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Live blog: Social workers strike over cuts

Tomorrow, will see social workers take to the picket line for the first time since the government started making cuts to public spending. Southampton social workers are set to strike tomorrow over a 5% pay cut. Here we'll have a live feed of events...

Published 2 Aug 2011 1:50 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: adult protection, child protection, pay

NI minister spends day with social workers

John McCallister, Ulster Unionist Party MLA, is spending today with the South Eastern HSC Trust's child protection team in County Down, Northern Ireland, to gain a better understanding of the pressures and demands facing social work staff. The visit...

Published 7 Jan 2011 10:44 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, john mccallister, social work, social workers, workforce

Children's minister stands up for social work

Children's minister Tim Loughton used a speech at the Conservative Party Conference tonight to champion the importance of social workers. "I have enormous respect for social workers," he said at a fringe event called the Family Room reception...

Published 4 Oct 2010 10:26 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children and young people, children in care, local authorities, social work, social workers, Tim Loughton, workforce

Take the child protection challenge in interactive game online

Test your investigative social work skills with this interactive online quiz . You are faced with a schoolboy complaining of being hurt by his father - what do you do? The Association of Directors of Social Work in Scotland have launched the game as part...

Published 24 Aug 2010 5:05 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, training

Social worker cleared of inappropriate behaviour towards children

A social worker has been cleared of behaving in an inappropriate sexual manner towards his step-granddaughters . Anthony Smart was accused of loosening his dressing gown and asking one of the girls, known as Child A, for a "special hug", and...

Published 15 Feb 2010 10:49 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children and young people, conduct, social work, social workers, workforce

Former Calderdale chief pleads not guilty to sexual assualt of boys

Former Calderdale Council social services chief Rod Ryall has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of indecently assaulting three boys, all under 16, when he was a live-in house master at Aycliffe Approved School in the 1960s and 70s. Ryall was director of...

Published 15 Feb 2010 10:41 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children and young people, children in care, conduct, social work, social workers, workforce

Ten years on, why is Victoria Climbié's social worker still suffering?

25 February 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of Victoria Climbié's death. Over the course of the last decade there have been major changes in child protection policies in the UK. But for one social worker involved in the case, life is still frozen...

Published 11 Feb 2010 10:44 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, conduct, social work, social workers, stand up now for social work, training, victoria climbie, workforce

CWDC creates online children's centre

The Children's Workforce Development Council has created a new online children's centre on the DirectgovKids website for children , which aims to inform five to 11-year-olds about social workers and foster carers. It tells children: "There...

Published 10 Dec 2009 4:18 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Care Homes, child protection, children and young people, children in care

Suffolk Council accused of "kidnapping" newly born babies

Tim Yeo, Conservative MP for South Suffolk, has accused Suffolk Council of "kidnapping" newly born babies in cases where the birth parents do not wish to give them up for adoption. Writing ahead of last night's adjournment debate on the...

Published 26 Nov 2009 9:12 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Care Homes, care leavers, child protection, children and young people, children in care, safeguarding, social work, social workers

Ofsted 'only now' discovers vital Sharon Shoesmith evidence

by Molly Garboden Ofsted has "discovered" vital evidence relating to the judicial review hearing for Sharon Shoesmith, the sacked former director of children's services at Haringey. (Pic credit Rex Features) Read More...

Published 10 Nov 2009 4:32 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, evidence, high court, Ofsted, Shoesmith, whistleblower, workforce

Lords fail to decriminalise child prostitutes

Moves by the House of Lords to decriminalise child prostitution have failed. Peers voted by 80 to 68 to retain the current position on Friday night. Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer tabled an amendment to the Policing and Crime...

Published 9 Nov 2009 2:34 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children and young people, children in care, children's services, Ruth Smith

News from children's services

Today: Rise in number of children reporting sexual assaults by women to Childline; BBC West Midlands investigates parents with learning disabilities fighting to keep their children. Read More...

Published 9 Nov 2009 2:20 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, child protection; learning disabilities; childline; adoption, Learning Disabilities

Ofsted to revise social care inspection frameworks

Ofsted has said it will revise its frameworks for inspecting the children's social care remits over the coming 12 to 18 months. The inspection body said changes will involve developing new inspection frameworks for children's homes, residential...

Published 5 Nov 2009 12:05 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children and young people, Molly Garboden, Ofsted

Review: Panorama- The child protectors

Review: Panorama goes on the frontline with Coventry's child protection team looking at the challenges social workers face BBC, Monday 2 November ***** Read More...

Published 3 Nov 2009 4:35 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, caseloads, child protection, children's services, Media, safeguarding, social workers, television programme

Roger Singleton on Radio 4: ISA vetting, commercial gain, and piano teachers

by Adam McCulloch Roger Singleton (head of the Independent Safeguarding Authority and ex-Barnardo's chief) was on Radio 4 Today programme this morning (27 October) talking about who needs to apply to be on the ISA register. It was interesting to hear...

Published 27 Oct 2009 2:26 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, child protection, children and young people, Independent safeguarding authority, ISA, licence, radio 4, regulation, Roger Singleton, safeguarding, vetting

Baby P lodger wins appeal

Jason Owen, the lodger at Peter Connelly's home who was jailed following the child's death, has won his appeal against his indeterminate sentence, according to the BBC . More on this story to come on the Community Care website. Read More...

Published 27 Oct 2009 1:01 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, crime, Criminal justice

Cornwall chief exec comments on Ofsted outcome

Cornwall Council's chief executive Kevin Lavery has done a video interview with the BBC (towards the bottom of the article), responding to the damning report issued by Ofsted today about the council's children's services department. Is Lavery's...

Published 23 Oct 2009 1:48 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children and young people, workforce

Head of Cornwall children's services resigns

Dean Ashton, Cornwall's corporate director for children, schools and families, has resigned in anticipation of a damning report from Ofsted due to come out next week. According to the council's website and a local Cornwall paper , Ashton left...

Published 16 Oct 2009 12:03 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children and young people, Politics

Sharon Shoesmith left "financially ruined"

It's day one of the judicial review of Sharon Shoesmith's sacking from Haringey Council over the Baby Peter scandal. The High Court heard today from her barrister James Maurici, who said: "She has been financially ruined and her health has...

Published 7 Oct 2009 6:19 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, Baby Peter, child protection, Haringey, Ruth Smith, safeguarding, Shoesmith

Were Brandon's social workers given an easy ride?

by Daniel Lombard The tragic case of Brandon Muir has been called Scotland's Baby P, and there are certainly similarities. Both cases were marked by poor inter-agency working, overworked professionals missing vital signs of abuse, and mothers who...

Published 24 Aug 2009 6:30 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, Brandon Muir, child protection, dundee, Haringey, Peter Connelly

Haringey damned by lack of the basics

by Bronagh Miskelly A generous soul might describe the latest verdict on Haringey's child protection services as "could do a great deal better", but looking at some of the ongoing areas for improvement in the report by Ofsted and other inspection...

Published 3 Jul 2009 1:35 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, children and young people, local authorities, safeguarding, serious case review

Hilary Mantel's memories of social work past

by Andrew Mickel Following Community Care 's article last week about what social work practices from the past should be revived , there's another interesting blast from the past by novelist Hilary Mantel in the London Review of Books about her...

Published 5 Jun 2009 11:29 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, social work, social workers

David Southall, Panorama and child protection: Was he victimised?

by Josephine Hocking Child protection work is now less appealing than ever for doctors, following the confirmation of the striking off of paediatrician Dr David Southall last week, say Professionals Against Child Abuse , in a letter published today on...

Published 29 May 2009 1:44 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, david southall, josephine hocking, Media

Child protection workers seize the initiative in forming new policies

by Daniel Lombard Social workers have undergone a crisis of confidence in the last few months, with much debate over the lack of a unified professional voice. But a group of child protection workers are seizing the initiative with the support of Jim Wilde...

Published 26 May 2009 4:08 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: camila batmanghelidjh, child protection, eileen munro, jim wilde, social workers

Police "missed chances to save Baby P"

By Emma Maier Police mistakes meant a chance to charge Baby P's mother with assaulting him was missed several weeks before his death, the BBC has reported . Read More...

Published 9 Apr 2009 11:24 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection

Dangerous Liaisons

By Natalie Valios Children are more at risk of being killed by their stepfather or mother's boyfriend than they are by their birthfather. Most of the UK's most infamous child deaths have been at their hands. Read More...

Published 8 Apr 2009 10:05 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, Natalie Valios

The answer lies on the frontline

Over the years, social work has been subject of top-level reviews and experienced a raft of reforms. Yet the problems that social workers face persist. Following the case of Baby P and other child deaths in Doncaster and Birmingham , we have seen more...

Published 2 Apr 2009 3:02 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: charter, child protection, safegaurding, safeguarding, social work, social workers, workforce

Community Care meets The Sun

By Emma Maier I have a confession to make. I spent yesterday evening with a senior journalist from The Sun . And he wasn't all bad. Read More...

Published 1 Apr 2009 9:56 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, Emma Maier, Media, stand up now for social work, The Sun

GSCC decision could affect Baby P social workers

By Emma Maier The GSCC's latest decision highlights an important issue about where accountability lies for child protection actions taken by multi-agency teams. In doing so, it sets a precendent that could have implications for the conduct hearings...

Published 30 Mar 2009 5:13 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, conduct, Emma Maier, General Social Care Council, gscc, Media, multi-agency, multi-disciplinary, stand up now for social work

Time for government to learn lessons on data protection

By Bronagh Miskelly Even the most pig-headed amongst us eventually learn from our mistakes. We learn that ploughing on with a set of actions that repeatedly end in problems is a bad idea. Not so in Whitehall - or so it would seem from the latest ContactPoint...

Published 25 Mar 2009 10:57 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children and young people, children in care, ContactPoint, data protection, health, Politics, safeguarding

Laming's most used word: 'Children'

by Emma Maier Having spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon reading the recommendations from Lord Laming's report , I wondered if there was a quick way to get an overview of what he said. So I used a useful online tool to run an analysis of the...

Published 13 Mar 2009 2:38 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, children's services, Emma Maier, Laming inquiry

Laming report "leaked" to the News of the World

By Maria Ahmed, Deputy News Editor Lord Laming's review of child protection ordered after Baby P appears to have been leaked to the News of the World ahead of its official publication on Thursday. Whether or not the content reported by the paper is...

Published 9 Mar 2009 12:34 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, children in care, David Cameron, ed balls, Gordon Brown, Haringey, lord laming, the news of the world, The Sun, victoria climbie

Neglected children often ignored

An interesting piece of research has been published by charity Action for Children, which shows a quarter of 1,000 people surveyed had been worried that a child they knew was being neglected. But 38% had not reported their concerns to anyone. Worrying...

Published 25 Feb 2009 10:54 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: charities, child protection, children and young people, children in care, safeguarding

The secrets of social work success

By Maria Ahmed Post-Baby P, children's services across the country are wondering how they can remain off the hit-list and show their mettle. Nine councils are already subject to government improvement notices over their failing children's services...

Published 24 Feb 2009 11:39 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, children and young people, children's services, education, safeguarding, social work, social workers, workforce

Solution already exists for A&E child protection checks

By Bronagh Miskelly Oh for some joined up government - perhaps just some joined up Department of Health thinking. Read More...

Published 19 Feb 2009 1:31 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: A&E, Baby P, Bronagh Miskelly, child protection, Department of Health, NHS

Serious case reviews: learning not blaming

By Emma Maier The Baby P case was sad for many reasons. One that hasn't featured much in the media is particularly poignant for the social work profession: that the case followed another with chilling similarities. Had the lessons from that case been...

Published 16 Feb 2009 5:31 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Aaron Gilbert, Baby P, child protection, Emma Maier, safeguarding, serious case review, serious case reviews

Publish reviews in full

writes Emma Maier Shadow children's minister Tim Loughton and fellow Conservative Les Lawrence, cabinet member for children's services in Birmingham, have made a tentative deal to publish in full all future serious case reviews into child abuse...

Published 11 Feb 2009 12:50 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child abuse, child protection, Emma Maier

Sharon Shoesmith's interviews - not quite our Frost/Nixon

by Mithran Samuel Sharon Shoesmith's interviews with The Guardian and Radio 4's Woman's Hour on Saturday were, in some senses, social work's equivalents of the infamous clash between David Frost and Richard Nixon in 1977 . In both cases...

Published 9 Feb 2009 11:12 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, ed balls, Haringey, Mithran Samuel, Richard Nixon, Sharon Shoesmith, Social Work Taskforce

Children's services no subject for political point scoring

By Emma Maier I suppose it was only a matter of time before the horror of the Baby P case subsided sufficiently for politicians to want to use children's services as a political football. Today it happened. This week's culprit? Ed Balls . Read...

Published 3 Feb 2009 4:15 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, children's services, ed balls, Emma Maier, politicians, Politics

Why it is important to keep track of looked after children

by Derren Hayes A report published last month by the Care Leavers' Association highlighted how hundreds of children being looked after by local authorities go missing each year, and the increased dangers this poses for this vulnerable group. Read...

Published 28 Jan 2009 1:49 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Care Homes, care leavers, child protection, children and young people, children in care, crime, derren hayes, Feature articles

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