlighted this afternoon that councils risk having their funding cut by a further £413m over the next two years to pay for the central functions of the academy schools despite their estimation that this will in fact cost less than £60m.

The points have been made in the LGA's submission to the government's consultation on the local government finance settlement. They've called for these central functions, such as financial administration, employment practice, assessment of eligibility of free school meals and management of admissions, to be paid for by the Department for Education. This would, it points out, relieve some of the pressure from current budget cuts.

Good time to make such a point- in the aftermath of national media interest in budget cuts and funding of short breaks for families with disabled children methinks.

By now you've probably read about Riven Vincent, the Bristol-based woman who yesterday announced on Mumsnet that she has asked South Gloucestershire Council to take her severely disabled six-year-old daughter Celyn into care.

If you want any more background information about her case, The Guardian spoke to her yesterday and describes here how her situation became an internet cause celebre, attracting the attention of David Cameron, who met her privately during his election campaign.

Apparently he assured her that he wouldn't do anything to harm disabled children if he became PM. Given his own experience of caring for a disabled child, it's fair to assume he meant that. But then he did get into power, and probably realised prime minister's shouldn't make promises, or even assurances, particularly when there's a looming great deficit...

Vincent feels horribly let down. "He could have protected families with disabled children from a lot of this. I would be angry, if I wasn't so tired," she told The Guardian. Cameron has now said he's going to write to Vincent and to her MP, demanding to know all the details.

But will he write to every parent struggling to care for a disabled child? She certainly won't be the only one sitting at home, exhausted and wondering how they're going to cope when funding for short breaks and respite care isn't ring-fenced.

Are you concerned about the future for disabled children and their families/carers? If so, join the debate on CareSpace.

Picture credit: ashkyd

Prime Minister David Cameron is to write to the Bristol mum who told the Mumsnet wesbite she is asking social workers to take her severley disabled daughter into care.

Riven Vincent wrote: "Have asked social services to take dear daughter into care ... They have refused extra respite. I can't cope."

South Gloucestershire Council has yet to comment, but the story highlights the reality of overstreteched social care services in a time of cuts.

More to follow.

•  in general training and professional development of social workers had improved (although whether this finding will survive the cuts remains to be seen)
• while there had been some improvements in supervision in some areas it had actually worsened
• the biggest training challenge is to encourage critical reflection
• social workers believe the short-term nature of their work and families moving onto other services following assessment means they do not have the time to invest in building good relationships
• there were real issues with health including a lack of training in child protection, a lack of policies around joint working with social care and failure to follow-up missed appointments for children.
  
• some argue there is a need for social workers to be embedded in teams working in children's centres, schools and perinatal services.
• Finally schools were lagging behind on embedding the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and some serious case review panels had found they could not examine the childhood histories of teenage parents because they were often destroyed too quickly. Some health practitioners were still failing to refer to social care even if they spotted signs and symptoms of potential abuse.

As you can see we've become enamoured of this debate that is currently going on in CareSpace. (Any excuse to find some pictures of cute animals) If you are equally so then you should certainly take our poll on the topic below. 

(Pic credits: JarOd, yagankiely, axelbuhrmann, paolocamera, maplegirlie all on Flickr)

Rather horrifying report from Europol on child trafficking which shows a growing market in gangs selling children to other gangs. The average price, based on the child's earning capacity, is about £17,000 UK police have estimated.

The children are often told they will be tortured by police and that social workers will take them into care to sell their organs. So I guess it's unsurprising these children usually find a chance to return to their traffickers within 24 hours of being arrested or taken into care.

The report is calling for an EU-wide system to track and trace victims to counter-act the current trend of children who have been arrested or taken into care in one country, returning to their traffickers and then transferred or sold to a gang elsewhere in Europe. We did a recent feature on Romanian gangs operating in the UK and it has some useful tips from Operation Golf, the UK police team operating with Interpol on this issue, for social workers who suspect a child they come across may be trafficked.

(Pic Credit: Naomi Campbell's artistic contribution to the Stop Child Trafficking Now campaign. Rex Features)

Outspoken Birmingham councillor Len Clark, executive member for children's social care, has allegedly described children's social workers in the city as having a "penguin mentality". The comments were made, less than 24 hours before the suspension of children's services director Colin Tucker, at a council meeting where he submitted a report on the troubled department according to the Birmingham Mail. 

He said that an army of managers were failing and described a 'penguin complex' afflicting social workers. "This is one of the most critical services which the city council provide and its performance was unacceptable.

"It's what I call the penguin complex among social workers. They live in a different continent to the rest of us, like Antarctica, and at the slightest criticism they all go into a huge huddle, turning their backs and shield each other."

There is still mystery surrounding the departure of Tucker although some have said it was because of these types of concerns around leadership although Clark and Tucker have never seemed to get on. I do wonder, given the rapid departure of so many DCS's in that role, who will apply for that job now, particularly given the current budget cuts.

But leaving aside the fact that Birmingham is not a happy place and the gulf between the council and it's social workers seems to be ever widening...it does bring up the question of which animal would you describe yourself if you are a children's social worker? Feel free to contribute to the debate on CareSpace (think of it as your intellectual contribution on a Friday).

(Pic credit: Lord Biro on Flickr)

If you missed this Woman's Hour broadcast on grooming and sexual exploitation - featuring a thoroughly disturbing account from a brave young woman about her personal experience of being sexually exploited - do have a listen now.

It makes a valuable contribution to the reporting and debate of these issues, following the high profile Derby sex abuse case. As does today's Today programme which looks into the race angle that's been widely discussed, particularly following Jack Straw's comments that some British Pakistani men see white girls as "easy meat".

The latter broadcast also raises an interesting question about whether statutory social work is best placed to identify sexual exploitation and work with victims, with one contributor claiming that the high turnover of social workers prevents exploited young people from building up meaningful relationships with professionals. Are voluntary organisations - such as Safe and Sound Derby, the charity praised in the Derby serious case review - better set up for this work and should councils be outsourcing more of this work to them? Have your say on CareSpace.

On a different, but equally contentious, note this Radio 4 broadcast on Children Who Kill is well worth a listen too.  

As councils frantically rearrange their budgets in fear of the looming axe on public spending, it must be a tough waiting game for anyone delivering services for children and young people.

Will their funding disappear entirely? Which parts of their services will be hardest hit? Which services are safe and which are under threat?

Unfortunately - and as predicted by many - local reports have indicated that care leavers and children with disabilities and mental health needs will be among those worst hit.

Lincolnshire County Council has served notice on the Camhs contract it has with Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust which provides mental health services and care for people with learning difficulties, according to the Lincolnshire Echo.

Meanwhile Torbay's children's services must save £2.1million to meet its target £21.5million budget for 2011/12, set by Torbay mayor Nick Bye, according to the Herald Express.

What are you most worried about? Have your say on CareSpace,; to see whether your council is making cuts to social care spending in the next financial year see our cuts map.

Picture credit: cogdogblog

Here's a bit of good news. As more and more fostering services announce closures, The Together Trust has announced it is expanding its service into the West Midlands after 15 years experience in the North of England.

(I wonder if this is a sign that, as Ofsted indicated was the case for children's homes, larger providers are able to perform better and protect themselves from the worst cuts).

The charity reveals it has had a dramatic rise in referrals from the West Midlands after forming partnerships with 14 local authorities. David Marriott, the charity's chief executive, called the expansion "a natural and positive step".

"There is currently a shortfall of 10,000 foster carers in the UK, and at last count, around 650 additional families were needed in the West Midlands. With this in mind, the Together Trust is looking forward to using its expertise and lessons learnt from the North of England to help recruit more fosterers in the West Midlands and help young people in the area to grow up in a safe and loving environment."

A project leader has now been appointed to develop the service, including the recruitment, training, assessment, supervision and support of approved West Midland foster families.

Unison is heating things up on the Social Work Contract it created in partnership with Community Care. A 10-week letter writing campaign to ministers, local governments and local leaders will focus on all 10 elements of the contract with the slogan "Surely it's not too much to ask". The first letters going out this week will focus on caseloads.

Helga Pile, UNISON National Officer for social work, said: ""We have seen time after time in the last 10 years what happens when caseloads spiral out of control. Social workers do not have enough time and attention to give to their cases - especially the most difficult ones. Social work is already one of the toughest jobs going; staff should be able to rely on the government and their employers to set and maintain limits on their workloads. Surely this is not too much to ask?" There's also the petition for social workers to sign.

Interesting blog from colleagues on the workforce team who are following the Judyth Kenworthy case. The latest evidence is that she did not inform police that she suspected the two-year old Sanam Navsarka had been locked in a cupboard. Made me think about the division between family support and child protection investigation. Retired social worker Hilary Searing believes a social worker cannot play both roles and yet if it were to be split up would it not fragment services to families even more than is currently the case?  I hope it's something the Munro review will be able to investigate.

Finally, with my new policy of trying to find something lighter to end posts on, a blog from a council worker on the other side of the fence and suffering from the "children might die" defence from his children's services department.

The High Court has slammed the UK Border Agency for unlawfully detaining two families and failing to implement detention policy properly.

The judge, Mr Justice Wyn Williams, found that the detention of the families of Reetha Suppiah and Sakinat Bello breached their right to libery and family life under articles 5 and 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998. It provided further evidence of detention policy not being properly applied, he said, and of the long-term harm it can cause to children.

The families could now claim thousands of pounds in damages, according to reports.

"The cases of the two families involved in this litigation provide good examples of the failure by UKBA to apply important aspects of the policy both when the decisions were taken to detain each family and when decisions were taken to maintain detention after removal directions had been cancelled," Justice Wyn Williams said.

Penny Nicholls, director for children and young people at The Children's Society, said the case highlights "that immigration detention of children should be ended immediately".

"It is disappointing that, given the vast body of evidence of the harm experienced by children in detention, we continue to see children detained. However, we are encouraged that the Government has committed to ending the detention of children...and we are keen to work with them to ensure that cases like this become a thing of the past".

Last month - after disappointing progress on its promise to end child detention immediately - the government announced that the unpopular practice of detaining children in immigration removal centres will end by May 2011.

Funny how a bit of national publicity can suddenly make a long-forgotten and lost issue spring to the top of the agenda.

For example, over the past year I have been going to countless conferences and talking to numerous charity heads about how teenagers were dropping off council agendas. They weren't getting the services they needed because they were seen as less vulnerable than younger children. The Baby P case had also meant sexual abuse, let alone the difficult issue of sexual exploitation and its associated thorny topics of teenagers, missing children and trafficked children, had dropped off council radars. (I have of course ranted about the teenagers aspect before.)

Throw in an allegation that muslim men are preying on vulnerable teenage girls and get a former home secretary to wade in on it and "bang" suddenly it rockets up the agenda.

Today news that Rochdale has also arrested a gang of men on sexual exploitation related charges, but also, more tellingly, the Welsh Assembly has also suddenly issued guidance on the issue. Community Care are not guilt-free on this as we will be publishing a three page special report on sexual exploitation in the next coming weeks (however, in our defence it had been planned for a while I promise!) What I'm wondering now is if this new found, but probably short-lived national attention on the issue will translate into any protection for charities and services in this area against the cuts? I have my doubts I have to say. Professor Mike Stein from York University, writing in the Guardian, seems to share my doubts with all the emphasis on the early intervention agenda.

I feel I should end on a happier note though and it was lovely to read from new social work blogger, "how not to do social work", on a success story he's had with a vulnerable teenager. Perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel if we keep on keeping on.

(Pic credit: Partywounds on Flickr)

The BBC has an update from today's hearing into the conduct of Judyth Kenworthy, the family placement officer involved in the Sanam Navsarka abuse case.

Kenworthy has admitted failing to inform her manager, a social worker or Kirklees Council's duty and assessment team that Sanam was being physically abused, the BBC reports. And she agreed that, as a result of her actions, no measures were taken to safeguard the two-year-old.

Kenworthy also admitted withholding information when she gave a statement to police, but denies the allegation that the carer warned her that Sanam had been locked in a cupboard.

The General Social Care Council's hearing continues.

Ofcom looks set to be busy in the coming months... 

Undeterred by attracting record viewer complaints over their cot death plot, Eastenders' writers are now planning a topical storyline about teenage prostitution and sexual exploitation.

BBC bosses have confirmed that 18-year-old Whitney Dean - played by Shona McGarty (pictued) - will fall into street prostitution after running away from home and being groomed by an older man. A previous storyline revealed the character had been sexually abused while she was growing up. 

Perhaps in a bid to avoid controversy, BBC bosses have revealed the soap is working on the storyline with the Comic Relief charity to help raise awareness of sexual exploitation. 

With millions watching Eastenders every week could a plot like this help to raise awareness of potentially dangerous situations and/or the signs that a child is at risk of exploitation? Or do soaps sensationalise and glamorise sensitive issues? Have your say on CareSpace.

Picture credit: Rex Features

Methods of restraint are under the spotlight again today as the second inquest begins into the 2004 death of a teenager at a secure training centre.

Adam Rickwood, 14, became the youngest person to die in UK custody when he hanged himself in his room at Hassockfield STC in Consett, County Durham in August 2004.

The original inquest found he deliberately took his own life, but the verdict was overturned by the High Court in January 2009 and his family granted a fresh inquest.

It will look at whether controversial techniques used to restrain the teenager on the day of his death contributed to his actions. The first inquest was quashed after the Coroner refused to rule on the legality - and physical and psychological impact on Rickwood - of the restraint methods used.

Following the deaths of Rickwood and Gareth Myatt, and a five year freedom of information crusade from organisations such as INQUEST, the Youth Justice Board was forced to publish a previously secret prison manual detailing government-approved techniques used to physically restrain children and young people in prison.

The inquest comes as Michael Cartwright, 18, became the latest young person to die in UK custody. The teenager was found hanging in his cell at Stoke Heath YOI on December 20th.

According to local reports, his parents have questioned why the prison had not placed him on suicide watch, despite previous suicide attempts and a history of depression. 

Picture credit: Rex Features 

A storm has been brewing since newspapers - in the wake of the recent Derby sex abuse case - highlighted a small study on the sexual grooming of young white girls that found the perpetrators were predominantly from the British Pakistani community. 

The first independent academic analysis of its kind, the study was treated by some as confirmation that a culture of political correctness and a 'conspiracy of silence' has led to such crimes going undetected. (Indeed the Derby case quickly led to controversial debate about this across the internet).

Concerned their small data sample from just two police forces has been "generalised to an entire crime type", the study's authors have tried to set the record straight. But former home secretary Jack Straw has now waded into the debate, claiming that some men of Pakistani origin see white girls as "easy meat".

Inevitably it is a divisive issue. Some commentators agree Straw may have a point, but more typically people have tried to distance themselves from any racial stereotyping.

This included the judge who sentenced the Derby ringleaders Abid Mohammed Saddique, 27, and Mohammed Romaan Liaqat, 28, to a minimum of 11 years and eight years respectively. He said the race of the victims and perpetrators involved was "coincidental."

Wherever opinion lies, one fact appears certain to me: the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young people in the UK is far more widespread than anyone would like to believe. It is not going to disappear. In a climate of cutbacks and widespread service closures, let's hope the issue is not pushed further underground or clouded by debates over race. 

Picture credit: LiebeDich

The Youth Justice Board was never directly consulted about the government's decision to abolish it, its chair Frances Done has told the Public Administration Committee (PAC).

The committee of MPs concluded that the government's review of quangos - which led to October's announcement that 192 quangos, including the YJB and the General Social Care Council (GSCC), would be scrapped - was "poorly managed" and that the Bill enabling the government to light its quango bonfire was "badly drafted". MPs have made it clear that all under-threat quangos should have been consulted.

The Committee was critical of the government for assuming that consultation was unneccessary in some cases. Its report stated: "This is not the case. As a minimum the bodies affected by these reforms should have been consulted to see how they thought the Government's tests applied to them."

MPs slammed the government's botched plans to cull quangos, concluding that it had failed to achieve its two main aims - to improve accountability and reduce spending. Do you agree? Is social care improved without the GSCC or the YJB?

Picture credit: Editor B

Good news today for Graham Allen's Early Intervention Commission with a third year evaluation of Family Nurse Partnerships showing good outcomes for disadvantaged parents and babies.

The Department of Health tells us that this third evaluation "builds on two earlier evaluation reports that pointed to positive potential impacts on breastfeeding and reduced smoking in pregnancy. In addition today's report also found that:

    * mothers are very positive about their parenting capacity and report high levels of warm parenting;
    * mothers have significantly increased mastery, a form of self esteem, which is linked to increased confidence and higher aspirations for themselves and their children;
    * children develop in line with age group norms which is especially important among this group which is at high risk of poor development.

The recent feature we did looks at how social workers can improve the vital relationship with health visitors to help in child protection, but the basic problem still seems to be the dire shortages of health visitors. Despite lots of promises there's no clear plan from the government on how they're going to be recruited. My gut instinct is that future health visitors might well no longer have the clinical nurse qualification currently required. This may succeed in getting extra bodies on the ground but my suspicions are it will restrict their ability to spot the signs around delayed child development which could indicate abuse or neglect.

Are police and social workers ignoring the issue of gangs of asian men sexually exploiting white girls because of fears of being seen as racist? The Daily Mail has made the claim (again) following an investigation by The Times newspaper which found that in 17 court cases of this nature (since 1997) where groups of men were prosecuted, 53 of the 56 people found guilty were Asian, 50 of them Muslim, while just three were white. There was a lot of discussion on CareSpace on this issue this following the Derby case in November last year (see above police footage on Youtube above related to the case) but so far Community Care has found no real research and only newspaper evidence about the problem. The whole area around sexual exploitation of girls seems to be fraught with difficulty for social workers with a massive research gap on the issue.

Meanwhile, both the Police Foundation and the independent group Justice have called for all 10 to 17 year old offenders to be dealt with through restorative justice according to the BBC. While restorative justice is a current buzz word there seems to be a lot of noise about it but no real action plan on it from the government. What is more interesting is how restorative justice theories could be used more widely in social work, along the same lines as family group conferences. At a conference last year on sexually harmful behaviour in children and young people there was a session on its use with this group which seems to have had good success. The conference is being run again this year so might be worth going to.

Lastly, former Children's Commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynsley-Green has claimed in The Guardian that the current cuts risk robbing a generation of the chance to improve their lives. He points out that the most vulnerable children will lose out the most including children in care and disabled children. Is he right? Some argue that taking away government support will create more resilience amongst these children. I suspect this only applies to a small proportion who were always able to help themselves rather than those who are truly vulnerable because of abuse, neglect or disability.

There is a good debate currently going on in CareSpace on Professor Eileen Munro's questions to social workers. Much of it is focused on bureaucracy and paperwork so we have compiled a little survey based on some of the suggestions from CareSpace and sector experts. 

Is it fiddling while Rome burns or could some simple paperwork changes make a real difference? Tell us what you think Click here to take survey. Alternatively join the debate on CareSpace yourself or let the Munro review know directly by emailing munro.conversation@education.gsi.gov.uk