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A mother has described feeling “shaking” and “intimidated” after her six-year-old son, who has autism and severe learning disabilities, was added to the Child Protection Register (CPR). Danielle McQuillan expressed confusion over why her son Zac was placed on the register. She has been actively seeking additional overnight respite care to manage his complex needs and to be able to spend more time with her daughters.
Zac is non-verbal and exhibits challenging behaviours, such as removing his clothes and running off when outside. According to McQuillan, the visits from social workers, which occur without prior notice as part of CPR monitoring, have been particularly unsettling because she is unclear about the reasons behind her son’s registration. The South Eastern Health Trust, responsible for placing Zac on the CPR, was approached for comment but did not provide further details.
The Child Protection Register is designed to list children considered at risk of significant harm. However, Eamonn McNally, a senior lawyer at the Children’s Law Centre, noted that his organisation has seen an increasing trend of children with complex disabilities being placed on the register even when they are not at genuine risk. “We have a number of families with significant needs who are under extreme pressure they’re at burn out because of a lack of service and support,” he explained. McNally added, “That shouldn’t equate to a registration on the child protection register that should equal support being put in place to keep that family together.”
McQuillan recounted a particularly distressing incident when a disagreement over her request for respite care led to a social worker telling her, “we can’t parent your child more than we already do.” This comment deeply affected her, leaving her feeling upset and in tears. Shortly after this, two social workers visited her home to inform her about an upcoming child safeguarding conference, during which a decision was made—with input from 17 health and education professionals—to place Zac on the Child Protection Register.
A safeguarding conference is convened when a child is suspected to be at serious risk. It brings together various agencies such as social services, medical personnel, and schools to share information and plan protection measures. The Children’s Law Centre, represented at the conference by McNally, has criticised the system as “out of date and not fit for purpose.” The NSPCC explains that the CPR enables agencies like schools and emergency responders to identify children who may be at risk.
Since Zac’s registration, McQuillan has experienced heightened stress and anxiety, feeling watched without understanding why. She described occasions when social workers arrived unexpectedly, including one instance after a trip to McDonald’s when she found two workers waiting outside her home. “I was shaking, I felt so intimidated,” she said, adding her belief that the visits might be an attempt to find justification for Zac’s registration.
McNally acknowledged the emotional toll such monitoring has on families, commenting, “you have people coming into your home checking you out. That doesn’t actually add anything to the family, in fact it takes away from the time that they have with their child.” The situation highlights concerns about the adequacy of support for families with children who have complex needs and the implications of relying on child protection measures in these circumstances
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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