Children have just one chance

Published on 13/07/2012 14:26

WITH the furore over alleged corruption in our banking system, a far reaching failure in our care system has quietly slipped under the radar.

A report by Sue Berelowitz, the Deputy Children’s Commissioner was published last week, in which she concludes that the system that “looks after” children in care is not fit for purpose.

She observes that she had never before witnessed the violence and sadism she found when writing the report.

Politicians can no longer kick this one under the table. In every local authority we need council tax payers to demand to know how their vulnerable young people are being cared for when they are removed from the family home.

Care homes need to be inspected regularly without notice by specially trained people, perhaps police officers, who can soon weed out cover ups and malpractice, and highly paid senior council officers need to be held accountable for failures in the system and dismissed.

I have asked St Helens Council a series of questions on the matter under the Freedom of Information Act, and intend to pursue the matter at every level if I find shortcomings in our local provision.

Children have only one chance in life to be children – we owe it to them to protect them as best we can.

Mike Perry,

Prescot Road,

St Helens

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Children have just one chance

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