Putting the Baby IN the Bathwater: Social Justice Begins with Babies

The first annual report of Scotland’s coalition, led by the Wave Trust (Scotland) called ‘Putting the Baby IN the Bathwater’ was published on 13 January 2015.

SASW is a co-signatory to the campaign, which calls for a commitment to create a fairer society by actively investing in prevention, starting with the first 1001 days of a child’s life. PSW Scotland reported on the campaign in Dec/Jan 2013/14 edition.

The press release highlights how according to more than 100 of Scotland’s most respected organisations and distinguished individuals, the growing political momentum toward social justice has largely overlooked a crucial opportunity to achieve it. This coalition united over the past year to convince policymakers to add what these experts in health, social welfare, and children’s issues see as a missing piece of the puzzle.

The title of the first annual report from this new coalition reveals their core message: Social Justice Begins with Babies. It advocates for much more robust governmental action to prevent harm and promote wellbeing during the first 1,001 days of life (from pre-birth to pre-school).

The 100+ participants in this dynamic coalition have pledged to assist the public sector in turning these good intentions into equally good realities. They promise to remain active, “until the intended beneficiaries are actually benefiting”.

Social work has an essential role to play, both in allowing and actively facilitating social workers in communities to be able to form the relationships with parent(s) which allows trust to develop. This can enable positive intervention without fear – crushing the mythology: “If I tell him/her they will take my child away”. We need time and opportunity for good communication with other partners involved in the (early) days of a child’s life, failure to do so is the stuff significant case reviews are made of.

SASW Manager Trisha Hall said: “We welcome Social Justice Begins With Babies, since it reflects our Scottish roots and ethos as social workers. The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 places a (still in force) ‘statutory duty’ on local authorities to provide social welfare by providing help that goes beyond reacting to known needs. Recognition of this duty at the earliest stage of life may allow for resourcing to enable social workers to go well beyond being ‘risk managers’ who only interact with babies and their families after harm has already been done.”