It made me sad to listen to the interview with Lord Laming
on BBC radio 4 Today 23/06/15
He was being asked about the number of young people in the
care system who end up in the justice system. He clearly has a kind and wise
understanding of the needs of vulnerable children.
He was being asked how do you make Social work a profession
people want to do when the stakes are so high, and there is so much blame, and
how can you give continuity of care to young people if social workers are
dropping out of the profession.
He was asked if he thought that the changes that had come
into effect as a result of his recommendations on the Victoria Climbie case http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmeduski/40/40.pdf
or the Baby P case http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/8646/1/12_03_09_children.pdf
had contributed to an oppressive target
driven culture, and the morale problems within social work
His heartfelt response was “I would find it very upsetting that
anything that I had said would lead to a bureaucratic response. to all this”.
It made me think about how we as a country deal with scandals.
The pattern seems to be this:
·
Something happens that grabs the attention of
the media, and it dominates the news agenda. Government immediately goes into “something
must be done” mode.
·
There is no simple answer so they select a
respected person to review and make recommendations.
·
This eminent person makes a sincere attempt to
understand the complexity and produces a considered report which has to include
recommendations.
·
The recommendations will normally imply the need
for greater spending.
·
The government has to be seen to respond
positively to the recommendations, It will tend to select those recommendations
that do not require extra spending.
·
The government will need to prove that the
recommendations are being followed, so it will bring in some kind of system for
measuring the actions or outcomes.
·
Boards all over the country will incorporate
these measurement systems into their governance systems, and the figures will
become a focus for future anxiety.
·
The media may fail to understand the complex
picture that the detailed reports have given us, but will focus on the “failings”
made visible by the governance systems.
In almost all cases what these reports, brought together by
sincere people who have thought deeply about the issues , will recommend that
there needs to be joined up thinking, connecting the work of different
organisations with the focus on the individual.
In almost all cases these deep recommendations will remain
untouched, because no one knows how to make different organisations, each
struggling with budgets that will not cover the costs, begin to work together
effectively.
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