I have been a social worker in various roles for over 30 years - a great deal of it working with individuals who have involvement in the child protection systems. In addition, I teach part time at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta. I have become quite interested in why does the system work many times yet there are repeated errors that occur which lead to serious losses including the dealths of children involved with the system.
I have begun assembling data from published reports in England, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand. This includes serious case reviews, commissions of inquiry and other formal reviews as well as reports in both the academic press and the mainstream media. When looked at as a whole they start to form a distressing pattern seen in each of these countries. For sure, there are many examples of where the systems have worked - I have seen it in my work. But we must continue to examine those situations where the chidlren are dying - why and what can be done about it.
There are other voices for reform - those who are very critical of child protection agencies and those who feel that the systems do not go far enough - particularly when a child dies.
In this forum, I intend to consider data as it becomes available but also look at the many themes seen in the cumuluative body of work. I will try to post at least weekly and also to encourage controversial views.
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