Being Falsely Accused

[dolphinlover]

I am a disabled single mother of 2 children, I have a care agency that comes in to provide me with care and they have contacted my doctors and children's social services claiming my home is a mess and that I am an alcoholic. They are supposed to help me keep on top of the housework, as it is one thing adult social care have laid out in my support plan. Where as the alcohol has been in my bedroom for almost 2 years, it is one bottle and it is almost full. They have not found any other bottles of alcohol in my home, and I have not had a drink for almost a year. Because of these false accusations I have childrens social services involved again. They are showing up with just 10 mins notice. I have had past dealings where they tried to remove my children when they were little, just because of my disabilities and struggling with housework (no help offered at all). I was also in foster care myself, so their first ever involvement was due to the fact that I was in foster care. I am scared and worried that they will attempt to take my children again. I am unsure what to do, I have just been completely open and honest with the social worker regarding the circumstances, but I am getting blamed for things I haven't done, which can have a severe impact on my children. Any advice would be most welcome

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear dolphinlover,

Welcome to the parents' board and thank you for your post.

You have two children and have recently been contacted by children's services following a referral from your care agency with concerns about your home conditions and alleged alcohol consumption. You have had previous involvement from children's services and are worried about what the outcome of this involvement may be.

You do not say in your post whether a children and families assessment has been completed - if so, what was the outcome of this? Following a referral, the social worker should make clear to you what the concerns are and complete their assessment within 45 days. This assessment will look at your parenting capacity, your children's needs and any external factors. You can find more information about what to expect from an assessment here. There are a number of possible outcomes from an assessment, including no further action; a referral to early help; a child in need plan; or if at any point, children's services have reason to believe your children have experienced or are at risk of experiencing significant harm, child protection enquiries may be initiated. For more information, take a look at our advice sheet on child protection procedures. Children's services cannot remove your children from your care against your wishes unless they obtain an order from the court, or if there is immediate risk to their safety, the police could remove them for 72 hours under police protection.

You say that you have been open and honest with the social worker; this is really positive and I would encourage you to continue to do this. It is important that you make clear to the social worker any support you think you may need or that your children would benefit from. Have adult services considered a re-assessment of your needs?

If you would like to talk through this with one of our advisers, feel free to call our advice line between 09:30 and 3pm Mon-Fri on 0808 801 0366. Please note that our advice line is now closed until 4th January 2021.

I hope you have found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie