ADCS comment following the death of Star Hobson

ADCS Vice President Steve Crocker said:

“While we cannot comment on the specifics of this case, it’s important to say that Star’s death is a tragedy. Reports in the media of what Star endured in her very short life are heart-breaking.

“In recent weeks, two high profile cases where young children have been killed by the very people who should have loved and cared for them most have shone a light on the child protection system. National and local learning reviews are ongoing, and we all have a duty to ensure these horrendous cases produce lasting learning for the greater good.

“For our part as leaders of local services within a multiagency system that protects many thousands of children on a daily basis, we know just how complex and difficult child protection work is. The way we safeguard children has improved in recent years, but we cannot be complacent. There is much greater recognition that safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility and that a range of professionals must work in a multidisciplinary way to achieve this goal, including social workers, teachers, GPs and many others. We are constantly learning, working with our partners trying to ensure the systems we have in place to keep children safe are as effective as they possibly can be. However, despite the best efforts of the agencies involved no system is fail-safe, as much as we might want it to be.

“When things do go wrong it is crucial that we take onboard any lessons, but it’s equally as important that the system is designed and, crucially, resourced properly, so that we can identify children and families who need our help and support earlier to prevent them from reaching crisis point and effectively safeguard children. Social workers are one part of a multi agency group of professionals tasked with keeping children safe from harm; they carry huge responsibility on behalf of us all and they must be supported by a system that enables them to do their jobs effectively. We hope any system level recommendations that come out of the national review into children’s social care will enable us to better meet the needs of all children and young people.”

ENDS

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