Recently in Safeguarding children Category

Last night's episode of the BBC series Protecting Our Children seemed to provoke an even more positive online reaction than the first - even winning over some of the first film's critics.

In particular, there was huge praise on Twitter and our live debate for the empathetic and calm-headed approach of social worker Annie (pictured) - seen supporting young couple Shaun and Marva during their fourth pregnancy - and her manager Arthur.

There was animated discussion, and some amusement, at the sight of Annie flanked by two burly security guards during home visits. (The security guards, like the social workers, were employed by Bristol Council for all the viewers who asked last night).

There was debate around the role of adult services in child protection cases, to support parents with mental health and substance misuse problems - as we saw last night. And of course there was the all-important question of whether the series will improve the public perception of social work. (Most viewers said they were hopeful but not quite convinced yet.)

Here's a quick round-up of views, thoughts and reflections from the web (more to follow soon):

@VjLupton (via Twitter)
Even more sure I'm doing right by getting my degree after #protectingourchildren amazing people making a difference.

@CathyAshley Family Rights Group (via Twitter)
Very moving #protectingourchildren. Sympathetic portrayal of all involved. Complete respect for social worker & her manager.

@mwilliamsthomas (via Twitter)
Half way through prog- very impressed so far - Annie a credit to the profession @ComCareChildren #protectingourchildren"

@mrspentleton (via Twitter)
#protectingourchildren. Massive respect 2 the SW. Massive respect 2 the foster carer. Everyone should watch this. Pay attention media!

@SteveDonnan (via Twitter)
Social workers get such a bad rap, I think they do an incredibly difficult and dangerous job. Takes great strength #protectingourchildren

@BASW_UK British Association of Social Workers (via Twitter)
Social worker showing great resilience & empathy, lets hope her other 14 cases are not as challenging!

And you can replay our debate from last night here: 

Most people would shudder at the thought of being filmed at work by a TV crew, but not Sallyanne Jones, a team manager at Bristol council's children's services. She and her colleagues bravely agreed to be filmed for a three-part BBC series about frontline child protection work. Here Sallyanne (pictured) tells Community Care how it felt to be filmed and why she has no regrets.

"It's quite daunting to think the documentary is about to be shown to the public after more than two years of filming. I'm excited, but also nervous because you just can't predict how it's going to be received. I hope it will raise awareness about the realities of social work - I don't think the public has a visual image of what we do day-to-day.

"We're all aware of the negative press coverage social work has had in the past, and because it's succinct you get the beginning and the end of the story, but never the middle. You don't see the process - all the discussions, meetings, visits and agonising over decisions about children's lives. So I saw the series as an opportunity to show the job, not in a shining or glamourous light, but as it really is, as it really happens.

"In the early days of filming I was cautious about what I did and said in front of the cameras. You're very aware that it isn't a private space. But after months of filming you do get more comfortable, even with a boom and huge camera in the room. We got to know the film crew really well and eventually they became part of our furniture.

"They were learning about our jobs and we were learning about theirs. It took them a while to know what footage they'd need to illustrate the different stories and we learnt to keep them informed about which meetings and visits they'd need to film. We'd call and say, 'there's been a development in this case so we're doing an emergency visit - can you come?"

"It was hard being filmed during emotional times - such as a confrontation with a father whose three-year-old son we were very worried about - but trust played a huge part. I trusted the crew. They went to great effort to understand complex issues and cover them sensitively. They put children's interests first and I always felt they were trying to get the best out of us. It never felt like we, or the families, were being stitched up.

"It was quite overwhelming to watch the documentary at a screening in central London last week, surrounded by filmmakers and colleagues from social care. I'd seen it before but I connected with it differently this time. Instead of scrutinising my own words and practice, I watched it as a viewer and saw the story play out on screen. I found it really moving, and I feel it's a very honest portrayal of social work.

"I'm proud of what I do and I'm so glad our team decided to be a part of this project. I just hope viewers are left with a better understanding of what social work is all about. You can't ask more than that."

• Protecting Our Children begins on January 30, BBC2, 9pm.

Check out Community Care's special Protecting Our Children page and see how you can get involved in our live discussion

Interesting interview in today's guardian with Sallyanne Jones, a social worker from Bristol who has recently become a mother and will soon be appearing on our TV screens in the BBC2 documentary Protecting Our Children.

It follows Bristol's child protection teams, with "unprecedented access" to social workers and their clients and begins on January 30, BBC2, 9pm. Let me know your thoughts if you watch, or get involved with the CareSpace debate already going here.

Here's an extract from the guardian's interview with Sallyanne Jones today:

Sallyanne has only ever initiated court proceedings when she was convinced that removing the child was the right thing to do and now that she has a child of her own, far from regretting any of the actions she's taken, she thinks that children need more protection than she might have realised in the past. "Removing a child is terrible, and however long you do this job you never get used to it. On one occasion, I had to peel a four-year-old child's hands from her mother's, and that's not something I'll ever forget, or want to ever repeat.

"But appalling though those incidents are, they are not the worst thing about my job. The worst thing is when you know a child is at risk but you can't do anything about it. For example, those occasions when a judge doesn't grant your petition to remove a child from his parents, and you have to go home thinking, what's going to happen to that child tonight? This isn't the sort of job you can switch off from - you take your worries home with you."

Check out Community Care's special Protecting Our Children page and see how you can get involved in our live discussion

Picture credit: AndyRobertsPhotos

We've developed an interactive online tool, based on research by Barnardo's and the National Working Group for sexually exploited children and young people, to help professionals recognise key warning signs that a child could be at risk of sexual exploitation.

Sexual exploitation is a serious and growing risk, according to experts. But despite a number of high profile cases and ongoing investigations, a recent report from CEOP found many professionals, including social workers, are still failing to recognise key warning signs.

Sadly, homeless teenagers often find themselves placed in chaotic, filthy hostels or sleeping on park benches rather than the 'safe, appropriate' accommodation that local authorities are duty bound to provide. (A problem which seems to be getting worse, rather than better). 

Frustrated by the lack of safe options available to homeless teens, staff at Quintin Kynaston (QK) school in London have come up with a unique solution - to purchase a local 10-bed property and set it up as a children's home for homeless students.

It followed the discovery that a number of QK students were living in hostels or sleeping rough while trying to finish their education. Read the full feature here and watch the video below for two teenage students' experiences of homelessness. Picture credit: Horia Varlan

In case you'd forgotten amid all the Munro excitement, today is the day the government promised the detention of children for immigration purposes would end. (Although progress on this promise, like so many of the coalition's, hasn't gone well).

And if there weren't enough reasons to end child detention, the Children's Society has today published new research warning of the on-going dangers of detaining children.

The report - which examined the experiences of 32 families detained prior to the coalition's May 2010 pledge to end child detention - evidences children's traumatic experiences while being detained, which the government should be at pains to avoid.

These include children witnessing hunger strikes, suicide attempts and the use of restraint on their parents. The majority of children also experienced emotional distress, including sleeplessness, nightmares and constant crying, and ongoing health problems post-release.

Although children will no longer be detained at the Bedfordshire-based Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre, it is not yet clear how they will be treated while detained in the UK Border Agency's new 'pre-departure accommodation' near Gatwick airport. (At which Barnardo's will, somewhat controversially, be running welfare services.)

Bob Reitemeier, chief executive of The Children's Society, said: "We will be paying particular attention to whether detention in pre-departure accommodation will be used as a genuine last resort, for the shortest time possible, and in the most exceptional cases. It is not yet clear if it will be just another form of detention that harms children.

He said the report highlighted how critical it is that "lessons are learned from the past and the needs and welfare of children in the asylum system are at the heart of the process."

Picture credits: smemon87 and DIAC Images

New tools to help social workers identify and protect trafficked and sexually exploited children have been launched today by the London Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).

They aim to support all those who come into contact with suspected victims, including social workers, volunteers, teachers, police and health workers, and have been tested over the last 14 months by 12 pilot councils, in connection with the Home Office, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre and the UK Border Agency.

The main findings from the pilot were:

• Once a child is identified as being a victim of trafficking, immediate action must be taken before they go missing.

• Awareness needs to be raised among the public and professionals who can sometimes underestimate the scale of the issue.

• Multiple interviews with various agencies can be traumatic for young victims of trafficking - a single multi-agency assessment is preferred.

• Teams of agencies need to work more closely together and be more proactive in sharing information quickly with organisations in neighbouring areas as well as the voluntary sector.

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

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