How secrecy breaches put Scots children in care at risk

It is easy to reveal the secret hiding place of a child taken in to protective care. One social worker knows exactly how easy.

The worker was overseeing a supervised visit – a carefully observed meeting between a vulnerable youngster and relative.

When it was time to go home the social worker called a taxi. And gave away the child’s new address.

Senior insiders in the children’s hearing system are not happy with slip-ups like that.

Michelle Miller, new President, Association of Directors of Social Work

“There is a degree of frustration with other agencies,” one diplomatic official in the children’s hearing system confided yesterday.

“Sometimes people just don’t understand what the impact of such a breach can be.”

Of the 98 officially recorded breaches of non-disclosure orders over the last two-and-a-half years, about half can be blamed on social workers.

Those working in the system describe hurried, overworked professionals rattling off a letter to a parent about their child and – by habit – including the youngster’s address.

Social workers are not the only offenders. Schools are also responsible for breaches, as are members of the children’s panels and sheriff’s clerks.

In some cases, usually less serious, the leaks have been traced to a member of the child’s extended family, a grandmother or aunt who has been kept in the loop.

Officials admit they cannot legislate for information coming from such sources, but they believe tougher procedures could stop data seeping out of the official system.

Senior social workers are well aware of the issue. Michelle Miller, a senior official at Edinburgh council who last week became president of the Association of Directors of Social Work, insisted that extra care was always taken when a non-disclosure order was imposed on a child’s whereabouts for his or her safety.

She added: “Rare though they are, any breach of security is taken very seriously and arrangements are always put in place quickly to safeguard the child.

“We must make every effort to ensure that our systems and processes across all agencies are robust enough to minimise these breaches.

“We must also ensure that non-disclosure applies only to those children for whom it is essential because their safety depends upon it, otherwise there will always be a risk of increased disclosure as the urgency or

seriousness of the situation is not clear.”

There are currently some 1400-1500 non-disclosure orders in place for the whereabouts of children in the hearings system. Some insiders suggest panels may be over-enthusiastic in imposing the measures, making them harder to police.

One veteran panel member, who asked not to be named, yesterday denied this.

“We would only impose an order if we had a very good justifiable reason for doing so,” she said.

“Any breach of this would be very concerning. We are very careful with this information – we even have colour-coded systems to make sure we don’t give anything away. The children who have a non-disclosure order have red files.”

The nightmare scenario is that a child will be hurt as a result of a breach.

However, officials are well aware of just how much trauma a leak can cause even if it does not result in any immediate danger.

Fosterers can live in fear of a difficult parent – say somebody with a drug problem or abuse conviction – turning up at their door and demanding to see their child.

Moreover, protected youngsters themselves may be terrified of adults from whom they have been taken.

Officials are said to be bracing themselves for legal actions. They have already paid out a “significant” figure to one family forced to relocate. Other families may also chose to sue.

Netta Mciver, the principal reporter at the Scottish Children’s Reporter Association (SCRA), yesterday said her body’s performance had reduced breaches. But she added: “We can never be complacent and we continue to share information pro-actively with partners to assist them in managing these cases in their own areas. Every member of staff at SCRA is thoroughly committed to handling these sensitive cases with the care and attention they rightly deserve.”