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21 April 2023 / Lucy Logan Green
Issue: 8021 / Categories: Features , Child law , Family , Community care
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When children fall through the cracks

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A more robust system for sharing information is essential to ensure that chances to protect vulnerable children are not missed, says Lucy Logan Green
  • The recent case of Kaylea Titford proves the need for social services professionals to communicate effectively in order to protect children’s wellbeing.
  • Without strong and effective information-sharing between different professionals, children will continue to be let down by the system that is there to protect them.
  • A more robust system is needed to ensure cases like Kaylea’s do not happen again.

Recent cases which have hit news headlines have highlighted the potentially fatal effects of a lack of social services intervention with families in need. In particular, the case of Kaylea Titford from Newtown, Powys, has emphasised the need for professionals to communicate effectively with one another in the best interests of the children they are there to protect.

Considering just briefly what we know about Kaylea’s case: she died about two weeks after her 16th birthday in the most squalid

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NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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