How could we have let Sara down so badly?

Following nightowl’s post it might sound dreadful but given the unlikelihood of convictions, especially in 7 years and younger, it could be more protective to go for a care order where the family judge could hear the evidence and decide on the balance of probabilities whether the abuse occurred

Wyllow, local authorities were encouraged to use private provision a cheaper. The big buildings / old houses in my town that were used a residential care for older people or teenagers who rejected the idea of foster families were sold off to raise funds for statutory services they could barely afford . 12 years ago one la was paying £2500 a week for a residential placement for a very difficult 13 year old. The quality of care was poor with the child dictating rather than boundaries being set. Pre privatisation the child would have been placed in a small residential unit
It’s worse than Starmer’s government have said
It’s disgraceful

petal53 what you describe is shocking, but I’m afraid this illustrates that judges in the Criminal Courts do not have the training or experience of child abuse that Family Court Judges have. And to be fair, it is also significant that the standard of proof in the criminal court has to be ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ whereas in the Family Court the threshold is ‘on the balance of probabilities’.

This is one reason why it is so hard to achieve a criminal conviction in cases such as the one you describe, where the only evidence is the testimony of a child. There can often be situations where the threshold is met for a judge to make a Care Order, but not for a successful prosecution. And then abusers get off scot free, and go to the media to claim their children have been removed by evil social workers when they have ‘been proved innocent in a court of law’.

foxie48

"A recent report found that the 10 largest providers of children's placements and care made more than £300m in profits in 2021. With most agencies, after allowances for foster carers and staff/support costs, a significant portion of these profits are often distributed amongst shareholders.1 Oct 2022"
"Three private equity firms running foster care agencies have made a combined £40 million in profit out of the plight of vulnerable children, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

They have raked in their millions amid a crisis in the sector. While the buyout barons are cashing in, many foster carers are dropping out, saying that the sums they receive for looking after children are inadequate."

Your tax is going into the pockets of shareholders instead of being used to benefit vulnerable children.

I had no idea.

it should never have been allowed to happen this way.

foxie48

"A recent report found that the 10 largest providers of children's placements and care made more than £300m in profits in 2021. With most agencies, after allowances for foster carers and staff/support costs, a significant portion of these profits are often distributed amongst shareholders.1 Oct 2022"
"Three private equity firms running foster care agencies have made a combined £40 million in profit out of the plight of vulnerable children, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

They have raked in their millions amid a crisis in the sector. While the buyout barons are cashing in, many foster carers are dropping out, saying that the sums they receive for looking after children are inadequate."

Your tax is going into the pockets of shareholders instead of being used to benefit vulnerable children.

Thanks foxie48 for explaining what privatisation means. Children’s Services should never be for profit.

As an aside, neither should prisons or education for children with SEND

Sky dancer, if I or anyone I know had been assessing foster carers this wouldn’t have happened.

It reminds me of the nonsense that says primary school teachers don’t touch let alone cuddle children. I was at a nativity this week, saw crying children picked up quietly by a teacher, sat on her knee, reassured, re-joined the performance. I saw my daughter respond to a 4 year old who was weeping by lifting him quietly onto her knee as she continued to direct another Nativity.
I’ve seen big male police officers carrying children etc etc. I

"A recent report found that the 10 largest providers of children's placements and care made more than £300m in profits in 2021. With most agencies, after allowances for foster carers and staff/support costs, a significant portion of these profits are often distributed amongst shareholders.1 Oct 2022"
"Three private equity firms running foster care agencies have made a combined £40 million in profit out of the plight of vulnerable children, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

They have raked in their millions amid a crisis in the sector. While the buyout barons are cashing in, many foster carers are dropping out, saying that the sums they receive for looking after children are inadequate."

Your tax is going into the pockets of shareholders instead of being used to benefit vulnerable children.

Iam64

Foster carers do cuddle children, foster fathers do drive children in cars -

We went through a private fostering agency and this is what we were told. We felt as if we (particularly my husband) would not be trusted. We consequently felt we did not wish to pursue fostering.

Galaxy

To be fair that means very little. Early years is currently full of a seemingly endless quantity of supply staff who frequently have very little experience.

I understand your meaning (I think) Galaxy but, it means rather a lot. Early Years is key to promoting child development. It’s under paid, big staff turnover, low expectations of qualifications when recruiting though some good training does go on for regular staff.
The last daft idea I heard from the previous government t was that staff educated to degree level could care for greater numbers of two year olds than those withiut degrees, like a degree enables yiu to change 5 not 2 nappies at any one time.

We can’t afford not to invest in our chikdren preburth - 18

I’m another who appreciated your post eazybee.

petra

Here is the whole interview.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0025vvj

It's a very good interview, very powerful. (Its the first 17 minutes).

She was failed by her Headteacher, whose duty in safeguarding it was to report suspicions of child abuse

The Head Teacher did report it, but then Sara was taken out of school and "home-schooled".

Should the HT have persisted when her concerns had been passed on to Social Services and Sara was no longer her pupil?
Probably not, because she might then have been vilified and accused of racism.

I feel very sorry for the teachers, they must be distressed and feel they failed Sara, but in fact they did follow procedures.

I also agree with eazybee’s comments.

Professionals need to take full responsibility when things go wrong.
I quoted upthread about a child I taught who was abused by her father, and believe me, she described exactly what he did to her, to me, and yet the judge threw it out on the grounds that five year olds are not reliable!

That judge let a child abuser walk free! He/she was responsible for that!
It was the Criminal Court, not in this case, the Family Court.

Home-schooling needs to be closely monitored for all children, not just those believed to be at risk. The idea that any parent can effectively home-school a child is flawed, witness covid. Some children flourish because most of their tutoring is one-to one and they receive all the attention they crave. But many are let down by this system and reach working age with an inadequate knowledge and poor preparation for the outside world.
These children are failed in their preparation for life just as surely as the victims of abuse.

👏👏👏

There are extremely few places in the UK where this might be considered a preferable alternative, as schools in the vast majority of areas are within a reasonable reach.

eazybee

There are two issues being discussed here: home-schooling and the responsibility for Sara Sharif’s death.
Home-schooling needs to be closely monitored for all children, not just those believed to be at risk. The idea that any parent can effectively home-school a child is flawed, witness covid. Some children flourish because most of their tutoring is one-to one and they receive all the attention they crave. But many are let down by this system and reach working age with an inadequate knowledge and poor preparation for the outside world.
These children are failed in their preparation for life just as surely as the victims of abuse.

The case of Sara Sharif has provoked national outrage. It is not a political construct by newspapers apparently intent on demonising 'liberal social workers.' Pretending that this is a case which has been stirred up by a newspaper is unjust, as are the allegations that this is an excuse for an attack on understaffed, over-stressed people.
Sara was failed by the Judge and the social workers who deemed her father a suitable person to take parental responsibility, despite their knowledge of his previous violence against women and children. She was failed by her Headteacher, whose duty in safeguarding it was to report suspicions of child abuse, and who failed to question the conclusions of the social services team (another failure) or raise concerns when she was removed from the school, and from potential monitoring.

This is not a political bandwagon. The actions of the experienced professionals involved in Sara’s care are difficult to justify. Unless the whole episode is scrupulously examined, including the cultural influences at work, and the findings are publicised, this tragedy will be repeated again and again.

Excellent comments.

To be fair that means very little. Early years is currently full of a seemingly endless quantity of supply staff who frequently have very little experience.

foxie48

I don't think this country is a joke but I do think our public services, especially the ones that protect the most vulnerable people in our society, have been neglected, under funded and used by private companies for profit. I feel it is easier to blame poorly paid, inadequately supported and over worked professionals than accept that although we care it's not enough to put our hands in our pockets and pay for better services.

We need to pay more tax.

Not taxing in dribs and drabs where it might cause more harm than good, but straightforward income tax.

The mother previously worked in a nursery

I'm speechless! 😥

I don't think this country is a joke but I do think our public services, especially the ones that protect the most vulnerable people in our society, have been neglected, under funded and used by private companies for profit. I feel it is easier to blame poorly paid, inadequately supported and over worked professionals than accept that although we care it's not enough to put our hands in our pockets and pay for better services.

Sorry, I see you have linked to this already.

I do despair.

Cupseamer

She's not the first bless her little heart and sadly she won't be the last. How many are going through it right now and nothing ever changes. This country is a joke but not funny. At least she and all the others are at peace and out of danger. Absolutely heartbreaking

Another mother and her partner jailed today after he beat the toddler daughter and, unbelievably, this vile couple pushed the little one around in her pushchair for days after she'd died.

He got "life" (20 years!) and she got 10 years for allowing the death of a child.

I do think life should mean whole life sentences.
If they do serve shorter sentences, I believe they should be sterilised before they are allowed out so they are unable to bring more children into the world.

Yes, I saw that on the news Iam.
The abuse, yet again, was sickening.
And the attitude of the parent and step parent, absolutely sickening.

Bring back the death penalty. I never thought I’d say it…BUT..

Here is the whole interview.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0025vvj

petal53

I’ve just turned on the ITV news and immediately there was a report on two year old Isabella, murdered by her mother’s boyfriend, after a campaign of violence and abuse. The injury that finally killed her was a shattered pelvis! He has been jailed for a minimum of 26 years, and her mother, convicted of causing or allowing her death, for ten years.

It goes on.

I’ve been following this case. Traces of cocaine/cannabis possibly caused by proximity. The mother told police Isabella stopped crying, despite the beatings. This couple pushed the dead Isabella round in her pram for 3 days. CCTV catches them laughing, waving at a bus driver. The boyfriend was arrested at the pub, telling police he’d planned to have a drink before handing himself in.
Photographs of this little girl show her laughing while her face is covered in bruises.
It seems the couple were given accommodation as they were homeless. The mother previously worked in a nursery