Foster parents are supposed to take care of the children placed in their care, but a 7-year-old foster child in the U.K. contracted not one, but two sexually transmitted diseases from her foster father.
The girl, known as Claire, had been taken from her home after being molested by a 32-year-old friend of her brother.
Tragically, the abuse continued when she was moved to the foster home and wasn’t discovered until a year later!
Claire now has both Chlamydia and gonorrhoea.
The Croydon Safeguarding Children Board (CSCB) investigation determined that there was a lack of communication between social workers that were involved in Claire’s case.
Apparently, the social workers were on different teams and reported to different managers.
The first error was when Claire was not allowed to stay with her grandmother who had been taking care of her when the abuse was first reported in her home.
The foster father did have details in his profile that should have disqualified him as a foster parent that were overlooked.
The people working on the case simply let them slip.
As a result, Claire was taken from a safe place and put in harm’s way again.
Sarah Baker, the chair of CSCB said there were lessons that needed to be learned from what happened.
You think? Baker announced that staff will get additional training and guidance, so they are more aware and have more understanding.
Baker said that Claire is doing ‘well’ and is staying with a new foster family.
Share away, people.
