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Social work hits Coronation Street

Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Have you seen this woman (the one on the left)? Well you will do on Thursday if you watch Coronation Street. She is the social worker who is coming to assess whether Kylie and David...

Published 30 Aug 2011 3:36 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: children and young people, children in care, social work, social workers, television programme

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

Social worker cautioned for failing to alert police to missing child

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...

Published 3 Mar 2010 12:55 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Care Homes, children and young people, children in care, conduct, General Social Care Council, Service users, social work, social workers, workforce

Unison activists step out to campaign against cuts in Bolton

Activists at Bolton's Unison branch have taken to the streets to campaign against proposed cuts to education social work at Bolton Council. The union lobbied Bolton councillors over proposals for a combined total of £7.7m in cuts, with other affected...

Published 2 Mar 2010 5:15 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: children and young people, workforce

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

National papers bring you old news with added outrage

Here at Community Care we try to bring you the most up-to-date information about the social work and social care sector. Not everyone else does. At the weekend three of the major nationals ran a story about the Ministry of Justice's publication of...

Published 11 Jan 2010 2:31 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: adult protection, Baby P, children and young people, Criminal justice, domestic violence, ethnic minorities, faith groups, Family courts, social work, social workers, stand up now for social work

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

Swansea Council may close two children's homes

Two children's homes in Swansea could close under plans to restructure the council's child and family services. The department is expected to have a £6.5m overspend this financial year, with nearly half relating to children in the council's...

Published 18 Nov 2009 2:36 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Care Homes, children and young people, children in care, social work, workforce

Review: BBC 'When a Mother's Love is Not Enough'

David Cameron praises his "brilliant" social worker while taking part in a moving and frank BBC documentary about the realities of caring for disabled children When both the PM and the leader of the opposition have parented a disabled child...

Published 11 Nov 2009 6:09 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: aspergers syndrome, BBC, camilla pemberton, children and young people, David Cameron, disability, disabled children, Down's syndrome, Parenting, rosa monckton, television programme

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

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

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

Is Ed Balls a bully?

Barry Sheerman, chair of the children, schools and families committee, said so after Balls appointed Maggie Atkinson as children's commissioner despite opposition from MPs. That was on Monday. Read More...

Published 23 Oct 2009 5:40 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: BASW, children and young people, children's services, ed balls, hilton dawson, national children and adult services conference, Ruth Smith

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

A role without real clout

The failure of the children's, schools and families committee to endorse the appointment of Maggie Atkinson as England's new children's commissioner reflects wider unease over the role. Read More...

Published 21 Oct 2009 1:51 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Children Act 2004, children and young people, Maggie Atkinson, Ruth Smith

'Foster Care the movie' - special showings

Hell's Pavement , starring Pauline McLynn , otherwise known as Father Ted's Mrs Doyle, is a feature film that tracks the life of a young girl in foster careplayed by Keeki Bennett (above). The makers of the film have arranged a series of special...

Published 16 Oct 2009 6:02 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: children and young people, children in care, television programme

Your weekly assortment of children's services news

This is a new daily round-up of interesting items we've spotted on issues around children's social care. Read More...

Published 16 Oct 2009 2:14 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: children and young people, children's champion, ennals, health visitors, Shoesmith, youth binge drinking

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

Why Roman Polanski is like a dead rap star

It only took a couple of days but the backlash to the backlash of Roman Polanski's arrest has started. While the fact that a number of notable figures and some less notable ones have jumped to his defence is appalling , it is not very surprising,...

Published 1 Oct 2009 11:12 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: children and young people, Inappropriate relationships, safeguarding, vern pitt

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

Michael Jackson - what chance of normality for his children?

by Bronagh Miskelly In the midst of the worldwide hullabaloo surrounding the death of Michael Jackson (which for those of us old enough has strong echoes of Elvis's death) I found myself wondering about how his three children are coping and what the...

Published 26 Jun 2009 12:43 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: children and young people

A career for foster carers

writes Lauren Revans To mark the start of Foster Care Fortnight , the Fostering Network has warned that two-thirds of the UK's foster carers are in their 50s, 60s and 70s. This is worrying since the success of the government's Care Matters agenda...

Published 13 May 2009 5:00 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: children and young people, department of children schools and families, foster care fortnight, fostering, Lauren Revans

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

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

Boys and Girls Alone or Lord of the Flies?

by Anabel Unity Sale When I read William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" as a young teenager it scared me. Really scared me. This wasn't helped by the 1963 film version which, despite seeing 20 years after it was made, also filled me with...

Published 3 Feb 2009 1:18 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: anabel unity sale, children, children and young people, tv

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

Huge rise in knife crime

By Derren Hayes The huge rise in knife crime announced today http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7844455.stm should come as little surprise. Read More...

Published 22 Jan 2009 5:05 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: children and young people, crime, Criminal justice, Youth justice

Baby P: Recruiting a professional workforce in the face of scandal

by Bronagh Miskelly One of the messages from the serious case review of the Baby P case is that problems arose from personal errors of judgement rather than a systemic or procedural failure. In fact some commentators are arguing that the errors of judgement...

Published 12 Nov 2008 5:28 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, Bronagh Miskelly, child protection, children and young people, Harringey, Media, Recruitment, serious case review, training, workforce

Smoking out unsuitable foster carers

By Derren Hayes Shock horror, Barak Obama is a smoker. "A smoker" I hear you cry. That's right. Surely, this must call into question whether he is fit to take office? Read More...

Published 11 Nov 2008 10:58 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: carers, children and young people, children in care, foster care, health, local authorities, looked after children, smoking

Children's trusts and the unnecessary paperwork mountain

by Amy Taylor A government consultation on strengthening children's trusts has just closed and a new children's bill is set to be introduced in the next parliamentary session. Read More...

Published 3 Oct 2008 12:51 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: amy taylor, children and young people, children's trusts, consultation, draft guidance, schools, wellbeing

Safeguard children from flip-flopping politicians

by Bronagh Miskelly Young people in the UK have, admittedly unknowingly, been subject to a tidal wave of children's policy over their lifetimes. The funding and initiatives intended to help them grow up are barely established before they are reversed...

Published 18 Sep 2008 1:01 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Action for Children, Bronagh Miskelly, charities, charity, child protection, children, children and young people, children in care, legislation, NCH, policy, Politics

A new Children's Crusade against anti-social behaviour

By Bronagh Miskelly Beware that child skulking behind the bins with his mobile or digital camera - he may look like he's playing at James Bond but in fact he is out to catch you in the act of dropping litter or some other antisocial or 'environmental...

Published 9 Sep 2008 6:08 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: antisocial behaiour, Bronagh Miskelly, children, children and young people, crime, graffiti, local authorities, vandalism

High profile director leaves Surrey

One simple phrase springs to mind in response to the sudden departure of high-flying family services director Andrew Webster from Surrey council - how are the mighty fallen! Webster resigned more than two months ago, shortly before publication of an Ofsted...

Published 6 Aug 2008 12:00 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children, children and young people, children in care, children's services, education, families

It's a crying shame

As I'm writing this I can hear the faint cries of my four-week old son coming from the front room, writes Derren Hayes. Read More...

Published 4 Aug 2008 12:35 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: babies, children, children and young people, mental health, parenthood

All political fun and games for children's services

by Bronagh Miskelly The collaboration between the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Schools and Families to improve children's services has given rise to a new great double act in the traditions of British comedy it seems. Read...

Published 17 Jul 2008 12:11 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Bronagh Miskelly, children, children and young people, education, funding, health, Politics

Woolly thinking leaves council services at mercy of vocal minority

by Bronagh Miskelly It was with a muted fanfare that communities secretary Hazel Blears launched the white paper on community empowerment - Communities in control: Real people, real power . But then petitions and housing associations probably aren't...

Published 10 Jul 2008 12:31 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: accountability, Bronagh Miskelly, children and young people, children in care, children's services, communities, local authorities, local politics, Politics, service planning

School dinners at heart of child obesity debate

Two stories, two pages apart caught my eye in last Tuesday's issue of the Daily Telegraph. Read More...

Published 30 Jun 2008 10:34 AM by The Social Work Blog

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

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