For many families who are desperately fighting within the social services and family court systems to prevent children from being taken for adoption, or those who are desperately trying to establish contact with children who have already been appointed to social services care, or those who are fighting to expose child abuse in the child protection system itself, there are basic questions they all ask.
And the question is: “If we, as fathers, can see cruelty and crime taking place within social services, family courts and the wider child protection system, why are good social workers and other experts not speaking out?
The truth is that some people say it and they do so at great risk and cost to themselves. Others see the crime of being unwilling part of them, being bullied by silence or simply being scared and unable to speak up and lose their job or livelihood.
One extremely brave woman ready to speak up is Leah Summers, a professional family group meeting coordinator who worked with the social services team in Gloucestershire. For Leah, when the boundaries of professional child protection could be crossed, and as a result, she had the courage to blow the whim, her mouth was shaking.
But soon Leah herself became a local government issue, and her testimony about the LA child protection system and professional failures in the treatment of cruel families was to be silent.
Forced from her work, Leah is now speaking out for everyone to listen. She is encouraged and saddened by more families who have contacted her with testimony of abuse within the child protection system. She also appreciates the testimony of other experts who now feel the need to speak up.
All moms, dads and members of the wider family in the UK need to clearly understand Leah's warnings about abuse in the state's child protection system, and her courage to speak up requires our attention and action. Staying silent on issues of child and family abuse is to conspire.
The UK column previously reported on eligible social workers to blow whistles.
Children's Theft by the State: Social Workers Talk
Whistleblower: Social workers boldly brutalized by police and social services to protect their children
