A residential social worker who failed to inform police an eight-year-old child in her care had run away has been cautioned by the General Social Care Council.
Jillian Outterside was due to collect the child from Paignton Community College, Devon, on 22 February 2008, but left without alerting the local authority, police or college staff to the child's disappearance.
Outterside told a conduct committee at the GSCC that there was a lack of structured supervision and appropriate training at Broadhaven Residential Children's Home, Devon, where she was employed at the time. Many of the young people accommodated in Broadhaven have significant behavioural and other difficulties.
The committee also took into account the fact Outterside had worked for up to 30 years without incident, and had referred herself to the GSCC in this case.
It concluded the misconduct was serious but that suspension or removal from the social care register was unnecessary, and placed an admonishment beside her name for a period of one year.
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