- About postgraduate study
- Part-time study
- Courses
- Faculties
- UK students
- EU students
- International Students
- How to apply for your course
- Handy Hints
- Open Events
- Student Recruitment
- Money Matters
- About Us
15 Jul 2009 11:23:05
University of Bedfordshire social care expert Dr Donald Forrester contributed to a BBC Scotland documentary on children in care.
The programme, Home Is Where The Hurt Is, which was broadcast last night (Tuesday 14 July)investigated whether more children should be taken away from their families and into care.
The common assumption is that the best place for a child is with family. But this does not take into account families where drug use, violence and other problems mean that parents can't care for their children.
The system operates as if children should only be taken away from their parents as a last resort.
But the documentary uncovered evidence that children left with their families are doing worse than those taken into the system and social workers report that increasing workloads mean vulnerable children aren't being monitored.
Dr Donald Forrester, Director of the University of Bedfordshire Goldberg Centre said: "The tragedy is that our perception that family is best for children, or our prejudice about that, and the Government's wish to save money, go hand in hand to say we should reduce the number of children in care, when in fact the evidence doesn't support that at all.
“There is a drive to save money but that means there aren’t enough social workers on the ground. We’re letting down the most vulnerable children and families.”
The death of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie, after years of neglect, brought about an inquiry which recommended that no social worker should have a caseload of more than 14 children at any one time.
The situation in Scotland was unknown until now. Freedom of Information requests found that the average caseload was 19, with some having more than 30 cases.
Dr Forrester added: "For some of these local authorities, the social worker was working with over 30 children on average. How can they possibly really know each of those children and their needs, let alone actually work with the family to create change?"
Latest news» 2009» July» University social care expert helps BBC documentary
