In a letter submitted to the court, one police officer who has visited the child multiple times noted that “he is always vaping or smoking tobacco” when he met him in the community. Having challenged the children’s home staff as to how the child was able to buy these products, as he is always accompanied, the officer observed: “[They] have no reasonable answer.” The same officer wrote how the boy is “very open about the use of [cannabis] and … smokes it in the house and bedroom in an open manner … The on-site care staff are aware and never challenge him”.
Are they being paid to? I’m guessing they are. If so, why are they not being told to do their job or GTFO..?
The boy is subject to a deprivation of liberty order, in which a local authority can ask the high court for permission to deprive a child of their liberty for their own protection. This occurs when they do not meet the criteria to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act. A deprivation of liberty order allows a child in an unregistered placement – because no secure registered placement is available – to be subject to restrictions on their liberty. Upon hearing the boy is subject to the order, Lieven said such a situation continuing could be seen as “a legal sticking plaster” for a “wholly unacceptable” standard of care.
That’s because it’s what it is. I very much doubt he’s the only young thug in these circumstances, and we are likely to need more and more of these places, thanks to the standards of parenting in this country, so why aren’t we building them and staffing them appropriately?
The problem is that if the child wants to do something, even something that is bad for them like smoking or drinking, there is very little care home workers can do to prevent that. You'd think that smoking indoors would be outlawed, but a care home would technically be classed as the child's home and therefore smoking indoors would be legal. Cannabis use does not draw the attention of the plod it used to so even if they were called, there is little they could do other than issue "advice", unless the child was obviously involved in dealing.
ReplyDeleteSad to say even parents would have the same issues in a normal home and any attempt to physically restrain the child even with a DOLs in place could involve the care workers getting embroiled in legal issues.
Sadly there are some kids that have no respect and are beyond saving. All you can hope for is they grow out of it and grow up. Sadly some don't.