Case Study: Malone family and Ciara’s allegation
I am a qualified Social Worker, working in a family resource centre. This case is in relation to the Malone Family, who live nearby and have attended the centre, on and off for the past 2 years. Ms Malone uses the service to meet her friends, at the centre café. During one of her visits, she has arrived with bruising covering her face. It has also come to my attention, that Ms Malone goes to the domestic violence centre refuge and after a period of time, returned home, with the younger children. Ciara (7) and Joe (9), attend the homework club after school, 3 days a week. They also used the breakfast services regularly. The 2 older Malone boys of 15 and 19 are alleged members of a notorious gang,
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My concern began, when one of their youngest children of the family, Ciara (7); approached me and explained to be in a matter of fact way of the situation. Ciara informs me of how her father “beats” her mother regularly and how her older brothers fight with their dad all the time. Furthermore, Ciara tells me she was hit yesterday, when she attempted to help her older brother of 19, who was arguing with her dad. Ciara continues, to reveal a large dark bruise on her lower right arm. This I assume was the result, of her involvement in the fight with her dad and brother. Ciara (7), needs of protection and welfare, were not being met. Lishman (2007, P 39) states, that the area of social services, have a responsibility in understanding the holistic in conducting an evaluation and immediate intervention, to react to the requirements of the service users. In the following case, a mandated individual (or anyone that is concerned) working in a family resource centre, by law, are obliged to contact Tusla (or in an emergency the Garda Siochana). Erickson (1958) identifies, several stages that a child should experience and pass, to develop to their full potential. If the child does not complete what is …show more content…
They emphasise that the needs of the children and families must be at the centre of the child care and child protection activities and the welfare of children is of paramount importance. The investigation that is carried out involves an intrusion of privacy; however, this is dismissed due to the greater good of protecting the child and other potential victims. There is also a need to honour legal and constitutional imperatives to punish the criminal abuser. (Children First National Guidelines for the protection and welfare of Children, 2017). One of the primary considerations of these guidelines is to minimise the stress caused by the investigation and assessment of child abuse. The Child Care Act, 2011, allows the immediate intervention by the health boards and the Garda Siochana, where children are in danger. The domestic Violence Act, 1996 may provide a safety order, that prohibits an individual from further violence or threats of violence, this does not oblige the person to leave the family home. Another approach of this act, is a barring order; that requires the violent person to leave the home (Children First National Guidelines for the protection and welfare of Children, 2017). The protections for persons reporting Child Abuse Act, 1998, states that any person who reports child abuse, in “reasonably and in good faith” has resistance of civil liability. The
During the court case the judge said that lead social worker Gunn Wahlstrom was “naïve beyond belief”. This report brought over 68 recommendations to make sure cases like this did not happen again. The recommendations included putting the child first and the parent’s second. “Jasmines’ fate illustrates all too clearly the disastrous consequences of the misguides attitude of the social workers having treated Morris Beckford and Beverley Lorrington as the clients first and foremost” (London Borough of Brent, 1985,p295). The social workers in Jasmine’s c...
Throughout this essay, the health, safety and welfare policy and practise that came about after the Victoria Climbie case will be reviewed and evaluated. After arriving in England in November 1991 from the Ivory Coast, eight-year old Victoria Climbie suffered abuse from her great-aunt, Marie-Therese Kouao, and her great-aunts partner. The anguish and eventual murder of Victoria in 2000 from hypothermia, caused by malnourishment and damp conditions, provoked ‘the most extensive investigation into the child protection system in British history’ as described by Batty (Macleod-Brudenell, 2004). The high media profiled incident exposed a clear lack of precision and communication between all professionals and agencies involved. This is shown by the fact that the mistreatment Victoria was suffering had gone unnoticed by the social services, police and NHS staff, who failed to make each other aware of the clear danger signs. Within the Lord Laming Inquiry into Victoria Climbie’s death (2003), it can be seen that some features recur time after time in child abuse cases; inadequate resources to meet demands, inexperience and lack of skill of individual social workers. In addition, it can also be seen that crucial procedures were evidently not being followed. The procedure that was established after this case included the recommendations made by Lord Laming such as the Green Paper of Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003) and the Children Act (DfES, 2004). These ensure that all children have the fundamental right to be protected from harm and abuse. In addition to this, it also certifies all adults who come into contact with children and families have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
As a Child Protective worker, my responsibilities are to assess safety (immediate), risk (future harm), abuse and maltreatment, and make a determination as to whether a child is safe or at risk of future harm and assess the need for services. The child welfare worker assigned to investigate the case failed to ensure the above. Works Cited Downs-Whitelaw, S., Moore, E., & McFadden, E. J. (2009). The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'.
According to A Novel Approach to Politics “Questions about the very nature of reality seem to be common in fiction of all sorts.” Especially, The Boondocks, a fictional cartoon, uses satire to describe real events that happen in society. The episode I tuned into was “The Trial of R. Kelly”, which explained how R. Kelly won his trial and the views of the people about his case. In the episode, the people outside the court house showed different cognitive frameworks of how they view R. Kelly situation. In other words, the media made sense of the reality of R. Kelly situation in different ways because of the media wanted to select certain information. In this paper, I will explain how the media exemplified mediated reality and agreement reality in the “The Trial of R. Kelly” episode of The Boondocks.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Today November 15, 2017, the case of senior police officer Patrick Maloney, who was found murdered in his home October 4, 2017, goes on. After weeks of myself, Alex Wargo, and the prosecuting team putting together evidence, justice will be brought for Patrick Maloney, and his wife, Mary Maloney, will be found guilty of his murder.
Children’s Social Care work with parents and other agencies to assess the stages of child protection procedures, record information and make decisions on taking further action. The police work closely with this agency to act on decisions made such as removing a child or the person responsible for the abuse while gathering evidence and carrying out investigations regarding the matter. Health professionals have a duty to report suspected non-accidental injuries to Children’s Social Care and examine children to give evidence of abuse. The Children Act 2004 requires every local area to have a Local Safeguarding Children Board to oversee the work of agencies involved in child protection, place policies and procedures for people who work with children and conduct serious case reviews when children die as a result of abuse. The NSPCC is the only charitable organisation that has the statutory power to take action when children are at risk of abuse. They provide services to support families and children and two helplines for children in danger and adults who are concerned for a child’s safety. They also raise awareness of abuse, share their expertise with other professionals and work to influence the law and social policy protect children more efficiently. There are also acts in place to protect children such as the Children Act 1989, the United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child 1989, the Education Act 2002 and the Children Act 2004. Legal framework from such acts are provided for Every Child Matters which requires early years practitioners to demonstrate that they provide activities that help children protect themselves. This may be through books and group talks known as “Stranger
The author, Rachel Aviv, raises various questions about the new approaches being taken by the government in regards to child abuse. The traditional approach in regards to child abuse cases is to keep families together. Over the past 40 years, child care agencies have changed their methods and have taken an adoption approach. Children who are placed in foster care after being removed from their family develop different types of needs. These children are also more susceptible to being involved in the criminal justice system.
On September 21, 2015, I was assigned this case to follow up. This case involves Ms. Hadja Bah a thirteen year old Francis Hammond School student. Ms. Bah has a previous runaway history and refuses to follow curfew set at home. Hadja had runaway several times (15-138346/15-121625/15-118272) which I have investigated several of the incidents. CPS investigator Ms. Alice Keany did a family assessment for the Bah family.
The environment has to be safe and secure and equal attention according to the needs of the child is necessary. The Act puts emphasis on the welfare and rights of the child, teachers and support staff must effectively communicate with children and young people respecting their views, wishes and feelings. Again, procedures for reporting concerns and information sharing have to be followed. Professionals such as social workers under the Act are permitted to make investigations and where significant harm is apparent; the police are permitted to take the child.
Moreover, there is no legislature in the UK setting out a minimum level of care for asylum seekers, financial support comes as weekly payments and and accommodation is on a no choice basis. However, this is different in cases of UASC as a statutory responsibility under section 17 and 20 of the children’s act 1989 and 2004 is triggered. This Act is triggered only after establishing that the child is indeed under 18, this then leads to an assessment with the child subsequently becoming a looked after child with an allocated social worker. The social worker is therefore a first contact for the child responsible for integrating the child into the community and taking care of their educational, social and emotional wellbeing. Consequently, an ongoing assessment is necessary to build an in-depth understanding of the vulnerabilities and competences of each child or young person to appreciate the risk or protective factors resulting from their circumstances and to plan service responses appropriate to their needs and wishes.
I was able to develop skills that will be relevant for practice in the future and support my professional development. This case study allowed me to focus on a specific case that developed my understanding of theory, law and policy that organisation use to provide services for families. I was able to enhance my understanding of the Cycle of change, Children Act 1989 and Working Together safeguarding policy. Developing my understating of evidence based practice and the importance of linking theory to
The state’s child protective services agency will investigate and if the parent or guardian is suspected of causing any type of har...
Commission for Social Care Inspection (2005) Making Every Child Matter, Commission for Social Care Inspection
In conclusion, social workers have a professional duty to safeguard and protect children; this can only be achieved if they maintain professional boundaries with all parties involved and work effectively with other professionals to ascertain this goal. Social worker’s have the responsibility to find a medium through which to reach the child, as opposed to the child establishing this. Social workers should always challenge any concerns they may have about a vulnerable child because that little step may lead to saving a life. True listening to children has the potential to produce positive outcomes for children because as it empowers them to influence decisions that affect their lives rather than being passive recipients of services, which may have tragic consequences.
Social workers are legally obligated to assess and support the 397,600 children in need and their families as they are one of society’s most vulnerable groups (DfE, 2014). The social worker’s role and responsibility is to ensure children’s additional needs are adequately met to try to reverse disadvantage and enable children to maximise their lives and potential. To achieve this objective, social workers sift through in-depth information in different areas of family life, both past and present, as the vast majority of issues affecting children evolve from external factors which particularly relate to parenting. Gathering data involves collaborating with the family and relevant professionals to understand the family’s plight and establish strengths which are built upon so future troubles are positively resolved independently.