Sometimes it is helpful for people to go back and look at their case files and sometimes it isn't. I have known people get some closure from it and those who struggled to understand the clipped and brusque reports that are their reported life as seen through a professional lens. Working in child protection is not the same as what is written down in the files - it is like an iceberg. You get to see the literary tip of a far more visceral and invisible beast that isn't recorded.

You don't see those awake at night moments wondering whether you've made the right call, the frustration at how very difficult to convince others you've got a hunch that needs looking at, you don't record the trepidation at facing down a well-informed court advocate or an angry parent that knows how to push your buttons - especially when you don't feel like you've got enough training. These moments, like the moments in your memory are not recorded because they are part of a complex interplay that goes beyond what will fit on the paper.

People get into child protection to help others (99.9% of the time) and there are many children (now adults) I would dearly love to apologise to given the chance.... not because I did anything wrong, but there were too many limits on my capacity to do the right thing. We do try though and stories like yours give us hope that even if we've missed things, sometimes it all comes good in the end. :o)