I live in the UK and have 2 friends who are social workers, and know many people who have had dealings with social services. It would not be an overstatement to say that A.I integration could not make things any worse.

The system is shockingly abysmal already. One friend who I am very close with, cannot bare the situation at present because there are so many ridiculous laws and rules and paperwork and its all backwards. He can be instructed to remove a child at a whim, but on the flip side has been in situations where he knows this child needs help and he cannot act. One most recent example was a visit where a 15 year old boy had clearly just been raped in his own home, he could see all the signs physically and psychologically, and no one wants to bloody know. Its like the easier cases they jump all over and gloat those as success stories, the more complex ones which eat up more funding, need more teams, need more work.......are sort of brushed away, and only those like my friend will slug tirelessly often in un-paid over time to try and help the people that often, not always, the system is failing to protect.

More and more people like him are walking away, so as alarming as the information in this blog is, it's not in a position to decline much anyway. Obviously I cannot speak on behalf of everyone but things are already dire.

When i venture into the city i always try and spend some time with someone on the street. I am noticing younger and younger people sleeping rough, one young lady i bought some food for an sat with her for a chat told me her story. She turned 18 some months before, and before that was in foster care. Essentially as soon as you are 18 you are just tossed out. Funding is so tight there is no transition project/initiative. There are some charities with housing and half way homes etc, but no where near enough to accommodate the need, and mainly only in larger cities. With no money, and very little notice she was flung out to the street because she was an adult now who can fend for her self. She had been given a mobile phone and was told she would receive a phone call if a room became available for her to stay somewhere. Such insanity. She had been on the street for 4 months at this point, was terrified, my heart bled if i had not been living in a shared house my self at that time i would have taken her home. I went back to the same spot a few times to try and find her again, to buy another meal, just give her some company. But i never found her. I think about her often.