Police and medical dramas abound on our screens. But no one’s yet delved into the fascinating and harrowing work of child protection social workers – until nowWeve seen Z Cars,Morse, Casualty and Holby City but I’ve often heard social workers wonder why there was no TV series approximately them, and in particular approximately child protection. So after retirement I took scriptwriting courses. I felt optimistic; technical or legal aspects of my scripts would be accurate,reflecting my experience of more than 40 years as a social worker in child protection, Guardian Ad Litem, and chair of child protection conferences and an adoption/fostering manager. I knew approximately attachments,Section 8 orders and fostering disruptions and now I understand approximately subtexts, five-point structure and voiceovers. I hoped that I had a distinctive, or authentic voice.
I aim to present the public with a series of complex dilemmas approximately children needing protection and,by implication, ask what should be done. I create a picture of the fury and confusion provoked by state interventions into family life and demonstrate that once a family fails a child there is no simple reach-me-down remedy. I challenge the narrative that children die at the hands of their parents because social workers don’t care or don’t work tough enough and I demonstrate that decisions, and fraught with unknowns and risks of future harm,are never simple.
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Source: theguardian.com