Child protection concerns after teen dies in possible suicide
THE DEATH of a second Charedi teenager suspected of suicide in Manchester has prompted calls for stronger links between public social services and the Orthodox community in order to protect children.
Bury Integrated Safeguarding Partnership (BISP) highlighted a “pressing need” to build bridges in a report into the “tragic death” of “Dina”, who died earlier this year aged 16.
She had been the victim of sexual exploitation by an older man and on the morning of her death had been due to attend a meeting at her school after she was found smoking cannabis during a school residential trip.
It is the second report of its kind within months. Earlier this year, Bury Safeguarding Children Board — now integrated into BISP — conducted a review into the death of “Daniel”, aged 14, in 2018, which highlighted the need to “overcome barriers” between the Charedi community and local agencies to ensure effective safeguarding.
In its report on Dina, BISP stated, “Perceptions on the part of the [strictly Orthodox] community regarding mainstream services, coupled with a lack of trust and a tendency to insularity, may lead to a breakdown in communication and relationships, which could place vulnerable young people at greater risk of exploitation, drug use and unresolved mental health issues.”
Dina, who was part of a large Charedi family, was described as a “strong and forceful” character who had begun to “test boundaries” with her parents and in school.
In the 18 months before her death, she had “experienced a number of difficulties with her emotional health”.
In May 2018, a family friend referred her case to a local counselling service called Keren, which works with young Orthodox people. Her mother persuaded to her attend.
In June, Dina took a trip to London, where she sometimes visited friends, without her parents’ permission. When she returned, her mother found a large amount of cash, a quantity of white powder, a fake ID and an emergency contraceptive pill in her bag.
Dina told a safeguarding worker from Keren that she had had sex with an older man she had been seeing and taken drugs.
She also told a therapist that she had tried to take enough cocaine to induce a heart attack to kill herself.
Although she later told professionals and her family she had made these things up, the report stated, “The indications are that Dina had previously attempted to take her own life on at least one occasion.”
The white substance — which her parents threw away, believing it was not cocaine — Dina later said was talcum powder.
In July, Keren made a referral to the local social services, Child Social Care, which identified Dina as a “child in need”. But CSC closed the case in November as “Dina did not want to engage and her family reported that things had begun to improve”.
The same month, in a health assessment with the Manchester School Nurse, Dina “denied any sexual activity and said she had not taken drugs and that she had made things up to scare her parents”.
But the Manchester School Nurse raised concerns about “parental resistance to involvement with services, and that Dina had not been completely open” during the assessment.
In December, Dina gave evidence to officers from the Met Police about sexual activity with a man under investigation. He was subsequently convicted of several sexual offences involving children under the age of 16, including Dina.
The BISP found “no record of professional support being available or offered to Dina by any agency” following her meeting with police.
This was a “significant missed opportunity to offer emotional and practical support to Dina following what must have been a traumatic experience for her. This may also have provided an opportunity to try to re-engage Dina in support services.”
The report identified other “missed opportunities”, saying she ought to have been screened to assess her emotional and mental health.
As part of a police investigation that followed her death this year, material was recovered from her mobile phone which “indicated Dina had harboured thoughts of self-harm and suicide which she shared with friends on social media. This led to concerns that Dina may have been involved in a ‘suicide pact’.”
The report noted that the relationship between Dina’s family and Children’s Social Care had been “difficult” from the beginning. Her mother was suspicious of the service and the family felt the agency lacked “cultural understanding” of the Orthodox Jewish community.
The family “perceived this as a major barrier to working effectively with services” — other than with the Met Police.
More needed to be done to strengthen relationships between statutory agencies and local Orthodox Jewish communities, the BISP said.
There was a ‘missed opportunity’ to offer support