waterhouse project

Waterhouse report 2000 ‘Lost in Care’ Project.

1. A piece that summarises the content and Governments response

The Waterhouse project was an inquiry that looked at children’s abuse within children’s homes in 1996 that was opened by the welsh secretary. It all started when Sir Ronald Waterhouse who was a retired high court judge opened a tribunal of enquiry into child abuse in North Wales in 1974. It was a huge abuse scandal and took evidence from 575 witnesses, including 259 complainants alleging abuse when they were in care. Over 9500 social services files were made available and over 3500 police statements were scrutinized. There were well over 40 000 pages of evidence of complaints for just 40 homes and foster placements.

All of this wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Alison Taylor, a manager of a care home in Gwynedd, listened to children who had transferred from other care homes and she believed them and took it up with her manager. Then after a long wait but no evidence of anything happening she took matters to the police but to no prevail as there were no prosecutions which was greeted by ‘inappropriate enthusiasm’ by social services.

The most of the abuse found was about sex abuse of boys by staff and also local paedophiles outside of the local care system, however there was also abuse of girls by staff. Most of the abuse that emerged was physical and emotional, including but not limited to: hitting, throttling, belittling etc. Also it was found that the children were made to do chores such as gardening using just cutlery. Obviously this must’ve had an immense effect on the children’s mental state. It also emerged that none of the care homes investigated met the educational expectations that were required. Even some of the staff who were investigated were found to already have sexual assault convictions against them however as the crimes before the scandal weren’t in North Wales they were permitted to work with children.

After the scandal in 1993 the police recommended 20 people to be prosecuted, 19 of which were already known to be abusers however two years after this only 6 were convicted 5 of which were of the 20 recommended. The fact that at least 12 of the boys who were abused committed suicide shows that the abuse they received must’ve been unimaginably bad and the health minister himself said that it’s sad that the “Very system put into place to safeguard children had failed them so abysmally”.

The Governments response was to put together 72 recommendations that were focused primarily on the well-being and safeguarding of children who are cared for. They also put together a report that was issued in 2000 called ‘Learning the Lessons’ which includes:
Our commitment to Safeguarding children
What we have done so far
Safeguarding Children across the UK
Our response to the recommendations
Looking to the future

As well as this the Conservative government in the 1990’s thought the reforms introduced in 1989 would help to prevent and eradicate children’s abuse across the UK however Waterhouse and many other enquiries showed that the 1989 act simply wasn’t adequate which led to the 1996 inquiry by William Hague (the secretary).

2. What impact did the poor practice and abuse have on the young people?

Obviously the impact would’ve been severely negative, as abuse is extremely detrimental to a child’s mental state. Out of the 650 children who were reported to be abused, at least 12 committed suicide and one was convicted of murder and many have said to have their lives have been ruined by the abuse. These figures alone I feel are more than enough to emphasise the impact on the young people.

3. Explain current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures regarding Safeguarding.

Safeguarding means under government guidance: “protecting children from maltreatment. preventing impairment of children's health or development. ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.” Anybody who works with children and young people has a duty to safeguard and promote their welfare. Our policy includes establishing trust into the relationships to enable the children to open up to both their peers and careworkers. We also try to involve young people in making their own choices about their lives whilst ensuring their choices are safe and guiding them in the right direction. If a young person makes a complaint to me I listen to them then take the appropriate action under our policy with the complaint procedure.

4. Explain why it is important to protect both yourself and the young person from harm.

Before starting working here I had to take part in several behavior course where I learned how to calm children and as a last resort, how to restrain them. Restraining however should only be used as a last resort – when the child could cause serious physical harm to themselves or you. Other methods of calming a child Is highly preferred, and using words is often the best way to calm a child. When working in a home such encounters are bound to take place and it’s extremely important to avoid harm at all costs.

5. Explain (and list) signs and symptoms of abuse (including bullying) including any indicators or behaviours.

Each and every child deals with abuse differently and thus I judge each child differently. Indicators could range from bed wetting to a lack of emotion to excessive mood swings. During my 2 years of caring for children I’ve gained skills that enable me to latch onto these many indicators and decide the best path of action to take to get to the bottom of the issue.

6. Explain how you support children and young peoples self-confidence and self-esteem.

I have a strong belief that encouraging independence leads to both of these traits. I tend to help the children to help themselves, listen to them when they have a problem, praise them whenever possible and if they struggle with anything it’s much better to prompt them or to give them tips than to just tell them how to do anything as it makes them feel that much better about themselves. This in itself is huge as it builds self confidence and esteem extremely well I feel.

7. Why is it important to support/promote resilience in children and young people?

It’s obviously important to support/promote resilience in children and young people as we who care for them will not be there forever, and if they have no resilience, self belief or confidence they will be pushovers for their whole lives and I personally believe that resilience is the leading factor in growing as a person.

8. How do you empower children and young people to make positive and informed choices that support their well being and safety?

It is part of our safeguarding policy to give children the right to make their own choices whilst simultaneously guiding them to make the right choice. It carries on from self-confidence, self-esteem and independence that they grow to have the ability and self-belief to make such decisions and with my prompts and advice I believe they will make the right choice.

9. Explain what you have learnt from this research and how you put the following into practice:

Complaints: When I receive a complaint from a young person I would listen and offer a complaints form and then take the appropriate action whether it be report it to my senior or my manager depending on the severity of the complaint.
Whistle Blowing: If I think something really bad is happening I have the right to speak anonymously if I want to make a complaint. I feel as though I would be able to whistle blow if the situation where I needed to arise.
Managing challenging behavior: If a child is showing traits of challenging behavior then my first priority is their safety. If any dangerous objects are about I would lock them away and after doing so address the child with words to try and calm them. I would try my hardest to avoid escalating the problem. If however the behavior does escalate I would call on a senior and as a last resort we would restrain the child.
Training Requirements: We are required to have up-to-date mandatory training with refresher courses taking place quite often within the company.
Handling Disclosures: When a child discloses information to me I listen to what is being said without being judgmental and being reassuring and calm. I must not promise confidentiality as it might be necessary to refer the disclosure to others. I should ask open questions and stress that it was right to disclose. I then must tell the child the course of action to be taken next. Straight after the conversation has taken place I should make brief notes as accurately as possible and keep them as evidence whilst recording the date, time and place of the conversation. I should then take the appropriate course of action.
Data Protection: We pay strict care and attention to data protection. We take care not to leave any sensitive information lying around and not easily accessible by anybody. We often use Initials in our statements and use things like ‘IL’ for in the lounge to make it less obvious to people who may be looking for such sensitive data.

10. What other incidents have occurred over the last twelve years involving Children & Young People that have changed the way we work with Children and Government Legislation.

In the past 12 years there has been an updated children’s act (in 2004) which have put into practice several recommendations from the Waterhouse project. Also in 2012 David Cameron ordered an investigation to find out whether or not the Waterhouse enquiry did it’s job. In April 2013 the results were due to be published in April 2013. However it’s not clear to me if the results were actually published and if they were it’s extremely difficult to find them.

Debbie Mohomed.