It’s that time of year – the first day to
be precise – when the blogosphere is filled with predictions and hopes for the
coming year. In the past I have occasionally been tempted at New Year to join
the crowd and draw up an elaborate wish list for child protection in Britain
and elsewhere.
Not this year. More than ever, after a surprising
and disturbing 2016, I am coming to the view that the “future’s not ours to
see”, as Doris Day once said.
So, this new year I am going to restrict
myself to a single hope, a single wish, a single appeal, a single entreaty.
This is it.
Let all those who have
influence on child protection policy and practice get smart in 2017. Let them
see that the blame and shame culture does not result in improvement, but has
the opposite effect. Let them see that improvement comes about primarily as a
result of those who do the work being empowered to learn from their mistakes and service failures; and being empowered to initiate changes (often small and
modest ones) to make practice safer and to improve service quality.
