Reviews of serious cases are "silent" about the role of racial bias in child protection decision making, safeguarding experts have found.
Case inquiries relating to black, Asian or mixed heritage children inconsistently featured the voice of the child and their recommendations failed to provide high-quality learning for practitioners on working with these groups of children.
Inquiry into race and child protection
Those were among early findings from a Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel inquiry into the impact of race, racism, and ethnicity on practice where a child has died or been seriously harmed.The panel has examined 54 reviews submitted from 2022-24, 25 of which involved mixed heritage children, 15 relating to black children and 14 involving Asian children. The children ranged in age from under one to 17, with 32 being male and 22 female.
Thirteen children were recorded as having a disability, however, this information was missing in 16 cases; similarly, while 11 were recorded as having a neurodivergent condition, such as autism or ADHD, this information was not reported in 23 reviews.
This lack of data hampered reviews' ability to undertake an intersectional analysis of children's lives, panel member Jahnine Davis told this year's National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC).
'Silence' about racial bias
More broadly, reviews did not consistently identify the extent to which race, racism, racial bias or culture impacted on practice responses to black, Asian and mixed heritage children, said Davis, a researcher specialising in the safeguarding of black children.There was a silence about the presence of racial bias in professionals’ decision making and on the role of racism, whether internalised, interpersonal, institutional or structural, in services' responses to families.
This was despite other forms of bias - such as in relation to sex/gender - being highlighted in reviews.
Davis, who is also the Department for Education's national kinship care ambassador, said that reviews inconsistently featured the voice of the child.
Voice of the child lacking
"There were significant missed opportunities to include the child’s own words within review reports," she added. "It’s been a struggle in the 54 reviews to identify an explicit quote from that child to bring to light what their experiences are."Meanwhile, review recommendations "infrequently featured high quality and vital learning for practice with black, Asian and mixed heritage children", said Davis.
Recommendations tended to be generalised, rather than specific to these groups of children, and some were insufficiently detailed to promote effective practice changes.
Practice deficits
To the extent that reviews did address issues around race, they found that practitioners' understanding of black, Asian and mixed heritage children’s lived experiences was incomplete, meaning they had a poor understanding of their vulnerabilities and risks, Davis added.Her panel colleague, Jenny Coles, told NCASC delegates: “Reviews are highlighting an urgent need to understand the extent to which racism reverberates across the safeguarding system. Race, racism and bias are not being understood and this seriously impacting on the safety of those children."
The panel's report is due to be published early in 2025.
