Dave Brothers

In yesterdays Journal was an article “Warning of North East children’s services crisis.” A plea has been made by all 12 of the North Easts local councils because “in the North East almost 4,000 children are looked after by councils, the figure rising by more than 570 in the last financial year.” But why are so many children in care? Christina Blacklaws, a lawyer specialising in the field, said local authorities may be “overly cautious” and potentially remove children from the family home who could safely remain at home with support, because of fears of another Baby P situation. She told the BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “What we need to recognise is that doing this may damage children as much as leaving them in an unsafe situation so social workers need to not allow their own anxieties about the tragic circumstances around the Baby Peter case to cloud their professional judgment about what may be in the best interest of an individual child.” What we desperately need to do is move towards early intervention, help with parenting skills, and the urgent need to give children their normal childhood back..Having worked for 10 years in child care, I know the damaging effect it … Continue reading →