Inquiry: Dozens of children put in care

SOCIETY: Almost 70 children have been taken into care in Rotherham as part of a national child abuse inquiry which has involved international efforts to trace youngsters abroad.

The consequences of the investigation have been so great that it has led to a rise of a quarter in the number of children in care in the town in 12 months.

ALMOST 70 children have been taken into care in Rotherham as part of a national child abuse inquiry which has involved international efforts to trace youngsters abroad, it has emerged.

The consequences of the ongoing investigation have been so great that it has put the town’s whole looked-after children system under strain, contributing to a rise of almost a quarter in the number of children in care in the town in just 12 months.

As the investigation is still current, details of the exact nature of the allegations cannot be released. However, social workers involved in investigating the allegations have found it necessary to remove the children from their families as a result of the evidence gathered so far.

It is understood the case involves one very large extended family, which emigrated to the UK and ended up living in Rotherham before moving around the country and abroad, with investigations focused on issues around neglect.

Rotherham developed a notorious reputation for child abuse because of the child sexual exploitation scandal which broke five years ago and is estimated to have involved at least 1,500 young victims who were not helped by the authorities at the time they were at risk.

But the current investigation is being conducted in very different circumstances, at a time when Ofsted has just described the council’s children’s services department as being “transformed” from the organisation which existed previously.

It is being described as a “large scale complex abuse inquiry” by the council, also involving police and other agencies.

While the full scope of the investigation remains unknown, a key element of progress made by social workers has been to trace children who have been moved between towns and cities in the UK, as well as those who have been moved from country to country.

Those deemed to be at risk have been moved into foster care, but numbers have been so great it has placed an unexpected burden on the system, meaning placements have been difficult to find, with social workers then finding their caseload spread over a wide geographical area.

That has led not only to logistical problems in travelling between locations, but has also begun to slow down performance in getting reports on individual children and their needs completed and filed as quickly as desired.

Ofsted recently inspected the children’s services department and found social workers took a “forensic” and “tenacious” approach.

A report to councillors states that Ofsted’s findings had specifically identified: “The quality of assessments and the impact that social workers were having in very challenging circumstances.

“The leadership of the work was equally identified and commented on in a positive way.

“Our organisational learning arising from this current inquiry has been significant.”

Vicky Schofield, head of Rotherham Council’s First Response service, told councillors: “Children moving across council boundaries is a feature of the work we have done very recently.”

Work done by social workers on the complex abuse team can be so harrowing that procedures have been put in place to make sure the staff involved get the support they need, with the same policy being adopted by other agencies involved in the same work. South Yorkshire Police confirmed they were supporting the council’s investigations but there were no criminal charges at this stage.