Wrong Kid

February 11, 2013 permalink

When social workers took a toddler from a British nursery school to visit his dad, they grabbed the wrong boy. They all look the same to social workers.

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Social worker took the wrong child out of primary school for a supervised visit with another child's father

• Four-year-old Kenzie Joe Jubb, who has no dealings with social services, was removed from his nursery classroom
• He was sent with a stranger to ‘see his father’ along with a two-year-old girl they mistakenly thought was his sister
• Kenzie was driven to social services offices before teachers realised the error

By Amanda Williams, PUBLISHED: 11:05 GMT, 11 February 2013 | UPDATED: 11:57 GMT, 11 February 2013

An investigation has been launched after a social worker took the wrong child out of school for a supervised visit with another boy’s father.

Four-year-old Kenzie Joe Jubb was removed from his nursery classroom, and sent with a stranger to ‘see his father’ - along with a two-year-old girl they mistakenly thought was his sister.

He was away from his class at Francis Askew Primary School in Hull, East Yorkshire for more than 10 minutes and driven to social services offices before teachers realised the mistake.

Four-year-old Kenzie Joe Jubb was removed from his nursery classroom at Francis Askew Primary School in Hull, East Yorkshire, and sent with a stranger to 'see his father' - along with a two-year-old girl they mistakenly thought was his sister

Four-year-old Kenzie Joe Jubb was removed from his nursery classroom at Francis Askew Primary School in Hull, East Yorkshire, and sent with a stranger to 'see his father' - along with a two-year-old girl they mistakenly thought was his sister

Now, his parents are demanding a full explanation as to why Kenzie, who has no dealings with social services, was taken.

His father Alistair Jubb said: 'We are furious. The school CCTV shows him being away for 11 minutes, but 11 minutes is a long time when your son is with someone he doesn’t know.

'How did they get the wrong child? We want to know exactly how this has happened.

'I am absolutely furious with the school. The head has assured me this will never happen again, but I wouldn’t have ever expected it to happen in the first place.

'Somebody has messed up somewhere along the line and we want to know who it was and how it happened.'

The school contacted the city council’s Safeguarding Children Board when they realised the error and an investigation is being carried out.

Mr Jubb said: 'The school called his mum and she was distraught. When she called me, all sorts went through my head.

'She said Kenzie had been taken out of school and the first thing that went through my head was that it was someone with a fake identification.

'It was horrific. His mum said he was back in school and those feelings of horror turned to anger.'

Mr Jubb said Kenzie was taken with a social worker who also had a two-year-old girl - the sister of the child who was meant to be taken from the school.

Mr Jubb said: 'I asked Kenzie if he had got in the car and where they took him.

'He said he was put in the car and the social worker told him he would be going to a house where there was a dog and he would be seeing his dad.

'He is only four. He was confused. He was taken by someone who he has never seen before in his life.'

Kenzie was driven to social services offices before the mistake was discovered.

It has since been confirmed the social worker was at the school to take one of the other children on an access visit to see their father.

Mr Jubb said: 'The head has apologised and said she has spoken to all the teachers involved.

'They have all re-read the policies for this and the school assured me they were going to change those policies.

'This has been a bit of a wake-up for them.

'They are going to change the policy, so they know the children are going out with someone they know.

'We are going to be contacted by people from safeguarding who will explain what has gone on and how things are going to change.'

Hull City Council confirmed a joint investigation will take place between themselves and the school.

John Readman, director of children’s services, said: 'This incident should not have occurred.

'Both the school and the local authority have apologised personally to the families involved for the distress this must have caused.

'Importantly, the child was at all times supervised by an experienced member of staff.

'All staff that work directly with children are subject to enhanced CRB checks and required to carry identification, as in this case.

'We now need to understand exactly what happened in this instance and ensure that correct procedures are followed at all times

'The school and the local authority are jointly investigating the incident.'

Source: Daily Mail