Social work across the decades: the Maria Colwell inquiry

It is fifty years since the launch of Community Care as a resource for social workers and others within social services.
It was also fifty years ago, in 1974, that the Maria Colwell inquiry report was published. Its significance was recognised at the time – it was on the front cover of Community Care – and has not diminished over the past five decades.
Maria was seven years old when she was killed, in 1973, by her stepfather after being returned from foster care to the care of her mo