As well as all the grief for Jo can we also have some for Ellie

Though in Ellie's case there was a family placement available.

Lack of good foster homes and often Looked After Children are placed in Care Homes.

Where do these children go? lack of foster homes

They stay in your mind . I remember a boy on teaching practice , his name and everything. That was 1968. As least as a designated senior teacher I could put in my 2 p worth.

Lully, I was the ' designated' teacher at our school and I agree with everything you say. We had one child we were very worried about, plus neighbours had told us their worries The social worker said she would visit the home. She tried several times but could not contact anyone. So she closed the case. I often wonder what became of that child.

Schools bang on and on about abused children but still have to go through the system which is long winded. They often have to wait for the s.... to hit the fan. I remember a child with a broken shoulder not taken to hospital ,over a weekend , making them take him away. Just one of many tear making tales from one school. We used to get so excited when a child went into care eventually....that sounds so mad, but it was true. Lovely to watch the child come to school well fed, relaxed and clean.

That poor little girl must have been so terrified remembering her grandparents!!!!

Heartbreaking story. Poor grandfather, he did all he humanly could for Ellie's safety but the judge was fooled by the parents.
When the Daniel Pelka trial was on I shared a shopping complex lift with a family, cute little girl, subdued mother and man who looked so wretched and broken. Seeing tv news later I recognised the man as Daniel's Polish father. Another child failed by those fooled by a plausible mother.

Thanks, grannyactivist. Why didn't I think of typing servicesforchildren.co.uk? Doh!

www.servicesforchildren.co.uk/about-us.html

I agree, Jalima. There's a clip of them on TV. Christopher Booker in the Telegraph also has a bee in his bonnet about such cases of 'stolen children' and has been found out to be wrong in the past. The DM article was the only one I could find - maybe other media have also deleted their archives.

PS. I still can't find out anything about 'Services for Children'.

Next time people read about this story in the Daily Mail, It's worth remembering how the paper reported it in 2012:
I think not just in the DM - they were on TV programmes acting innocently too.

Beggars belief, but all too typical.
Sickening.

Next time people read about this story in the Daily Mail, It's worth remembering how the paper reported it in 2012:

"A mother whose family was ripped apart after her partner was wrongly jailed for child cruelty has won a five-year legal battle to get her children back.
Jennie Gray’s children were taken away following accusations that her two-month-old daughter Ellie had suffered ‘shaken baby’ injuries at the hands of her boyfriend Ben Butler, the children’s father.
Butler, 32, was jailed over the allegations and forced to share a prison cell with a convicted child abuser.
His conviction was quashed after fresh medical evidence suggested Ellie’s head injury was caused at birth, and he was freed in 2010 after serving four months of his 18-month sentence.
But it took another two years for the parents to persuade judges and social workers that Ellie and sister Isabella should be returned to their 32-year-old mother, an artist.
High Court judge Mrs Justice Hogg praised the parents as she ruled the two girls should be allowed to go home to their mother.
She said: ‘The last five and a half years must have been an extraordinarily difficult time for the parents . . . [They] have weathered the storm. They have each been resilient and determined, and shown tenacity and courage.
‘I hope now that the record is put straight, that with their tenacity they will be able to put behind them those difficulties and look forward to a more positive future. I wish the parents well: they too deserve joy and happiness.’
More…

A big cuddle from Mum… just like 25 years ago: Woman who was first UK baby to have heart transplant celebrates anniversary of historic surgery

The family’s ordeal began in 2007 when Mr Butler, a removal man, noticed Ellie had gone limp and was gasping for air.
The new father called an ambulance and the baby was taken to hospital and diagnosed with bleeding on the brain, bleeding in the eye and swelling of brain tissue –injuries typical of a ‘shaken baby’ who has been deliberately injured.
Horrific: Jennie Gray¿s children were taken away following accusations that her two-month-old daughter Ellie had suffered ¿shaken baby¿ injuries at the hands of Mr Butler. He is pictured with Ellie aged 8 weeks
Horrific: Jennie Gray’s children were taken away following accusations that her two-month-old daughter Ellie had suffered ‘shaken baby’ injuries at the hands of Mr Butler. He is pictured with Ellie aged 8 weeks
Judge: Mrs Justice Hogg praised the parents as she ruled the two girls should be allowed to go home to their mother
Judge: Mrs Justice Hogg praised the parents as she ruled the two girls should be allowed to go home to their mother
Mr Butler, from Sutton, Surrey, insisted he had not hurt his daughter and Miss Gray supported him. But the couple, who were not living together, were arrested and Mr Butler was charged with grievous bodily harm and cruelty, and subsequently convicted and jailed.
He described the ordeal as ‘horrendous’. He said: ‘I was put with sex offenders. I never spoke to the guy I shared a cell with – it’s like being put in a mental hospital when you’re not mental. It was just a horrible, dirty feeling where everyone is on a different wavelength.’
Ellie made a full recovery but social services took her and sister Isabella away from Miss Gray.
Ellie was allowed to live with her grandparents, Miss Gray’s parents, but Isabella was put into foster care and social workers said she should be adopted. Mr Butler’s conviction was quashed as ‘unsafe’ in 2010, but he and Miss Gray faced a court battle for their daughters.
Mr Butler was allowed to see Ellie only twice a year, for two hours at a time, at a social services contact centre, and Miss Gray was allowed to see her only six times a year.
Miss Gray said: ‘I was told at one point that if I went against Ben it would be to my advantage and I’d have more chance of getting my daughter back. It’s outrageous.’
Mrs Justice Hogg said Ellie, five, and three-year-old Isabella, should be returned to their mother. She added: ‘It is seldom that I see a “happy end”. It is a joy to oversee the return of a child to her parents.’"

The story has been removed from the DM archives, but it was copied at the time to other sites. What bl**dy hypocrites!

I wondered who this S4C was too, but couldn't find anything about them. The Guardian says they were appointed, because the parents didn't trust social services and claimed to have been let down by the system.

This article states that there is likely to be even more involvement by private companies in children's social care.

www.communitycare.co.uk/2016/03/02/private-firms-involvement-childrens-social-care-rethought-g4s-scandal/

This is absolute madness.

Being met with aggression from the parents should have been a reason for more concern, not less.
What is the matter with these people?

They're called S4C, Services for Children. The grandfather complained that he and other family members experienced them as being "hostile". What a sorry mess this has been.

Wasn't aware there were private social workers. They are probably on par with G4 staff.

I read the the local authority took legal advice about an appeal when the Judge ordered that Ellie be returned etc. They were told the Judgement was so definite it was unappealable.
The school were concerned about extended absences. I heard the grandfather on radio 2 earlier, saying she went home in Dec or Jan, but didn't start school until March. When the education sw/school raised concerns about this and other absences, they were met with aggression from the parents. I also read the private social workers were involved until March. Surely non school attendance would have raised their anxiety. It should have done.

Poor little girl, and poor grandparents.

The head of the school said they could only report her absences ,

If the school had concerns after Ellie was returned to her parents, could they not voice them just as if it was a new case?
Surely the judge's ruling didn't mean that no-one could take any notice of the child ever again?

The whole story is horrific.

Apparently the grandmother has died, I think fairly recently which compounds this awful, terrible story. Grandparents spent their life savings to try to protect this little girl and for a judge to make such a catastrophic error of judgement completely beggars belief bearing in mind the evidence put before her. It's totally shocking and my heart goes out to that poor poor grandfather, I simply can't imagine the how anyone would begin to cope with such a catastrophe; Daughter estranged, granddaughter murdered by SIL with the compliance of said daughter, wife dead! How on earth would you ever even begin to unravel something so appalling.

ww,

I was going to say the same thing about 'experts'. It seems fashionable to think they're all idiots and out to get us.

Absolutely tragic!

I vaguely remember the parents going on TV and complaining about a miscarriage of justice, because the father was jailed and social workers had taken away their daughter. At the time they had a number of supporters from the 'internet jury'. I've just checked and found some of the original sites with people complaining about social workers 'thinking they know best', 'child snatching' etc. I hope those people are hanging their heads in shame too.

What an incredibly arrogant judge! Thank God she's retired.