Inspirational women of the year: Alison’s son was snatched away after she was wrongly branded a child abuser…now she fights for justice for other mothers

http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/news/archive/2009/april/18/04.htm

The months Alison Stevens spent apart from her son still haunt her.

Twenty four years on, she cannot forget the pain she felt when social services took away her three-year-old without warning – or just cause.

Doctors should have diagnosed brittle bone disease when Alison took Scott to A&E with a broken leg. Instead, they decided he was being abused by his parents and put him in care immediately.

It took 12 long, tormented weeks for Alison and her husband, Andy, an electrician, to clear their names and win their son’s return. The joy and relief they felt at having their family reunited was immeasurable. Alison was left so affected by the experience that she was determined to help other people fight similar injustices.

Since then, she has helped thousands of parents as the head of the national organisation Parents Against Injustice (PAIN).

‘I will always remember the hurt and confusion I felt back then,’ says Alison. ‘It was horrendous finding Scott’s hospital bed empty, then being told by nurses they thought we were to blame for his injuries. For months we had to visit him in a foster home when we desperately wanted to have him home.

‘I am compelled to help other people because I understand what they are going through and how badly the system can work. This can happen to anyone and, when it does, you feel powerless.

‘The toll it takes on you is indescribable – parents call me on the brink of suicide. But through PAIN I am able to help them get their children back.’ While the agony still feels fresh to Alison, it was back in 1985 that her son Scott was put in care. He had been having a bath with his brother Lee, then five, when he tried to get out and slipped awkwardly, hurting his leg.

‘Leaving him was like having my heart ripped out’

When Alison and Andy took Scott to hospital, doctors insisted he stay in for observation.

‘Returning to the hospital that evening to visit Scott, I never suspected anything was amiss,’ says Alison.

‘But when we reached his bed it was empty.

‘No bullying’ at children’s unit

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An independent report has found no evidence of staff bullying at Reading’s children’s services.

The council started an investigation and ordered staff to come forward following allegations made in January.

Michael Hake, a former director of social services with no previous links to Reading, found some workers felt they had experienced bullying.

But he said the examples given “fell short” of the definition of bullying within the council’s own procedures.

The report added: “Whilst a small number of staff were genuinely upset, the evidence does not support the claim that this happened ‘all the time’.”

Critical report

During the course of his investigation, Mr Hake interviewed a total of 38 current and former members of staff.

He acknowledged the council’s child protection services went through a period of change between 2006 and early 2008 and faced a number of challenges.

Police say no action to be taken over Old Buckenham Hall School allegations

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Suffolk Police have said no action will be taken after concluding an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour by staff at Old Buckenham Hall School, in Brettenham.
Officers were called in to investigate claims at the boarding school in February.

It came after concerns were raised in an Ofsted welfare inspection.

Two staff were suspended during the investigation, which was carried out jointly between police and Social Services.

Police last month said no further action would be taken against one of the staff and today police issued a further statement saying the investigation had now concluded and no police action would be taken.

“Following extensive inquires into allegations of inappropriate behaviour by members of staff at a school in West Suffolk, Suffolk Constabulary can confirm that its investigation has concluded and no police action will be taken.

Rapid change in children’s services department

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VULNERABLE children in Reading are safer now than last year but social services is still too reliant on agency staff fresh from university.

The child protection teams have improved their performance across a swathe of categories since last years damning assessments by Ofsted which rated them inadequate.

But 25 of 80 posts in the two key child protection teams are covered by agency staff, and although eight new permanent staff have been recruited in recent weeks some do not start until July.

At Tuesdays Reading Borough Council Cabinet meeting, department director Anna Wright said: People are increasingly saying they dont want to work in child protection.

Borough childrens services leader John Ennis, appointed to the role earlier this year after Cllr Pete Ruhemann resigned over the failures in his department, said: Morale is low, but progress is being made and we have to acknowledge that. We still cant recruit social workers, but there are one or two teams that are beginning to be settled now. Weve got to assist them while maintaining scrutiny.

Jury finds teen mother guilty of child abuse and murder

http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/news/archive/2009/april/17/03.htm

SALT LAKE CITY — After deliberating for three and a half hours, a jury found a young mother guilty of murdering her toddler son by snapping his spine.

There is no question that 22-month-old Alejandro Lucero had a difficult life. Not only did the medical examiner testify that his spine was broken in half, but also that there were past signs of abuse as well: bruises and a fractured rib.

His mother, Adrianna Lucero was sobbing as she sat in court Friday afternoon as a jury read their verdict against her: Guilty of child abuse. Guilty of murder.

Outside the courtroom, her lawyer expressed surprise. “I don’t think the evidence was there,” Stephen McCaughey said. “I think any case like this is difficult, but the jury didn’t seem to have a lot of problems with it coming back quickly.”

Friends and family left visibly upset.

Prosecutors told the jury that, last August, the then 17-year-old mother was overwhelmed as a single parent. She snapped and broke Alejandro’s spine while at her boyfriend’s apartment in Kearns.

Policewoman who collapsed in labour died of natural causes, coroner rules

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Woman pregnant with twins collapsed in hospital toilet after labour started and amniotic fluid entered her bloodstream

A policewoman who collapsed in a hospital toilet while in labour with twins died of natural causes, a coroner ruled today.

Sarah Underhill, 37, whose babies were conceived through IVF treatment, collapsed on 5 October last year after going to the toilet at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford.

A postmortem examination revealed that the Thames Valley police neighbourhood officer died after labour started and amniotic fluid entered her bloodstream.

Her babies had been due to be induced the following day, in her 36th week of pregnancy, as she was suffering from pre-eclampsia, a condition that causes high blood pressure, Oxford coroner’s court heard.

The Oxfordshire coroner, Nicholas Gardiner, said: “The twins were successfully delivered but sadly she went into a cardiac arrest from which she could not be retrieved.”

Limit imposed on social workers’ child abuse caseloads

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SOCIAL workers are being limited in the number of child protection cases they handle at any one time in Londons East End.

A Child Death overview panel has also been set up to make sure lessons are learned from incidents where children die in unexpected circumstances.

The moves are part of a series of recommendations at Tower Hamlets aimed at relieving the pressure on overworked social services where children are in danger.

KILLER FATHER

It follows the case of Baby P who was battered to death in north London last year.

A similar case known as Baby H hit Tower Hamlets and Redbridge the year before with the death of an infant killed by his father.

The childs parents were under Tower Hamlets social servicesbut were moved out to Redbridge before the father bashed the infants head on the floor. The father was later jailed by the Old Bailey.

A national review of child protection procedures was ordered by the Government in light of a number of child-battering incidents such as Baby H and Baby P.