Children ‘failed by the system’
Thursday 7th May 2009, 3:00PM BST.
Child Protection Committee chairman Professor June Thoburn
THE case of a family of three children said to be the ‘most damaged in Jersey’ is being urgently reviewed by politicians, including new Health and Social Services Minister Anne Pryke.
It has been claimed that the children, whose specialist treatment in the UK the States are being asked to fund, suffered years of sexual abuse and neglect because the authorities failed to take them into care despite being warned that they were at risk.
The review, which is being chaired jointly by Jersey Child Protection Committee chairman Professor June Thoburn and Deputy Medical Officer of Health Dr Susan Turnbull, is now under way in response to allegations of multi-agency failures by the States. It is due to be completed in September.
In a related proposition calling for £700,000 a year to be made available for their specialist treatment in the UK. Deputy Paul Le Claire says of the children of ‘Family X’: ‘They now rank as the most damaged children in Jersey and are in the top tier of all such children in England.’
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This is an absolute disgrace. If proper checks and balances were in place within the child care service such negligent failures would not occur.
Where is the accountability?
Why were the warnings ignored?
Who is ultimately responsible for protecting vulnerable children and why, given a long history of child welfare failings, has Jersey not done more to protect its children?
Does no-one in authority care?
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Why am I not surprised? It seems that those in authority have been schooled with the ‘computer says no’ mentality. I have as much faith in them as I do the customer service lines I have to call from time to time which result in me feeling completely frustrated, fobbed off and disregarded. I wonder if its the money the states will now have to pay out that has led to this investigation, or simply the fear that yet again Jersey’s children’s service will be very publicly shown as being incompetent. One thing I am certain of….its not for the sake of the children. If it were, we wouldn’t be here today.
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Good to see we are following the UK model
( baby P ) authorities are aware and do nothing, abuse continues, children suffer. What next sack a couple of social workers and pretend it didn’t happen.
Lets introduce legislation that rules we must investigate and take appropriate action wherever concerns are highlighted.
I strongly suspect that it is a flawed system rather than care workers who do not care but people are responsible. Fix this, fix it now, no excuses!
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I think it’s time for the senior civil servants and polititions who engineered the dismissal of Senator Stuart Syvret because he exposed the failings of chid protection over decades, to stand up and be counted and be accountable for thier actions.
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More children failed by our ‘authorities’. How very, very sad is this story.
Perhaps those ‘doubters’ of Stuart Syvret will now believe his words on the Children’s Services had an element of truth.
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NO!!! The children were not ‘failed by the system’. They were failed by real people: ignorant, incompetent and arrogant!
As always, those who failed these children will never have to answer what they did by looking away and hoping all will be alright.
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Let me get this straight, when SS said our child care was not up to scratch he was right ?
Well it seems he was right, the people who said he was wrong who said our child care was up to scratch were ill informed.
How can we take our senior politicians seriously when they are yet again shown to be ill informed and even accuse the only person saying anything like the truth to be a sensationalist.
Should I expect revelations about the hospital next ?
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