The following information has been gathered by Michele Wills, Amanda Wawryn, Francesca Rowe and Eve Robinson-Morley in order to answer the 4 questions set out by Geoff, our social work tutor, exploring the Victoria Climbié case.fficeffice" />

Michele Wills: Question 1

This part of the presentation will explore how the case of Victoria Climbie was handled using the legislation of the time.

The Laming inquiry into Victoria’s death revealed that there were twelve missed opportunities by Social Services, Police and Health services to save her and it appears too much discussion occurred as to whether she was ‘a child in need’ rather than a ‘child protection’ case.  There was also an almost total failure to engage with ffice:smarttags" />Victoria – her views were never sought (Source: Laming Inquiry).

Lord Laming, in his inquiry, is quoted as saying “I would have expected qualified social workers at the time Victoria needed protection to be capable of completing an assessment of her needs.  The Children Act 1989 had been implemented in 1991.  The forms for this purpose were available and senior managers accepted that the tasks had been completed.  In reality, however, the conversations with Victoria were limited to little more than ‘hello, how are you?’.  The only ‘assessment’ completed involved the writing down of limited, information provided by Kouao, Victoria’s great aunt.

Kuoao attended Ealing social services eighteen times (ten times with Victoria).  Although there were concerns, Ealing failed to address Victoria’s needs as an individual, instead treating her as part of her aunt’s homelessness.  This contradicts Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 in that ”the Local Authority have a general duty to safeguard and promote welfare of a child and that the child’s welfare is paramount and safeguarding and promoting it is its the priority”.  It is also interesting to note that ‘parental responsibility’ had not been established and it was assumed that Kuoao was Victoria’s mother.  If this had been properly established Victoria could had been accommodated under Section 20 CA 1989 – General provision of accommodation whereby the ‘Local Authority’ must provide accommodation for a child for whom nobody has parental responsibility or who is lost or when, for an reason, the ordinary caregiver is prevented from providing suitable accommodation or care’.  It also appears that at no time, were Victoria’s parents contacted nor their opinion sought.

Neither Kuoao nor Ealing Social Services attempted to enrol Victoria into school, which contravened Victoria’s right to an education as laid out under the Human Rights Act 1998.  Ealing’s main intervention was to give money to Kuoao as she was deemed ineligible for housing.  Although this response was under the Children Act 1989 the reality was that the needs of Victoria were never considered.

Brent Social Services had the opportunity to help Victoria on two separate occasions.  The first was on receipt of an anonymous phone call expressing concern about Victoria’s safety.  The second was almost a month later when Victoria was taken to the Central Middlesex hospital.  However, at no time did Brent make a connection between the two.  A police officer from Brent Child Protection team placed Victoria under Sect 46 of the CA 1989 Police Power of

Protection, however none of the conditions were adhered to as Victoria was not seen, the person who took her to hospital was not interviewed and Kuoao was not informed. 

For the remainder of her life Victoria was allocated a social worker from Haringay Social Services.  Lord Laming is quoted as saying ‘their single responsibility was to safeguard and promote Victoria’s welfare in accordance with the CA 1989’.  Following a second visit hospital for Victoria the social worker referred the case to the child protection team under Sect 47 CA 1989 and arranged the strategy meeting.  Nobody who attended had seen or spoken to Victoria or Kuoao and hospital staff did not attend. A new social worker was allocated the case and she was discharged into her aunt’s care. The social worker could have taken out a Prohibited Steps order under Section 8 of the CA 1989 to prevent Kuoao making contact with Victoria.

Whilst Victoria was alive the law was available to protect her, however it appears that it wasn’t used to this effect.  At no point did Victoria’s social worker make the opportunity to speak to her alone or pursue matters when she was unable to contact the family. 

Amanda Wawryn Question 2 – ‘Every Child Matters’ The Children Act 2004, what has changed since The Children Act 1989 re Private Fostering and other changes.

The legislation relevant to Private Fostering as part of The Children Act 1989 states that the arrangement is private (without L/A involvement).  It involves the care of a child under 16 or 18 if disabled, by someone other than a close relative which is intended to last for more than 28 days.  This is also applicable to extended family e.g. cousin or great aunt.  Although it presents as being positive, privately fostered children are a particularly vulnerable group.

Private foster carers (F/C) are responsible for day to day care but parents or a person with Parental Responsibility, are responsible for the child’s safety and welfare.  The L/A however, have a legal duty to protect and promote the welfare of any privately fostered child living within their area. 

The measures in Section 44 of The Children Act 2004 and the Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations 2005 are intended to strengthen and enhance The Children Act 1989 with the private fostering notification scheme.  L/A’s are required to take a more proactive approach to:-

• Identify arrangements in their area


• Address low notification rates


• Late notification rates


• Lack of a consistent commitment to meeting the needs of privately fostered children


• The L/A need to promote awareness within the community of the notification requirements 


• Schools and GP’s need to be enabled to encourage private Foster Carers, to notify the L/A


• Professional’s need to raise awareness that failure to notify the L/A of private foster care arrangements is an offence


• Professional’s to notify L/A of such an arrangement if they suspect the L/A are not already aware

What needs to happen?

• Private F/C and or parent must notify L/A of arrangement six weeks before it begins or immediately if within six weeks

(The Victoria Climbie report stated that this kind of arrangement is common practice in certain societies therefore parents would be unlikely

to inform authorities)

• Anyone being aware of the arrangement must notify the L/A immediately and must provide as much information as possible

 (There were numerous Professional’s and members of the public who should have been more proactive in making the L/A aware of Victoria’s plight)

• Once notified the L/A must visit premises where child will live and speak to all parties and (the child alone and with interpreter if applicable) and produce a report

(Social worker made announced visits, she did not make a thorough inspection of Manning’s flat and she never spoke to Victoria as Victoria spoke French)

• If private foster care has already commenced the L/A must visit six weekly and in subsequent years every twelve weeks

(Social worker visited Victoria on two occasions, 16/08/99 and 28/10/99 nearly a ten week gap)

• The child must be seen alone and a report must be produced after each visit

• L/A must be informed of change of address when someone leaves or joins the household

(Victoria changed address but L/A not notified)

• L/A’s must communicate when the child changes area, parent should do this also

(Brent and Ealing Social Services did not communicate)

• A private F/C must notify the L/A when the arrangement ends and if the child has died the L/A must be told

Section 10 of The Children Act 2004 - L/A’s have a duty to promote co-operation between agencies in order to improve children’s well being and provides a new power to allow pooling of resources in support of this.

Section 11 - Key agencies who work with children must put in place arrangements to make sure that they take into account the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children when doing their jobs.

Francesca Rowe Question 3 Racism –

• were social workers worried about being accused of being racist if child protection measures had been implemented?

• Comment at the time that not to implement child protection measures was racist as did not offer Victoria the protection that she might have received as a white child.

• What does Anti Discriminatory practice mean and is there better awareness and recognition that racism was and still is a cause for concern?

The tragedy of Victoria Climbie is reported in detail in the Laming Inquiry.  The failure of the professionals involved to save this little girl from torture and death at the hands of people who had been trusted to provide a happy and secure home, is very distressing to read and causes considerable despair and frustration at the lack of care Victoria received. 

Racism is not a new issue and there are statutory obligations on individuals and institutions to be actively anti discriminatory in their contact with people from different ethnic, cultural, religious heritages.  The Race Relations Act 1976 `has not really been able to make the necessary link between the quality of social work for black children and their families and the equality in social work with black children and their families`. (Ahmad, 1991).  The Macpherson Inquiry into the investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence made it very clear that racism does not just exist at an individual level, but permeates the institutions of justice, and other institutions. The report gives a definition of institutional racism `The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin.  It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racial stereotyping which disadvantages minority people.` The report also states that the above situation persists due to lack of example and leadership and that policies are unchallenged and that the racism has become `part of the ethos or culture of the organisation`. Racism is invisible at an organisational level making it much harder to react against and eradicate.

The evidence that has been collected to support the allegation of institutional racism with particular focus on social care and child care reveals that there are more black children being taken into care from troubled or struggling family situations, and that more black than white families are invited or able to use family services such as family centres.  A number of surveys have been carried out to establish the above as fact, Baylies et al.,1993; Butt and Box 1998; the Social Exclusion Unit 1998.In the book The Law and Social Work Practice, Ratna Dutt: Racism and Social Work Practice asserts that the over representation of black children in care and under representation of families receiving family support services and preventative measures are the `result of inappropriate and misguided practice`.  The lack of understanding and recognition of diversity within our multicultural society has caused many overworked social work professionals to adopt an approach which enables them to keep pace with an ever growing caseload.  This approach would seem to have taken the form of making assumptions about someone and their lifestyle based on initial observations and stereotyped knowledge.  This then prejudices the response to the individuals situation and limits choice and can and does lead to the compromised safety of children and vulnerable adults.  A more aggressive form of prejudice is when assumptions are made and positive steps are taken to limit the chances that can empower an individual to make changes to their situation.

The Department of Health Assessing Children in Need and their Families: Practice Guidance devotes Chapter 2 to Assessing black children in need and their families.  The Guidance makes reference to numerous inquiry reports, including at 2.26 Whose Child? The Report of the Panel into the Death of Tyra Henry 1987 (London Borough of Lambeth, 1987) and Sukina; An evaluation report of the circumstances leading to her death (The Bridge Child Care Consultancy Services, 1991) where both these reports make a direct link between racism and practice, in particular stereotyping and a reluctance on the part of white professionals to intervene for fear of being accused of racist influenced practice.  The Laming Inquiry noted that the Victoria`s social workers were black, was this suggesting that using black social workers for black clients is also racist?

Anti-Discriminatory practice seeks to have a positive, intentional and meaningful influence on our contact with people and to embrace diversity by empowering everyone to recognise and openly acknowledge that we all share characteristics that make us both the same and different to others.  Our outward appearance and lifestyle choices are significant as they can be indicative of ourselves, but it is unwise and unsafe to assume that in all cases. How we present ourselves to the world, how we live in our local community is not always a free choice.  Poverty, poor housing, lack of good education, employment, together with cultural, religious and any other factors that we cannot escape from or choose not to escape from impact on what we look like to others.  Neil Thompson Anti-Discriminatory Practice 3rd Edition p 74 gives an example of a social work student on placement, asked to do an assessment of a women of West Indian origin.  The student makes considerable effort to research relevant information to support him in his contact with the client and his manager is happy with this, but points out that although the student has been thorough in his work from an ethnically sensitive point of view, the student had failed to give proper consideration to what or how racism may have caused the clients situation.

Eve Robinson-Morley Question 4 – What would I do differently

I recognise that those who take on the work of protecting children at risk of deliberate harm face a tough and challenging task. Staff doing this work need a combination of professional skills and personal qualities, not least of which are persistence and courage.

Lord Laming (2003) 1.14 What Went Wrong

Lord Laming recognises in his report into Victoria’s death that professionals protecting children face a tough and challenging task he goes on to talk about balancing the rights of the child against those of the parent. I feel that if Victoria’s social worker(s) had been more focused on Victoria’s needs than Kouao’s and achieved a greater balance things would have been very different for Victoria.

Very little effort was made to communicate with Victoria in either her first language, or in a place where she felt safe and comfortable. There are many guidelines for communicating with children, such as Effective Communication with Children, Young People and Families, which is the first chapter of a Government publication Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children’s Workforce, as part of the every child matters: change for children initiative. Which includes, amongst other examples, the following advice:

·        Establish rapport and respectful, trusting relationships with children, young people, their families and carers.

·        Communicate effectively with all children, young people, families and carers.

Given that Victoria spoke French and English was her second language it is fair to say that she was not communicated with effectively. As a social worker it would be key to build a relationship with Victoria in order to help her talk about her experiences in a way that did not threaten her. The only professionals who built relationships with Victoria were those who spent considerable amounts of time with her, the nursing staff at North Middlesex Hospital, the childminder Mrs Cameron and her son. Clearly the social workers could have benefited from spending more time with Victoria than they actually did, and from talking to the people who knew Victoria and had built that relationship.

Understand that signs of abuse can be subtle and be expressed in play, artwork and in the way children and young people approach relationships with other children and/or adults.

Safeguarding and Promoting the Welfare of the Child cited in

 Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children’s Workforce

Returning to the Laming report I am struck by the comment he makes regarding the 12 opportunities to intervene in Victoria’s life, identified by Neil Garnham QC, and effective positive change. He states that “As the Inquiry unfolded, several other opportunities emerged. Not one of these required great skill or would have made heavy demands on time to take some form of action” (Laming 2003 1.17)

What strikes me is that one thing that could have saved Victoria’s life would have been for someone to ask why.

• Why did the police invoke their power of protection over Victoria for scabies? Where there other concerns that led them to this action?


• Why did Victoria’s demeanour change so drastically in the presence of Kouao and Manning?


• Why wasn’t Victoria in school?


• Why wasn’t Victoria registered with a GP?

The list goes on, and had any one of these questions been addressed by the professionals involved it would have led to further investigation and contact with the family, which in turn could have bought the abuse and neglect to light and possibly saved Victoria’s life.

As a practitioner I feel that I would want to be exploring some of these questions, and verifying them with sources other than Kouao. The social workers reliance on Victoria’s aunt to provide information played right into the hands of what turned out to be one of Victoria’s killers. This brings me back to my first point about communicating with Victoria, on her own. Had the social worker spent time with each member of the family alone, including Manning, more information may have come to light which could have saved Victoria’s life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dutt, Ratna (2001) Racism and Social Work Practice. In: Cull, Lesley-Anne and Roche, Jeremy (eds) (2001) The Law and Social Work. Open University Press, Palgrave New York

Thompson, Neil. (2001) Anti-Discriminatory Practice. 3rd Edition. New York, Palgrave.

Department of Health (2000b) Assessing Children in Need and their Families: Practice Guidance, London, Stationery Office.

Macpherson, W. (1990) The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, Report of an Inquiry, London, Stationery Office

Laming (2003) The Victoria Climbie Inquiry. Report of an Inquiry by Lord Laming, TSO (The Stationary Office), Norwich

http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/commoncore/communication/

http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/commoncore/safeguarding/