Hi folkes
Just come across this on Community Care
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2014/01/15/utterly-undermined-work-purpose-social-worker-responds-john-hemming-mp-family-courts/#comment-14009
In The Panorama Programme Sarah and Paul Ashley’s child experienced 4 moves of foster-care never mind him saying at Contact that “I’m sorry mummy” – now imagine the potential psychological harm that alone has done – no wonder Attachment difficulties are seen in many young people who have had multiple placements and where they may feel that they are also in some way responsible themselves.
Anthony Douglas, the CEO of CAFCASS interestingly stated that he has a “zero tolerance” to child abuse – Oh that we could live in such a clear-cut world. Social work has always been about risk-taking – it has to be but we must always forensically and questioningly collate, assess and analyse all the evidence and arrive at a balanced conclusion – we also need to work closely with all our partner Agencies and, of course, family, extended family and other significant family contacts.
Fortunately Amy Howell (the Bristol Case) was able to demonstrate that her son had a disagnosable medical condition and she has had another little boy having got Harrison back – she could so easily have lost her son to adoption.
So whilst Mr Hemming may refer to some of the more extreme and high profile Cases he raises important issues which we have to take on board and ensure that the speedy path to adoption does not result in avoidable errors of assesment and justice on the way and that supportive / preventive resources are available to try to maintain the birth relationships which most of us know are so important.
@John (above) makes a balanced and fair response. Parents do expect that they will be dealt with with fairness and compassion but we must never close our eyes to the facts and sometimes have to admit that we are often not facing with facts which are 100% beyond dispute. That is why only the most skilled and experienced practitioners should be undertaking this extremely difficult and sensitive area of work.
Philip Measures,
Registered Social Worker.
philip.measures@gmail.com
And a well wrote reply
In response to Philip Measures, I think his summary is remarkably accurate when compared to my own experiences. From my own experiences there is a need for social workers to work forensically and consider all available evidence, but I don’t know whether their current training is suitable to equip them to be able to do so. The ones I worked be seemed incapable of so doing.
As a scientist myself I can tell you that one of the hardest things to do is to collect and objectively evaluate evidence without allowing your own opinion to dominate the message being spoken by that evidence. The social workers I described above made that very mistake in a big way, they refused to accept the obvious in favour of their own opinion. If you do that, especially if you are unable or unwilling to change your opinion, then you are in trouble.
Child abuse is a massively emotive subject, but social workers need to remember that it most certainly is not the only cause of a presenting issue with a child, far from it.
After the programme I saw a statement from one social worker on social media who actually said that a few injustices against parents were a small price to pay for preventing child abuse. Think about that statement for a moment. If an injustice of that nature has occurred, that would indicate that in actual fact there was no abuse.
I also read statements on social media from social workers who claimed Hemming was encouraging people to break the law by leaving the country. Yet I watched the same programme, and he was absolutely clear on his message on that point. He said individuals should only consider that option if it was legal to do so. Look at the evidence and understand it, don’t just form an opinion and stick blindly to it.
This is why I said above that social workers need to look long and hard at themselves, and how they are working.
Just come across this on Community Care
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2014/01/15/utterly-undermined-work-purpose-social-worker-responds-john-hemming-mp-family-courts/#comment-14009
Philip Measures
January 22, 2014 at 4:17 pm
#
Sadly it can never be an ‘either’ ‘or’ debate and those who
correctly refer to injustices are as correct as those are unhappy when
social workers and other disciplines – and ultimately the Courts – get
it right.In The Panorama Programme Sarah and Paul Ashley’s child experienced 4 moves of foster-care never mind him saying at Contact that “I’m sorry mummy” – now imagine the potential psychological harm that alone has done – no wonder Attachment difficulties are seen in many young people who have had multiple placements and where they may feel that they are also in some way responsible themselves.
Anthony Douglas, the CEO of CAFCASS interestingly stated that he has a “zero tolerance” to child abuse – Oh that we could live in such a clear-cut world. Social work has always been about risk-taking – it has to be but we must always forensically and questioningly collate, assess and analyse all the evidence and arrive at a balanced conclusion – we also need to work closely with all our partner Agencies and, of course, family, extended family and other significant family contacts.
Fortunately Amy Howell (the Bristol Case) was able to demonstrate that her son had a disagnosable medical condition and she has had another little boy having got Harrison back – she could so easily have lost her son to adoption.
So whilst Mr Hemming may refer to some of the more extreme and high profile Cases he raises important issues which we have to take on board and ensure that the speedy path to adoption does not result in avoidable errors of assesment and justice on the way and that supportive / preventive resources are available to try to maintain the birth relationships which most of us know are so important.
@John (above) makes a balanced and fair response. Parents do expect that they will be dealt with with fairness and compassion but we must never close our eyes to the facts and sometimes have to admit that we are often not facing with facts which are 100% beyond dispute. That is why only the most skilled and experienced practitioners should be undertaking this extremely difficult and sensitive area of work.
Philip Measures,
Registered Social Worker.
philip.measures@gmail.com
And a well wrote reply
In response to Philip Measures, I think his summary is remarkably accurate when compared to my own experiences. From my own experiences there is a need for social workers to work forensically and consider all available evidence, but I don’t know whether their current training is suitable to equip them to be able to do so. The ones I worked be seemed incapable of so doing.
As a scientist myself I can tell you that one of the hardest things to do is to collect and objectively evaluate evidence without allowing your own opinion to dominate the message being spoken by that evidence. The social workers I described above made that very mistake in a big way, they refused to accept the obvious in favour of their own opinion. If you do that, especially if you are unable or unwilling to change your opinion, then you are in trouble.
Child abuse is a massively emotive subject, but social workers need to remember that it most certainly is not the only cause of a presenting issue with a child, far from it.
After the programme I saw a statement from one social worker on social media who actually said that a few injustices against parents were a small price to pay for preventing child abuse. Think about that statement for a moment. If an injustice of that nature has occurred, that would indicate that in actual fact there was no abuse.
I also read statements on social media from social workers who claimed Hemming was encouraging people to break the law by leaving the country. Yet I watched the same programme, and he was absolutely clear on his message on that point. He said individuals should only consider that option if it was legal to do so. Look at the evidence and understand it, don’t just form an opinion and stick blindly to it.
This is why I said above that social workers need to look long and hard at themselves, and how they are working.
