Keep in mind that a similar event happened recently in "EastEnders." In that story, someone called social services after finding bruises on a baby and after the older sister lied that the mother had caused those injuries. The show was ridiculed because the social worker showed up that evening and immediately removed the children and placed them in foster care without interviewing anyone or even examining the children.
I completely understand the "EastEnders" criticism, but I don't get the "Coronation Street" criticism. Here's what happened. One of the characters is a single mom named Abi Franklin. She struggles with drugs, which means that her 16-year-old son Seb is pretty much bringing home money and caring for his younger siblings.
Following a rough patch, somebody called social services about the problems in Franklin home. She spoke with Abi and Seb and the other kids and gathered information for an assessment. She also offered to provide from family centered services to help out. Abi didn't appreciate the interference, but it's clear that Seb was happy to get the help.
That night, Abi took some hard drugs. Spice, I believe; which is a dangerous synthetic drug. But it's also possible that it was heroine. I was only half-paying attention. She was in charge of the young kids and ended up overdosing, resulting in her falling unconscious. The ambulance services were called and they managed to save her.
But the end result is that the social worker from social services was called back to the home by the police and the two younger children were placed into a foster home, largely because there weren't any adult friends of the family who could care for them. And Abi was in no state to care for the kids.
I've heard complaints that not enough support was offered to Seb. That the social worker wasn't empathetic enough. That she wasn't sympathetic enough. And that she didn't spend much time doing paperwork.
That's probably the realest complaint. In social work, there's never too much paperwork. But paperwork doesn't make for good TV. And it's true that the social worker was a bit cold towards Seb right before she left. He kept asking her to promise that the kids would be kept in the same home and she just stood there silently, staring at him.
But I didn't think that it was a horrible portrayal of social workers in the field. It would have been nice to see some attempts at services before things fell apart -- but I think that the young kids are probably better off in foster care while their mother gets herself some treatment.