Children's social care system is 'broken', frontline worker says

A frontline social worker has described children's social care as a "system that's broken" and says her "biggest fear" is that a child in her care will come to harm.

Speaking anonymously, the worker, who we're calling Emily, told Sky News: "It's underfunded. Social workers are dealing with such massive pressure every day, massive caseloads, trying to see families, trying to assess risk, trying to manage risk. And it's not realistic."

She was speaking out as Surrey social services face questions over what more they could have done to protect Sara Sharif, 10, who was murdered by her father and stepmother.

Sara had been known to social services throughout her life and her father had faced previous allegations of abuse. An independent child safeguarding review will now examine whether she was failed by the authorities.

Sara's school had referred concerns about bruises on her face to social services five months before her murder, but the case was closed by social workers less than a week later.

Emily, who works for a different local authority, said she "can't even imagine" how the social workers involved must be feeling.

"It's not their fault. They're not the ones who did that to Sara. And that's the context of it. They didn't kill her. But they will still be feeling it.

"That's one of my biggest fears in this job, is that being me - and I think probably everybody feels that way. It's a massive worry."

Emily currently has a caseload of 17 children which she described as "quite low" compared to some other social workers.

'Every social worker's worry'

Asked if a child in her care has ever come to harm, she replied: "I want to say not yet and that's a horrible thing to say.

"But it is a worry that something would happen to a child that I'm working with. And I think that's something every social worker is worried about."

Sky News shared her concerns with Helen Hayes MP, chair of the Education Select Committee, which is carrying out an inquiry into children's social care.

Ms Hayes said: "I think we have ample evidence of a system that is being pushed to breaking point.

"When you hear social workers talking like that about the daily reality of the work that they do we can only conclude that there are some serious problems that need to be fixed as a matter of urgency."

'We're so underfunded'

Emily believes the problems are nationwide and systemic and can only be fixed with more investment from the government.

Asked what would make the children in her care safer she replied: "Access to funding. We're so underfunded that we can't always provide the right support for these families."

A landmark independent review of children's social care published in 2022 found spending of £2.6bn would be required over four years to achieve the reforms needed in the system.

So far only a fraction of that has been spent.

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'No child at risk should be home-educated'

Reacting to the Sara Sharif verdicts, the Children's Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, said the 10-year-old was "totally let down".

She told Sky News: "We need justice and we need action from the government and from children's social care with a set of real actions."

Ms de Souza called for the government to introduce a unique identifier for children and share data on them between the various children's services.

She added: "This little girl was identified by the school as being at risk of abuse and then was allowed to be home-educated. No child at risk of abuse should be home-educated and we should have a home register.

"If Sara's life means anything, those things will protect children. They need to be done now."

Minister for Children and Families Janet Daby told Sky News: "All children deserve the very best life chances and social workers do a tremendous job of making that happen.

"Having spent over 15 years as a social worker myself, I know just how heartbreaking it can be when heavy caseloads and red tape stand in the way of getting children and families the support they need to thrive.

"That's why we've announced a landmark reform programme across children's social care, and we are investing an extra £250m to drive earlier intervention for families - cementing a system that allows social workers to focus on breaking the link between children's background and their opportunities in life."

(c) Sky News 2024: Children's social care system is 'broken', frontline worker says