norm."
"One size doesn't fit all."
"How is she getting on with the bitchy girls?"
"She finds it hard challenging the girls. Jayne wants to be popular with all of the girls. In her mind she can't understand the logic behind why those girls are nasty and cruel to other girls."
"She needs to understand that in this life there are people who love us and people who dislike us for no apparent reason."
"Do you think her hormones are now kicking in and they are affecting her mood swings?"
"Maybe, she tends to soak up stress at school and release her anger at home. When Jayne comes home from school, she is shouting abuse and is insulting Jeff which is discourteously to me. We can't take it anymore," cried Jill.
"It must be putting a lot of strain on your marriage."
"She is ruining our lives. I hate her, Naomi."
"Last night Jayne was spraying deodorant into my eyes and she used a sharp instrument to scratch a line across my laptop screen. She has wrecked the house."
"I have tried contacting you and Jeff at home but you were both out."
"Yes. We have both avoided coming home early. It's best to stay out late at work. Home is a living battlefield. You say to yourself what have we done wrong in this life to deserve disrespect from our children. You become more irrational by thinking that God is punishing you for having an illicit relationship or you start to think that you are a bad parent."
"You are both loving parents and being an unmarried mum at the time is not a prerequisite for having a difficult child. I am here to support you both. How can I help you?"
"Can you have Jayne over to yours for a few days?"
"No problem. What about this weekend, Naomi?"
"I'm moving into a new flat and Jayne can come over then."
"Thank you, sister. We need a break from Jayne. She is driving us mad. She keeps waking us up at 2 am in the morning shouting abuse at us. We're shattered by lack of sleep. My eyes are now yellowish. I could do with a good night sleep, sis. I'm running on empty. I'm living in a tight box desperately trying to find an exit route."
"Do you think she needs counselling?"
"We all need counselling."
"We're going to change her school and see if we can get her a specialist school with support and counselling," said Jill with a big yearn.
"Be careful with counsellors."
"Why did you say that, Naomi?"
"Do you remember big Susan who worked in my office?"
"Yes. She lost weight far too quickly and she looked grey."
"She had not only lost weight she also lost her job as a social worker."
"No way, you're kidding me."
"No, I am not."
"Susan was a close friend of mine and she was an excellence social worker and the parent of Shane. She was a beautiful, elegant and intelligent Caribbean woman at the top of her profession until her son told some untruths at the counselling sessions and the counsellor reported Susan to the child protection team for over chastising her son."
"I can confirm that Susan was a loving and caring parent living under extreme pressure with her son who had severe behavioural problems at home."
"You know that she was crying out for help and all she got were social workers visiting her son every three weeks and taking a snapshot view of the family relationships without knowing the child and the family."
"The social workers have preconceived views of the black family. They were happy to remove their children from the family once the black male had admitted to hitting his son with provocation."
"They told Susan that they were working together in partnership under section 45.This means Susan must cooperate with them and do not question them about anything."
"They have far too much power."
"The social workers have delegated power to take away children and leaving the parents without any authority. Parents have no voice."
"Are you telling me they listened to the child and not to the parent when they carried out their assessment?"
"Yes. They don't care about Susan's son because they asked a family friend to drop him off to a relative house without checking who lived in the house and they did not make prior arrangements with Susan."
"I have worked with some social workers who have no understanding of Caribbean families."
"What do mean by that?"
"I mean they assume that all Caribbean people use their Christian religion to justify smacking their children and that grandparent's beat their children with belts. They think we have a culture of beating our children."
"They don't know the difference between reasonably hitting with the palm of the hand and beating."
"The child protection team tears down the family rather than build them up with children against parents and brothers against sisters. We are living in the last days."
"We need more Caribbean social workers to support Caribbean children as they have more understanding of cultural differences."
"I have attended case conferences where all the agencies are white Europeans."
"Well at least the chair of the case conference is independent."
"The chair is employed by social services and she was privy to the social workers initial visit."
"No way."
"The social workers were discussing their visits and her notes with the chair."
The chair informed Susan that the social worker had told her on the night of the initial visit that her daughter was turning up the volume of the TV causing problems. Susan was annoyed that the chair was partial. The chair impartiality was compromised from the first initial investigation. Susan was stitched up. The chair made up her mind before the conference. It was a dumb deal. News got around the office and elsewhere that a black family new to a predominantly white area had a child registered on the child protection plan.
"That is so terrible. Some social workers were breaching confidentiality before and after the conference."
"There is nothing fair about the case conference. People have their stereotypes of Caribbean families stemming from Victoria Climbe."
"They think every Caribbean child is another Victoria Climbe' waiting to happen."
"They manage risks without looking at the facts. My advice to you, sis, is to take Jayne to the doctors and forget about social services."
"They won't do anything even if she is diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. They will leave all the other professions to sort it out for them. They are utterly useless."
"Don't they work in partnership with the parents?"
"Yes. They don't listen to the parents and they disliked Christians. The voice of the child is paramount whether they are telling the truth or not."
"Thank you for your words of advice. I'll take Jayne to the doctor and they can make a referral to the psychologist."
"I'll leave you to sleep then, Jill. It's getting late."
"I am sorry, Naomi. I'm tired."
"Get some sleep love and I'll see you when I see you."
Sixteen
Naomi looked at her watch it was six o'clock in the evening. The grey clouds slowly gathered momentum crowding out the sunlight shining through the dark blue sky. Traffic was moving leisurely along the busy roads of Lower Ashworth. Tempers were blaring from drivers who wanted to get home early.
Naomi was still on suspension from work. She switched on the BBC News Channel and Jacob Smith, the news presenter read out the evening news Naomi most feared.
"A nine month old baby has suffered the most brutal, senseless and cowardly act of violence at the hands of his mother and her partner according the West Midlands Police. It was reported that the baby was taken to Washington Carver Hospital on 12th February but he did not survive his injuries. The West Midlands Police said a 40 year-old man and the baby mother, Sarah Hunt have both pleaded guilty to the murder of Baby G. They have both been taken into custody pending criminal proceedings. Let us now return to the District of Ashworth for the latest update of the story fro
m the BBC Home affairs correspondent reporter, Hilary Sinclair."
"Can you give us the latest update on the Baby G tragedy, Hilary?"
"I am afraid we've lost contact with Hilary and we will have a more updated account of the tragedy later on."
"I think we are now getting an audible and visual contact with Hilary."
"Can you hear me, Hillary?"
"Jacob, I can hear you much clearer now."
"Has there been any further development on the Baby G tragedy?"
"Baby G was known to the Ashworth District Council Social Services and he was under their care and supervision when he was attacked by Rupert Dawkins."
"A post-mortem examination of Baby G later confirmed he had died as a result of internal injuries including abdominal hemorrhaging. Baby G had also suffered a lacerated liver, bruising to his forehead and fractured ribs."
"A retired barrister has informed me that the couple will be jailed for life and will be ordered to serve a minimum sentence of 13 years. Baby G lived with his mother at the David Close estate in Lower Ashworth where the attack took place."
"What else can you tell us about social services involvement in this case?"
"Baby G was assessed by Social Services and was at risk because the mother had severe depression. Social Services were unaware of Rupert Dawkins living at the property with the mother and baby."
"The mother had refused the social workers visiting access to the baby."
"A leading Child Protection Agency came out and said the law needs to be changed to force mothers to give access to social workers without obtaining a court order."
"Yes. The National Children Services are campaigning for a change in the law."
"A government minister has informed me there is no need to