Thursday, January 25, 2018

Taken into care or stolen?

A new study reveals that since 2009, government figures show the number of Gypsy or Roma children in care in England has surged by 933% and those of Travellers of Irish heritage by 400%. Over the same period, the overall number of children in care increased by an average 19%.

The report’s co-authors, Dan Allen and Sarah Riding, social work lecturers at the University of Salford, said it is disproportionate compared with other ethnic groups in England, including those with similarly sized populations, such as Chinese, Indian and Bangladeshi. 

Their study found that child protection professionals working with Gypsy, Roma or Traveller (GRT) children are “generally ill-equipped and under pressure” and there was evidence of automatic prejudice that presupposes risk.

 The study’s authors found that more than two-thirds of all GRT children assessed by children’s services in England in 2016 were not seen to be at risk of significant harm once an assessment had been completed.

Jonathan Lee, the communication coordinator of the European Roma Rights Centre, says the study reveals a shocking level of existing prejudice throughout the English child protection sector and calls for urgent training for social workers “to end the injustice”.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/24/care-system-discriminating-gypsy-roma-traveller-children

No comments: