MASH: Working Together to Capture the Voice of the Child
15th Feb 2016
For some years safeguarding has embraced two words that have embodied a strategic aspiration, a desired culture and a direction to us regarding how we should deliver our practice no matter which professional background we come from: ‘Working Together’. The blunt reality dawning on many is that it hasn’t been...
Big stories often break into the national consciousness, create waves and then vanish without any positive outcomes. Such was the case with a nine-year-old boy called Luke last October who made the ITV news as a result of persistent self harming. At the time the charity Place2Be reported Luke had...
Every year police forces and social work teams around the country are alerted to increasing domestic violence around Christmas and New Year.
Social care is littered with language that doesn’t belong. Some of it has been copied from business, while other phrases come from the NHS – which can be equally inappropriate. Some words have so many multiple meanings that using them renders discussion meaningless; they become those conversations that 10 people can...
What are Government Plans for the Future of Social Work?
19th Jan 2016
Back in December we wrote a blog about Prime Minister David Cameron’s plans to take over local authorities that fail to deal with child protection services. For many it signalled the start of privatising local services away from councils. This was the blog at the time. [View the story “What...
When the Chancellor recently announced he had signed up four government departments for 30% cuts as part of the next spending round, I was convinced local government would not be one of them. It was. So what do we do now? Councils are on their knees, their eyes understandably more...
Lets have the big conversation about how we deliver integrated services of excellence everywhere and not make unachievable threats to one part of a system.
Stephen Rimmer is a keen advocate of multiagency safeguarding practices and is eager to see it embedded within the different agencies.
Alarmingly, in the UK rising numbers of teens have been trying to commit suicide or actually carrying it out in the past year. Every one of these cases is a desperately sad tale that needs to be told, so we can try to understand the reasons why young people take their own lives. Furthermore,...
Earlier this year the iRights campaign was launched to promote the idea that children should be able to delete their online past.
The UK needs to reinvest in people. It needs to tackle the root causes of radicalisation in communities through more community cohesion.
Seeking the truth for victim and accused through independent examination of the available facts is still the way to go and the public will support it.
The aim with our Voice of the Child campaign is to highlight the ever present dangers to young people of youth and gang violence and exploitation.
Former British world boxing champion Nigel Benn has joined a campaign that aims to reach out to under privileged children in tough inner city areas of Britain. Called the Voice of the Child, the campaign will give teenagers a platform to talk about their problems and concerns to a wider...
Ending the Sex Trade: What we can Learn from Sweden
10th Oct 2015
Payment for sex should be decriminalised, with exiting services provided to people exploited through prostitution; paying for sex should be criminalised.
Capturing the 'Voice of the Child' Through Story Telling
10th Oct 2015
The best way to reach people is to tell them stories. It’s a tried and tested method going back millennia – and it’s one we used in some Lewisham schools.
Why Social Workers Need Social Media
26th Sep 2015
We can use social media to build community, to promote research, and to impart ideas and expertise on issues that impact on health and well being.
The World Needs to Act to Help Syria's Child Refugees
17th Sep 2015
We have a duty to help refugees in desperate need; they need to be treated with respect and dignity. But instead Hungary is locking them up.
How Best to Deal with Teenage Sexting
14th Sep 2015
It's time we put in place a proper procedure around teenage sexting to help vulnerable children understand the consequences of their actions
I have argued ceaselessly during the past decade about how vital it is to use partnership information to make better and earlier decisions concerning the identification of need, harm and risk to children and vulnerable adults. But this has to be within the law – and the rights of every...
Most things are socially defined by what people say or do, or how they are in their social groups and teams. “Through the eyes of a child, all professionals are all simply adults with authority”. They do not necessarily see or understand professional training, status, qualifications or experience. They also...
How Suffolk responded to reports of missing persons in Ipswich that subsequently led to the murder hunt for the Ipswich prostitute murders
This is the first in a series of guest blogs by ex Detective Superintendent Alan Caton OBE about the Ipswich prostitute murders . In the winter months of 2006, I found myself at the centre of the biggest murder investigation ever in the UK. At that time I was the...
Prostitution is a very complex and difficult subject on which there are many controversial and diverse views.
In this, my third blog in the series, I will outline how Suffolk Police and their partners responded to the issue of prostitution after women were murdered.
It was reminder of how times are changing and couldn’t have come any sooner for three girls about to be sent overseas to undergo female genital mutilation.
This is my second blog in the Harmful Cultural Practice series. With all the reports of migrants hiding in trucks and beneath trains to reach the UK, an average Briton would probably imagine the country to be under virtual siege from abroad. While much of the British press has helped...
This is my third blog in the Harmful Cultural Practice series Forced Marriage is exactly that; forcing someone to marry against their will. It is appalling practice and is recognised in the UK as a form of violence against women and men, domestic and child abuse, and a serious breach of human rights....
The Multiagency Safeguarding Hub (MASH): How it works
04th Sep 2015
Having a multiagency model for children’s pathways incorporating Early Help and Safeguarding ensures coordination between professionals and families.
Children and young people are often the most vulnerable members of our communities with local authorities and their partners providing social care support to those experiencing the highest levels of problems. Nevertheless, it is important that all partners and communities provide effective and co-ordinated help and support to children and...
DASH - The Model Needs to Evolve
10th Aug 2015
When the new Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour Based Violence (DASH) model was introduced in 2009, for the first time it enabled police services and partner agencies to use a common checklist to identify and assess risk with victims of domestic abuse. Since then model has become solidly...
In the UK and internationally the face of public services has changed dramatically in the past three decades. This is as a result of political beliefs and fast moving government policies that impact on provision in the wake of the financial crisis. This has influenced how we as professionals will...
Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation
10th Aug 2015
Government has published a new action plan for tackling child sexual exploitation, including an extension of the wilful neglect offence to children’s social care, education and elected members where people have been found to have failed in their duty to take action in respect of cases of abuse and neglect....
The social work profession has come under a lot of pressure recently as social workers find themselves caught up in damaging public debates about their role in keeping children and families safe. Accusations of failure and incompetence appear in the press regardless of the myriad reasons behind these so-called practice...
Children Affected by Domestic Abuse
13th Jul 2015
All families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina This quote from Tolstoy is a timely – and timeless – reminder of how much grief and unhappiness exists behind the closed doors of the family home. Across the UK there are countless...
How to Combat the Online Radicalisation of Young People
13th Jul 2015
When three teenage girls flew to Syria to join Islamic State earlier this year, there was a lot of soul searching across the UK. Newspapers claimed Britain was losing the battle to stop extremists radicalising young people online through chat rooms and social media networks. Former government minister Lady Warsi...
Joining the Dots: Sexual Violence, Gangs and Sexting
13th Jul 2015
When I read a BBC article about Violence against Women recently I was alarmed about the increase in prosecutions in 2014/2015. It said that A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) report in June 2015 showed more than 107,000 prosecutions in the year to April. An increase of 16,000 (18%) on the previous year....
It is Time that we Stand up for Social Workers
13th Jul 2015
It is critical that the next government defines what we should expect of social workers working with our most vulnerable children, young people and families. The five main political parties in England and Wales revealed their manifestos in April outlining plans for the country if elected on 7 May 2015....
Can localism work during a time of huge public sector funding cuts? It’s a question that goes to the heart of front line service delivery. A few months ago Olly Martins, Bedfordshire’s Police & Crime Commissioner, devised what he thought was a practical way to fund 100 more police officers...