Part of the Care Inspectorate area of scrutiny is child protection services which includes children under the control of Corporate Parents i.e. children on compulsory supervision orders and in care not at home.
Mothers, children and families often have genuine complaints about the way child protection in Scotland operates, especially when they see the stress and poor outcomes for parents and their children in care.
Where formal complaints have been made to the Care Inspectorate in individual cases, the response is that they do not investigate individual complaints about the care of looked after children. However, the Care Inspectorate do investigate individual complaints in other care settings. Why do they refuse to investigate individual cases when a child is in care or under supervision through the Children’s Hearing system?
The Care Inspectorate remit appears, to me, to be restricted to checking protocols and procedures put in place by various child protection partnerships (Corporate Parents). I believe that by only checking procedures and protocols without investigating the actions in the field is putting many very vulnerable children at further risk.
There is no independent vehicle for investigating individual complaints in child protection, especially when a statutory body/local authority refuses to investigate complaints about their staff/employees/agents. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman can only investigate the way a complaint is handled. The only other action available is civil actions through the courts, which is beyond the finances of most families and can last for years. Children can remain in care separated from their families while civil proceedings drag on.
I believe that, by failing to investigate serious individual complaints about child protection problems, the Care Inspectorate does not protect very vulnerable children. Having written procedures and protocols in place does not mean that those working to them are following the rules correctly and, as a result, vulnerable children and their families can suffer greatly.
The Regulations/legislation should be amended to give the Care Inspectorate powers to investigate individual complaints in child protection. The Care Inspectorate appears to have those powers when dealing with Care Homes for the elderly and other institutions, why not for children in care?