Social workers feel powerless to stop abuse

The BBC reports that more than a third of social workers and police officers say they have felt powerless to act in suspected cases of child neglect, according to a survey. 

The writer attended a conference given by the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers yesterday. One of the speakers, a partner at a leading Defendant firm of solicitors said that social workers were frequently overworked, and staffing departments in local authorities was a real and continuing problem. Whilst many claims are brought against social services for alleged failure to take out a care order for a vulnerable child, social workers have to confront the possibility of failure before the court (quite apart from the huge resources required to mount such action). Such a result can have the effect of making the accused parents far less likely to cooperate with social services, and may make the child’s situation worse.

The writer has also found that such claims may be defended very strongly, simply because senior managers do not feel that their staff have been negligent in any way.

The work of social services has also become far more sophisticated and difficult in recent years with the advent of new Acts and regulations, and higher standards expected of social workers.