Blog

• Met with the MP for Grimsby this morning. It felt like a very constructive meeting.
• The MP now has the full report. That report details the evidence of coercive control and manipulation of ‘Lizzie’, and describes the institutional failings of both Focus Adult Social Work CIC and Humberside Police. It is the report that both agencies have refused to read.
• The MP was also given the summary report published by the Nuffield Foundation in November 2024 (Exploitation Of Adults With Cognitive Impairment In England). That report makes clear that, all too often, vulnerable adults are being failed by a system that does not recognise their exploitation. Capacity tests are misused to justify poor agency choices. The concerns of parents and family are dismissed. Fragmented agency collaboration. Practitioners showing little professional curiosity. Agencies overlooking the impact of coercion. All the things that we have experienced as described in the podcast.
• The key message was that ‘Lizzie’ has been entirely cut off from her loved ones and support network. One day after ‘Lizzie’ turned eighteen, she was removed from her home, and systematically and intentionally isolated. This was very clearly contrary to Lizzie’s expectations or wishes. It amounts to manipulation and coercive control.

This isn’t just about one family; it’s about a systemic failure. If this could happen to us, it could happen to any parents of a child with special needs.

It is morally reprehensible that a young adult with special needs and cognitive impairment can be removed and isolated without scrutiny, only to have the very institutions meant to protect them stand by, united in their silence.

————————–

Thank you for reading. If you have any insights, comments or advice, please feel free to add them below.