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For most children, the biggest influences in their lives are their parents and their extended family, writes Cathy Ashley. A child's family is an important part of their identity, their genetics and often their emotional wellbeing and stability. Most children, including those subject to child protection plans, live within their family. So families are key to the successful implementation of any such plans. Even when children enter the care system, 40% stay less than six months and then return home. Partnership working between local authorities and families is therefore critical to the successful protection of children at risk of harm. Despite this, in many parts of the country, the child protection system ignores the risks and the strengths of the child's wider family, including non-resident fathers, and instead focuses exclusively on the mother's home. In West Berkshire, the children's services department has tried to turn this around. They have developed a framework for use in child protection conferences to engage practitioners and the child's family members in considering all safety and protective factors as well as strengths for the child, while also fully exploring the dangers, harms and risks. Many parents whose children are subject to child protection inquiries feel frightened, isolated, angry and bewildered about the process and the options open to them. Family Rights Group is pioneering professional family advocacy, and there is mounting evidence that such advocacy in the child protection process can strengthen parental participation and partnership working. The result is that parents are better able to address and, where possible, overcome child protection concerns. We welcome the recognition by government in the white paper Care Matters: Time for Change that family group conferences (FGCs) are "particularly effective" in drawing upon a family's resources and preventing children going into care. Yet many places in Britain don't have an FGC service and it is still individual social workers who judge if a family is right for an FGC, rather than it being a child's right that their family should be entitled to one before care proceedings. In a survey for the children's rights director, children in care voted the most important promise that a council could make to a child would be to explore whether there were relatives who could look after them to prevent them going into care - six out of 10 children described this idea as "brilliant". Children who can't live with their parents and live with relatives appear to do as well if not better than children in unrelated foster or adoptive care and appear to be happier and feel well loved despite less state support. A Bristol University report on placement patterns from 2005 found that 75% of family and friend carers suffered financial hardship compared to 13% of unrelated foster carers, and 35% were in overcrowded accommodation compared to 4% of unrelated foster carers. Yet only 4% of family and friend placements were initiated by a social worker. Following concerted lobbying, the white paper proposes a new framework for family and friends care. Now it's time for the government to go a step further and introduce a national financial allowance as part of that framework. Even when children are in the care system, their families often remain of critical importance to them. Children who can't live with their parents regard links with their family as important. But more than a third of children in care feel they don't see enough of their siblings, and nearly half feel they don't see enough of other significant relatives. That's why we are pushing the government to amend legislation so children in care have the right to contact with their siblings
Wednesday 31 October 2007
Research: children with antisocial personality disorders
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THE RESEARCH Title: Selective Review of Interventions for Children at Risk of Antisocial Personality Disorder. This international study was commissioned by the Department of Health and the prime minister's strategy unit in 2006. Study authors: David Utting, Helen Monteiro and Deborah Ghate. Publisher: The Policy Research Bureau, 2007 (ISBN 978-0-9555313-0-9). OBJECTIVES The work focuses on interventions where there is robust evidence from published reviews including evidence from randomised controlled trials. It aims to establish: What is known about effectiveness. The strength of the evidence. The characteristics of the children and families for whom the interventions have demonstrated their effectiveness. The settings - health, social care, geography, social and cultural factors - where these interventions have been used. The interventions chosen were: Two parenting programmes, The Incredible Years and Triple P. A home-visiting programme called Nurse-Family Partnership. Three further interventions designed for the families of particularly challenging children and young people: multi-systemic therapy, multi-dimensional foster care, and functional family therapy. In addition to assessing effectiveness, the review also included some cost-benefit analysis as a guide to potential purchasers and providers of these programmes. The authors begin with a survey of the risk and protective factors that lead children and young people either down the pathways that lead to persistent and intractable problems in adulthood or, alternatively, have the potential to steer them away from such a costly future - for them and for us. The risk factors are organised under the headings of individual, family, school and community, in what might be called an ecological approach. Protective factors identified are: being female, resilience, self-efficacy and outgoing temperament, social bonding, adults setting standards of behaviour, opportunities for involvement, social and reasoning skills, and recognition and due praise. Clearly some of these factors are less amenable to change than others - gender being the one that stands out, but this introduction sets the core questions: how can we intervene effectively to help young people move away from the "slippery slopes" on which some of them seem set at such an early age? and what are the positive features in their lives that we need to reinforce in order to strengthen their resistance? FINDINGS Some of the programmes reviewed here are familiar from previous reviews. The most obvious is The Incredible Years, a well-established parenting programme developed in the US by Webster-Stratton, but used and evaluated in other countries too. But the Triple P - the Positive Parenting Programme - is one that I did not know. This was developed in Australia and has yet to be properly evaluated in the UK - though there is work in England and Scotland reported here. The core finding is: the six programmes are supported by considerable evidence of their effectiveness in achieving better outcomes for children and young people - especially those whose early-onset behavioural problems place them at risk for life-course persistent criminal involvement, antisocial behaviour and social exclusion. Some of the evaluations are able to demonstrate the savings made when comparing the investment in these programmes with the cost of poor outcomes averted or reduced or with the costs of less effective interventions. And all show evidence of effectiveness across different cultural and ethnic groups. There are key features required for effective interventions: A coherent and clearly articulated theoretical base. Professional, qualified/trained staff. High programme consistency - staff carry out the programmes as prescribed and do not allow them to become diluted. The capacity to be delivered in the natural environments of families and young people - they are not merely an impressive clinical showcase. The ability to be tailored to the needs of their core group. An approach that is based on partnership with families. A multi-dimensional model - they recognise the multi-factorial reality of people's lives and try to respond accordingly. A tiered approach that is able to differentiate between different levels of difficulty. A commitment to go beyond the quick fix - the programmes and their evaluations are long enough to provide genuine impact. Beside this good news there are various caveats. Not all the programmes have been rigorously evaluated in UK settings so there is a clear message about the need to test their effectiveness here. However successful a programme is, it will not work equally well with all young people and with all their families. A percentage will drop out of the programme and others will fail to respond. So we need to retain some common-sense caution. The authors also stress the need to target interventions appropriately. This is where the tiered approach is particularly valuable. It makes no sense to provide the most sophisticated and costly programmes for those least at risk. The level of intervention needs to be geared to the level of risk. There has been a lively debate for some years about the early identification of those at most risk of persistent behaviour problems and the danger of false positives - that is, some of the children predicted to present life-course, persistent problems will turn out to do nothing of the sort. Equally there are others - the false negatives - who do not appear on the local radar as children but who come to notice in later years. CONCLUSIONS Preoccupation with the bad behaviour of young people can be traced back over thousands of years so the issue is scarcely novel. Some of our media continue to present young people in alarmist terms with yet more pleas for symbolic gestures that may please the public gallery but offer little prospect of changing young people's behaviour.
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0511.htm
THE RESEARCH Title: Selective Review of Interventions for Children at Risk of Antisocial Personality Disorder. This international study was commissioned by the Department of Health and the prime minister's strategy unit in 2006. Study authors: David Utting, Helen Monteiro and Deborah Ghate. Publisher: The Policy Research Bureau, 2007 (ISBN 978-0-9555313-0-9). OBJECTIVES The work focuses on interventions where there is robust evidence from published reviews including evidence from randomised controlled trials. It aims to establish: What is known about effectiveness. The strength of the evidence. The characteristics of the children and families for whom the interventions have demonstrated their effectiveness. The settings - health, social care, geography, social and cultural factors - where these interventions have been used. The interventions chosen were: Two parenting programmes, The Incredible Years and Triple P. A home-visiting programme called Nurse-Family Partnership. Three further interventions designed for the families of particularly challenging children and young people: multi-systemic therapy, multi-dimensional foster care, and functional family therapy. In addition to assessing effectiveness, the review also included some cost-benefit analysis as a guide to potential purchasers and providers of these programmes. The authors begin with a survey of the risk and protective factors that lead children and young people either down the pathways that lead to persistent and intractable problems in adulthood or, alternatively, have the potential to steer them away from such a costly future - for them and for us. The risk factors are organised under the headings of individual, family, school and community, in what might be called an ecological approach. Protective factors identified are: being female, resilience, self-efficacy and outgoing temperament, social bonding, adults setting standards of behaviour, opportunities for involvement, social and reasoning skills, and recognition and due praise. Clearly some of these factors are less amenable to change than others - gender being the one that stands out, but this introduction sets the core questions: how can we intervene effectively to help young people move away from the "slippery slopes" on which some of them seem set at such an early age? and what are the positive features in their lives that we need to reinforce in order to strengthen their resistance? FINDINGS Some of the programmes reviewed here are familiar from previous reviews. The most obvious is The Incredible Years, a well-established parenting programme developed in the US by Webster-Stratton, but used and evaluated in other countries too. But the Triple P - the Positive Parenting Programme - is one that I did not know. This was developed in Australia and has yet to be properly evaluated in the UK - though there is work in England and Scotland reported here. The core finding is: the six programmes are supported by considerable evidence of their effectiveness in achieving better outcomes for children and young people - especially those whose early-onset behavioural problems place them at risk for life-course persistent criminal involvement, antisocial behaviour and social exclusion. Some of the evaluations are able to demonstrate the savings made when comparing the investment in these programmes with the cost of poor outcomes averted or reduced or with the costs of less effective interventions. And all show evidence of effectiveness across different cultural and ethnic groups. There are key features required for effective interventions: A coherent and clearly articulated theoretical base. Professional, qualified/trained staff. High programme consistency - staff carry out the programmes as prescribed and do not allow them to become diluted. The capacity to be delivered in the natural environments of families and young people - they are not merely an impressive clinical showcase. The ability to be tailored to the needs of their core group. An approach that is based on partnership with families. A multi-dimensional model - they recognise the multi-factorial reality of people's lives and try to respond accordingly. A tiered approach that is able to differentiate between different levels of difficulty. A commitment to go beyond the quick fix - the programmes and their evaluations are long enough to provide genuine impact. Beside this good news there are various caveats. Not all the programmes have been rigorously evaluated in UK settings so there is a clear message about the need to test their effectiveness here. However successful a programme is, it will not work equally well with all young people and with all their families. A percentage will drop out of the programme and others will fail to respond. So we need to retain some common-sense caution. The authors also stress the need to target interventions appropriately. This is where the tiered approach is particularly valuable. It makes no sense to provide the most sophisticated and costly programmes for those least at risk. The level of intervention needs to be geared to the level of risk. There has been a lively debate for some years about the early identification of those at most risk of persistent behaviour problems and the danger of false positives - that is, some of the children predicted to present life-course, persistent problems will turn out to do nothing of the sort. Equally there are others - the false negatives - who do not appear on the local radar as children but who come to notice in later years. CONCLUSIONS Preoccupation with the bad behaviour of young people can be traced back over thousands of years so the issue is scarcely novel. Some of our media continue to present young people in alarmist terms with yet more pleas for symbolic gestures that may please the public gallery but offer little prospect of changing young people's behaviour.
Delivering and receiving services in rural areas
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People who live in rural areas often face poor access to welfare services, education, employment, income and life chances, according to Shucksmith's 2003 review into social exclusion in the country. Other research has reinforced this message and found that social care services in rural areas generally fail to provide the same level of service as those in larger towns and cities. In recent years, there has been more recognition by UK governments that rural people and their concerns have been marginalised. In England, all new government policies are "rural proofed" to ensure that they are applicable to people who do not live in towns and cities. Some obstacles to using and providing health and social care services in rural areas are easily recognised, such as the increased costs in time and transport taken to provide and access services, or the lack of alternative provision from the independent and voluntary sector. Others are less obvious and result from general features of rural life such as lack of anonymity, poverty and homelessness, which can impair people's capacity to find out about services and to use them. Evidence The tendency to idealise country life and make inaccurate assumptions about what it is like can lead to a lack of recognition of social problems and the development of effective responses. It may be wrongly assumed that poverty, drug use, racism, and domestic violence are essentially urban rather than rural problems. Scie's overview of research on this topic - Obstacles to Using and Providing Rural Social Care - found that overall the evidence base on rural social care is uneven. Most studies are based on what services are provided rather than what are needed. Evidence shows considerable variability in the provision and availability of services between different rural areas. But the overall picture is of under-provision compared with urban areas. For example, older people in rural areas are likely to receive lower levels of supportive services such as domiciliary care and meals on wheels than those living in urban areas, and the general take-up rates for welfare benefits seem lower. A possible barrier to delivering rural social care is cost. A comprehensive review of the evidence on the additional costs of service provision in rural areas concluded that there was a clear cost premium in order to achieve a similar standard of service to that in urban areas. It also found that, even where there were uplifts in rural funding, these were often insufficient to cover the service costs. For example, in one case where the uplift for rural domiciliary care was £51 a case, the modelled costs were estimated at about £460. Despite the sound evidence of the higher costs of rural provision, several reports have shown that funding mechanisms for resource allocation to public services have disadvantaged rural populations
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0510.htm
People who live in rural areas often face poor access to welfare services, education, employment, income and life chances, according to Shucksmith's 2003 review into social exclusion in the country. Other research has reinforced this message and found that social care services in rural areas generally fail to provide the same level of service as those in larger towns and cities. In recent years, there has been more recognition by UK governments that rural people and their concerns have been marginalised. In England, all new government policies are "rural proofed" to ensure that they are applicable to people who do not live in towns and cities. Some obstacles to using and providing health and social care services in rural areas are easily recognised, such as the increased costs in time and transport taken to provide and access services, or the lack of alternative provision from the independent and voluntary sector. Others are less obvious and result from general features of rural life such as lack of anonymity, poverty and homelessness, which can impair people's capacity to find out about services and to use them. Evidence The tendency to idealise country life and make inaccurate assumptions about what it is like can lead to a lack of recognition of social problems and the development of effective responses. It may be wrongly assumed that poverty, drug use, racism, and domestic violence are essentially urban rather than rural problems. Scie's overview of research on this topic - Obstacles to Using and Providing Rural Social Care - found that overall the evidence base on rural social care is uneven. Most studies are based on what services are provided rather than what are needed. Evidence shows considerable variability in the provision and availability of services between different rural areas. But the overall picture is of under-provision compared with urban areas. For example, older people in rural areas are likely to receive lower levels of supportive services such as domiciliary care and meals on wheels than those living in urban areas, and the general take-up rates for welfare benefits seem lower. A possible barrier to delivering rural social care is cost. A comprehensive review of the evidence on the additional costs of service provision in rural areas concluded that there was a clear cost premium in order to achieve a similar standard of service to that in urban areas. It also found that, even where there were uplifts in rural funding, these were often insufficient to cover the service costs. For example, in one case where the uplift for rural domiciliary care was £51 a case, the modelled costs were estimated at about £460. Despite the sound evidence of the higher costs of rural provision, several reports have shown that funding mechanisms for resource allocation to public services have disadvantaged rural populations
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Church of England pledges to root out past and present child abusers
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Following renewed criticism of its past practice, the Church of England has confirmed "the broad principles for a protocol for the systematic review of past child protection cases", following on from the Archbishop of Canterbury's announcement earlier in 2007. Effectively, the Church of England has agreed it will investigate the records of thousands of clergy, dating back decades, in an attempt to uncover unchecked incidents of child abuse. Over 2,500 letters will be sent to clerics and staff urging them to come forward with information on any cases of abuse or concerns that were not followed up at the time in the way they would be now. Each diocesan bishop is to initiate a review of clergy and other files, including priests who have retired to their diocese, diocesan lay employees and Readers (as such files are held at a diocesan level, not centrally). An Independent Reviewer will be appointed by each bishop to review the files to assess whether any ‘causes for concern’ exist. Each diocesan bishop is also to write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops’ chaplains and secretarial staff to ask whether they have any information about any cases of abuse or concerns expressed that they can recall from their time in the diocese, which were not followed up at the time in the way that they would be now. Such concerns will be listed alongside any issues raised by the diocesan file search. Additionally, any concerns expressed by other clergy or members of congregations will be included in the list. If any urgent issues arise these will be dealt with immediately by referring to the relevant statutory authorities. The Reviewer will recommend action on each case, and pass the portfolio to the Diocesan Child Protection Management Group to formulate an action plan to be led by the Diocesan Child Protection Adviser. Dioceses are being encouraged to complete the above process within 18 months of the final protocol being published, likely to be early next year. The protocol is currently being finalised in light of feedback from the House of Bishops to a draft text. The Rt Revd Anthony Priddis, Bishop of Hereford and Chair of the Church’s Central Safeguarding Liaison Group, which produced the draft protocol, commented: “Children deserve the very best care, nurture and teaching the Church is able to provide whatever the context of their contact with the Church."
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0509.htm
Following renewed criticism of its past practice, the Church of England has confirmed "the broad principles for a protocol for the systematic review of past child protection cases", following on from the Archbishop of Canterbury's announcement earlier in 2007. Effectively, the Church of England has agreed it will investigate the records of thousands of clergy, dating back decades, in an attempt to uncover unchecked incidents of child abuse. Over 2,500 letters will be sent to clerics and staff urging them to come forward with information on any cases of abuse or concerns that were not followed up at the time in the way they would be now. Each diocesan bishop is to initiate a review of clergy and other files, including priests who have retired to their diocese, diocesan lay employees and Readers (as such files are held at a diocesan level, not centrally). An Independent Reviewer will be appointed by each bishop to review the files to assess whether any ‘causes for concern’ exist. Each diocesan bishop is also to write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops’ chaplains and secretarial staff to ask whether they have any information about any cases of abuse or concerns expressed that they can recall from their time in the diocese, which were not followed up at the time in the way that they would be now. Such concerns will be listed alongside any issues raised by the diocesan file search. Additionally, any concerns expressed by other clergy or members of congregations will be included in the list. If any urgent issues arise these will be dealt with immediately by referring to the relevant statutory authorities. The Reviewer will recommend action on each case, and pass the portfolio to the Diocesan Child Protection Management Group to formulate an action plan to be led by the Diocesan Child Protection Adviser. Dioceses are being encouraged to complete the above process within 18 months of the final protocol being published, likely to be early next year. The protocol is currently being finalised in light of feedback from the House of Bishops to a draft text. The Rt Revd Anthony Priddis, Bishop of Hereford and Chair of the Church’s Central Safeguarding Liaison Group, which produced the draft protocol, commented: “Children deserve the very best care, nurture and teaching the Church is able to provide whatever the context of their contact with the Church."
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Care for the Family to support families in Northern Ireland
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Care for the Family is gearing up for the launch of its Community Representative programme, which is being trialled in Derry, ahead of the launch of a possible scheme throughout Northern Ireland.
The Derry-based Community Representative will be part of a team co-ordinating the charity's activity in Omagh, Strabane, Limavady and Coleraine.
Jean Gibson, Care for the Family's Northern Ireland manager, said, "It is increasingly important to support families," she said. "It is proven that strong family life underpins social improvements.
"When couples stay together, and parents are given the mechanisms to engage with their children, there is a corresponding drop in social inequality, and a reduction in antisocial behaviour, crime, drug dependency, and joblessness."
Through the Community Representative scheme, Care for the Family will offer vital services to families, including marriage-strengthening courses, parenting courses and the hugely successful How to Drug Proof Your Kids course for parents.
The plans for Community Representatives were announced three weeks ago at a reception breakfast at Stormont attended by Members of the Assembly. Members of every party expressed interest in the charity's work.
Rev Sam McGuffin, Chairman of The Derry Churches Trust welcomed Care for the Family's initiative, saying, "The Churches Trust has been discussing with Care for the Family how the organisation can best bring its superb range of programmes and expertise to the North West.
"We are thrilled that a core of five Care for the Family Community Supporters is going to be based in this region."
In addition, Rev McGuffin said, "We're delighted Care for the Family has included the city in its autumn scheduling with its thought-provoking evening for women. We look forward to an inspiring evening and to further promoting this excellent organisation's work locally."
Care for the Family is also running a special event for women in Derry, 'Reality - The Challenge of Forgiveness', which takes place on Wednesday 7 November.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0508.htm
Care for the Family is gearing up for the launch of its Community Representative programme, which is being trialled in Derry, ahead of the launch of a possible scheme throughout Northern Ireland.
The Derry-based Community Representative will be part of a team co-ordinating the charity's activity in Omagh, Strabane, Limavady and Coleraine.
Jean Gibson, Care for the Family's Northern Ireland manager, said, "It is increasingly important to support families," she said. "It is proven that strong family life underpins social improvements.
"When couples stay together, and parents are given the mechanisms to engage with their children, there is a corresponding drop in social inequality, and a reduction in antisocial behaviour, crime, drug dependency, and joblessness."
Through the Community Representative scheme, Care for the Family will offer vital services to families, including marriage-strengthening courses, parenting courses and the hugely successful How to Drug Proof Your Kids course for parents.
The plans for Community Representatives were announced three weeks ago at a reception breakfast at Stormont attended by Members of the Assembly. Members of every party expressed interest in the charity's work.
Rev Sam McGuffin, Chairman of The Derry Churches Trust welcomed Care for the Family's initiative, saying, "The Churches Trust has been discussing with Care for the Family how the organisation can best bring its superb range of programmes and expertise to the North West.
"We are thrilled that a core of five Care for the Family Community Supporters is going to be based in this region."
In addition, Rev McGuffin said, "We're delighted Care for the Family has included the city in its autumn scheduling with its thought-provoking evening for women. We look forward to an inspiring evening and to further promoting this excellent organisation's work locally."
Care for the Family is also running a special event for women in Derry, 'Reality - The Challenge of Forgiveness', which takes place on Wednesday 7 November.
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Lack of carers for at-risk kids costs £2.5m a year
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A SHORTAGE of foster carers to look after vulnerable and neglected children is costing the council £2.5 million a year in payments to the voluntary sector. The local authority is increasingly relying on organisations such as Barnardo's and St Andrew's Children's Society to plug the gaps in its own service. It currently has 80 children in the care of voluntary organisations - up from an average of 57 last year. It has run several campaigns to attract more foster carers, but those who have been taken on have failed to deal with the increase in demand. A recent inspectors' report said the city council's child protection service was too slow and uncoordinated to protect properly youngsters at risk of harm. It revealed the council had too few beds in residential homes and too few foster carers and families willing to adopt on its books to meet the growing demand. Council chiefs have blamed drugs and alcohol problems among parents for the rise in the number of children needing the service. Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, the city's education leader, said: "This is one thing the department is trying hard to sort out. We've just had a foster and adoption recruitment week. We try hard to advertise and have improved our number of foster carers, but there are still not enough." The council turns to outside agencies when it does not have any of its own foster carers able to take on more children. Cllr MacLaren said: "If we've got a child who is at risk then we have to move that child, and if we have to use an independent agency then that is what we have to do, there's no other option. Sometimes it costs an awful lot of money to keep a child safe." The council estimates that in the voluntary sector, the cost per child can be up to £60,000 a year, with an average cost of between £35,000 and £40,000. That compares with a starting salary of £18,000 for foster carers. In the first six months of this financial year, the council spent more than £1m on foster care through voluntary agencies. It expects to spend the same amount again in the next six months.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0507.htm
A SHORTAGE of foster carers to look after vulnerable and neglected children is costing the council £2.5 million a year in payments to the voluntary sector. The local authority is increasingly relying on organisations such as Barnardo's and St Andrew's Children's Society to plug the gaps in its own service. It currently has 80 children in the care of voluntary organisations - up from an average of 57 last year. It has run several campaigns to attract more foster carers, but those who have been taken on have failed to deal with the increase in demand. A recent inspectors' report said the city council's child protection service was too slow and uncoordinated to protect properly youngsters at risk of harm. It revealed the council had too few beds in residential homes and too few foster carers and families willing to adopt on its books to meet the growing demand. Council chiefs have blamed drugs and alcohol problems among parents for the rise in the number of children needing the service. Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, the city's education leader, said: "This is one thing the department is trying hard to sort out. We've just had a foster and adoption recruitment week. We try hard to advertise and have improved our number of foster carers, but there are still not enough." The council turns to outside agencies when it does not have any of its own foster carers able to take on more children. Cllr MacLaren said: "If we've got a child who is at risk then we have to move that child, and if we have to use an independent agency then that is what we have to do, there's no other option. Sometimes it costs an awful lot of money to keep a child safe." The council estimates that in the voluntary sector, the cost per child can be up to £60,000 a year, with an average cost of between £35,000 and £40,000. That compares with a starting salary of £18,000 for foster carers. In the first six months of this financial year, the council spent more than £1m on foster care through voluntary agencies. It expects to spend the same amount again in the next six months.
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Interviews with abusers examined
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Child abuse experts at a new specialist police unit will study hundreds of hours of interviews with paedophiles to find out how they think and behave. The information will be used to identify patterns of behaviour and to build criminal profiles. The centre is based on a similar FBI unit in the US. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will open the unit, part of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop), later. Ms Smith told BBC News: "This will look at interviews already carried out with paedophiles, so that we can get inside the head of those who want to abuse our children, making us more likely to be able to catch them and get them out of the way of the sort of harm that they're bringing to children." The centre was an example of how the UK was a "world leader" in tackling child abuse, she added. As well as examining what individuals say in interviews, the team will also analyse body language and unconscious facial gestures to try and glean insight into the true feelings of the paedophiles. Ceop head Jim Gamble said the information would help police stay ahead of paedophiles who were constantly changing their methods. "We are going to know what they think before they do so that next time they arrive in a place where a child is vulnerable we will be there waiting for them," he said. The information would also help police to improve education campaigns for children, he added.
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Child abuse experts at a new specialist police unit will study hundreds of hours of interviews with paedophiles to find out how they think and behave. The information will be used to identify patterns of behaviour and to build criminal profiles. The centre is based on a similar FBI unit in the US. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will open the unit, part of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop), later. Ms Smith told BBC News: "This will look at interviews already carried out with paedophiles, so that we can get inside the head of those who want to abuse our children, making us more likely to be able to catch them and get them out of the way of the sort of harm that they're bringing to children." The centre was an example of how the UK was a "world leader" in tackling child abuse, she added. As well as examining what individuals say in interviews, the team will also analyse body language and unconscious facial gestures to try and glean insight into the true feelings of the paedophiles. Ceop head Jim Gamble said the information would help police stay ahead of paedophiles who were constantly changing their methods. "We are going to know what they think before they do so that next time they arrive in a place where a child is vulnerable we will be there waiting for them," he said. The information would also help police to improve education campaigns for children, he added.
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'They said I was bad for the school's reputation'
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IT IS A common belief, but a myth, that there has been an increase in the number of teenagers becoming mothers in recent years. Factfile, a collection of statistics compiled by One Parent Families Scotland, reports that among 13-15-year-olds, the rate increased between 1983 and 1988, but has remained steady at about eight in 1000 since then. Births to schoolgirls in Scotland have ranged from 450 to 660 a year in the past decade. In 1999, researchers for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported that the provision of education for pregnant teenagers was inconsistent both within and between regions and that pregnancy often marked the beginning of girls' detachment from education. While the UK Government is keen for pregnant teenagers to attend school and return to school as mothers, the researchers found there was little practical support or understanding about the psychological impact of early pregnancy on teenagers. My research was with school-aged mothers in Scotland. My interest was stimulated when I realised that despite media reports of rising numbers of pregnant teenagers, they were almost invisible to services. When I asked about pregnancies in the schools I worked in as an educational psychologist, it seemed that expectant schoolgirls and school-age mothers were known to the head teachers, but did not attend school. It was not clear whether they were unable to go to school or whether the school preferred them not to be there. I hypothesised that schools knew who these pupils were, but they appeared unable to consider their educational needs; perhaps finding it difficult to have them in school. I wondered whether the school was anxious about the message that having pregnant girls at school might send to other students. Were adults in the school concerned that the number of pregnant girls might increase? Extensive research revealed that very little has been written about the actual experiences of school-age mothers and the work that had been done focused on the social implications of school-age motherhood in terms of the "cost to society". So, what was it that caused pregnant schoolgirls to disappear from the education system when they discovered, and it became known, that they were pregnant? Several of the girls I interviewed reported a favourable school experience during their primary education. While experiences in secondary school were more varied, many had been successful in their exams.
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IT IS A common belief, but a myth, that there has been an increase in the number of teenagers becoming mothers in recent years. Factfile, a collection of statistics compiled by One Parent Families Scotland, reports that among 13-15-year-olds, the rate increased between 1983 and 1988, but has remained steady at about eight in 1000 since then. Births to schoolgirls in Scotland have ranged from 450 to 660 a year in the past decade. In 1999, researchers for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported that the provision of education for pregnant teenagers was inconsistent both within and between regions and that pregnancy often marked the beginning of girls' detachment from education. While the UK Government is keen for pregnant teenagers to attend school and return to school as mothers, the researchers found there was little practical support or understanding about the psychological impact of early pregnancy on teenagers. My research was with school-aged mothers in Scotland. My interest was stimulated when I realised that despite media reports of rising numbers of pregnant teenagers, they were almost invisible to services. When I asked about pregnancies in the schools I worked in as an educational psychologist, it seemed that expectant schoolgirls and school-age mothers were known to the head teachers, but did not attend school. It was not clear whether they were unable to go to school or whether the school preferred them not to be there. I hypothesised that schools knew who these pupils were, but they appeared unable to consider their educational needs; perhaps finding it difficult to have them in school. I wondered whether the school was anxious about the message that having pregnant girls at school might send to other students. Were adults in the school concerned that the number of pregnant girls might increase? Extensive research revealed that very little has been written about the actual experiences of school-age mothers and the work that had been done focused on the social implications of school-age motherhood in terms of the "cost to society". So, what was it that caused pregnant schoolgirls to disappear from the education system when they discovered, and it became known, that they were pregnant? Several of the girls I interviewed reported a favourable school experience during their primary education. While experiences in secondary school were more varied, many had been successful in their exams.
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Counties rebel over child protection
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A rebellion by the counties over a new child-protection policy could cost three of the major bodies responsible for golf and its development funding of £1 million-plus from Sport England. The counties are meeting the English Golf Partnership — comprising the English Golf Union, the English Ladies Golf Association and the Professional Golfers' Association — at Woodhall Spa today, and if they refuse to adopt the new child-protection manual, Safeguarding Children In Golf, the Sport England tap could be turned off. Yorkshire are one county who say that they are happily prepared to go without the annual £7,500, which would be their share of the counties' spoils. Lancashire, Cumbria and Nottingham are of like mind. Keith Dowdeswell, secretary of the Yorkshire Golf Union, said the Partnership were asking everyone "to jump through hoops" and that the guidelines in the child-protection manual were unnecessarily complex. "We don't want to knock what is a thoroughly well-produced reference book," he said, "but we would be better off with something simple and workable." In the Midlands, where seven counties out of 10 indicated last week that they were against the document, a spokesperson picked out one sentence which, he said, illustrated "bureaucracy gone mad". If a child's parent fails to pick him or her up from the golf club, the organisers should call the police. "It is only in the guidelines, as opposed to the instructions," he said, "but if something were to go wrong, the powers-that-be could say that the recommendations were not followed. "Everyone is aware of the need to protect children but, unlike other sports, the English Golf Union, with their emotive language, have contributed to a fear factor among volunteers. In Cumbria, the entire junior committee stood down when they saw the first draft – and the second, 83 pages, isn't much better." There has also been concern among independent junior leagues. Martin Timlett, secretary of Kent's junior foursomes, said the legislation could well spell the end of his endeavours. For one, he said, he would lose some of the clubs involved because entries would be restricted to youngsters whose clubs had child-protection policies in place. "Even the EGU's own National Junior Club championship's conditions of entry do not impose such a restriction," Timlett said. "I know our league will lose clubs if we do what we're being asked. I've worked too hard over 11 years to see it damaged in this way."
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A rebellion by the counties over a new child-protection policy could cost three of the major bodies responsible for golf and its development funding of £1 million-plus from Sport England. The counties are meeting the English Golf Partnership — comprising the English Golf Union, the English Ladies Golf Association and the Professional Golfers' Association — at Woodhall Spa today, and if they refuse to adopt the new child-protection manual, Safeguarding Children In Golf, the Sport England tap could be turned off. Yorkshire are one county who say that they are happily prepared to go without the annual £7,500, which would be their share of the counties' spoils. Lancashire, Cumbria and Nottingham are of like mind. Keith Dowdeswell, secretary of the Yorkshire Golf Union, said the Partnership were asking everyone "to jump through hoops" and that the guidelines in the child-protection manual were unnecessarily complex. "We don't want to knock what is a thoroughly well-produced reference book," he said, "but we would be better off with something simple and workable." In the Midlands, where seven counties out of 10 indicated last week that they were against the document, a spokesperson picked out one sentence which, he said, illustrated "bureaucracy gone mad". If a child's parent fails to pick him or her up from the golf club, the organisers should call the police. "It is only in the guidelines, as opposed to the instructions," he said, "but if something were to go wrong, the powers-that-be could say that the recommendations were not followed. "Everyone is aware of the need to protect children but, unlike other sports, the English Golf Union, with their emotive language, have contributed to a fear factor among volunteers. In Cumbria, the entire junior committee stood down when they saw the first draft – and the second, 83 pages, isn't much better." There has also been concern among independent junior leagues. Martin Timlett, secretary of Kent's junior foursomes, said the legislation could well spell the end of his endeavours. For one, he said, he would lose some of the clubs involved because entries would be restricted to youngsters whose clubs had child-protection policies in place. "Even the EGU's own National Junior Club championship's conditions of entry do not impose such a restriction," Timlett said. "I know our league will lose clubs if we do what we're being asked. I've worked too hard over 11 years to see it damaged in this way."
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Card scheme to put autistic people beyond suspicion
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CHRIS Hunter is autistic. He is not a criminal, yet he is regularly stopped by police. Speaking to strangers is difficult, even traumatic for Mr Hunter, but his evasiveness often brings him to the attention of officers who suspect him of criminal intent. He is not alone in this experience - now so commonplace a special identification card has been launched by Strathclyde Police, enabling autistic people easily to explain their behaviour when stopped. It is just another hurdle, exposed in a series of articles by The Scotsman, faced by the growing numbers of people diagnosed with the condition. Mr Hunter, 21, from Govan in Glasgow, said: "The police stop me and ask me if I am on drugs or if I have been drinking, because they think I walk past people funny. "I just tell them I've been playing on my computer for too long and needed to get some fresh air. It's very frustrating." His mother, Ann, said: "He spends a lot of time on his computer so he likes to go out about 10pm for a walk around the block. They ask him where he's going and what he's got in his pockets. "He comes in raging that he's the only person in the street who gets stopped." Mr Hunter believes the identification card issued by Strathclyde Police would help him explain to officers, who are trained to make eye contact, that many people with autism dislike direct gaze and can feel stressed or threatened by strangers. People with more severe autism may be unable to respond verbally and can become noisy or agitated if asked to deviate from their regular routine. To counteract the problem Mr Hunter has been improving his communication skills through a social group organised by the National Autistic Society Scotland (NAS). The group has become his lifeline to the world after a major setback when he was forced to drop out of college because lecturers suspected he might be autistic.
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CHRIS Hunter is autistic. He is not a criminal, yet he is regularly stopped by police. Speaking to strangers is difficult, even traumatic for Mr Hunter, but his evasiveness often brings him to the attention of officers who suspect him of criminal intent. He is not alone in this experience - now so commonplace a special identification card has been launched by Strathclyde Police, enabling autistic people easily to explain their behaviour when stopped. It is just another hurdle, exposed in a series of articles by The Scotsman, faced by the growing numbers of people diagnosed with the condition. Mr Hunter, 21, from Govan in Glasgow, said: "The police stop me and ask me if I am on drugs or if I have been drinking, because they think I walk past people funny. "I just tell them I've been playing on my computer for too long and needed to get some fresh air. It's very frustrating." His mother, Ann, said: "He spends a lot of time on his computer so he likes to go out about 10pm for a walk around the block. They ask him where he's going and what he's got in his pockets. "He comes in raging that he's the only person in the street who gets stopped." Mr Hunter believes the identification card issued by Strathclyde Police would help him explain to officers, who are trained to make eye contact, that many people with autism dislike direct gaze and can feel stressed or threatened by strangers. People with more severe autism may be unable to respond verbally and can become noisy or agitated if asked to deviate from their regular routine. To counteract the problem Mr Hunter has been improving his communication skills through a social group organised by the National Autistic Society Scotland (NAS). The group has become his lifeline to the world after a major setback when he was forced to drop out of college because lecturers suspected he might be autistic.
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Child centres for asylum seekers fail to meet legal standard
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The HSE has admitted that the centres for children that are separated from their parents and seeking asylum here do not meet legal minimum care and safety standards. The Irish Times reports this morning that none of these centres are inspected by social services.
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The HSE has admitted that the centres for children that are separated from their parents and seeking asylum here do not meet legal minimum care and safety standards. The Irish Times reports this morning that none of these centres are inspected by social services.
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Fianna Fail faces revolt over 'flawed' childcare plan
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A Fianna Fail TD has slammed the new way of funding community childcare places as "seriously flawed" and "reinforcing welfare dependency". Fianna Fail TD Chris Andrews said the changes will force low income parents to stop working as they won't be able to afford to pay for creche places if their income exceeds the new limits. The creche places of up to 10,000 children in community non-for-profit childcare facilities will be affected, according to the early childhood group IPPA, which represents 2,500 creches and playgroups. The children of low income working parents will be particularly badly affected, according to Mr Andrews. "What it's doing is ghettoising and reinforcing welfare dependency. It's going to actually stop people moving out of social welfare dependency. It's going to reduce peoples' choices where both are working," said the Dublin South-East TD. Thousands of parents in receipt of subsidised childcare places face the possibility of losing them next year, when the subsidy will be paid instead to parents on full social welfare payments, or those in receipt of Family Income Supplement. This will push up the price of childcare dramatically for low to middle income parents, earning just enough to put them over the income threshold. "The objective is right and there does need to be tightening up in the way the money is spent. But they are using a method that is seriously flawed," according to Mr Andrews. "It's a really blunt form of means testing," he added. Under the new Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCSS), parents in receipt of social welfare will receive an €80 weekly subvention for full day-care, while parents in receipt of the Family Income Supplement will receive a €30 weekly subvention.
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A Fianna Fail TD has slammed the new way of funding community childcare places as "seriously flawed" and "reinforcing welfare dependency". Fianna Fail TD Chris Andrews said the changes will force low income parents to stop working as they won't be able to afford to pay for creche places if their income exceeds the new limits. The creche places of up to 10,000 children in community non-for-profit childcare facilities will be affected, according to the early childhood group IPPA, which represents 2,500 creches and playgroups. The children of low income working parents will be particularly badly affected, according to Mr Andrews. "What it's doing is ghettoising and reinforcing welfare dependency. It's going to actually stop people moving out of social welfare dependency. It's going to reduce peoples' choices where both are working," said the Dublin South-East TD. Thousands of parents in receipt of subsidised childcare places face the possibility of losing them next year, when the subsidy will be paid instead to parents on full social welfare payments, or those in receipt of Family Income Supplement. This will push up the price of childcare dramatically for low to middle income parents, earning just enough to put them over the income threshold. "The objective is right and there does need to be tightening up in the way the money is spent. But they are using a method that is seriously flawed," according to Mr Andrews. "It's a really blunt form of means testing," he added. Under the new Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCSS), parents in receipt of social welfare will receive an €80 weekly subvention for full day-care, while parents in receipt of the Family Income Supplement will receive a €30 weekly subvention.
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Bishop sets up historic child protection checks
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The Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham has appointed an independent lawyer to undertake a systematic review of all clergy files held by his office to make sure none of them contains outstanding child protection issues. This process, which has been agreed by bishops across the Church of England, is part of a proposed protocol announced by the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier in the year. The Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham, the Rt Rev George Cassidy said: “This independent review is an important step for us in minimising any possible risk to children or young people. They each deserve the best care, nurture and teaching that the church is able to provide and we are firmly committed to safeguarding all children in our care.” In addition to the review of files on clergy, lay employees and Readers, the Bishop is also writing to previous senior post-holders to ask whether they have any information about cases of abuse or concerns expressed which they can recall from their time in the diocese which were not followed up at the time. If the search raises any concerns, urgent issues will be referred immediately to the relevant statutory authorities and the independent reviewer will also recommend action and pass the portfolio to the Diocesan Child Protection Management Group to formulate an action plan, led by the Child Protection Adviser.
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The Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham has appointed an independent lawyer to undertake a systematic review of all clergy files held by his office to make sure none of them contains outstanding child protection issues. This process, which has been agreed by bishops across the Church of England, is part of a proposed protocol announced by the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier in the year. The Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham, the Rt Rev George Cassidy said: “This independent review is an important step for us in minimising any possible risk to children or young people. They each deserve the best care, nurture and teaching that the church is able to provide and we are firmly committed to safeguarding all children in our care.” In addition to the review of files on clergy, lay employees and Readers, the Bishop is also writing to previous senior post-holders to ask whether they have any information about cases of abuse or concerns expressed which they can recall from their time in the diocese which were not followed up at the time. If the search raises any concerns, urgent issues will be referred immediately to the relevant statutory authorities and the independent reviewer will also recommend action and pass the portfolio to the Diocesan Child Protection Management Group to formulate an action plan, led by the Child Protection Adviser.
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OAP couple jailed for talking to grandson
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A PENSIONER couple have been handed jail sentences for getting in touch with their grandson. A 71 year-old man was jailed for 20 months during a private hearing in the Midlands, held without a jury. And the 61 year-old grandmother was given a 12-month term, which has been suspended for two years. The pair were found guilty of being in contempt of court at a Nottingham Family Court hearing on Friday. The woman is the natural grandmother of the youngster, and her former partner is step-grandad. Their teenage grandson is in the care of the city's social services department. No further details about the case, which was heard at Nottingham County Court, can be revealed by the Sunday Mercury because of legal red tape. But the tough sentences have shocked Birmingham Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming. Last night, he voiced his concerns about the case, and called for an end to secrecy in the courts. "With all the violent criminals we have got problems with, it seems odd that a judge would imprison someone for 20 months for talking to his grandson," said Mr Hemming. "There are serious questions that need answering about this issue." Mr Hemming has been campaigning to end the secrecy in the family courts. Campaigners say parents are warned that if they tell anyone - even their closest family - what goes on, they could face prison for contempt of court in some cases. Family courts now deal with nearly half a million cases every year in private. It is believed as many as 200 people were jailed during private proceedings in the family courts in 2005. Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman issued proposals to promote more openness in the family courts while she was Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs last year. "Taking a child from its mother and placing it for adoption changes the life of that child irrevocably," she said. "The right judgement can mean the child's life can be saved.
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A PENSIONER couple have been handed jail sentences for getting in touch with their grandson. A 71 year-old man was jailed for 20 months during a private hearing in the Midlands, held without a jury. And the 61 year-old grandmother was given a 12-month term, which has been suspended for two years. The pair were found guilty of being in contempt of court at a Nottingham Family Court hearing on Friday. The woman is the natural grandmother of the youngster, and her former partner is step-grandad. Their teenage grandson is in the care of the city's social services department. No further details about the case, which was heard at Nottingham County Court, can be revealed by the Sunday Mercury because of legal red tape. But the tough sentences have shocked Birmingham Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming. Last night, he voiced his concerns about the case, and called for an end to secrecy in the courts. "With all the violent criminals we have got problems with, it seems odd that a judge would imprison someone for 20 months for talking to his grandson," said Mr Hemming. "There are serious questions that need answering about this issue." Mr Hemming has been campaigning to end the secrecy in the family courts. Campaigners say parents are warned that if they tell anyone - even their closest family - what goes on, they could face prison for contempt of court in some cases. Family courts now deal with nearly half a million cases every year in private. It is believed as many as 200 people were jailed during private proceedings in the family courts in 2005. Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman issued proposals to promote more openness in the family courts while she was Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs last year. "Taking a child from its mother and placing it for adoption changes the life of that child irrevocably," she said. "The right judgement can mean the child's life can be saved.
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Fathers march to judge's home
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About 60 members of the campaign group Fathers4Justice marched on a senior Appeal Court judge's country home. Leading the demonstration was Mark Harris, 48, whose 10-year battle for access to his three children was heard by a total of 33 judges, including family specialist Lord Justice Mathew Thorpe. Mr Harris, from Plymouth, said he intended to ask Sir Mathew for "the same rights as mum's latest boyfriend". He also wanted drop off a wheel barrow containing 6,000 pages of documents relating to his legal fight and a copy of his book about the case, Family Court Hell, but the judge did not answer his door. About 10 police officers monitored the march, which began at a pub in the village of Seend in Wiltshire. Mr Harris, outside Sir Mathew's house, said: "We are here to ask Lord Justice Thorpe for the same rights as mum's latest boyfriend. "A mum can bring home a man from the pub on Friday night and he can then move in with her and the kids, no questions asked, but in many cases the children's own fathers are not allowed to see them. "We are not after anything special - just the same rights as mum's latest boyfriend, that's all. The judge did not come the door today. Perhaps we'll catch him next time."
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About 60 members of the campaign group Fathers4Justice marched on a senior Appeal Court judge's country home. Leading the demonstration was Mark Harris, 48, whose 10-year battle for access to his three children was heard by a total of 33 judges, including family specialist Lord Justice Mathew Thorpe. Mr Harris, from Plymouth, said he intended to ask Sir Mathew for "the same rights as mum's latest boyfriend". He also wanted drop off a wheel barrow containing 6,000 pages of documents relating to his legal fight and a copy of his book about the case, Family Court Hell, but the judge did not answer his door. About 10 police officers monitored the march, which began at a pub in the village of Seend in Wiltshire. Mr Harris, outside Sir Mathew's house, said: "We are here to ask Lord Justice Thorpe for the same rights as mum's latest boyfriend. "A mum can bring home a man from the pub on Friday night and he can then move in with her and the kids, no questions asked, but in many cases the children's own fathers are not allowed to see them. "We are not after anything special - just the same rights as mum's latest boyfriend, that's all. The judge did not come the door today. Perhaps we'll catch him next time."
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Tuesday 30 October 2007
'CHILD C' by Christopher Spry (Author) - 20 years of sadisic child abuse
Read The Press Coverage Of This Horrific And Sad True Story, Child C Has Gone Through The Waste Kind Of Child Abuse You Could Imagine And Is Now Making A Life For Himself. His Story Will Have You In Tears!
In April 2007, 62-year-old Eunice Spry was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the systematic wounding, cruelty and assault of the vulnerable children whose welfare had been entrusted to her. Her Gloucestershire home should have been a refuge. Instead it became a prison where, over the course of 20 years, her charges were routinely abused and tortured. To the outside world, Jehovah's Witness Spry presented herself as a pillar of the community. Behind closed doors she was a sadistic tyrant who beat the children with metal bars, forced wooden sticks down their throats and made them eat lard, bleach, vomit and faeces. The details of the trial horrified the nation, and attracted considerable press attention. Now, for the first time, one of the victims - known in the case as 'Child C' and now 19 years old - tells the full, shocking story of what went on in Eunice Spry's house of evil. Child C is a gripping, heartbreaking story of enforced isolation, psychological and physical abuse and a childhood denied. Despite all he has been through, Christopher Spry is a survivor with a zest for life. With his former foster mother in prison, he can finally tell the story of his suffering and what it.
'On A Personal Note'
This Is The Waste Child Abuse Case I Have Heard Of!
Sunday 28 October 2007
LIST OF SUPPORTERS OF 'STOP INJUSTICE NOW'
SUPPORTERS OF 'STOP INJUSTICE NOW'
To See The List On Site:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/Supporters.htm
I Have Had To Make This Page Because The Number Of Supporters Is Growing By The Day!,
THANK YOU!
If You Would Like To Be Listed As A 'Stop Injustice Now' Supporter,
Please Email Me At: mailto:support@stopinjusticenow.com
P.S. The Link Are Not In Any Sort Of Order.....
This Is The List So Far:
John Hemming MP (Blog): http://johnhemming.blogspot.com/
Fassit UK: http://www.fassit.co.uk/
Unity-Injustice: http://www.unity-injustice.co.uk/
Hope 4 Kids: http://www.hope4kidz.org/
Missing You (UK): http://www.missing-you.net/Adoptions.php
A. R. C. H. : http://www.arch-ed.org/
Fathers 4 Justice: http://fathers-4-justice.org/
R. F. F. J. : http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/
Norman Lamb MP: http://www.normanlamb.org.uk/
Forced Adoption: http://www.forced-adoption.com/introduction.asp
Flint: http://www.familieslink.co.uk/
Law Reforms: http://www.forced-adoption.com/reforms.asp
Men's Aid: http://www.mensaid.com/
M. A. M. A. : http://www.msbp.com/
I. M. O. : http://internationalmensorganisation.cjb.net/
Children In Care: http://www.childrenincare.com/
(PAIN): http://www.parentsagainstinjustice.org.uk/
Mothers For Justice: http://www.mothers-for-justice.net/
Eric Pickles MP: http://www.ericpickles.com/
Jack Frost: http://www.gulagofthefamilycourts.com/
Amy Adoptee: http://amyadoptee.blogspot.com/
Fran Lyon: http://www.wardrobehudson.co.uk/askingforachance/Home.html
phpatm: http://www.phpatm.com/results?search_query=Baaf
bubatv: http://www.bubatv.com/tag/stop%20injustice%20now%injustice%now
International Adoption info: http://www.internationaladoption.info/
PAFA: http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/Parentsagainstforcedadoption/
David Southall Exposed: http://davidsouthallexposed.blogspot.com/
If You Would Like To Be Listed As A 'Stop Injustice Now' Supporter,Please Email Me At: mailto:support@stopinjusticenow.com
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To See The List On Site:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/Supporters.htm
I Have Had To Make This Page Because The Number Of Supporters Is Growing By The Day!,
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If You Would Like To Be Listed As A 'Stop Injustice Now' Supporter,
Please Email Me At: mailto:support@stopinjusticenow.com
P.S. The Link Are Not In Any Sort Of Order.....
This Is The List So Far:
John Hemming MP (Blog): http://johnhemming.blogspot.com/
Fassit UK: http://www.fassit.co.uk/
Unity-Injustice: http://www.unity-injustice.co.uk/
Hope 4 Kids: http://www.hope4kidz.org/
Missing You (UK): http://www.missing-you.net/Adoptions.php
A. R. C. H. : http://www.arch-ed.org/
Fathers 4 Justice: http://fathers-4-justice.org/
R. F. F. J. : http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/
Norman Lamb MP: http://www.normanlamb.org.uk/
Forced Adoption: http://www.forced-adoption.com/introduction.asp
Flint: http://www.familieslink.co.uk/
Law Reforms: http://www.forced-adoption.com/reforms.asp
Men's Aid: http://www.mensaid.com/
M. A. M. A. : http://www.msbp.com/
I. M. O. : http://internationalmensorganisation.cjb.net/
Children In Care: http://www.childrenincare.com/
(PAIN): http://www.parentsagainstinjustice.org.uk/
Mothers For Justice: http://www.mothers-for-justice.net/
Eric Pickles MP: http://www.ericpickles.com/
Jack Frost: http://www.gulagofthefamilycourts.com/
Amy Adoptee: http://amyadoptee.blogspot.com/
Fran Lyon: http://www.wardrobehudson.co.uk/askingforachance/Home.html
phpatm: http://www.phpatm.com/results?search_query=Baaf
bubatv: http://www.bubatv.com/tag/stop%20injustice%20now%injustice%now
International Adoption info: http://www.internationaladoption.info/
PAFA: http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/Parentsagainstforcedadoption/
David Southall Exposed: http://davidsouthallexposed.blogspot.com/
If You Would Like To Be Listed As A 'Stop Injustice Now' Supporter,Please Email Me At: mailto:support@stopinjusticenow.com
THANK YOU!
Disgraced doctor faces 'child experiments' rap
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0497.htm
A BANNED paediatrician whose evidence helped convict Sion Jenkins will next week face an investigation into allegations that he carried out secret experiments on children. Professor David Southall gave evidence at the former deputy headmaster’s trial nine years ago in which he was found guilty of murdering 13-year-old foster daughter Billie-Jo in 1998. Mr Jenkins, 50, whose parents live in Aberystwyth, was acquitted of the crime in 2005 after spending six years in jail. He was retried twice but a jury failed to reach a verdict on both occasions. Next Monday, Prof Southall faces a full General Medical Council probe into experiments he is alleged to have carried out on children. The month-long investigation will inquire into allegations that Prof Southall, who denies any wrongdoing, acted in a way which was inappropriate and added to the distress of a bereaved person. He is also accused of abusing his professional position in relation to a report he was instructed to prepare by a local authority in relation to the care proceedings of a child. It is further alleged that Prof Southall kept secret medical records on children. In the 1980s and 1990s, under the aegis of Dr Southall, thousands of sick children were given breathing tests – called ‘sleep studies’. The experiments, authorised by hospital ethics committees, were carried out despite the doubts of worried parents. It is alleged that some of the tiny babies were forced to breathe poisonous gases and deprived of oxygen. The results of these tests were then said to have been stored by the paediatrician in 4,500 files.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0497.htm
A BANNED paediatrician whose evidence helped convict Sion Jenkins will next week face an investigation into allegations that he carried out secret experiments on children. Professor David Southall gave evidence at the former deputy headmaster’s trial nine years ago in which he was found guilty of murdering 13-year-old foster daughter Billie-Jo in 1998. Mr Jenkins, 50, whose parents live in Aberystwyth, was acquitted of the crime in 2005 after spending six years in jail. He was retried twice but a jury failed to reach a verdict on both occasions. Next Monday, Prof Southall faces a full General Medical Council probe into experiments he is alleged to have carried out on children. The month-long investigation will inquire into allegations that Prof Southall, who denies any wrongdoing, acted in a way which was inappropriate and added to the distress of a bereaved person. He is also accused of abusing his professional position in relation to a report he was instructed to prepare by a local authority in relation to the care proceedings of a child. It is further alleged that Prof Southall kept secret medical records on children. In the 1980s and 1990s, under the aegis of Dr Southall, thousands of sick children were given breathing tests – called ‘sleep studies’. The experiments, authorised by hospital ethics committees, were carried out despite the doubts of worried parents. It is alleged that some of the tiny babies were forced to breathe poisonous gases and deprived of oxygen. The results of these tests were then said to have been stored by the paediatrician in 4,500 files.
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'Shock tactics'
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0496.htm
Hundreds of children no other school wants — from the autistic to the merely troubled — attend a centre in America where electric shocks are administered for even the smallest misdemeanour. Forced to wear 10lb backpacks with electrodes attached to their skin, they never know when their teachers will deliver this ‘behaviour-modification’ therapy. Why hasn’t the school been closed down? Rob Santana awoke terrified. He’d had that dream again, the one where silver wires ran under his shirt and into his pants, connecting to electrodes attached to his limbs and torso. Adults armed with surveillance cameras and remote-control activators watched his every move. One press of a button, and there was no telling where the shock would hit – his arm or leg or, worse, his stomach. All Rob knew was that the pain would be intense. Every time he woke from this dream, it took him a few moments to remember that he was in his own bed, that there weren’t electrodes locked to his skin, that he wasn’t about to be shocked. It was no mystery to him where this recurring nightmare came from – not A Clockwork Orange or 1984, but the years he spent confined in America’s most controversial “behaviour-modification” institution. In 1999, when Rob was 13, his parents sent him to the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, in Massachusetts, 20 miles outside Boston. The institution, which calls itself a “special-needs school”, takes in all kinds of troubled kids – autistic, mentally retarded, schizophrenic, bipolar, emotionally disturbed – and attempts to change their behaviour with a complex system of rewards and punishments, including painful electric shocks to the torso and limbs. Of the 230 residents, about half are wired to receive shocks. Eight states send students to this institution, with New York providing the most. The price tag for a year there is $220,000; states and school districts pick up the tab. The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center is the only institution in the US that disciplines students by giving them electric shocks, a form of punishment not inflicted on serial killers or child molesters, or any of more than 2.2m inmates in US jails and prisons. Over its 36-year history, there have been numerous lawsuits and government investigations. Last year, New York-state investigators filed a blistering report that made the place sound like a high-school version of Abu Ghraib. Yet the programme continues to thrive – in large part because nobody, except desperate parents and a few legislators, seems to care about what happens to the hundreds of kids who pass through its gates. In Rob Santana’s case, he freely admits he was an out-of-control kid with “serious behavioural problems”. At birth he was abandoned at the hospital, traces of cocaine, heroin and alcohol in his body. A middle-class couple adopted him when he was 11 months old, but his troubles continued. He started fires; he got kicked out of preschool for opening the back door of a moving school bus; he cut himself with a razor when he was six. His mother took him to specialists, who diagnosed him with a slew of psychiatric problems: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder. Rob remained at the Rotenberg Center for about 31/2 years. From the start, he cursed, hollered and fought with employees. Eventually the staff obtained permission from his mother and a court to use electric shock. Rob was forced to wear a backpack containing five 2lb battery-operated devices, each connected to an electrode attached to his skin. “I felt humiliated,” he says. “You have a bunch of wires coming out of your shirt and pants.”
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0496.htm
Hundreds of children no other school wants — from the autistic to the merely troubled — attend a centre in America where electric shocks are administered for even the smallest misdemeanour. Forced to wear 10lb backpacks with electrodes attached to their skin, they never know when their teachers will deliver this ‘behaviour-modification’ therapy. Why hasn’t the school been closed down? Rob Santana awoke terrified. He’d had that dream again, the one where silver wires ran under his shirt and into his pants, connecting to electrodes attached to his limbs and torso. Adults armed with surveillance cameras and remote-control activators watched his every move. One press of a button, and there was no telling where the shock would hit – his arm or leg or, worse, his stomach. All Rob knew was that the pain would be intense. Every time he woke from this dream, it took him a few moments to remember that he was in his own bed, that there weren’t electrodes locked to his skin, that he wasn’t about to be shocked. It was no mystery to him where this recurring nightmare came from – not A Clockwork Orange or 1984, but the years he spent confined in America’s most controversial “behaviour-modification” institution. In 1999, when Rob was 13, his parents sent him to the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, in Massachusetts, 20 miles outside Boston. The institution, which calls itself a “special-needs school”, takes in all kinds of troubled kids – autistic, mentally retarded, schizophrenic, bipolar, emotionally disturbed – and attempts to change their behaviour with a complex system of rewards and punishments, including painful electric shocks to the torso and limbs. Of the 230 residents, about half are wired to receive shocks. Eight states send students to this institution, with New York providing the most. The price tag for a year there is $220,000; states and school districts pick up the tab. The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center is the only institution in the US that disciplines students by giving them electric shocks, a form of punishment not inflicted on serial killers or child molesters, or any of more than 2.2m inmates in US jails and prisons. Over its 36-year history, there have been numerous lawsuits and government investigations. Last year, New York-state investigators filed a blistering report that made the place sound like a high-school version of Abu Ghraib. Yet the programme continues to thrive – in large part because nobody, except desperate parents and a few legislators, seems to care about what happens to the hundreds of kids who pass through its gates. In Rob Santana’s case, he freely admits he was an out-of-control kid with “serious behavioural problems”. At birth he was abandoned at the hospital, traces of cocaine, heroin and alcohol in his body. A middle-class couple adopted him when he was 11 months old, but his troubles continued. He started fires; he got kicked out of preschool for opening the back door of a moving school bus; he cut himself with a razor when he was six. His mother took him to specialists, who diagnosed him with a slew of psychiatric problems: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder. Rob remained at the Rotenberg Center for about 31/2 years. From the start, he cursed, hollered and fought with employees. Eventually the staff obtained permission from his mother and a court to use electric shock. Rob was forced to wear a backpack containing five 2lb battery-operated devices, each connected to an electrode attached to his skin. “I felt humiliated,” he says. “You have a bunch of wires coming out of your shirt and pants.”
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The foster couple who quit rather than be forced to promote gay rights
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0495.htm
Yesterday morning, Pauline and Vincent Matherick drove their nervous and emotional 11-year-old foster son 18 miles to his new home. It was a painful parting. After two happy years at the Mathericks' five-bedroom house in Somerset, the boy - who we shall call David - did not want to leave his foster parents and go back into council care. Nor did the Mathericks want him to go. As they packed up his toys, clothes and leaving presents, they were distraught at the prospect of putting him in a residential unit. "David cried when we told him he couldn't stay with us any more, and said: 'I don't want to go,'" says 61-year-old Pauline Matherick. "But he is trying to be very mature about it for a little fellow. We've told him we are getting too old to be foster carers and have to retire, which he understands." What the Mathericks haven't told David, however, is that they were effectively forced to retire. If they hadn't, they say, the council would have de-registered them and taken him away anyway, all because the Mathericks refused to sign a new agreement which they claim would have required them to promote homosexuality. Earlier this year, Somerset County Council's social services asked the Mathericks to sign a new contract to implement Labour's new Sexual Orientation Regulations - part of the 2006 Equality Act, which makes discrimination on the grounds of sexuality illegal. "When we first became foster parents in 2001 we signed a contract agreeing not to discriminate against people on the basis of religion, race or sexuality," says Pauline, who with her 65-year-old husband Vincent has fostered 28 vulnerable children in just six years. "We were happy to sign. "We've never discriminated against anyone and never would, but this new agreement seemed to go beyond that. "Our social worker came to see us at our home, because you have to be passed every year by a panel, and we were totally unprepared for what she had to say. She was talking about attending sexual orientation seminars and threw hypothetical questions at us, asking how we'd feel if one of our foster children had a gay parent and how we'd explain same-sex relationships to them. "We were asked what we would do if a parent and his or her same-sex partner wanted to visit the child at our home. "There was even talk of taking teenagers to gay association meetings if they expressed an interest in samesex relationships, and explaining about gay dating. "We were told that failure to accept same-sex relationships could be seen as homophobia. "I have to admit I lost my cool, and we had quite a heated debate with our social worker. "We made it quite clear that we could not promote homosexuality, but would be quite prepared to refer the matter back to social services if a child ever brought the issue up. "We said we were happy for any biological parent to visit the child, regardless of their sexuality, but not necessarily a gay partner who had no direct connection to the child.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0495.htm
Yesterday morning, Pauline and Vincent Matherick drove their nervous and emotional 11-year-old foster son 18 miles to his new home. It was a painful parting. After two happy years at the Mathericks' five-bedroom house in Somerset, the boy - who we shall call David - did not want to leave his foster parents and go back into council care. Nor did the Mathericks want him to go. As they packed up his toys, clothes and leaving presents, they were distraught at the prospect of putting him in a residential unit. "David cried when we told him he couldn't stay with us any more, and said: 'I don't want to go,'" says 61-year-old Pauline Matherick. "But he is trying to be very mature about it for a little fellow. We've told him we are getting too old to be foster carers and have to retire, which he understands." What the Mathericks haven't told David, however, is that they were effectively forced to retire. If they hadn't, they say, the council would have de-registered them and taken him away anyway, all because the Mathericks refused to sign a new agreement which they claim would have required them to promote homosexuality. Earlier this year, Somerset County Council's social services asked the Mathericks to sign a new contract to implement Labour's new Sexual Orientation Regulations - part of the 2006 Equality Act, which makes discrimination on the grounds of sexuality illegal. "When we first became foster parents in 2001 we signed a contract agreeing not to discriminate against people on the basis of religion, race or sexuality," says Pauline, who with her 65-year-old husband Vincent has fostered 28 vulnerable children in just six years. "We were happy to sign. "We've never discriminated against anyone and never would, but this new agreement seemed to go beyond that. "Our social worker came to see us at our home, because you have to be passed every year by a panel, and we were totally unprepared for what she had to say. She was talking about attending sexual orientation seminars and threw hypothetical questions at us, asking how we'd feel if one of our foster children had a gay parent and how we'd explain same-sex relationships to them. "We were asked what we would do if a parent and his or her same-sex partner wanted to visit the child at our home. "There was even talk of taking teenagers to gay association meetings if they expressed an interest in samesex relationships, and explaining about gay dating. "We were told that failure to accept same-sex relationships could be seen as homophobia. "I have to admit I lost my cool, and we had quite a heated debate with our social worker. "We made it quite clear that we could not promote homosexuality, but would be quite prepared to refer the matter back to social services if a child ever brought the issue up. "We said we were happy for any biological parent to visit the child, regardless of their sexuality, but not necessarily a gay partner who had no direct connection to the child.
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Is this doctor responsible for parents being falsely branded as child abusers?
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0494.htm
Lawrence Alexander suffered a difficult childhood. Neighbours pointed at him in the street. He was inexplicably bullied at school. When he invited his few friends home for tea, they nearly always refused. His family moved from Cornwall to Sussex and then to Shropshire. In every fresh place, there were whispers. His parents lost their jobs and the only member of his extended family who sent birthday presents was his father's sister, Aunt Nina. At 13, Lawrence began to ask why his upbringing seemed different to everyone else's. It is only today, nearly eight years on, that he knows the full truth: his parents had been wrongly accused of one of the worst crimes imaginable — deliberately harming him as a baby. As a result of the allegation made by children's doctor David Southall, the family became social pariahs. A bundle of papers in Lawrence's NHS records followed him to every new GP and new school, repeating the claim that his parents had hurt him. The accusation has scarred his life and theirs. Lawrence has never before told his deeply shocking story. The 21-year-old is central to a Government inquiry into Dr Southall, which could establish once and for all his links to one of the worst scandals in British medicine for years. The doctor has been praised as a pioneer by colleagues, while vilified as arrogant and dangerous by patients. He has also been in trouble over remarks he made concerning the case of Sally Clark, the mother who was given two life sentences for the murder of her two children before being released after medical evidence emerged to prove she was innocent. Dr Southall, who had never met Sally, accused her husband of the murders, a totally unfounded allegation which led to the paediatrician being declared guilty of professional misconduct and barred from child protection work for three years. The present inquiry, overseen by Attorney General Baroness Scotland, wants to find the answer to a crucial question: were Lawrence's parents — and many others — falsely smeared as child abusers so that Dr Southall could put their children into care and use them as guinea pigs in deeply contentious medical experiments, which many would argue were also deeply immoral? In the 1980s and 1990s, under the aegis of Dr Southall, thousands of sick children were given breathing tests — called 'sleep studies'. The experiments, authorised by hospital ethics committees, were carried out despite the doubts of worried parents. Incredibly, it is now alleged that some of the tiny babies were forced to breathe poisonous gases and deprived of oxygen. The results of these tests were stored by the paediatrician in 4,500 secret files.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0494.htm
Lawrence Alexander suffered a difficult childhood. Neighbours pointed at him in the street. He was inexplicably bullied at school. When he invited his few friends home for tea, they nearly always refused. His family moved from Cornwall to Sussex and then to Shropshire. In every fresh place, there were whispers. His parents lost their jobs and the only member of his extended family who sent birthday presents was his father's sister, Aunt Nina. At 13, Lawrence began to ask why his upbringing seemed different to everyone else's. It is only today, nearly eight years on, that he knows the full truth: his parents had been wrongly accused of one of the worst crimes imaginable — deliberately harming him as a baby. As a result of the allegation made by children's doctor David Southall, the family became social pariahs. A bundle of papers in Lawrence's NHS records followed him to every new GP and new school, repeating the claim that his parents had hurt him. The accusation has scarred his life and theirs. Lawrence has never before told his deeply shocking story. The 21-year-old is central to a Government inquiry into Dr Southall, which could establish once and for all his links to one of the worst scandals in British medicine for years. The doctor has been praised as a pioneer by colleagues, while vilified as arrogant and dangerous by patients. He has also been in trouble over remarks he made concerning the case of Sally Clark, the mother who was given two life sentences for the murder of her two children before being released after medical evidence emerged to prove she was innocent. Dr Southall, who had never met Sally, accused her husband of the murders, a totally unfounded allegation which led to the paediatrician being declared guilty of professional misconduct and barred from child protection work for three years. The present inquiry, overseen by Attorney General Baroness Scotland, wants to find the answer to a crucial question: were Lawrence's parents — and many others — falsely smeared as child abusers so that Dr Southall could put their children into care and use them as guinea pigs in deeply contentious medical experiments, which many would argue were also deeply immoral? In the 1980s and 1990s, under the aegis of Dr Southall, thousands of sick children were given breathing tests — called 'sleep studies'. The experiments, authorised by hospital ethics committees, were carried out despite the doubts of worried parents. Incredibly, it is now alleged that some of the tiny babies were forced to breathe poisonous gases and deprived of oxygen. The results of these tests were stored by the paediatrician in 4,500 secret files.
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Wales could go it alone with a ban on smacking children
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0493.htm
THE SMACKING of children in Wales could be outlawed.
Welsh Assembly Government officials are weighing up whether to ask for powers to implement a ban on corporal punishment, after the UK Government yesterday refused to make it illegal.
Welsh Assembly deputy health minister, Gwenda Thomas, told AMs that civil servants were examining whether or not it should go it alone in introducing the law.
She said: “I’m very aware this is an issue which has attracted a lot of attention in the past, and certainly today, and careful thought must be given to it.”
Westminster Children’s Minister Kevin Brennan said a review of the law revealed parents were largely opposed to a ban.
They are allowed to punish children with a smack that does no more than cause “a temporary reddening of the skin”.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0493.htm
THE SMACKING of children in Wales could be outlawed.
Welsh Assembly Government officials are weighing up whether to ask for powers to implement a ban on corporal punishment, after the UK Government yesterday refused to make it illegal.
Welsh Assembly deputy health minister, Gwenda Thomas, told AMs that civil servants were examining whether or not it should go it alone in introducing the law.
She said: “I’m very aware this is an issue which has attracted a lot of attention in the past, and certainly today, and careful thought must be given to it.”
Westminster Children’s Minister Kevin Brennan said a review of the law revealed parents were largely opposed to a ban.
They are allowed to punish children with a smack that does no more than cause “a temporary reddening of the skin”.
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The Science of Mother Love
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/The_Science_of_Mother_Love.htm
A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the way babies are cared for by their mothers will determine not only their emotional development, but the biological development of the child's brain and central nervous system as well. The nature of love, and how the capacity to love develops, has become the subject of scientific study over the last decade. New data is emerging from a multitude of disciplines including neurology, psychology, biology, ethology, anthropology and neurocardiology. Something scientific disciplines find in common when putting love under the microscope is that in addition to shaping the brains of infants, mother's love acts as a template for love itself and has far reaching effects on her child's ability to love throughout life. To mothers holding their newborn babies it will come as little surprise that the 'decade of the brain' has lead science to the wisdom of the mother's heart. According to Alan Schore, assistant clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA School of Medicine, a major conclusion of the last decade of developmental neuroscience research is that the infant brain is designed to be molded by the environment it encounters.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/The_Science_of_Mother_Love.htm
A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the way babies are cared for by their mothers will determine not only their emotional development, but the biological development of the child's brain and central nervous system as well. The nature of love, and how the capacity to love develops, has become the subject of scientific study over the last decade. New data is emerging from a multitude of disciplines including neurology, psychology, biology, ethology, anthropology and neurocardiology. Something scientific disciplines find in common when putting love under the microscope is that in addition to shaping the brains of infants, mother's love acts as a template for love itself and has far reaching effects on her child's ability to love throughout life. To mothers holding their newborn babies it will come as little surprise that the 'decade of the brain' has lead science to the wisdom of the mother's heart. According to Alan Schore, assistant clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA School of Medicine, a major conclusion of the last decade of developmental neuroscience research is that the infant brain is designed to be molded by the environment it encounters.
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Adoption: Standards - Targets
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/Adoption_Standards_Targets.htm
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which local authorities have received payments from central Government for achieving adoption target levels; and how much each received in each of the last three years. [151067]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
30 local authorities have been rewarded for successfully achieving adoption targets in their local public service agreements (LPSA). The better outcomes and amount of ‘performance reward grant’ (PRG) each has received over the three years 2004/05 to 2006/07 in relation to their performance in these targets is set out in the following table. In addition, 13 local authorities did not achieve the adoption targets in their local PSA and hence received no PRG for this target. One local authority is still to make a claim
Local PSAs—which are negotiated between local authorities and central Government policy departments, facilitated by the DCLG—have helped to incentivised local authorities and partners to provide better public services to their citizens around priorities for improvement locally. Evaluation shows they have been successful in doing this, with real benefits in improved outcomes for local people and communities.The Adoption Figures of 30 Local Authorities Are Listed Here:
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/Adoption_Standards_Targets.htm
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which local authorities have received payments from central Government for achieving adoption target levels; and how much each received in each of the last three years. [151067]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
30 local authorities have been rewarded for successfully achieving adoption targets in their local public service agreements (LPSA). The better outcomes and amount of ‘performance reward grant’ (PRG) each has received over the three years 2004/05 to 2006/07 in relation to their performance in these targets is set out in the following table. In addition, 13 local authorities did not achieve the adoption targets in their local PSA and hence received no PRG for this target. One local authority is still to make a claim
Local PSAs—which are negotiated between local authorities and central Government policy departments, facilitated by the DCLG—have helped to incentivised local authorities and partners to provide better public services to their citizens around priorities for improvement locally. Evaluation shows they have been successful in doing this, with real benefits in improved outcomes for local people and communities.The Adoption Figures of 30 Local Authorities Are Listed Here:
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The grieving parents of a 12-year-old girl who died in council care have condemned the secrecy of the family courts which took their daughter away.
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/SALMA_ELSHARKAWY.htm
Salma ElSharkawy was killed along with care worker, Beth Fitton, 23, when their car hit a tree and burst into flames near Buxton, Derbyshire, earlier this month. Salma was removed from her family at the age of 10 after her mother Mary O'Sullivan, 49, asked social workers to help deal with her bad behavior. Since then her parents had been fighting to get her back. She regularly ran away from foster care and returned home, only to be returned to her foster carers by police. A judge ruled, however, that she should remain in council care, despite being told by Salma in a handwritten letter: "I think social services are liars. I wish I could go home to my mum and dad. No one knows how I feel except my mum [and] dad. I feel very sad and down. If you don't say I am not going home my life will be destroyed." In her letter, Salma also criticises the Monroe Young Family Centre, where her family was assessed. Walid ElSharkawy, 43, an IT technician, claims his daughter was let down by the family courts, lawyers and the council in Camden, north London. The parents have launched their own campaign to lift the veil of secrecy around family court hearings, with the threat of jail for parents who speak publicly about having their children taken away. They join a growing number of voices expressing concern. Last month, the Government abandoned plans to allow limited media access to the hearings, prompting Sarah Harman, a solicitor specialising in family law and elder sister of Harriet, deputy leader of the Labour Party, to increase pressure to open up proceedings. Mr ElSharkawy said: "When I heard we were going to court, I thought we would be all right because we've done nothing wrong. But there is no justice. "The case was fixed from day one by people who work with each other. You stand no chance of getting your child back. I want to open up the family courts and make social workers accountable."
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/SALMA_ELSHARKAWY.htm
Salma ElSharkawy was killed along with care worker, Beth Fitton, 23, when their car hit a tree and burst into flames near Buxton, Derbyshire, earlier this month. Salma was removed from her family at the age of 10 after her mother Mary O'Sullivan, 49, asked social workers to help deal with her bad behavior. Since then her parents had been fighting to get her back. She regularly ran away from foster care and returned home, only to be returned to her foster carers by police. A judge ruled, however, that she should remain in council care, despite being told by Salma in a handwritten letter: "I think social services are liars. I wish I could go home to my mum and dad. No one knows how I feel except my mum [and] dad. I feel very sad and down. If you don't say I am not going home my life will be destroyed." In her letter, Salma also criticises the Monroe Young Family Centre, where her family was assessed. Walid ElSharkawy, 43, an IT technician, claims his daughter was let down by the family courts, lawyers and the council in Camden, north London. The parents have launched their own campaign to lift the veil of secrecy around family court hearings, with the threat of jail for parents who speak publicly about having their children taken away. They join a growing number of voices expressing concern. Last month, the Government abandoned plans to allow limited media access to the hearings, prompting Sarah Harman, a solicitor specialising in family law and elder sister of Harriet, deputy leader of the Labour Party, to increase pressure to open up proceedings. Mr ElSharkawy said: "When I heard we were going to court, I thought we would be all right because we've done nothing wrong. But there is no justice. "The case was fixed from day one by people who work with each other. You stand no chance of getting your child back. I want to open up the family courts and make social workers accountable."
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Press release. Immediate. 28nd October 2007 - Child Abuse: These atrocities must stop?
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/grandparents_press_release_03.htm
Grandmother given 2 year suspended sentence today....Because she contacted her grandson in Care. The boy is 15 years 6 months. He is eligible to leave the Care home when he is 16.
The grandson has been informing his grandmother that he is being physically assaulted and verbally abused, in Care. His grandmother came to his aid....Now she has been sentenced in a secret court, from which the press were banned.
The grandmother now has a 2 year suspended sentence and his step grandfather is now serving a 2 year jail term....And the prisons we are told are too crowded to house serious violent criminals and sexual convicts. Convicted violent prisoners are being let out, to make way for grandparents, whose only crime has been, to keep in contact with their grandchildren!
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/grandparents_press_release_03.htm
Grandmother given 2 year suspended sentence today....Because she contacted her grandson in Care. The boy is 15 years 6 months. He is eligible to leave the Care home when he is 16.
The grandson has been informing his grandmother that he is being physically assaulted and verbally abused, in Care. His grandmother came to his aid....Now she has been sentenced in a secret court, from which the press were banned.
The grandmother now has a 2 year suspended sentence and his step grandfather is now serving a 2 year jail term....And the prisons we are told are too crowded to house serious violent criminals and sexual convicts. Convicted violent prisoners are being let out, to make way for grandparents, whose only crime has been, to keep in contact with their grandchildren!
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'Stop Injustice Now' Has launched it's Own Brand Merchandise Shop!
We Have Had A Lot Of Request To Sell T-Shirt's And Other Merchandise.
So 'Stop Injustice Now' Has Now Launched It's Own Brand Of Merchandise!
If You Would Like To Visit Our Shop Click Here:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/Stop_Injustice_Now_Shop.htm
The Prices Are In U.S. Dollors, But Their Is A Currency Converter On The Shop Page!
This Shop Will Help Fight For Justice In The UK FAMILY Courts.
It Will Also Help To Keep The Protests Going Around The UK!
Thank You In Advance For Visiting Our Shop!
So 'Stop Injustice Now' Has Now Launched It's Own Brand Of Merchandise!
If You Would Like To Visit Our Shop Click Here:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/Stop_Injustice_Now_Shop.htm
The Prices Are In U.S. Dollors, But Their Is A Currency Converter On The Shop Page!
This Shop Will Help Fight For Justice In The UK FAMILY Courts.
It Will Also Help To Keep The Protests Going Around The UK!
Thank You In Advance For Visiting Our Shop!
Saturday 27 October 2007
The Southampton & Bristol Protest Demo ‘November 2007’
The Southampton & Bristol Protest Demo ‘November 2007’
For Full Details And Maps:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/The_Southampton_Bristol_Protest.htm
Southampton & Bristol Protest Demo!
21st & 23rd November 2007.
The Protests Starts At 10am until 4pm
We Need To Make As Much Noise as Possible,
So We Can Make The Family Courts Open.
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For Full Details And Maps:
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Southampton & Bristol Protest Demo!
21st & 23rd November 2007.
The Protests Starts At 10am until 4pm
We Need To Make As Much Noise as Possible,
So We Can Make The Family Courts Open.
http://justice001.suddenlaunch3.com/index.cgi
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BATTLE TO GET 'LAURA' HOME
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0492.htm
The unused crib, still in its box and tucked away, tells its own painful story. Rachel Pullen gave birth to baby Laura - not the child's real name - 18 months ago. But the tot has never slept in the cradle. The little girl, born 13 weeks prematurely, was taken into care before she left hospital. Nottingham City Council claimed Rachel, 23, was unfit to care for her child, who had severe breathing problems. Rachel said the news that Laura would be taken into care was broken to her in the neonatal unit at the QMC. She said: "The social worker said Laura is being discharged. I said I would call a taxi and take her home. The social worker said, 'You can't. The child is going into foster care'. They told me to get a solicitor." The authority has now taken matters a stage further and succeeded in obtaining a Placement Order from the family court in Nottingham to put Laura up for adoption, against Rachel's wishes. Rachel claims she was never allowed to have a proper say in what happened to her little girl and is appealing. Her case has been taken up in Parliament by Liberal Democrat MP, and family court campaigner, John Hemming, who believes it could become a test of what he sees as unfair treatment of families in adoption cases. At home in Aspley, Rachel finds it difficult to make sense of what has happened. "I could not see why the council did what they did," she said. "They said if you get a flat and get your parenting skills up I could get Laura back. I did it, but it was still not good enough." The placement hearing took place in August. Rachel described how she sat powerless in a brief hearing in Nottingham Crown Court while the fate of her child was decided by the lawyers. Almost no evidence was put forward on Rachel's behalf, before Her Honour Judge Joan Butler QC gave the adoption the go-ahead.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0492.htm
The unused crib, still in its box and tucked away, tells its own painful story. Rachel Pullen gave birth to baby Laura - not the child's real name - 18 months ago. But the tot has never slept in the cradle. The little girl, born 13 weeks prematurely, was taken into care before she left hospital. Nottingham City Council claimed Rachel, 23, was unfit to care for her child, who had severe breathing problems. Rachel said the news that Laura would be taken into care was broken to her in the neonatal unit at the QMC. She said: "The social worker said Laura is being discharged. I said I would call a taxi and take her home. The social worker said, 'You can't. The child is going into foster care'. They told me to get a solicitor." The authority has now taken matters a stage further and succeeded in obtaining a Placement Order from the family court in Nottingham to put Laura up for adoption, against Rachel's wishes. Rachel claims she was never allowed to have a proper say in what happened to her little girl and is appealing. Her case has been taken up in Parliament by Liberal Democrat MP, and family court campaigner, John Hemming, who believes it could become a test of what he sees as unfair treatment of families in adoption cases. At home in Aspley, Rachel finds it difficult to make sense of what has happened. "I could not see why the council did what they did," she said. "They said if you get a flat and get your parenting skills up I could get Laura back. I did it, but it was still not good enough." The placement hearing took place in August. Rachel described how she sat powerless in a brief hearing in Nottingham Crown Court while the fate of her child was decided by the lawyers. Almost no evidence was put forward on Rachel's behalf, before Her Honour Judge Joan Butler QC gave the adoption the go-ahead.
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Taking care to make young lives better
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0491.htm
Social services bosses have pledged to act to improve the lives of young people in care after a research project came up with 37 recommendations. The consultation, carried out by three care leavers in the county, focused on how children in care felt about education, social work and their carers. Among its recommendations were that the young people should change placements as little as possible, and that more should be done to tackle bullying. It also recommended teaching children about the care system in school citizenship lessons, and ensuring children in care know how to access their files and the name of their legal guardian. Norfolk currently has 851 young people in care. After watching the three care leavers - Danielle Bullock, Mikey “Maka” Walker and Gareth Rashid - present their findings to an audience of social workers and other child-care professionals, Lisa Christensen, Norfolk County Council's director of children's services, promised to act on their recommendations. She told them: “We won't let this gather dust on the bookshelf - you have my word on that.” The work, entitled the Enlighten Project, has been conducted on behalf of the county council and funded by Aim Higher Norfolk. It was presented to an audience of social workers, foster carers, children in care and councillors at The Garage, Chapel Field North, Norwich. The researchers sent fliers to all those in care in the county and had responses from 25 people who wanted to be involved.
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Social services bosses have pledged to act to improve the lives of young people in care after a research project came up with 37 recommendations. The consultation, carried out by three care leavers in the county, focused on how children in care felt about education, social work and their carers. Among its recommendations were that the young people should change placements as little as possible, and that more should be done to tackle bullying. It also recommended teaching children about the care system in school citizenship lessons, and ensuring children in care know how to access their files and the name of their legal guardian. Norfolk currently has 851 young people in care. After watching the three care leavers - Danielle Bullock, Mikey “Maka” Walker and Gareth Rashid - present their findings to an audience of social workers and other child-care professionals, Lisa Christensen, Norfolk County Council's director of children's services, promised to act on their recommendations. She told them: “We won't let this gather dust on the bookshelf - you have my word on that.” The work, entitled the Enlighten Project, has been conducted on behalf of the county council and funded by Aim Higher Norfolk. It was presented to an audience of social workers, foster carers, children in care and councillors at The Garage, Chapel Field North, Norwich. The researchers sent fliers to all those in care in the county and had responses from 25 people who wanted to be involved.
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Church confirms principles of protocol to review past child protection cases
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0490.htm
The Church of England yesterday confirmed the broad principles for a protocol for the systematic review of past child protection cases, as announced by the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year.
Each diocesan bishop is to initiate a review of clergy and other files, including priests who have retired to their diocese, diocesan lay employees and Readers (as such files are held at a diocesan level, not centrally). An Independent Reviewer will be appointed by each bishop to review the files to assess whether any ‘causes for concern’ exist.
Each diocesan bishop is also to write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops’ chaplains and secretarial staff to ask whether they have any information about any cases of abuse or concerns expressed that they can recall from their time in the diocese, which were not followed up at the time in the way that they would be now.
Such concerns will be listed alongside any issues raised by the diocesan file search. Additionally, any concerns expressed by other clergy or members of congregations will be included in the list. If any urgent issues arise these will be dealt with immediately by referring to the relevant statutory authorities.
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The Church of England yesterday confirmed the broad principles for a protocol for the systematic review of past child protection cases, as announced by the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year.
Each diocesan bishop is to initiate a review of clergy and other files, including priests who have retired to their diocese, diocesan lay employees and Readers (as such files are held at a diocesan level, not centrally). An Independent Reviewer will be appointed by each bishop to review the files to assess whether any ‘causes for concern’ exist.
Each diocesan bishop is also to write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops’ chaplains and secretarial staff to ask whether they have any information about any cases of abuse or concerns expressed that they can recall from their time in the diocese, which were not followed up at the time in the way that they would be now.
Such concerns will be listed alongside any issues raised by the diocesan file search. Additionally, any concerns expressed by other clergy or members of congregations will be included in the list. If any urgent issues arise these will be dealt with immediately by referring to the relevant statutory authorities.
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More families seeking help from social services
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0489.htm
More than half of people being supported by social services voluntarily seek help, it emerged today. As child protection and the role of the social worker goes under the spotlight at a one-day conference, experts revealed more and more families are coming forward for intervention. Entitled 'Child Protection and Welfare Social Work: A Changing Profession in a Changing Ireland', the one-day event in University College Cork (UCC) will examine the current child protection system and the social and organisational contexts in which child protection services are provided. There are more than 2,300 social workers practising in Ireland, with the majority employed with the Health Service Executive (HSE). Eamonn Collier, Principal Social Worker with the HSE South, said although in the eyes of the public social workers are often perceived as unwelcome in the lives of others, families themselves are increasingly seeking support and intervention. He said the sector has experienced unprecedented growth and investment in the last 15 years as the numbers of child abuse referrals and children in need of care rise. “Social workers are now actively engaged in preventative and welfare work, work that anticipates and avoids crisis and seeks to promote better outcomes for children,” he said. “Unfortunately, little emphasis is placed on the significant level of preventative work that is undertaken by social work departments.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0489.htm
More than half of people being supported by social services voluntarily seek help, it emerged today. As child protection and the role of the social worker goes under the spotlight at a one-day conference, experts revealed more and more families are coming forward for intervention. Entitled 'Child Protection and Welfare Social Work: A Changing Profession in a Changing Ireland', the one-day event in University College Cork (UCC) will examine the current child protection system and the social and organisational contexts in which child protection services are provided. There are more than 2,300 social workers practising in Ireland, with the majority employed with the Health Service Executive (HSE). Eamonn Collier, Principal Social Worker with the HSE South, said although in the eyes of the public social workers are often perceived as unwelcome in the lives of others, families themselves are increasingly seeking support and intervention. He said the sector has experienced unprecedented growth and investment in the last 15 years as the numbers of child abuse referrals and children in need of care rise. “Social workers are now actively engaged in preventative and welfare work, work that anticipates and avoids crisis and seeks to promote better outcomes for children,” he said. “Unfortunately, little emphasis is placed on the significant level of preventative work that is undertaken by social work departments.
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Charity fights isolation of elderly
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0488.htm
Thousands of lonely pensioners have gone a full month without speaking to family or neighbours in the past year, says research published today. The bleak picture of isolation for many older people comes in a study by charity Help the Aged. Pensioner groups in Norfolk said many feel physically and mentally vulnerable because they are cut off. However, there was a glimmer of good news as Norfolk County Council launched an initiative to offer escorted shopping trips which should help more people get out and about. Launching Help the Aged's “one is the saddest number” campaign, Anna Pearson, policy manager for social inclusion, said: “For many younger people, the thought of being old and lonely is their ultimate fear, yet for thousands of older people in the UK today, it is their harsh reality. “There is no substitute for human warmth and contact and our aim with this campaign is to ensure older people no longer feel abandoned by society.” Research conducted by the charity found that nationally, 29pc of pensioners have to rely on family and friends to get out and about, but 200,000 of them are trapped in their homes as they receive no help on a regular basis. Help the Aged said 730,000 elderly people are unable to leave their homes more than once a week. The charity estimated that in 50 years, 7.5 million pensioners could be living alone - the equivalent of more than a third of the elderly population.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0488.htm
Thousands of lonely pensioners have gone a full month without speaking to family or neighbours in the past year, says research published today. The bleak picture of isolation for many older people comes in a study by charity Help the Aged. Pensioner groups in Norfolk said many feel physically and mentally vulnerable because they are cut off. However, there was a glimmer of good news as Norfolk County Council launched an initiative to offer escorted shopping trips which should help more people get out and about. Launching Help the Aged's “one is the saddest number” campaign, Anna Pearson, policy manager for social inclusion, said: “For many younger people, the thought of being old and lonely is their ultimate fear, yet for thousands of older people in the UK today, it is their harsh reality. “There is no substitute for human warmth and contact and our aim with this campaign is to ensure older people no longer feel abandoned by society.” Research conducted by the charity found that nationally, 29pc of pensioners have to rely on family and friends to get out and about, but 200,000 of them are trapped in their homes as they receive no help on a regular basis. Help the Aged said 730,000 elderly people are unable to leave their homes more than once a week. The charity estimated that in 50 years, 7.5 million pensioners could be living alone - the equivalent of more than a third of the elderly population.
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Rise in families seeking social services
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0487.htm
More than half of people being supported by social services voluntarily seek help, it emerged today.
Child protection and the role of the social worker goes under the spotlight at a one-day conference today.
Entitled Child Protection and Welfare Social Work: A Changing Profession in a Changing Ireland, the one-day event in University College Cork (UCC) will examine the child-protection system and the contexts in which these services are provided.
There are more than 2,300 social workers practising in Ireland, with the majority employed with the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Eamonn Collier, principal social worker with the HSE South, said although in the social workers are often perceived as unwelcome in the lives of others, families themselves are increasingly seeking support and intervention.
He said the sector has experienced unprecedented growth and investment in the last 15 years as the numbers of child abuse referrals and children in need of care rise.
http://justice001.suddenlaunch3.com/index.cgi
Why Not Come And Join The
‘Stop Injustice Now’ Forum:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0487.htm
More than half of people being supported by social services voluntarily seek help, it emerged today.
Child protection and the role of the social worker goes under the spotlight at a one-day conference today.
Entitled Child Protection and Welfare Social Work: A Changing Profession in a Changing Ireland, the one-day event in University College Cork (UCC) will examine the child-protection system and the contexts in which these services are provided.
There are more than 2,300 social workers practising in Ireland, with the majority employed with the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Eamonn Collier, principal social worker with the HSE South, said although in the social workers are often perceived as unwelcome in the lives of others, families themselves are increasingly seeking support and intervention.
He said the sector has experienced unprecedented growth and investment in the last 15 years as the numbers of child abuse referrals and children in need of care rise.
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Child-protection protocol agreed
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0486.htm
THE BROAD principles of a protocol for systematically reviewing past child-protection cases have been agreed, the Church of England confirmed yesterday.
The Archbishop of Canterbury announced the review in May, when he acknowledged on the BBC's Today programme that errors had been made in the period before 1995, when the current guidelines were issued (News, 1 June).
He said on that occasion: "We don't just want to look good: we want to do this properly; and so we need to have the best professional advice on how we might review these historic cases."
The House of Bishops has been guided by the Church's Central Safeguarding Liaison Group, and a drafting group has done more work as requested after the presentation of its first text.
Each diocesan bishop will initiate a review of files, including those of retired priests, diocesan lay employees, and Readers. An independent reviewer will be appointed to assess whether any "cause for concern" exists. Diocesan bishops will also write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops' chaplains, and secretarial staff.
Concerns expressed by clerics or congregation members will be included in the diocesan files. Any urgent issues that arise will be dealt with immediately by reference to the statutory authorities.
The Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Anthony Priddis, who chairs the Liaison Group, described the protocol as "belt and braces". He said on Wednesday: "This gives us a focus to let us review any cases that have come up in the past. We want to make sure that if we look at them through the eyes of today's best practice, we can satisfy ourselves that they've been dealt with in the best possible way."
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0486.htm
THE BROAD principles of a protocol for systematically reviewing past child-protection cases have been agreed, the Church of England confirmed yesterday.
The Archbishop of Canterbury announced the review in May, when he acknowledged on the BBC's Today programme that errors had been made in the period before 1995, when the current guidelines were issued (News, 1 June).
He said on that occasion: "We don't just want to look good: we want to do this properly; and so we need to have the best professional advice on how we might review these historic cases."
The House of Bishops has been guided by the Church's Central Safeguarding Liaison Group, and a drafting group has done more work as requested after the presentation of its first text.
Each diocesan bishop will initiate a review of files, including those of retired priests, diocesan lay employees, and Readers. An independent reviewer will be appointed to assess whether any "cause for concern" exists. Diocesan bishops will also write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops' chaplains, and secretarial staff.
Concerns expressed by clerics or congregation members will be included in the diocesan files. Any urgent issues that arise will be dealt with immediately by reference to the statutory authorities.
The Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Anthony Priddis, who chairs the Liaison Group, described the protocol as "belt and braces". He said on Wednesday: "This gives us a focus to let us review any cases that have come up in the past. We want to make sure that if we look at them through the eyes of today's best practice, we can satisfy ourselves that they've been dealt with in the best possible way."
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More seek help from Social Services
Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0485.htm
More than half of people being supported by social services voluntarily seek help, it has emerged.
As child protection and the role of the social worker goes under the spotlight at a one-day conference, experts revealed more and more families were coming forward for intervention.
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0485.htm
More than half of people being supported by social services voluntarily seek help, it has emerged.
As child protection and the role of the social worker goes under the spotlight at a one-day conference, experts revealed more and more families were coming forward for intervention.
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How children are suffering harm by those with a duty to protect them By Charles Pragnell
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http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0484.htm
The abuse of children is a horrendous and unacceptable crime in any society and it is correct that when such acts occur, immediate protection is available for the children and appropriate action is taken in regard to the offenders. However, what is also unacceptable is the high level of false accusation of child abuse which also has abusive effects on children and the families who are falsely accused. According to statistical evidence in 1992 and 1997, over two-thirds of reports of child abuse in the U.K. have NO substantive basis i.e. False and wrongful accusations. [Dept of Health Statistics]. Similar proportions of false accusations were evident during the same time period in the United States of America and in Australia. There is evidence that false accusations of child abuse are occurring for mistaken, mischievous, and malicious reasons. But the situation is much worse than first appears as a substantial proportion of those, where it is claimed that there is a substantive basis to the accusations, counterclaim that they have also been falsely accused but the investigations have been improperly conducted and mismanaged. There is research to support these claims in Messages From Research - DOH 1996 and in the study by Prosser and Lewis - Child Abuse Investigations (1992 and 1995). American researchers, Wakefield and Underwager reported in 1995 that, "The child protection system responds to abuse allegations with much reinforcement for making an accusation but has no accountability. An allegation produces large and immediate payoffs and has no cost to the system or the accuser. This makes the child protection system very vulnerable to manipulation and distortion by troubled and distressed persons pursuing their own private purpose." In the last thirty years there have been over thirty formal Inquiries in the U.K. into the deaths of children whilst under the care and/or supervision of social workers e.g. Maria Colwell, Jasmine Beckford, Tyra Henry, Kimberley Carlisle, etc., and the outcomes of these Inquiries indicate that social workers were not carrying out child abuse investigations correctly. Whereas in most of these individual cases the social workers failed to intervene effectively, in other cases their intervention has been overt and unnecessary. E.g. Cleveland, The Orkneys, Rochdale, Nottingham etc.
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The abuse of children is a horrendous and unacceptable crime in any society and it is correct that when such acts occur, immediate protection is available for the children and appropriate action is taken in regard to the offenders. However, what is also unacceptable is the high level of false accusation of child abuse which also has abusive effects on children and the families who are falsely accused. According to statistical evidence in 1992 and 1997, over two-thirds of reports of child abuse in the U.K. have NO substantive basis i.e. False and wrongful accusations. [Dept of Health Statistics]. Similar proportions of false accusations were evident during the same time period in the United States of America and in Australia. There is evidence that false accusations of child abuse are occurring for mistaken, mischievous, and malicious reasons. But the situation is much worse than first appears as a substantial proportion of those, where it is claimed that there is a substantive basis to the accusations, counterclaim that they have also been falsely accused but the investigations have been improperly conducted and mismanaged. There is research to support these claims in Messages From Research - DOH 1996 and in the study by Prosser and Lewis - Child Abuse Investigations (1992 and 1995). American researchers, Wakefield and Underwager reported in 1995 that, "The child protection system responds to abuse allegations with much reinforcement for making an accusation but has no accountability. An allegation produces large and immediate payoffs and has no cost to the system or the accuser. This makes the child protection system very vulnerable to manipulation and distortion by troubled and distressed persons pursuing their own private purpose." In the last thirty years there have been over thirty formal Inquiries in the U.K. into the deaths of children whilst under the care and/or supervision of social workers e.g. Maria Colwell, Jasmine Beckford, Tyra Henry, Kimberley Carlisle, etc., and the outcomes of these Inquiries indicate that social workers were not carrying out child abuse investigations correctly. Whereas in most of these individual cases the social workers failed to intervene effectively, in other cases their intervention has been overt and unnecessary. E.g. Cleveland, The Orkneys, Rochdale, Nottingham etc.
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Care workers scalded woman to death
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An elderly woman died after care workers dropped her into a scalding hot bath in a home. Bettina East was lowered into the steaming water by two carers at The Ormsby Centre in East Street, Littlehampton. The 86-year-old suffered such serious injuries she was rushed to a specialist burns unit in London but died days later. Today daughter Andrea Deamer criticised the home for neglecting her mother, who had Alzheimer's disease. And she blamed staff for the death of her father, Ronald, 91, who died ten weeks later of what the family believe was a broken heart. Alan Lucas and Richard Wooton, the owners of the home, were yesterday fined £16,000 each at Worthing Magistrates' Court for Mrs East's death. They were also ordered to pay £22,560 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety laws. Mrs Deamer, 56, said: "I'm angry because my mum was ill and the carers were supposed to be looking after her. "My mum's death poleaxed my dad and his health quickly deteriorated until he too died." Mr and Mrs East had moved from Norfolk to Marama Gardens in Rustington, near Littlehampton, in February 2005 to be near their family.
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An elderly woman died after care workers dropped her into a scalding hot bath in a home. Bettina East was lowered into the steaming water by two carers at The Ormsby Centre in East Street, Littlehampton. The 86-year-old suffered such serious injuries she was rushed to a specialist burns unit in London but died days later. Today daughter Andrea Deamer criticised the home for neglecting her mother, who had Alzheimer's disease. And she blamed staff for the death of her father, Ronald, 91, who died ten weeks later of what the family believe was a broken heart. Alan Lucas and Richard Wooton, the owners of the home, were yesterday fined £16,000 each at Worthing Magistrates' Court for Mrs East's death. They were also ordered to pay £22,560 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety laws. Mrs Deamer, 56, said: "I'm angry because my mum was ill and the carers were supposed to be looking after her. "My mum's death poleaxed my dad and his health quickly deteriorated until he too died." Mr and Mrs East had moved from Norfolk to Marama Gardens in Rustington, near Littlehampton, in February 2005 to be near their family.
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Step grandfather is now serving a 2 year jail
Grandmother given 2 year suspended sentence in Nottingham, today....Because she contacted her grandson in Care. The boy is 15 years 6 months. He is eligible to leave the Care home when he is 16.....But have you guessed what the little racket is? The grandson in Care, has been informing his grandmother that he is being physically assaulted and verbally abused, in Care. His grandmother came to his aid....Now she has been sentenced in a secret court, from which the press were banned. Her husband has been sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. And the final twist to this racket is that although the boy should be released from Care( released? He has committed no crime), the authorities are making a case to keep him away from the grandparents...even after he is 16....Because he will repeat his complaints......So they have now begun to state that he is being 'treated for the loss of his mother'. He was taken into Care in 2002, after his mother died. And of course' the treatment' will necessitate that he never gets out of the corrupt incarceration....Because the Guligans are afraid he will spill the beans. To ensure that the story doesn't leak out, the grandmother now has a 2 year suspended sentence and his step grandfather is now serving a 2 year jail term....And the prisons we are told, by this Labour Government, are too crowded to house serious violent criminals and sexual convicts. Convicted violent prisoners are being let out, to make way for grandparents, whose only crime has been, to keep in contact with their grandchildren!. The Family Court Guligans, are running scared. This UK government is every bit as odious as the Burmese junta....isn't it time this was broadcast on the world stage. Grandparents facing a year in Prison
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Grandparents 'providing taxi service'
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• Grandchildren driven 3.8 billion miles a year • Busiest time is during school holidays • Journeys worth £3160 a year in taxi fares British grandparents are driving 3.8 billion miles every year ferrying their grandchildren around, according to a new survey. The UK's 13 million grandparents are most likely to be asked to take the grandchildren for a ride during the half-term week, with 69% taking on the role of chauffeur for the holiday. Taking grandchildren to parties is the job of 27% of grandparents, while another 10% admit they spend more time ferrying their grandchildren to social functions rather than socialising themselves.
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• Grandchildren driven 3.8 billion miles a year • Busiest time is during school holidays • Journeys worth £3160 a year in taxi fares British grandparents are driving 3.8 billion miles every year ferrying their grandchildren around, according to a new survey. The UK's 13 million grandparents are most likely to be asked to take the grandchildren for a ride during the half-term week, with 69% taking on the role of chauffeur for the holiday. Taking grandchildren to parties is the job of 27% of grandparents, while another 10% admit they spend more time ferrying their grandchildren to social functions rather than socialising themselves.
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Friday 26 October 2007
Solicitor fears legal aid system 'collapse'
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His own firm plans to give up family legal aid work at its Amesbury and Andover offices by next summer. And he predicts the entire legal aid system could soon collapse. "Just four years ago there were five firms willing to take on family legal aid cases in Salisbury - now there are just two," he said. "My firm has always been committed to helping the disadvantaged and vulnerable by doing a variety of legal aid work. "However, the Government has consistently refused to increase legal aid pay rates for the last eight years and introduced new fixed fee family payments on October 1, which substantially reduce those rates of pay. "It is not that solicitors are greedy, but that the new proposed rates are simply unprofitable." He said reductions of up to 30 per cent in rates of legal aid pay, which were well below what solicitors charged private clients, coupled with the costs of running a solicitors' practice increasing each year was "an impossible business proposition".
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His own firm plans to give up family legal aid work at its Amesbury and Andover offices by next summer. And he predicts the entire legal aid system could soon collapse. "Just four years ago there were five firms willing to take on family legal aid cases in Salisbury - now there are just two," he said. "My firm has always been committed to helping the disadvantaged and vulnerable by doing a variety of legal aid work. "However, the Government has consistently refused to increase legal aid pay rates for the last eight years and introduced new fixed fee family payments on October 1, which substantially reduce those rates of pay. "It is not that solicitors are greedy, but that the new proposed rates are simply unprofitable." He said reductions of up to 30 per cent in rates of legal aid pay, which were well below what solicitors charged private clients, coupled with the costs of running a solicitors' practice increasing each year was "an impossible business proposition".
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Child protection review ordered
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THE Church of England today confirmed every diocese in the country will appoint an independent reviewer to look over files of clergy and church employees as part of a systematic review of child protection. The broad principles for the new procedure were outlined today following an announcement by the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year after two high profile cases of child abuse in the Church of England. In April former Hampshire choirmaster Peter Halliday was jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting a trail of abuse back in the 1980s. It emerged his suffragan bishop had been told of the abuse but allowed him to ‘leave quietly’. Then in May Somerset priest the Rev David Smith was jailed for five-and-a-half years for abusing boys over a 30-year period. The review will see each diocesan bishop initiate a review which will include clergy, retired priests, diocesan lay employees and readers. An independent reviewer will then be appointed by each bishop to review the files to assess whether any ‘causes for concern’ exist. Each diocesan bishop will also write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops’ chaplains and secretarial staff to ask whether they have any information about any cases of abuse or concerns from the past which were not followed up at the time in the way that they would be now. Additionally, any concerns expressed by other clergy or churchgoers will be included in the list for the reviewer, and any urgent issues that arise will be referred to the relevant statutory authorities. The reviewer will pass the portfolio to the Diocesan Child Protection Management Group to formulate an action plan to be led by the Diocesan Child Protection Adviser.
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THE Church of England today confirmed every diocese in the country will appoint an independent reviewer to look over files of clergy and church employees as part of a systematic review of child protection. The broad principles for the new procedure were outlined today following an announcement by the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year after two high profile cases of child abuse in the Church of England. In April former Hampshire choirmaster Peter Halliday was jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting a trail of abuse back in the 1980s. It emerged his suffragan bishop had been told of the abuse but allowed him to ‘leave quietly’. Then in May Somerset priest the Rev David Smith was jailed for five-and-a-half years for abusing boys over a 30-year period. The review will see each diocesan bishop initiate a review which will include clergy, retired priests, diocesan lay employees and readers. An independent reviewer will then be appointed by each bishop to review the files to assess whether any ‘causes for concern’ exist. Each diocesan bishop will also write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops’ chaplains and secretarial staff to ask whether they have any information about any cases of abuse or concerns from the past which were not followed up at the time in the way that they would be now. Additionally, any concerns expressed by other clergy or churchgoers will be included in the list for the reviewer, and any urgent issues that arise will be referred to the relevant statutory authorities. The reviewer will pass the portfolio to the Diocesan Child Protection Management Group to formulate an action plan to be led by the Diocesan Child Protection Adviser.
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Launch of 'Stop Injustice Now' Live Chat Rooms!
We Have Just Launched Our Very Own Live Chat Rooms.
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Thursday 25 October 2007
The Southampton & Bristol Protest Demo ‘November 2007’
The Southampton & Bristol Protest Demo ‘November 2007’
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Southampton & Bristol Protest Demo!
21st & 23rd November 2007.
The Protests Starts At 10am until 4pm
We Need To Make As Much Noise as Possible,
So We Can Make The Family Courts Open.
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Southampton & Bristol Protest Demo!
21st & 23rd November 2007.
The Protests Starts At 10am until 4pm
We Need To Make As Much Noise as Possible,
So We Can Make The Family Courts Open.
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Tot torture couple jailed
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HEROIN addict Daniel Bishop tortured his two-year-old stepdaughter Lois over a period of six weeks before shaking her to death – and now faces a 12-year prison sentence.
Bishop, 27, formerly of Oak Terrace, Llanbradach, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, child cruelty and causing GBH with intent.
His wife Sarah Bishop, Lois’s mother, admitted child neglect and was sentenced to six years.
Flanked by security guards at Cardiff Crown Court, the pair sat silently in the dock throughout their two-and-a-half hour sentencing hearing in Courtroom One.
Daniel Bishop wore a white T-shirt, while his 29-year-old co-defendant wore a black suit.
Daniel Bishop was sentenced first and was afterwards led away in silence. Sarah Bishop burst into tears and held her head in her hands as she was sentenced.
Prosecutor John Charles Rees QC said Lois had been “systematically abused, tortured and ultimately killed” by Daniel Bishop’s cruelty and Sarah Bishop’s neglect.
Post-mortem examinations revealed she had 13 broken bones, burns and bruises – all inflicted in the final six weeks of her life.
Lois had a cigarette burn which went through her toenail and into the flesh below and a deep burn on the sole of her left foot.
The court heard such a deep burn could not have been caused by her stepping in hot water spilled from a kettle - as Daniel Bishop had initially claimed.
Instead, Mr Rees said, it had been caused by Daniel Bishop holding his stepdaughter’s foot against a 150C hob, removing it, and then applying it again.
The court heard the pair hid the toddler when Social Services visited their home on Alexander Court, Lansbury Park, Caerphilly.
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HEROIN addict Daniel Bishop tortured his two-year-old stepdaughter Lois over a period of six weeks before shaking her to death – and now faces a 12-year prison sentence.
Bishop, 27, formerly of Oak Terrace, Llanbradach, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, child cruelty and causing GBH with intent.
His wife Sarah Bishop, Lois’s mother, admitted child neglect and was sentenced to six years.
Flanked by security guards at Cardiff Crown Court, the pair sat silently in the dock throughout their two-and-a-half hour sentencing hearing in Courtroom One.
Daniel Bishop wore a white T-shirt, while his 29-year-old co-defendant wore a black suit.
Daniel Bishop was sentenced first and was afterwards led away in silence. Sarah Bishop burst into tears and held her head in her hands as she was sentenced.
Prosecutor John Charles Rees QC said Lois had been “systematically abused, tortured and ultimately killed” by Daniel Bishop’s cruelty and Sarah Bishop’s neglect.
Post-mortem examinations revealed she had 13 broken bones, burns and bruises – all inflicted in the final six weeks of her life.
Lois had a cigarette burn which went through her toenail and into the flesh below and a deep burn on the sole of her left foot.
The court heard such a deep burn could not have been caused by her stepping in hot water spilled from a kettle - as Daniel Bishop had initially claimed.
Instead, Mr Rees said, it had been caused by Daniel Bishop holding his stepdaughter’s foot against a 150C hob, removing it, and then applying it again.
The court heard the pair hid the toddler when Social Services visited their home on Alexander Court, Lansbury Park, Caerphilly.
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Tough New Regulator For Health And Social Care, UK
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A tough new regulator for health and adult social care services will ensure good quality and safe care for the public, Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson said. The Care Quality Commission will have a key role in tackling and preventing Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs), strengthening the current system of regulation. They will have the power to carry out annual infection control inspections, increase the frequency of checks for hospitals with high rates of HCAIs, and take rapid action to close down wards if necessary, making sure that they are thoroughly cleaned before they can be reopened for patients. They will also be able to issue early warning notices in order to ensure Trusts take swift action when issues arise. Alan Johnson said: "Despite progress, tackling infection remains a challenge for the NHS. I am determined that we will take action where necessary to safeguard patients and ensure staff feel able to report concerns. "The regulator will have tougher powers to inspect and even close wards in order to protect patients and service users. NHS staff, such as matrons, nurses and porters, who spend every day on the wards, need to feel able to report concerns to the new regulator. "The Care Quality Commission will ensure that all patients receive a safe and quality service, no matter what part of the system they are accessing, and at which point." The new regulator will focus on safety and quality across health and adult social care services, in both the NHS and the independent sector. It will provide a more consistent approach to regulation at a time when more services are provided between health and social care and will help to reduce administrative burdens on frontline services. It will also be more flexible, to ensure it is fit for the future as services develop and to ensure that it can concentrate resources on the areas of greatest concern.
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A tough new regulator for health and adult social care services will ensure good quality and safe care for the public, Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson said. The Care Quality Commission will have a key role in tackling and preventing Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs), strengthening the current system of regulation. They will have the power to carry out annual infection control inspections, increase the frequency of checks for hospitals with high rates of HCAIs, and take rapid action to close down wards if necessary, making sure that they are thoroughly cleaned before they can be reopened for patients. They will also be able to issue early warning notices in order to ensure Trusts take swift action when issues arise. Alan Johnson said: "Despite progress, tackling infection remains a challenge for the NHS. I am determined that we will take action where necessary to safeguard patients and ensure staff feel able to report concerns. "The regulator will have tougher powers to inspect and even close wards in order to protect patients and service users. NHS staff, such as matrons, nurses and porters, who spend every day on the wards, need to feel able to report concerns to the new regulator. "The Care Quality Commission will ensure that all patients receive a safe and quality service, no matter what part of the system they are accessing, and at which point." The new regulator will focus on safety and quality across health and adult social care services, in both the NHS and the independent sector. It will provide a more consistent approach to regulation at a time when more services are provided between health and social care and will help to reduce administrative burdens on frontline services. It will also be more flexible, to ensure it is fit for the future as services develop and to ensure that it can concentrate resources on the areas of greatest concern.
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Frantic search of father whose boy, 7, died on M56
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The father of a seven-year-old boy who died trying to cross a busy motorway on his push-scooter spoke today of his desperate attempt to find his son before the tragic accident. Kieran Coupe, 7, and his friend Guy, 6, both died when they were hit by three cars as they crossed the M56 near Runcorn, Cheshire, at around 7.20pm yesterday. Speaking to reporters outside his home today in the Murdishaw area of Runcorn, Kieran's father, Colin Lambert, said he had gone out looking for his son when he failed to come home for dinner. He added that he had previously told his son not to go anywhere near the motorway, which was located close to his sister's house. It is thought the boys were playing in woods at the rear of the Murdishaw estate which leads to the M56 when they ran onto the road. "They went out to play and Kieran was due back in the house at 5pm for his tea," Mr Lambert said. "I waited out 40 minutes and he hadn’t returned so my brother and I went out to find him. Kieran would not wander off into the woods, he wasn’t a wanderer. "He had been warned not to go down to the motorway, my sister lives by the motorway and he had been told not to go past her house." Cheshire Police said the boys were carrying push-scooters across the Chester-bound carriageway when they were struck by a combination of three cars. Officers have said that the children were pronounced dead at the scene. Nobody else was injured.
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The father of a seven-year-old boy who died trying to cross a busy motorway on his push-scooter spoke today of his desperate attempt to find his son before the tragic accident. Kieran Coupe, 7, and his friend Guy, 6, both died when they were hit by three cars as they crossed the M56 near Runcorn, Cheshire, at around 7.20pm yesterday. Speaking to reporters outside his home today in the Murdishaw area of Runcorn, Kieran's father, Colin Lambert, said he had gone out looking for his son when he failed to come home for dinner. He added that he had previously told his son not to go anywhere near the motorway, which was located close to his sister's house. It is thought the boys were playing in woods at the rear of the Murdishaw estate which leads to the M56 when they ran onto the road. "They went out to play and Kieran was due back in the house at 5pm for his tea," Mr Lambert said. "I waited out 40 minutes and he hadn’t returned so my brother and I went out to find him. Kieran would not wander off into the woods, he wasn’t a wanderer. "He had been warned not to go down to the motorway, my sister lives by the motorway and he had been told not to go past her house." Cheshire Police said the boys were carrying push-scooters across the Chester-bound carriageway when they were struck by a combination of three cars. Officers have said that the children were pronounced dead at the scene. Nobody else was injured.
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