Memoirs of a Caregiver
Writing about children's social care, its history, and what we can learn from the people who lived and worked within it.
I began working in children’s social care in 1976, aged eighteen. Fifty years later, I am still here.
During those years I have watched services open and close, policies come and go, language change and reforms promise that this time things will be different.
Some changes have improved children’s lives. Others have repeated old mistakes in new language.
Memoirs of a Caregiver is where I write about that history, the people within it, and the questions we still need to ask.
Latest writing
My articles explore residential care, fostering, secure care, regulation, the children’s social care market, workforce reform and the history behind many of today’s policy decisions.
Much of my writing starts with three questions:
What happened to the child?
What does the history tell us?
Where did the money go?
Follow the child. Follow the history. Follow the money.
Memoirs and reflections
Not everything can be understood through policy, statistics or official records.
Some of what I write comes from professional experience. Some comes from memory, family history and the people whose lives have crossed mine.
The stories of children, families and caregivers do not fit neatly into a single account of what care was, what it is, or what it meant to those who lived within it.
There is never a single story.
About me
I have worked in children’s social care for fifty years, across residential care, fostering, social work, management and secure care.
In 2018 I was awarded an MBE for services to residential child care.
I continue to work in children’s social care today.