Parents Against Injustice
Name: |
Jean Robinson |
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Organisation: |
Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services |
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Section number Indicate section number or ‘general’ if your comment relates to the whole document. |
Page Number |
CommentsPlease insert each new comment in a new row. |
3.4. |
11 |
HELPING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE TO....MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH BIRTH PARENTS. We are
disappointed that this guideline gives inadequate attention to this, as it Firstly, the blockages in the system have to be recognized and dealt with. Social workers seem to see reduction of
contact as a weaning process, however much children want it, from parents whom they have labelled as Children in care are still denied mobile telephones and access to computers long after
their peers have them - because of We have seen numerous cases where reduction or loss of contact happens not because children need or wish it - quite
the reverse. We see it used over and Contact was also reduced when
an older sibling who remained at Another problem is that rare, precious and
brief contact meetings may include the A further problem is cost. When siblings are
split and looked after children are far away, local authorities can be Contacts are watched, and reported on, by staff at contact centres whose training and
education is totally unadequate for such a task. We have seen reports which are risible, and When only supervised contact is allowed, this is vulnerable to frequent cancellation,
sometimes at short notice causing great upset to children, because workers or social workers are not If children are reported as "disturbed" after these contacts it could well be
the result of their distress at separation, exacerbated by the artificial We agree with the comments in your Report C.3
7..5.7.6 p.23 concerning the value of contact at the foster carer's home in Above all, there is totally inadequate frequency of
contact with babies and young children, and especially for Even if the baby is not breast-fed, precious bonding time is lost, at a time when the
mother's oxytocin levels are at their highest. Many of these babies who spend time in care Sometimes babies are taken into care because of mothers' post-partum mental illness,
with no other serious parenting problem. Often mothers have received Social workers should be arranging places in
mother-and-baby units which give the best outcome; instead they have fought target. Not mentioned in your list of reasons for removal of babies, but surprisingly
common in our experience, is supposed "risk factors" in parents (1)Gwyneth Lewis (2005) Why Mothers Die 2000-2002. Chapter 11A. RCOG Press, London (2)Gwyneth Lewis (2007) Saving Mothers' Lives 2003-5. Chapter 12. CEMACH, London |
3.10 |
13-14 |
STABILITY OF FOSTER PLACEMENT Stability for the child, rather than the statistics, depends on what happens within the foster home. We were shocked by the experience of one
adopted child who had been in the same home with foster parents who cared In another case two very young siblings
in an apparently good placement where they seemed to be doing well suddenly became disturbed and lost An agency foster carer caused concern to social workers and to the mother by her
severe disciplinary methods. When the issue was raised, she simply |
3.14 |
15 |
SOCIAL PEDAGOGY The recognition that good results can be obtained by having an (expensive) team of
highly trained and qualified people for residential care instead of a As an investment for the future of many troubled young people, it is a bargain for
them and for society - but in the What is essential is the recognition that assessments of children and parenting are
often carried out at present by workers with totally inadequate training and We were shocked to find social workers do not have specific training in talking to
and questioning children, and reports from some children caused us great concern. One enterprising older child decided to |
3.18 |
17 |
"CONTACT WITH THE BIRTH FAMILY.....WHILE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS ARE UNDERWAY CAN OFTEN
BE DAMAGING FOR CHILDREN" Where is the evidence for this? We object to its inclusion. Legal |
3.23, 3.24 |
18 |
"SEPARATIONS WITHIN THE FIRST 6 MONTHS ARE LIKELY TO BE LESS DAMAGING" This
is a subject which is inadequately understood and researchers differ in their The emphasis here is on the need to establish stability of placement and attachment within
that context. Yet the importance of As community workers we are acutely aware of body language in young children,
when they are too young to talk properly, or at all (or when they can talk The emphasis in this work seems to be on securing attachment within the
State-as-Parent system, not on preventing the break which causes the original |
3.27 |
19 |
BLACK AND MULTIPLE HERITAGE CHILDREN As we pointed out in our written and oral evidence
to the Select Committee,(1) children's One parent told us that a high standard of
nutrition was more important to her We also find that light skinned children of mixed parentage may be viewed differently
from darker skinned siblings with whom they identify, and more suitable for This simply shows, unsurprisingly, that a simplistic approach does not best serve
children, and that cultural training in many social workers is (1)http://www.aims.org.uk/Submissions/lookedAfterChildren.htm |
3.30 |
20 |
HEALTH INFORMATION - ACCURATE AND UP TO DATE. From AIMS' 50 years work with maternity care, and researchers, we know that health records may sometimes contain inaccuracies, or different patients' records may be confused. Although some birth parents "may not recall or be reluctant to share this
information" we find it surprisingly common in child protection Babies can be, and are, recorded as bottle fed from birth when there is ample evidence in records that they were breast fed. A separate concern for us is that when children are cared for outside their own local
authority (sometimes with supervision orders, in kinship care) social Even when parents still have parental responsibility for children in the care of the
local authority, they are still wrongly denied access to health and school |
Recommendation 32 |
62 |
ENSURE PARENT-HELD RED BOOK FOLLOWS THE CHILD In some cases the Red Book is an essential record for the parent to respond to allegations which have been made. eg I accompanied a mother to a review
meeting after a health visitor had produced a chart apparently showing her The Red Book is also a record for the parent
of the care that they gave before the child entered care and may be needed by In any case, the current version of the Red
Book provides for carbon copies of entries to go to the health visitor and |
Recommendation 7 |
37 |
WHEN DECIDING ON REHABILITATION WITH BIRTH PARENTS GIVE PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO REASONS WHY SIBLINGS HAVE BEEN PLACED FOR
ADOPTION AND WILLINGNESS AND ABILITY OF PARENTS TO CHANGE Research from Sure Start shows that the Fear that parents may "fail to cooperate with professionals" is commonly
cited as a reason for separation or continuation of it, yet the quality and In addition we have seen many cases where previous children were taken for adoption at a
time when it was an OFSTED target to increase numbers. Given better advice and legal representation (1) Research Report NESS/207/fr/024(2007) Understanding variations in effectiveness among Sure Start Local Programmes. HMSO (2) Fiona Williams & Harriet Churchill (2006) Empowering parents in Sure Start local programmes. HMSO |
Recommendation 18 |
50 |
ALLOW CONTACT TO DIMINISH WHEN TO DIMINISH IT IS CLEARLY NOT IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD AND CONTRARY TO THEIR
WISHES A balanced approach would |
GENERAL |
KINSHIP CARE Although we, and parents, welcome this in most cases, and surveys of children show they prefer it
when possible, we see problems which do not seem to be mentioned. Where there are half brothers and sisters, Mention of "siblings" in the guideline does not take into account some of the
problems we see from professional misunderstandings of children's and Much later problems can arise in families because in their initial investigative
approach, social workers concentrate on gathering "bad news" about MOST LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN WILL RETURN HOME. THEIR NEEDS WHILST IN THE CARE OF THE
STATE CANNOT BE CONSIDERED WITHOUT THOUGHT FOR THE EFFECTS OF PROCESSES ON |
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GENERAL |
BLEAK OUTCOMES FOR LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN There is endless debate by researchers as to how far these stem from instability in care
and how far from parental care. The very best quality evidence - from a large scale randomized trial with long term follow up in the USA of two
kinds of social work: one similar to that currently used her, and an (1)Extended follow-up study of Minnesota's Family Assessment Response Final Report (December 2006). Conducted for the Minnesota
Department of Human Services. A report |
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Jean Robinsons contribution |
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