Panorama

The Child Protectors (2009x46)

Air date: Nov 02, 2009

In the aftermath of Baby Peter, Panorama has gained exclusive access to Coventry's social workers. The film follows the city-wide emergency response team and one of the local neighbourhood teams - all tasked with identifying children at risk, assessing parents' capabilities and, if deemed necessary, separating families. Child protection social workers are facing huge caseloads, working with marginalised families, juggling the time-consuming problem of multi-agency coordination and tackling the mountains of paperwork. Not to mention low pay, a staffing crisis and the knowledge that they are always only one phone call away from finding themselves at the centre of a tabloid witch-hunt. In the midst of all this, are they managing to keep children safe?