Social workers and students to be trained on human trafficking

Frontline professionals across the UK are to be given training on how to identify and help child and adult victims of human trafficking, as part of a new Home Office initiative.

Social workers and students completing the social work degree across the UK will soon be given training on human trafficking, the government has announced.

The Home Office has awarded more than £70,000 in grants to the NSPCC, Stop the Traffik, Eaves, Thames Reach and the Counter Trafficking Bureau to provide training to those professionals most likely to encounter victims of trafficking in their day-to-day work.

The aim is to improve awareness and understanding of trafficking and to help professionals identify potential victims and give information on the practical support available, such as independent legal advice and counselling.

Experienced anti-trafficking practitioners will also provide information on referring suspected victims to support agencies including the UK’s victim identification and support system, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

Students will be given training as part of their course, while formal training programmes and workshops will be integrated into practising social workers’ professional development modules and delivered in Cardiff, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Brighton and London.

Immigration minister Mark Harper said: “We have already made significant progress in the fight against trafficking, with more work than ever before to prosecute criminals and stop organised gangs in their tracks.

“But we are not complacent and training for frontline professionals is vital in order to identify and protect those at risk of harm.”

John Cameron, head of the NSPCC’s helpline, added: “This funding will help us train professionals who form the crucial first line of defence against this dreadful crime.

“It’s an extremely positive and welcome move by the government which will help strengthen child protection and bolster the battle against trafficking.”

Raising awareness among frontline professionals was a key objective set out in a report by the government’s Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group in October 2012.

Strengthening action in this area also supports the introduction of theEU directive on human trafficking, which comes into effect from April 2013.

In 2011, 946 potential victims of human trafficking were referred to the NRM. Of these 712 were adults and 234 children, up from 524 and 186 respectively in 2010.

Source: Community Care

Most child abuse deaths last year were ‘avoidable’

Nearly two-thirds of children who died as a result of abuse last year could have been saved, a damning report has claimed.

Victoria Climbié social worker must meet conditions to stay registered

Lisa Arthurworrey has not been employed as a social worker since 2002, when she was sacked by Haringey Council following the death of eight-year-old Victoria at the hands of her carers.

The social worker sacked following the death of Victoria Climbié more than a decade ago must comply with certain conditions if she wishes to remain registered to practise, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) ruled yesterday.

The committee reviewing Lisa Nicola Dawn Arthurworrey’s ongoing registration as a social worker said she must meet six conditions over the next year, including a requirement to undertake a psychiatric assessment and send the results to the regulator by 31 May.

She is not allowed to find employment through an agency and must notify the HCPC if and when she obtains a position as a social worker. She must also complete the HCPC’s return to practice requirements.

However, Community Care understands that Arthurworrey does not intend to return to social work practice.

Arthurworrey was Victoria’s allocated social worker at Haringey Council from August 1999 until the child’s death in February 2000, aged eight.

The social worker was repeatedly criticised after failings emerged in the trial of Victoria’s carers, Marie-Therese Kouao, and Carl John Manning, who were convicted of Victoria’s murder in 2001. Arthurworrey was dismissed by Haringey Council in November 2002.

But during Lord Laming’s inquiry into the case in January 2003, it emerged that she had not been properly supervised.

When the General Social Care Council (GSCC) launched its social care register in 2005, Arthurworrey applied to be included on it, but the regulator refused on conduct and competence grounds.

Arthurworrey appealed the decision and, in 2008, the Care Standards Tribunal ruled she should be allowed to register under certain conditions, such as undergoing a psychiatric assessment to prove her mental health was stable.

The GSCC finally granted her registration in February 2010, after Arthurworrey agreed to comply with eight conditions, including re-training, reporting to the GSCC on an annual basis and completing a health check before taking on any jobs. The conditions were reviewed and upheld in September 2011.

After the GSCC closed in July last year, the HCPC took over responsibility for registering social workers in England. The latter’s conduct and competence committee met yesterday to review Arthurworrey’s conditions of practice order.

Arthurworrey did not attend the hearing and provided no new information relating to her practice. She has not worked as a social worker since 2002.

The committee took account of medical evidence provided by Arthurworrey and written submissions made on her behalf, but concluded that it was still necessary for the protection of the public to impose conditions on her practice.

Source: Community Care

Nearly 20% of children who sexually harm face vigilante action

Durham University study will reveal almost one fifth of children who sexually harm face vigilante action, with 8% saying their family has also been targeted

Notifying local communities about sex offenders could hamper efforts to address harmful sexual behaviour by children, soon-to-be-published findings from the UK’s second largest study of the subject will suggest.

Professor Simon Hackett of Durham University’s School of Applied Social Services said findings from the long-term study show people who are forced out of their local community due to their actions are more likely to commit further sexual offences, or other crimes, and end up achieving poor outcomes

The study found 18% of the 117 young people interviewed, all of whom had displayed harmful sexual behaviour, had experienced a negative reaction from their community, while 11 were physically attacked or faced vigilante action.

In 8% of cases the young person’s family also faced a negative reaction, including siblings who were the actual victims of the abuse.

The problem with community notification – often referred to as Sarah’s Law – as it pertains to children, Hackett said, is that some of these children are victims who are “traumatised by their own abuse and they respond to that, however inappropriately, by acting out sexually or hurting other people”.

“The findings raise the question of whether we, as a society, want to include this group of very vulnerable children in a public policy measure that is effectively designed for adult paedophiles.

“Because what we know is that these young people need stability and an opportunity to carry on their education to be successful in their own development,” Hackett said.

He added: “I think the understandable negative feeling about the presence of sex offenders in the midst of communities is likely to make things worse for quite a lot of these young people.

Resource: Community Care

Government ‘flouts promise on children’s rights’

Government is failing to deliver on a promise of checking how policies affect children’s rights, a report has claimed.

The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (Crae) annual State of Children’s Rights in England report asserts that all but one of 17 government departments gave “inadequate” responses when asked to justify how the pledge was being implemented.

Crae said only the Department for Education was able to give evidence of meaningful analysis of its policies, conducting detailed assessments of four proposals including reform of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, and changes to the family justice system.

Despite this, Crae warned that the department focused on evidence that supported its policy positions in each case.

The report also found things have got worse for children in relation to nearly a third (31 per cent) of 118 recommendations made by the United Nations (UN) in 2008 to improve children’s rights.

It pointed to the fact that government has made statements maintaining policies previously highlighted by the UN as breaching children’s rights.

This includes the government’s refusal to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility, legislate to prohibit parents and other carers from hitting their children; and a decision to not make changes to ensure that 17-year-olds are treated as juveniles by the police.

“There is a massive question mark over the government’s commitment to children’s rights,” Paola Uccellari, director of Crae, said. “Children are facing destitution, going missing from care and it’s still okay to deliberately hurt children in England.

“The UN criticised the UK’s record on children’s rights four years ago – but we keep moving backwards on many of these issues. The government’s lack of progress is not surprising when we find out that it is flouting its own promise to check whether its policies breach children’s rights.”

Within the next year, the government will be required to report to the UN on its progress on improving children’s rights.

Lisa Nandy, shadow children’s minister, said the findings of the report are “especially concerning” following calculations that 200,000 more children could be pushed into poverty because of the benefits policies.

“It is also worrying that when a small number of government departments do consider the impacts of their policies, they tend to cherry-pick evidence which supports their already established position.

“Michael Gove must take some responsibility for this. By focusing on his pet projects and ignoring the wider children’s agenda, he is enabling policies to be pushed through without any thought as to the impact on children. As a result children’s needs are often invisible, and their rights are undermined.”

Resource: CYPNow