Grim news with the discovery of a body in the former children's home in Jersey and with fears there are potentially six more. 

It is undoubtedly grim but what is clear is that the Jersey government must hold up its hands and allow proper scrutiny into what has been going on on the island. You would think there were members of staff or people who knew members of staff at the children's home where the remains were found might have evidence to give. Either the police are keeping that information under wraps (perhaps this find was led by such evidence?) or is there really a culture of silence of the kind that has been described?

In Leicestershire when Frank Beck was operating there were certainly people who both knew or had serious concerns that what he was doing was wrong but senior managers clearly did not undertake sufficiently rigorous Supervision of him and / or staff working 'under' him felt too concerned to 'whistle blow.'

It would be strange indeed in no-one in Jersey had concerns at the time and it is to be hoped that they will come forward to tell the police what they know. Personal integrity must always come first regardless of the repercussions.

 It seems Jersey is an island of secrets, if you believe an article in the Independent. This quote from the story I found particularly interesting:

 "The guilty had good reason to be quiet, but there are victims who have grown into late middle age on the island without telling what they knew, and political leaders who seemed to be lacking in any curiosity about what went on in that home on the hill."

I think the emerging allegations of child abuse in Jersey remind us that while social workers may find they have too much paperwork and scrutiny in the UK, Jersey shows that without such scrutiny things can go tragically wrong. Most of the allegations dating back to the 1960s in Jersey come from a time where advocacy for children must have been widely unknown anywhere, let alone on that small island. 

Giving children a voice, recognition of their right to complain, treating them as a "customer" are all very much part of contemporary social work. Before this, I can't imagine what it must have been like. Surely for some abused children who know nothing else, their abuse is their "reality." This must have been even more so in the earlier days of Jersey's children's services. A nightmare from which children have no perspective on or escape from. I have read enough of those testimonies coming from Jersey now to feel as though I can't bear to read one more. We can only be grateful we have at least an aspiration to giving children a voice in their care now. It should never be treated as lipservice.

 I see a Jersey minister has finally accepted that mistakes were made

My God !  Its just so unbelievable that it has taken this long for all this to come about. Those poor children. I can only imagine the effect this has had on their life, those who are alive.If its true that a society is judged on how it treats its vulnerable then our society must hang its head in shame.The families whos children were being looked after there must be horrified. I feel sick every time I read a story about the coldness of the staff and the subdued reactions from the children ( as reported in the newspaper)

Its heartbreaking ............God Bless them.

It is very grim news coming out of Jersey at the moment and surely people around at that time were aware that something was going on?. What is does is also ask the question regarding how whistle blowers are treat. Surely we all have a duty in society let alone within our own profession to be able to report abuse without being made a scapegoat or be punished for doing it. Maybe the powers that be should have a seperate impartial body of people where others can voice their concerns without fear of losing their job or being publically humiliated.

My heart goes out to those poor children who suffered and who still are suffering knowing that the very people who they were supposed to trust have done this to them, how are we supposed to get people to trust the rest of us now. If you are one of those people who did this to those children I hope the law, when it catches up with you puts you away for a long time.  

 In the latest development it appears as if some people on the island are calling on the chief minister to quit

 There's also a very disturbing story in the Times suggesting a Jersey "cabal" is trying to wreck the abuse inquiry:

  "Corrupt police officers, politicians and a leading businessman are attempting to discredit the investigation into child abuse at a Jersey care home, the island’s police said today."

We have a Community Care journalist in Jersey this week so I'm sure she'll be bringing us the latest news. 

We've published some coverage from Jersey from one of our journalists, Maria Ahmed, on the employment tribunal of UK social worker Simon Bellwood, who was sacked after raising concerns about child care practices at Greenfields secure unit, where he was centre manager.

Maria, who has followed Bellwood's case from last summer, has found chilling parallels between it and the current historic abuse scandal, centred around the former Haut de la Garenne children's home.

how could people get away with the alleged abuse in Jersey for so long? I would like to know how cover-ups were made in other child abuse cases. But its going to be while before all the evidence emerges on the island, which has to be tried and tested in the courts. Its slightly worrying the story has dropped out of the national newspapers - as hopefully the publicity will get more people talking. If the alleged abuse took place people must be brought to justice