As we mark Social Work Week themed ‘Compassion and Action’, Families In Harmony reflects on the gaps in understanding among public sector professionals – social workers, psychologists, education establishments, for Black and Asian heritage children’s experience in the children’s care system. I am Co-Director of Families in Harmony, and we are the leading voice campaigning for racial justice in the children’s social care sector, within kinship care.
The struggles Black and Asian heritage children in the care system remain intensified and heightened, illustrated in the report “It’s silent”: Race Racism and Safeguarding’ released by the government’s Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel just this week. The report raises the continued startling neglect of the importance and fundamental right of safeguarding and the critical lack of compassion and action regarding the voices of children of colour.
The variable criteria used to adultify, deny, quiz and dismiss the realities of Black and Asian heritage children are the everyday realities of these often voiceless and invisible children. The report goes on to say that the lack of recognition of racism and racist practice being systematic and endemic in the outcomes of abuse and death of 23 children, is astonishing in its absence.
Seventy-five years on from the arrival in the UK of the Windrush Generation, we cannot separate the legacy of that generation from the disproportionate numbers and treatment of black heritage children entering the children’s care system today. Official figures indicate that around 7% of children in care are Black, despite Black people making up only 2.5% of the overall population in Britain. This stark overrepresentation is not incidental; it speaks to a deeper, systemic issue—one with historical roots that extend back to the Windrush generation and the unresolved, systemic struggles they and their descendants have faced.These children being the third generation, those whose grandparents would have been separated from parents for long periods, causing the fragmentation of family arousing feelings of abandonment, loss and rejection. One of the most enduring aspects of this legacy is the tradition of kinship care, where extended family members step in to raise children when parents are unable to do so, as so many Caribbean families did when the Windrush generation set sail to build new lives in Britain.
This raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: has the British state, in failing the Windrush generation, indirectly set the stage for their descendants to fall through the cracks?
The legacy of the Windrush generation continues to reverberate through British society, particularly within the child protection system. Despite their significant contribution to the UK’s cultural, social, and economic fabric, their descendants—particularly children from Black, Asian, and dual heritage backgrounds—continue to face systemic challenges. Studies have repeatedly shown that children of these backgrounds are disproportionately placed in care settings, and yet safeguarding mechanisms have failed to adequately address their unique needs, or the broader systemic factors that contribute to their vulnerability. Institutional racism and bias within child protection services often exacerbate the problem, leading to further stigmatization and unequal treatment.
To tackle the existing systemic failures – we need action. We must include culturally competent safeguarding policies, sufficient representation of ethnic minorities in decision-making roles within child welfare services, and trauma-informed approaches that take into account the generational trauma passed down from the Windrush era. Many of these children face not only the immediate risks associated with family breakdown but also the ongoing psychological effects stemming from a sense of belonging to a community that has long been marginalised and misunderstood by state institutions.
The systemic failures in safeguarding children from Black, Asian, and dual heritage backgrounds can be directly linked to the historic and ongoing impact of the Windrush Generation’s legacy. Addressing these issues requires urgent attention to both the historical trauma and current structural failures within the child protection system. Only by acknowledging and rectifying these injustices can we hope to create a system that genuinely protects and nurtures all children, regardless of their ethnic background.
About the Author
Johanna is Co-Director of Families in Harmony, a leading voice campaigning for racial justice in the children’s social care sector, within kinship care. She is a family support practitioner, professional trainer, and Trauma Informed Practitioner with over 12 years lived experience of caring for her grandchildren, as a Kinship carer, following the death of her son through Knife Crime. Johanna has worked for national organisations such as Kinship, Mind and Home Start, and has several years teaching in the community and further Education.
Johanna has been a social activist for over twenty years, involved in local, regional and national campaigns and events to redress the racial imbalance and inequalities within education, health and social care. Johanna brings the wealth of her experience, knowledge and skill together to champion the cause of addressing the up-skilling and empowerment of Kinship carers within her role as Co-founder and Director of Programmes and Family Support. Johanna is a member of the National PACE Association.
http://www.familiesinharmony.org.uk/
Find Johanna on X https://x.com/Johanna_FIH
Connect with Johanna on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanna-bernard-53745029b/
Further reading:
Lessons from the Windrush Generations https://www.cypnow.co.uk/content/blogs/lessons-from-the-windrush-generations
Acknowledging the role of kinship care on Windrush Day https://www.cypnow.co.uk/content/blogs/acknowledging-the-role-of-kinship-care-on-windrush-day