Moving from blame to quality: How to respond to failures in child protective services

• Published in: Child abuse & neglect Vol. 30; no. 9; pp. 963 - 968
• Main Authors: Lachman, Peter, Bernard, Claudia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2006; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Blame; Child; Child Abuse; Child Abuse - prevention & control; Child protection; Child Welfare; Child Welfare Services; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Confidentiality; Cultural Groups; Efficiency, Organizational; England; Humans; Improvement; Organizational Culture; Quality; Quality Control; Social services; State Medicine; United Kingdom; Child abuse; Improvement; Blame; Quality
• ISSN: 0145-2134; 1873-7757
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.07.002

A discussion of the response to failures in child protective services highlights the case of 9-year-old Victoria Climbie whose death from caretaker abuse led to a major public inquiry & calls for a reform of England's child protection system. The case is representative of problems in other countries where perceived failures in the system have generated investigations that focus on blaming practitioners who may be striving to achieve the best outcomes for children. The complexity surrounding child protection work is explored to argue that it is necessary to move from a blame culture to an organizational culture that encourages learning & provides an environment that emphasizes quality improvement. Three stages of the "model for improvement" are described, along with new standards for interagency education that have been introduced in England as a result of the Climbie inquiry. Emphasis is placed on the need for service based on a continual improvement methodology that provides practitioners with support mechanisms to help them manage the emotional demands, ambiguities, uncertainties, & complexities involved in child abuse cases. References. J. Lindroth