Regarding potential referrals made to social care; I have worked at the front door as in receiving calls etc making referrals. I used to think that if I had £10 for every one made on the basis of social media, I’d have been at least £50 richer every day of the week. ‘It’s all
over Facebook/ insta’ immediately raises the ‘vexatious’ flag…even if the person making the call actually knows the family they are trying to ‘report’. So any suggestion that internet observers have caused social work assessments is plain bollocks. Apart from anything else, JM does not appear to be the resident parent, therefore the safeguarding risk is mitigated. And indeed if the resident parent themselves tried to make a referral I would be reminding them that this would be a matter for private law. Tell you what I would be very concerned about is any referral made by the RSPCA if they had been called out and there was evidence of serious neglect of an animal because there is sound evidence of the link between neglect of animals and neglect of children. For what it’s worth I think her dog is not badly treated, she just doesn’t seem to understand that a puppy needs its main carer present. As to the wider family, my take is the same as many others, that they have tried to help and support and have been rebuffed. Detaching with love. And probably observing with great pain the current burning plane crashing. Right now all I want for her is to get some help. She’s a grifter but she’s not evil, just massively fucked up. I feel quite uneasy at some of the comments saying that she is deserving of hatred. If that makes me a soft ninny I’ll wear that hat.