Good point Annie that I had not though of

The measures are great given that care workers are the least paid and i wonder where the profits are going to.

Services which should challenge do not.The culture is say nothing do nothing. (Saying something or doing nothing both have implications for us all in the long term)

Is this because of fear,complacency,attitudes,lack of respect, lack of informative and respectful leadership,lack of resources, funding,lack of recognition for the demands of the role and the long hours social workers provide, professionals who are trained and equipped to meet the challenges of the role.

I would say all the above plays some part.Is it not therefore senior manager’s who should ensure professionals are listend to!!

Children, young people and vulnerable family’s are still the future of society.

Labour can’t do that because historically public provision has been expensive and of poor quality. Even with some homes making 30% profits, it’s still cheaper than in house provision. The solution is not to crack down of profits nor provide in house provision, it’s to encourage competition by making it easier to open new homes locally. Councils could do this by engaging with the already existing good quality provision and inviting them to branch out into new areas such as children’s homes. Many elderly or young adult providers would jump at the chance to make a better profit than the paltry one they make with their current expertise, but moving into another market is risky.

If a local authorty holds paental responsibility for a child under the age of 16 years old where by they can prove there are safeguarding issue’s.Social workers may apply to court under the deprivation of liberty law.

This may be for various reasons for example medical treatment or the Safeguarding of a young person who may continue to have contact which may impacts thier safety.

Social workers must balance the need for this protection and whether this decision is in the child’s/young persons best interest.

These are based on my experiences as a practicing social worker of 43 years plus in child protection work.The role and responsibilities social workers carry is complex and demanding.If social workers say they can not deliver a service should this not be listened to.

I feel strongly about this.

The young person who breaks down in tears, but attempts to hide thier feelings under thier huddie,the young person who will not give up thier phone.(I believe this to be thier form of self protection )

The home that insist the young persons phone is removed is this a deprivation of liberty or for Safeguarding purposes?

I believe most social workers and managers want to deliver professional and safe practice which involves knowing and following the processes already in place,however the current position the service finds it self in in my opinion limits the quality of the service.

Is it therefore not the responsibility of those in senior position’s to ensure social workers have the resources to support the profession.

In my opinion funding is being spent on provisions which do not provide value for the services they claim to offer. I have yet to see any home start a package of threapic work before requesting the social worker solves the issues to then request removal of the child,of course a child will demonstrate challenging behaviour, is this not why thier services have been requested?

There needs to be more transparency Responsibility to provide evidence they have in place plans to ensure the child/young person is receiving relevent and meaninful services which meet thier needs.

Imagine how that child must feel!!!

Have we lost sight of why we trained in this profession we are working with vulnerable children and young people who will be the future of society.

Why can’t a labour government just take the historic labour position? These are children in the care of the state and the state should provide good care, not buy it from someone else. The local authority boundaries are the problem, no one local authority is going to create the specialist provisions – it needs central funding.

However these proposals will only work if they are implemented to a level which demonstrates commitment to change by all services.

Placements should not be allowed to end abruptly without investigations into why,what needs to change,involving the young person,what written safeguards/plan’s have been put in place by the placement,before requesting additional funding.When the placement claimes to offer threapic work what work have they completed (this would have been in thier misson statement and or contract of agreement) have they followed the end of placement procedures? Which should allow a cooling of period or do they demand the placement ends straight away. (The later offen apply)

Without these enquiries/processes taking place only leaves the young person feeling even more invisable,feeling no one cares and lacks any professional decision making by the multi agency services we claim to deliver. Does it not?

Everything has a knock on effect.If a placement or foster placement breaks down,this affects the out come and delays any plans.Look at the wider picture before blaming social workers.

Social workers do not work alone and can not implement the above proposels if others are not held accountable for the service they claim to offer.

These are my experiences.