Single gay man is first to adopt in Scotland

"On the day Thomas Anderson found out he was going to be a father, he nearly fainted."

"He’d known from a young age that he wanted children in his future, but as a gay man he thought it was `impossible` for him. And when he entered his 30s as a single gay man, it felt all the more so."

“It was heartbreaking,” he told Pink News during LGBT+ Adoption and Fostering Week. `People dream about high flying careers, seeing the world – mine was to become a dad. To have the belief that that would remain a dream was horrible`..."

"LGBT+ people in the UK have had the right to adopt children since the Adoption and Children Act came into force in 2005, but like many people Thomas assumed that it only applied to couples."

"Even after he realised that the law allowed him the opportunity to adopt as a single gay man, he still feared this being snatched away from him."

"Thomas applied to adopt through St Andrew’s Children’s Society, an independent, voluntary adoption and fostering agency in Edinburgh that works in partnership with local LGBT+ organisations."

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/03/08/first-single-gay-man-adopt-child-scotland-st-andrews-children-society/

It makes you wonder whose child has been taken by this independent, voluntary adoption and fostering agency.

Most families will not have given up their babies voluntarily, as the agency makes clear on its website:

"The family will have come to the attention of social work services following ante-natal visits..."  

"Birth parents will have the chance to have positive parenting experiences with their children..."

https://sacsadopt.scot/concurrent-care/

Often those positive parenting experiences will be judged by social workers as inadequate. That`s all it really takes to lose a baby.

Fixing trauma rather than underlying causes

"Our most recent child maltreatment data tell us that 60 percent of victims have a finding of neglect only."

"There are different types and definitions of neglect around the country. Neglect can take the form of failing to attend school and not keeping up with necessary medical care. It can also take the form of not meeting the emotional needs of a child. More times than not, poverty and struggles to meet the basic, concrete needs of a family are a part of the equation in all types of neglect. Substance use and or mental health challenges can exacerbate or perpetuate these challenges, but these conditions are not always present."

"Rather than seeing these root causes with clear eyes, calling them out, and taking them on with intention, we remain stuck as a system and society that focuses on the harmful after effects, often casting blame on vulnerable families for their very vulnerability. Rather than trying to prevent poverty and the many challenges associated with poverty, such as social isolation and lack of meaningful opportunities and support, we search for increasingly sophisticated evidence-based interventions to treat the trauma or “fix” the symptoms arising from a family’s inability to meet their children’s fundamental needs."

"We believe this must change."

Read More:  https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/child-welfare-2/time-for-child-welfare-system-to-stop-confusing-poverty-with-neglect/40222?fbclid=IwAR3Pax_rhZQLljTqE9-XCddwga5pcjGnbRhf7WxOcyxqNEPHvmfr94o7MFY

Lords rejects safeguards for refugee children

-------------------------

"Conservative MPs have voted down a House of Lords amendment to Boris Johnson’s Brexit legislation, which would have guaranteed family reunion rights for unaccompanied child refugees after EU withdrawal."

"Despite appeals from children’s charities, MPs rejected the safeguards in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill by a margin of 342 votes to 254 – a majority of 88. All of those voting against the measure were Tories."

"Tabled by Lord Dubs, who was himself a child refugee taken in by the UK after fleeing the Nazis, the amendment was passed by peers by 300 to 220 on Tuesday..."

"Oxfam described the outcome of the vote as `a very sad start to the future of Britain outside the EU`, while Save the Children said it would `put some of the world’s most vulnerable and desperate children at even greater risk of harm`..."

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/22/government-condemned-for-rejecting-lords-child-refugee-dubs-amendment

No assurance in the `Assurance Report`

[UK Column News, 15 January 2020]

"Well of course the other thing we ought to remind people of - and I`m sorry because this is not a particularly pleasant topic -  but we have a prime minister, Boris Johnston who describes expenditure investigating child abuse as money that has been spaffed. That`s his language for ejaculated up the wall. This is the standard of Britain`s prime minister; and let`s immediately bring in the BBC because the BBC crowing yesterday that the report`s come out about the failure of Manchester city council and other authorities including greater Manchester police to protect children."

"The BBC particularly crowing because the report starts off itself by effectively congratulating the BBC on its investigations into child abuse. But of course this is the same BBC that covered up the activities of Jimmy Savile when he was doing his dirty deeds, paid by the BBC. But let`s have a look through this report; and UK Column is going to say this is not all it seems. So first of all, credit where it`s due.


"And the Telegraph here in its article with a picture of Maggie Oliver.  And we`re going to say that it`s not the BBC that people should be congratulating; it`s very brave whistleblowers - these whistleblowers in particular - Maggie Oliver and John Wedger and several others, who have finally started to force the lid off child abuse in UK."

"But of course the Telegraph headline here is getting into the political agenda; because it`s an `Asian grooming gang free to roam the streets` and indeed many of the...men in this case were... Asian, but the people running the child protection system and failing in their duty, of course, were not Asian. So there`s many questions to be asked."

"But let`s just get a feel for this case... these points are not being reported by the BBC or in any press outlet. So this is from Manchester City Council; this is the sort of thing you see on their website when you go and have a look about what you should do about child abuse and this is the old line, Mike. `Tell us about someone being abused or neglected. Trust us. If you`ve got any information come to us and tell us about what has happened to you. We will protect you. We will ensure there`s anonymity. We will take action.` But, of course, what has emerged in this report and in many other places elsewhere is that once information is brought forward, either nothing happens or those people, the victims, are not protected."

"But here is the big report. It`s an `independence assurance  review of the effectiveness of multi-agency responses to child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester` . This is Part One. There`s more to come."


"`An Assurance review of Operation Augusta`. Now Operation Augusta was Greater Manchester`s police investigation into abuse of youngsters, particularly by Asian men, We can see here that the authors are Malcolm Newsam and Gary Ridgway ...There`s the embargo on the bottom... But I`m going to say just remember those two names. When you get inside, and this is not mentioned at all by the so-called mainstream press, we get a huge caveat. And what does that caveat say? Well, effectively, it says this:"

"`The report is independent.` [laughter] We always get a sense, a reassurance, Mike, when we see that `this report is independent`. We`ll be seeing exactly how independent it is in a minute."

"There is no check of accuracy or completeness of information provided."

"Oh !"

Brian Gerrish goes on in discussion with Mike Robinson to say that he had read this with great interest: "Because a report has been produced which has  now been blasted out over the media in the UK but apparently there wasn`t any checks of accuracy or completeness of information provided." He wonders what would have happened in his professional life if had he followed these same standards.

"Especially in military action," interjects Mike Robinson.

Moving forward, "And then it says: `For the avoidance of doubt, no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by Imprana Ltd and GKR Partnership in relation to the release of this report and any such liability is expressly disclaimed.` So somebody there in a big hurry to make sure that if a few questions are asked - `Whew ! It`s nothing to do with us`."

"So where is the responsibility there?"

"Well we`re going to sort of ask about that. So let`s have a look at the assurance team. This is an interesting expression: it`s an assurance report. Who are they assuring? They`re certainly not assuring the victims of abuse, the survivors of abuse - it gets very woolly."

"But here`s Malcolm Newsam: `experienced child care expert with extensive experience of providing diagnostics, interventions and improvement support to a range of councils across the country. In October 2014 the Secretary of State for Education appointed him as the Commissioner for Children`s Social Care in Rotherham`...I`m not going to continue going on through it," Brian Gerrish says; but he emphasises that this is a `government man`. "There`s no question of it. He has been brought in, supposedly, to improve failing authorities in ... [child protection] but a huge amount of controversy around him and he`s supported here by a police officer, a former police officer, Gary Ridgway who has been praised for achieving good results in investigating child sexual exploitation. So I`m not going to challenge Mr Ridgway at all but Malcolm Newsam we say: who is this man? And we can start to ask a key question: how independent is he in order to investigate the government`s own system for protecting children?"

"Well I went and had a little look at him at Imprana Ltd and GKR Partnerships... Here`s GKR Partners Ltd and we`ve got a Gareth Leslie Johnson . Don`t know much about that name but I was intrigued that it`s a risk management consultancy. .. So who`s worried about the amount of risk? Is that the team that produced the report? Are they worried about their own risk? Or is this Greater Manchester Council and the police, worried about their risk and what`s printed in the report? And if you go to the other side, Imprana Ltd... there happens to be a Malcolm Newsam involved, and I`m going to guess that ... this is the same man, same name, same company. But let`s have a look at this individual."

"Well we`re going back to 2011. And here`s the Daily Mail. `The temps paid up to £1,250 a day by council that`s slashing hundreds of jobs.` So the headline is absolutely right, Kent County Council getting rid of people hand over fist, putting together a plan to get rid of about 300 people altogether and they were paying a number of consultants, including the man we`re interested in, one thousand two hundred and fifty pounds a day."

"The most highly-paid temp is families and care director Malcolm Newsam who costs the council £1,250 a day, followed by Alistair Pettigrew....` So this is a very interesting man ... and we`ve got another report here from the Peterborough Telegraph:"

"`Experienced manager Malcolm Newsam could earn a salary of more than £230,000 over the 12 months that he is expected to stay on as interim director of children`s services at the council if the appointment is approved`."

"`Mr Newsam has a proven track record of turning around failing children`s services departments and his appointment has been proposed after the council was slammed by Ofsted in September for failing to safeguard vulnerable children.`"

"Now, is a man who`s in a job like that as a result of a hand in government, is he... is he going to criticise the government? Possibly, I don`t know. But it seems interesting. He`s a proven track record of turning around failing children`s services. So that`s good. And there`s a consultancy firm mentioned there, MCBN Management Consultancy and the day-rate there was £1,045. So he hit the headlines here after this amount of money was being paid to him, and then the council explained ... that they had a poor Ofsted report but they complemented  him. They said he had been very open and transparent in his way of working and he`s helped us restore public confidence in the council. So that`s good praise and we`ll put that up on screen to be fair, and we`ll highlight that. He`s been very open and transparent..."



"So let`s have a look at this one. This is Community Care, and they`re talking about `turmoil for Northamptonshire children`s services as DfE appointed commissioner quits."

"Now this is where it gets interesting, Mike, because this is Mr Newsam again. He seemed to disappear without anybody really knowing why... but there was interest in this man because he`d come under fire from Northamptonshire councillors because of his `lack of visibility and accountability.`"

"So which is it?" asks Mike Robinson. "Is he open and transparent? Or has he got a lack of visibility and accountability?"

Brian Gerrish: "Or does he go whichever way the wind blows and wherever the money comes from? So the DfE did not reply to questions as to the reason for Newsam`s recent exit but a spokesperson said: `we`re making good progress with the creation of a new Children`s Services trust and are grateful to Malcolm Newsam for his role in transforming these services. We will be appointing a new commissioner before Malcolm leaves to finish this crucial work`."

"Now this is a little clue to what I believe is really going on because this man is a change agent. He`s changing council services for children into a trust and my personal opinion is as these trusts appear actually the accountability declines and the transparency declines."

Mike Robinson: "As has happened with the NHS."

"As has happened with the NHS. Privatization comes in. You don`t know what you`re dealing with. So we get that very early hook that maybe something special is happening."

"Let `s have a look at the report. So I`ve entitled this one `Multi-Disciplinary Teams... we`re all in it together.` But look at what the report actually says: `The team will report directly to the Deputy Mayor in relation to progress and outcomes. The Deputy Mayor has invited Joanne Roney, Chief Exectuve of Manchester City Council and lead GMCA Chief Executive for Children, Jim Taylor, Chief Executive of Salford City Council and a former Director of Children`s Services and Debbie Ford, Assistant Chief Constable, GMP, to join her in providing governance and oversight of the exercise in the steering group`."

"So this is the team investigating itself, Mike. We haven`t got a separate, secure investigation going on where the evidence is being carefully put to one side. What we`ve got is a gaggle of people working through their own mistakes: but `don`t worry because everything is independent`.

"So here we are: `We `assure` the public we`ve investigated ourselves fully ... "

"`Throughout our review we have shared our findings with Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council. Greater Manchester Police has confirmed the following additional information` [and it`s a love affair. They`re all loving each other, swapping information, working in collaboration, in order to get to the bottom of what they failed to do as a multidisiplinary team. It could go straight from here on to Yes Minister or the Simpsons..."

"So let`s carry on, because of course the report does produce some very good information, in that it says in a lot of places and a lot of detail that a great number of children ages 12 up to 16, 17 were horrifically abused, prostituted. I`m not going to describe what was done to these children, but look at what it says at 6.82:"

"`We also cannot offer assurance that the risks the identified adults presented to children were appropriately dealt with by either Greater Manchester Police or Manchester City Council.` But all the evidence they uncover in the report has already been shared with the people who failed..."

"7.14 `Although there was significant information held by both Manchester City Council and Greater Manchester Police on individuals who potentially posed a risk to children, we can offer no assurance that appropriate action was taken to address the risks they presented to children`. This theme is repeated through the report, and it`s very clear they knew the abuse was going on . The City Council did nothing. The police closed down an investigation where they were starting to do something, and the multidisciplinary child protection team failed at every level ... or we had malfeasance in public office where they turned a blind eye to crime`."

Mike Robinson: "So we`ve now seen the same patterns in Nottingham, in Rotherham, Rochdale and all these other places in the Midlands and the north of England and yet we`re still getting reports like this and no lessons have been learned, it seems."

"No lessons have been learned, except we can learn the lesson that if you follow it through the pattern of cover-up,  the failure, is always the same. The information is there; the child protection teams in the Council don`t do their job; the police don`t do their job; the coroners don`t do their jobs. Of course in general the politicians don`t do their job. Andy Burnham stepped in at this point but the pattern is that politicians will not get involved. The Home Office will not get involved. The Prime Minister says: `Well there`s no abuse going on, it`s just money spaffed up the wall`."

Mike Robinson: "But there is a common theme through all of this and that is Common Purpose."

Brian Gerrish: "Common Purpose, the integration of the authorities into a leadership team where transparency goes out the window. I think we`re going to find deeper Common Purpose connections, but we`ll keep our viewers informed of that."

"Let`s have a look at this, page 18: `Out of the 25 cases within our sample, we have concluded that there was a significant probability that 16 children were being sexually exploited and we cannot offer any assurance that this was appropriately addressed by either Greater Manchester Police or the responsible local authority. In respect of the remaining nine children, we have concluded that given the insufficient available information, we cannot form a view as to whether the children had experienced sexual exploitation or whether these concerns were appropriately addressed by either Greater Manchester Police or Manchester City Council or the relevant local authority`..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4tud9JLclk

Smacking, now a criminal offence

"Scotland has become the first country in the UK to make it a criminal offence for parents to smack their children."

"The ban on all physical punishment was backed overwhelmingly by 84 votes to 29 by the Scottish Parliament on Thursday afternoon."
"The move will give children in Scotland the same protection from assault as adults when it comes into force."

"Parents and carers are currently allowed to use `reasonable` physical force to discipline their children."

"The smacking ban bill was introduced by Scottish Greens MSP John Finnie, a former police officer, who won the support of the SNP, Labour and Lib Dems as well as his own party and many children's charities."

"Opinion polls have suggested a majority of people in Scotland are opposed to a smacking ban - with critics arguing that the current law is sufficient, and that the changes risk criminalising "good" parents."

"But most of the responses to a consultation on Mr Finnie's bill were in favour of a ban, and the move has been widely supported by children's charities."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-49908849?fbclid=IwAR0fTLM9jWEgWaJ3X95hbomKYr4Gi2DRsUjJ5AxJUX3VMOToSW0k2Ds4zhA 　

Gender neutrality: a step too far?

========================================================

Confusion is also going to be created more widely.

For example:
　
"Trans people will be permitted to change their sex on the next official census, despite warnings it could mean the statistics become `skewed"

"Guidance for the forthcoming survey in 2021 will give respondents the option to state their sex is `different from what is on your birth certificate`."

"It is feared the advice, which applies to both adults and children, could distort population data upon which the Government bases future policy." [This is an important point since the pattern of diseases is different in the two sexes and so are the needs for maternity services.]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/15/trans-people-given-option-putting-sex-different-birth-certificate/

Scotland celebrates the passing of the Named Person

[UK Column News: 20 September 2019]

David Scott talks about the repeal of the Named Person legislation in Scotland:

"Well, yesterday was a bit of a red letter day... a brief moment of celebration, because Mr Swinney, the responsible minister, stood up in the Scottish Parliament and announced that the whole thing - at least in a legislative sense - was being scrapped. So here we see the report from the Christian Institute who led the legal challenge and led the `No to the Named Person` campaign... They`re saying `Named Person scheme axed by Scottish government. Parents are celebrating today after the Scottish government officially announced the end of the intrusive Named Person scheme. Three years after ...the Supreme Court ruled against key elements of the scheme, in a case spearheaded by the Christian Institute, the government has finally agreed to repeal the entire Named Person legislation`."

"So it`s all - at least in a statutory sense - going to go."

Brian Gerrish: "I was just going to say: `and this really shows people.` We have so many people who say: `Yes, we now understand what`s happening in this country, how all this crass legislation is being brought in, what can we do about it? And it has been consistent work by a relatively few - a relatively small group of people - that`s brought this change about in Scotland. I don`t know whether you`d like to add a bit to that."

David Scott: "Well it has. This is real people power because the state developed this in secret; it has every state department on board; it had all of the charities that receive significant government funding involved in developing the scheme. And all of the organisations that are meant to protect human rights were all either asleep at the wheel or actually enabling this to go forward. So it was left to a small number of individuals to tell the people what the scheme actually was, and the thing that really destroyed it - then the legal case was an excellent spearhead and did a lot of damage - but the thing that really destroyed it. [was] that they could not persuade the people to accept this intrusion into their lives and it was getting that message out that really turned the corner for them."

"So this is the Herald supporting it here as a political story. Swinney `humiliated` here as another of his flagship plans is scrapped. Now this is correct, the Scottish Government`s having a lot of failures at the moment, but really the... true story here is that a major move into fascism, into totalitarianism, has been defeated by public pressure and helped by the Supreme Court. It`s noticeable that the courts in Scotland all backed the government but when it went to the Supreme Court, the story was different."

 

"The BBC reported it - here we are. BBC News: `Named Person scheme scrapped by the Scottish government.` Now, in the very next line, this is the line they put in bold... underneath the article they said the following: `The Scottish government has scrapped its controversial plan to appoint a named person to safeguard the welfare of every child in the country`."

"So six years into the national campaign which they have been reporting all the way along, the BBC still get it wrong... I just want to emphasise how stupid this is, or craven, because this is the lie that the state`s been saying. This is the lie that the state`s been pushing the whole time. When there was a debate up in Inverness and the minister responsible then, Aileen Campbell, was getting ripped apart by people who knew what they were talking about, and she was on the phone, you could hear the adviser whisper to her `child protection` because the line has always been that this is about child protection; it`s about welfare. Welfare is defined in law; it`s risk of significant harm. There`s nobody in the country who`s saying that children should be put at risk of significant harm. That`s a lie by the BBC, right."

Emphasising once again that the Named Person was never about welfare, David Scott says: "It`s not about welfare; it`s about wellbeing, which means anything the government wants it to mean and is completely undefined. And six years into this campaign, the BBC is still pushing out the lie."

"It`s pathetic."

===========================

More about the BBC`s coverage of the Named Person scheme is on Friday`s UK Column News:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQhCPym6ev0

Adoption concerns

[Julie D]

"Three years ago, I wrote a blog post, `Can an adoption order be undone?` The answer was, only in very exceptional circumstances. A new High Court judgment..., ZH v HS & others [2019] EWHC 2190, has not broken any new ground, but gives us a further example of the sort of procedural flaws that are so serious they undermine the granting of the order. ..
No one had noticed that T had not lived with the ‘adopters’ for the statutory period required

The correct notice had not been given to the local authority
The required checks on the aunt and uncle were not carried out

The required medical assessments had not been undertaken

The parents had not been notified, nor their consent sought

The local authority’s report to court had several omissions and had not been written with the ‘adopters’ understanding that they were taking on full parental responsibility for T.

The court didn’t appoint a Cafcass guardian. It is almost impossible to understand how such a flawed application could have proceeded through the local authority and court processes."
 Julie D

http://www.transparencyproject.org.uk/can-an-adoption-order-be-undone-new-case/


=======================

Although we are told that the above case is not about forced adoption it does not inspire confidence in any of the adoption processes. Years of complaints have not improved the situation.

Here`s a recap from RT [2015]:

Escalation of concerns:

"Up to five years ago ... the only abuse was physical abuse, neglect and sexual abuse... Then there were two and a half thousand cases reported each year to... social services. Two and a half thousand causes of intervention."

"Over the five years a new category has come into being called emotional abuse ...there were thirteen thousand eight hundred cases... involving social services intervention ... This is a result of an unholy alliance between social workers and the psychiatric profession."

[Brian Rothery, retired journalist, human rights activist, Ireland]

Sabine McNeill loses her appeal

Sabine McNeill in former times pleads on behalf of the 1000 children a month forced into the care system in the UK. She appears at the European parliament.

Life deteriorated for Sabine McNeill after she began campaigning on behalf of the two Hampstead Heath children taken into care that she believed had been subjected to satanic ritual abuse. Her campaign was based on the testimonies of the mother who raised the alarm and the children themselves.

In a report following a family court hearing, Mrs Justice Pauffley concluded that: `There was no satanic or other cult at which babies were murdered and children were sexually abused.`

It should be noted that family court decisions are made on the `balance of probabilities` rather than evidence provided `beyond reasonable doubt.` Given the lack of supporting evidence to substantiate the judge`s bold claims, it is difficult now to determine the truth of these matters.

=======================

"Sabine`s appeal was heard this morning by Lord Justice Leggatt, assisted by Mr Justice William Davis and HH Judge Michael C Chambers AC in court 8 which had the benefit of audio-visual equipment enabling Sabine to appear on a screen from HMP Bronzefield."

"The hearing lasted under half an hour. Defence Counsel, Tom Stevens, put down three grounds for appeal. (1) the defendant`s age and infirmity (2) her lack of previous convictions (3) her remorse for upsetting people."

"After a conference between themselves lasting less than 5 minutes the judges returned to dismiss these grounds and the appeal as totally `without merit`."

"`There has recently been an appellant in the courts aged over 100 and Sabine is only 74. Sabine is not `terminally ill` and the prison will surely adequately manage her infirmities. Sabine was already the subject of a criminal trial in 2016 and even though... a restraining order had been imposed... she had then almost immediately breached [that] and had been required to return to court, despite which, having been given `another chance` she had offended again. And, as for remorse, despite several times being advised by the police of the damage and harm she was causing to innocent families and children she had shown no remorse whatsoever. She had just `ploughed on and on`, said LJL Leggatt."

"In fact the case was the `most serious` case of stalking and harassment he and his colleagues had ever come across and Mrs Justice Cahill had been if anything `lenient` in only giving her 9 years."

See summary of case:
https://sabinemcneill.pressbooks.com/chapter/regarding-my-own-case/

See criticism of Researching Reform for allowing Sabine McNeill and John Hemming to have a platform.

https://researchingreform.net/2019/08/05/barristers-child-protection-project-takes-an-unprofessional-nosedive/

Also Chris Spivy and his comments about the extraordinary length of the nine year sentence.

http://chrisspivey.org/sabine-mcneill-the-hampstead-hoax/

Fabricated illness on the increase

"Calls for a cross party inquiry into claims that a growing number of families are being accused of inventing or causing their children’s illness. It’s called Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) and used to be known as Munchausen’s Syndrome By Proxy. It’s a rare form of abuse where parents exaggerate their child’s medical condition – or even cause it."

"Campaigners and charities say many families have been wrongly accused and want the inquiry to look at what they describe as a `wave of false allegations` and the current guidelines around FII.
 5 Live Investigates first looked at this in March when we spoke to mums and dads threatened with having their children taken off them after being accused of FII. Following the programme, we have been contacted by other families who say this has happened to them. We’ve also been told about many other cases. One involves a mother accused of poisoning her two year old daughter and ordered to live apart from her for almost a year until the case was dismissed."

Listen to the podcast below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00050jw

Police snatch 3 children

Datei herunterladen | In neuem Fenster abspielen | Aufgenommen am 25/06/2019

"When Natalya and her family arrived in Norway in September 2018 they were overwhelmed by the beauty of the country. They had moved there from America because Natalya’s husband started a new job in Oslo. But their lives drastically changed a few months later when Norway’s dysfunctional Child protection service along with the police entered their house on a Monday night in May 2019 and seized their children."

"Like in so many other cases there was no forewarning, no court proceeding, no thorough investigation or assistance given to the family prior to the taking of the children. This Episode was recorded about a month after the Children were seized. [See link below] "

https://stepup4childrensrights.com/three-american-children-taken/?fbclid=IwAR1Dju1OwqdJhOGxKgvLXdZ8YKxnWnPPqoSvc5bcTvMZgLFz0djRQaG09gk

Mother accused of inducing illness

"Drayak's world was `turned inside out` when she was suspected of causing her daughter's illness. Two-year-old Beatrix had a complex medical history and had been placed on anti-epilepsy medicine but she was struggling to feed and kept vomiting. Her mother claims to have been treated `like a monster`over concerns she was `inducing` Beatrix's illness."

"Her daughter was taken into foster care and the family was not reunited until a year later when the case was dropped. Taliah, 36, was wrongly suspected of Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) in relation to her daughter, a condition also known as Munchausen's syndrome by proxy. FII is a rare form of child abuse which occurs when a parent or carer, usually the child's biological mother, exaggerates or deliberately causes symptoms of illness in the child..."

"During the investigation, Taliah, who is a mother of seven, was allowed to continue caring for her other children but Beatrix was removed from the family home. The toddler spent three months in foster care before an arrangement was made for Beatrix to be cared for by her father Taurean at a separate address, with Taliah getting limited supervised access..."

"It was consultant paediatrician Dr Marianne Cochrane, at the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, whose concerns led to a child protection investigation and Taliah being interviewed by the police. Her other children, her friends and playgroup workers were also interviewed as part of the investigation. `None of that seemed to resolve anything,` Taliah says."

"She says the more she asked for help the more she was treated with suspicion."

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48770748#

Beechwood in the news

Melanie Shaw Awareness Day, Manchester 2019

=========================

Meanwhile:

"A woman in her 40s has been awarded more than £20,000 in criminal damages over the sexual abuse she suffered at Beechwood children’s home over 30 years ago."

"The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a resident at the home in Mapperley in the 1980s."

"The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, which is a Government agency, has awarded the former resident £22,000 damages."

"This is despite the fact that the people she said had abused her did not face any charges against her..."

"Although the location of Beechwood is within the city boundaries, it was being run by the county council during the time the woman was there."

"The council has already paid out over £2.5m to more than 125 people in civil compensation to people who were in children's homes and foster care."

"Of the civil claims made to both the city and county councils, more than 140 relate to Beechwood."

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/former-beechwood-resident-receives-22000-2980031?fbclid=IwAR3eV84pscVvVlVwwRPrMF5Uza5VGlmZDq_h3DqxudvKRXD8c1u-n01c3sA

Statistics show increase in missing children from care

It looks like Ann Coffey MP wants the opportunity to produce yet another report despite the situation deteriorating year on year.

"MPs are to launch an inquiry into the record number of children missing from care in England."

"Ann Coffey, who heads the all-parliamentary group for runaway and missing children and adults, is to invite those working in this area to give their views about the risks faced by children who go missing after being sent miles away from their homes for care."

"Coffey also wants to explore how many of these children are then lured into drug gangs as part of the so-called county lines phenomenon."

"Data obtained through a parliamentary question by the MP shows an increase of 1,000 children going missing from care homes since 2015, after being moved to new areas often miles from their homes, known as an `out of area placement`."

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/26/record-number-of-children-missing-from-care-in-uk

When will it dawn on her that she has all the information she needs and that it is action that is required to prevent further abuse? For example, around care homes, paedophile groups often ensnare vulnerable children with drugs but the police, social workers and others turn a blind eye. Breaking the bond between children and their families increases their vulnerability.

Given Ann Coffey`s background she must be aware of these links, surely.

======================

"Elected in 1992, Ann Coffey is the Member of Parliament for Stockport. Before she was elected she worked with children and families as a senior social worker."

"She is the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Runaway and Missing Children and Adults which produced a report in 2012 into children missing from care and the link betwen missing and child sexual exploitation. The APPG produced a further report in 2016 into Safeguarding of Absent Children."

https://dvparty.uk/connect/ann-coffey/

Disabled children threatened with care

At BBC 5 Live below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00030dr

Education crises: is compulsory registration the answer ?

Channel 4 Monday, 04 February 2019 12:10
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"The Children’s Commissioner for England has called for a compulsory home education register and strong measures to tackle ‘off-rolling’."

"In a report, Skipping school: invisible children, Anne Longfield also said there should be more support for families who home educate, a greater oversight of home schooled children and decisive action against unregistered schools..."

"Some children were completely out of sight of the authorities and ‘off the grid’ – with research by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS)/Dispatches showing 93% of councils say they are not aware of all the children in their area who are home educated. When local authorities offer to visit a home educating family, in 28% of cases the family refuses."

http://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38016%3Achildrens-commission-calls-for-compulsory-home-education-register&catid=54&Itemid=22

Of course, one of the reasons for an increase in home education is the failure of many mainstream schools to cope with children with additional support needs. [ASN]

Here is an example from Scotland:

"The presumption to mainstream sees all children taught in mainstream schools unless certain exemptions apply. Currently, more than a quarter of the pupil population in Scotland (28.7 per cent) has ASN, an increase of more than 68 per cent since 2012 (in part due to an increase in awareness and identification). This, however, is against the background of 500 fewer specialist ASN teachers and a reduction in support staff, such as education psychologists and behaviour support staff..."

"A lack of classroom support, driven in part by budgetary cuts, means that many of these vulnerable children and young people are not having their educational and social needs met. This is also putting pressure on fellow pupils and teachers, with many of the latter lacking the necessary training to provide the specialist support required."

----------------------------

See also Legal framework around home education

Norway expels Polish consul

Data analytics threatens local democracy

Here is what Xantura has to say about its Fusion platform:

"The Fusion platform is being configured to better target early help services and reduce financial pressures in several business domains, including;

Children`s Services
Adult Social Care & Health
Housing / Homelessness
Community Safety In all these deployments, very careful consideration is given by data owners as to what data will be supplied and under what circumstances it can be shared."

However the reality might involve breaches in a family`s right to privacy given that consent for data sharing is not always sought. For example:

"Hackney Council is refusing to release details about a profiling system which flags at-risk families in the borough to social workers." 
"The Town Hall has also confirmed that people whose data is captured through its services are not told it is being used for this purpose."



"The council has paid a total of £361,400 to private data analytics company Xantura since 2015, and says it is trialling the firm’s Early Help Profiling System (EHPS)..."

"A spokesperson said the decision to keep secret what predictive indicators are used to profile families is at the request of Xantura, which argues the information is commercially sensitive."


But Alexandra Runswick, director of campaign group Unlock Democracy, said: `Commercial sensitivity should not override democratic accountability`. " 
"`Private companies like Xantura – that knowingly get into the business of local democracy – should expect to be open about how software is being used for targeting`." 
"`We know that human biases can be baked into profiling software design. This is a challenge that some of the largest companies in the world haven’t been able to iron out`."
 
https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2018/10/18/council-360k-xantura-software-profiles-troubled-families/

Nine years for Sabine McNeill

"A woman who claimed there was a `satanic child abuse ring` in Hampstead has been jailed for nine years over stalking parents and breaching a restraining order."

"Sabine McNeill, 74, was jailed at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday. She led a vitriolic campaign claiming children at a school in Hampstead were being subject to child abuse..."

"A High Court hearing in 2015 found the claims of a satanic child abuse ring to be baseless."

https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/crime-court/nine-years-for-pensioner-who-has-stalked-and-harrassed-mothers-of-children-at-hampstead-school-1-5848299


Coverage of the Sabine McNeill case begins on UK Column News at approximately 25 minutes. 

 UK Column New Friday 11 January 2019

Here is Sabine in earlier times fighting against UK secret family courts and the abuses that follow from that.

Fabricated Illness

The website of the NHS describes it as:

"… a rare form of child abuse. It occurs when a parent or carer, usually the child’s biological mother, exaggerates or deliberately causes symptoms of illness in the child."...

"Allegations of fabricated or induced illness (FII) against parents are on the increase from councils trying to avoid paying for special needs services"

"Note here the assertion refers to allegations and not confirmed cases..."

"The claim that local authorities are effectively using a loophole and using internal child protection procedures to avoid complying with statutory obligations is a serious one and no doubt any public servant would be keen to do what they can to ensure that any such fears were allayed. Maybe parents and other interested parties can help. For example, a request to a LA using the rights available in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to find out the numbers of FII cases in a particular year and also whether the children in question had or were being assessed for an EHCp* may help."

*EHCp - Education, Health and Care Plan
http://talemlaw.co.uk/fabricated-induced-illness-cases-rise-apparently/

Beware of the motivation behind the master class on fabricated illness to be held in Inverness: