See that social worker standing over there,
She has written a report about me.
She says that I live in squalor and that I have a lot of clutter,
She thinks that I am worthless and that I don’t matter,
But she doesn’t know me at all,
She doesn’t know that I suffered trauma when I was small,
She doesn’t know that I didn’t have a mum and dad,
She doesn’t know that I was raised by my grandfather and grandmother,
She doesn’t know that my grandfather was violent.
My cries were silent,
She doesn’t know that my grandfather mentally and physically abused me,
He says that I am vile, he calls me a bastard child
All I know is abuse, my pain is huge.
A social worker visits me, frequently,
He never talks or even looks at me,
my grandfather does all the talking,
My grandmother sits there whimpering like a wounded dog,
She still manages to give me a hug,
At school, my teacher canes me until my fingers are blistered and sore,
My spirit is broken and my emotions are raw,
And where I live there are two young men,
They don’t care that I am just ten,
They knock me over and drag me through the woods,
They always ignore my screams,
I can still see them in my dreams,
Now, look at me social worker, and tell me do I matter,
Or do you just see my squalor and my clutter.?
by Dorothy Maude my life.
I wrote this poem about five years ago. Robert and I were asked by Havent children services to apply for residency for our grandsons. Jenny Powell the children’s social worker was asked by the court to write a section 3-7 report. Jenny Powell had criticized me so much it had caused me to have a mental breakdown, she had unknowingly triggered off deep-rooted abuse that I had suffered throughout my childhood. I cried none stop for six months, even judge Arnold said that Havent children’s services were over critical of me. The social worker was downright spiteful and overeager with her paperwork. Lorraine Riggs was the family support worker, she wrote in her report that the children were sent to school dirty, filthy, and they were smelling as they were unwashed. The head teacher wrote a letter on my behalf to say this was untrue. I wrote to the compliance team, they wrote back and told me to see Jasmine Grimsure the head social worker. I saw Jasmine Grimesure who coldly told me that I got what I deserved. I was so distraught, by the time I left her office she had opened a can of worms. My immediate thoughts, did I deserve my mum leaving me when I was a baby, and my grandfather emotionally and physically abusing me.? Havant chilren services tried to destroy me with their lies and deceit. They should have been disciplined for their appaling behaviour and it should never again. My health is poor and I can no longer care for my grandchildren. They see their family once a week with a person supervising the contact. I do like the person that we have but I have ask social services if we could see the children without supervision, they told us that the boys have said that they are happy with the present situation. I am sure that the boys didn’t say any such thing or they are too frightened to say any different. I don’t know why social workers need to lie as the truth always come out as the children won’t be with them forever. The boys seem to have a high turnover of social workers, in my opinion, they are leaving as they are unable to cope with corruption. yes, I wholeheartedly agree with Judge Arnold that family is indeed important. I so wish that social workers would agree with her. I am not knocking children’s services, they have a job to protect children but they can do it without having to lie to us.
By Dorothy Maude.