Child Protective Services Failed Son Of Drug Addict Review Finds Child Protection

Hakeem Hussain died in the garden of an address where he lived with his mother, Laura Heath, 40, in the early hours of November 26, 2017. Heath, who was addicted to heroin, was jailed this year for manslaughter after being convicted by a jury at Coventry Crown Court. “Hakeem should never have stayed with me,” Heath said in a serious case review into the circumstances of her son’s death, published on Thursday by the Birmingham Safeguarding Children Partnership (BSCP). In the months leading up to Hakeem’s death, she was “defiant and difficult to engage with,” lied to his school and social services and intimidated some professionals with her behavior, according to the report. According to the report, Hakeem had told school staff when he was six years old that he was “5% happy, 100% angry and 1,000% scared” and also said: “I haven’t had dinner, sometimes I eat breakfast, sometimes I eat lunch. , but not on Saturdays and Sundays.” On the night her son died, Heath later told police, she had smoked three bags of heroin – two before Hakeem went to bed at 10.30pm and one after – leaving her drugged. The independent chair of the serious cases review, Penny Thompson, said it was “appalling” that Hakeem’s “unhappiness and fear of recurrent asthma attacks… and his marked decline in attendance and performance at school, did not prompt more effective intervention”. . He said: “We have learned that all these organizations and individuals who came into professional contact with Hakeem could and should have done better. With the benefit of hindsight, the extent of Hakeem’s neglect was apparent well before the decision to place him in a child protection plan two days before his death.” Thompson stressed that the boy’s school “did not effectively escalate his concerns” and his doctor “failed to recognize the need to share important information without consent because of the risk of significant harm.” He said: “The social worker was trying to work positively with Hakeem’s mother and made it a priority [other vulnerable family members] … at the expense of Hakim”. Heath’s trial heard that a nurse had warned the boy “could die at the weekend” two days before he collapsed. The notification was made at a child protection conference on Friday afternoon, which ended with an agreement that a social worker would speak to Heath on Monday, when Hakeem had died. Jurors heard that a nurse, as well as a worker at Nechells Primary School, also at the meeting, rated Hakeem’s safety as zero out of 10. Thompson said the collaborative work needed between different agencies to “allow Hakeem’s needs to be properly seen and his voice to be heard was sadly lacking.” He said Hakeem’s short life was lived against the backdrop of his “mother’s drug addiction coupled with severe financial hardship, poor housing and personal consequences, competing concerns for other vulnerable family members”. When taken alongside Hakeem’s chronic asthma, the life-threatening condition “ultimately proved fatal,” he added. Concluding his review of lessons learned, Thompson said: “A lot has changed [since 2017] and there have also been significant developments and improvements in services.’

title: “Child Protective Services Failed Son Of Drug Addict Review Finds Child Protection Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-11” author: “James Powers”

Hakeem Hussain died in the garden of an address where he lived with his mother, Laura Heath, 40, in the early hours of November 26, 2017. Heath, who was addicted to heroin, was jailed this year for manslaughter after being convicted by a jury at Coventry Crown Court. “Hakeem should never have stayed with me,” Heath said in a serious case review into the circumstances of her son’s death, published on Thursday by the Birmingham Safeguarding Children Partnership (BSCP). In the months leading up to Hakeem’s death, she was “defiant and difficult to engage with,” lied to his school and social services and intimidated some professionals with her behavior, according to the report. According to the report, Hakeem had told school staff when he was six years old that he was “5% happy, 100% angry and 1,000% scared” and also said: “I haven’t had dinner, sometimes I eat breakfast, sometimes I eat lunch. , but not on Saturdays and Sundays.” On the night her son died, Heath later told police, she had smoked three bags of heroin – two before Hakeem went to bed at 10.30pm and one after – leaving her drugged. The independent chair of the serious cases review, Penny Thompson, said it was “appalling” that Hakeem’s “unhappiness and fear of recurrent asthma attacks… and his marked decline in attendance and performance at school, did not prompt more effective intervention”. . He said: “We have learned that all these organizations and individuals who came into professional contact with Hakeem could and should have done better. With the benefit of hindsight, the extent of Hakeem’s neglect was apparent well before the decision to place him in a child protection plan two days before his death.” Thompson stressed that the boy’s school “did not effectively escalate his concerns” and his doctor “failed to recognize the need to share important information without consent because of the risk of significant harm.” He said: “The social worker was trying to work positively with Hakeem’s mother and made it a priority [other vulnerable family members] … at the expense of Hakim”. Heath’s trial heard that a nurse had warned the boy “could die at the weekend” two days before he collapsed. The notification was made at a child protection conference on Friday afternoon, which ended with an agreement that a social worker would speak to Heath on Monday, when Hakeem had died. Jurors heard that a nurse, as well as a worker at Nechells Primary School, also at the meeting, rated Hakeem’s safety as zero out of 10. Thompson said the collaborative work needed between different agencies to “allow Hakeem’s needs to be properly seen and his voice to be heard was sadly lacking.” He said Hakeem’s short life was lived against the backdrop of his “mother’s drug addiction coupled with severe financial hardship, poor housing and personal consequences, competing concerns for other vulnerable family members”. When taken alongside Hakeem’s chronic asthma, the life-threatening condition “ultimately proved fatal,” he added. Concluding his review of lessons learned, Thompson said: “A lot has changed [since 2017] and there have also been significant developments and improvements in services.’