SUSTAINABLE PROSPECTS PROJECT DEVELOPMENT WEEK 12 – A STORY OF A SOCIAL SERVICES REFERRAL
In June 2019 I started my MA with Falmouth university as part of an accredited education programme.
5th December 2019
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SUSTAINABLE PROSPECTS : WEEK 12 WIP WITH AUDIO OF MOTIVATIONS AND OBJECTIVES – https://www.bambino-art.co.uk/sustainable-prospects-week-12-wip-with-audio/
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ALL IDENTIFYING FEATURES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR PRIVACY AND IN LINE WITH ADVICE REGARDING DISCUSSING SOCIAL SERVICES
Schraer, Rachel . 17.12.15 Child safeguarding, Children, Education and training, Workforce . COMMUNITY CARE.CO.UK https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2015/12/17/parents-record-child-protection-meetings-social-workers-need-know/?fbclid=IwAR34naG8ZrUMihQTYOIYRNmX8__E9YgCrv6alWF1ttyQ48kpjSFpz2gv02A
This extract is from the same website/page
The law
Freedom of expression
According to a precedent-setting court case, Re J, parents have the right to tell their story as long as they don’t identify the child. But there is a clear statutory law in place that prevents anyone from publishing information identifying a child as being the subject of care proceedings. If a parent were to publish recordings or even an account of their case in a way that identifies their child, local authorities could get an injunction to stop that happening.
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As this social services case has now closed, and there was no recording made to my knowledge, and the children and parents are unidentifiable this is within the scope of the law.
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All words are the parents own.
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They anonymous report outlines that they believe the children are home educated, live in squalid conditions, rubbish in the gardens, the mum is a hoarder.
Inside is hazardous conditions, unhygienic , the kids are visibly dirty, filthy, stinky, and actually smell.
The mum seems to have mental health issues and never leaves home. The dad appears to go to work.
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The family received one visit , where the person assessing deemed the house perfectly clean and hygienic, the children well cared for, with lots of emotional warmth shared by both the parents and children, with the children having a level of education appropriate and up to 3 years ahead of their peers. No further contact or intervention was deemed necessary.
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This is not a one off case.
There are hundreds of these up and down the country.
When tutors or peers ask me why it is that I show no mess it is for reasons like this.
One, I see no need too, ‘mess’ does not effect education, and my project is about photographing educational philosophies , not houses.. A perfectly spotless house hold can have an education much less adequate than someone who is messy, and doesn’t get round to doing the washing up until the end of the day. More to the point, one can make the other unfairly, or wrongly seem so. By portraying all my participants and their accommodation in the same way, I remove any biased as much as possible, both from myself, and from any potential viewers.
Two, these families have trusted me to come into their homes and lives, and I must be respectful, and keep that trust. I will not hide from mess, or real life, but I will not actively seek it out to fall in line with the current artistic trend of everything needing to be overly ugly, raw, and gritty.
Three, As I have stated previously, I capture what I see, and I see beauty.
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I am not the anonymous caller, who saw mess, home education, and mental health problems, I am the social worker who saw creativity, joy and emotional warmth.
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