Disabled young woman 'let down' by council over abuse investigation
Nicole Weinstein
Monday, July 18, 2022
Sheffield City Council has been criticised by the local government and social care ombudsman (LGO) for “letting down” a vulnerable young woman who was abused by her carer as she transitioned between children’s and adult services.
The young woman, who has epilepsy and sight impairment, told her mother in 2017 that her care worker had been disclosing intimate and confidential details about other service users to her and unloading their personal problems.
She felt “angry and disrespected” by this breach in confidence and became increasingly withdrawn, prompting her family to make a formal complaint.
The outcome of the investigation, which was initially delayed by the council, found that the young woman was to blame because “she could have stopped the abuse had she spoken up sooner”.
When the family asked for different care workers, they were wrongly told by the council that the only other option involved them paying a “top-up” fee.
The woman and her mother also complained that her care plans were not updated properly, and at times were “neglectful, dangerously uninformed and posed a danger to her”.
She became anxious and depressed and was unable to attend college from 2017 to 2021 because of lack of appropriate support.
The council drew up an action plan which the LGO said it “failed to follow”, resulting in “poor service” which continued for many years.
As a result of the LGO investigation, the council has agreed to refund the £605 which the woman wrongly paid towards her care, plus interest; £1,500 each to the woman and her mother to recognise their distress, and £500 for every month where the council failed to provide the woman with education from September 2017.
LGO Michael King said: “The council has failed this vulnerable young woman many times over an extended period, at a time when she was most in need of support and even sought to lay some of the blame for the abuse continuing on her. This has had a significant impact on her mental health and delayed her natural progression into adulthood and further education.
“It is to its credit that the council has acknowledged the significant problems faced by this young woman and her mother, and accepted my recommendations. I hope the changes it has already pledged to make, and the learning it will take away from this case, will ensure young people moving between children’s and adult services will not be put at such a significant disadvantage in future.”