Another Drakeford Disaster: Failures in Child Protection

Another Drakeford Disaster
Failures in Child Protection

After five years in office as First Minister in Wales, Mark Drakeford leaves a legacy of too many child protection failures. His lack of interest in child protection social work is surprising considering his former role as Professor of Social Policy. It was good that he changed the law to end the physical punishment of children in Wales. However, during his time as First Minister too many children have been failed by the child protection system and there is now an urgent need for radical reform to raise standards of social work practice.

Children's social workers are expected to have the necessary knowledge and skills to build relationships with families and make sound judgements about risk. They need a supportive team to enable them to respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns. The process of striking an appropriate balance between child protection and child welfare is complex and this work requires good social workers and managers with the necessary knowledge and skills. Unfortunately, too many local authorities are finding it difficult to recruit children's social workers and the stressful nature of their job means that staff turnover is high. Obviously, workload pressures are exacerbated by staff shortages.

Childrens' social workers understand that any signs of neglect, cruelty, physical abuse and sexual abuse must be taken seriously and protective measures put in place. However, society is now dealing with a growing problem of physical violence and assault and schools are increasingly faced with children who display violent tendencies. We need a sensible debate about how to reduce the level of violence in society. Social workers are often doing their best to focus on the needs of young people with violent tendencies and to engage parents in constructive work. However, this can be an extremely challenging task. It does appear that the horror felt by social workers about sexual abuse and exploitation means that social workers have not given as much attention to other harmful experiences, such as neglect and emotional deprivation during the child's early life and the profound effect these can have on a child's subsequent development.

In their work with a child placed for adoption social workers have a legal duty to protect the child. The tragic death of Elsie Scully-Hicks, who died in May 2016 when she was 18 months old, revealed shocking evidence of the unreliable performance of children's social workers in carrying out their child protection duties. Her adoptive father, Matthew Scully-Hicks, was found guilty of her murder. Despite the army of social workers involved in supervising her placement with adopters, the ongoing abuse she suffered was not recognised as such and she died shortly after the adoption order was granted.

Obviously, in recent years social workers have faced enormous challenges arising out of the Covid pandemic. It was almost inevitable that child protection practice would be affected by the difficulties in arranging face-to-face meetings and this would put some vulnerable children at greater risk. The death of two year old Lola James in July 2020 led to criminal proceedings which concluded that she was murdered by her mother's boyfriend and that her mother was guilty of causing or allowing her death. The death of 16 year old Kaylea Titford in October 2020 led to criminal proceedings which concluded that both parents caused her death because of their shocking and prolonged failure to meet her basic needs.

Another scandal that occurred during Covid revealed a catalogue of failings that had little to do with the restrictions in place. The death of Logan Mwangi in July 2021 led to criminal proceedings which concluded that his mother, stepfather and the stepfather's 13 year old son, Craig Mulligan, were all guilty of his murder. The Child Practice Review into his death noted that Logan's name had been removed from the child protection register shortly before his death and the violent tendencies of Craig, that were displayed during his time in care, were not flagged up as a risk factor. When the court decided to discharge Craig from care and place him with this family, the Guardian-ad-litem failed to highlight the potential dangers to Logan from Craig.

The deaths and abuse of young people and children by their parents/carers when they are already known to children's services have highlighted the problems that some social workers experience in trying to discharge their duties and take account of the rights and best interests of all those concerned. Social workers have a range of powers that they can utilise in their day-to-day practice. However they are often reluctant to make use of the full extent of them. There is a sense that they view their role primarily as supporting children and young people to stay within their family environment and community. Some children's social workers appear to place a higher premium on keeping families together than on making use of their legal powers to take the necessary protective action.

Social workers carry compulsory powers and, although this presents dilemmas for those with a commitment to social justice, most people accept that it is right for social workers to exercise controls over certain people. The investigative role is one that requires specific knowledge and training. This points to the need for a specialist agency to carry out section 47 investigations, staffed by social workers, who can respond quickly and effectively to situations in which a child may be at risk of 'significant harm'. Following an investigation it may become apparent that the initial concerns about a child do not necessarily amount to 'abuse' or 'significant harm' but appropriate help should be offered to the family to address the concerns. Recent scandals suggest that some social workers do not fully understand their duties and powers and crucial opportunities to take the necessary protective action have been missed. My guide to good practice is here: Social Work Practice: Section 47.

Furthermore, poor professional judgement can arise when social workers fail to keep detailed records of their interviews with families or tend to use a subjective mindset to justify compulsory interventions, that are later deemed unlawful by judges. There is an urgent need to restore public trust and confidence in the child protection system.

Mark Drakeford showed no interest in looking at the organisational arrangements for child protection and supporting innovative approaches. We need politicians at the Senedd who understand the need for policies that promote good child protection practice. Priority must be given to creating a new system that provides a clearer separation of formal child protection enquiries from other types of social work intervention. Political leadership from the Senedd is needed to achieve this goal.

Hilary Searing