Section 47 issues

[BSdad]

Hi All
1st post - My family have recently been involved in a section 47 case
Sadly I was not included with any assessments / investigations by both the families first & social worker, 2 months on I am still awaiting all paperwork / reports etc.
The case has ended up with me losing my family & home with a very biased outcome and blaming of situation pointed towards me.
I am at a loss in how to react / engage in any resolve to this

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear BSDad,

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

You say in your post that your family have recently been involved in a S. 47 investigation, and that you were not included in this by children's services. You still have not received an paperwork or reports. You say that you have lost your family and that you have been blamed for the outcome of the situation.

You do not say in your post the reason for the S. 47 investigation being initiated, nor the exact details around how you have lost your family? Have you been asked to leave the family home?

The general expectation is that children's services should work with both parents and that both parents should be including in any assessment of your children's needs. All paperwork should also be shared with you, unless to do so would put someone else at risk, and in this case, certain bits of information can be redacted.

Have you requested all paperwork from the social worker and asked why you were not included in any assessments? I would advise that you put both of these requests in writing to the social worker. If there are parts of the assessment that you disagree with, you can raise these points.

If you would like to provide more information, I may be able to advise you further.

Best wishes,

Suzie

[BSdad]

Hi Suzie

The social services were initially involved due to an injury to my son caused by my wife during a violent outburst by my son - ( he has sensory & behaviour issues we have been asking for years to be assisted with )
I had no involvement with the assessment, just attended the CP Conference via telephone - I am still awaiting all documents / notes / reports etc relating to this and have lodged a formal complaint with social services.
Due to long term family issues, not helped by Covid restrictions - family life ( including step children ) and relations were strained - I was asked to leave the family home prior to the CP conference, my ex then gave up work and thus gains a large social payment towards living costs, housing etc.
I did manage to obtain a report from the "families First" support worker, who again I had no contact with during the process, however whos report stated that I did not wish to dicuss matters with them when contacted - A further complaint has been lodged in relation to this false statement.
I hope this can give further insight into the situation.

[ParentInNeed50]

Sorry to hear all this BSdad, social workers need to be brought to account as far too often they work outside of the legal framework and throw mud hoping something sticks.

There are some really good social workers and then there are some really dangerous ones.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi Suzie

The social services were initially involved due to an injury to my son caused by my wife during a violent outburst by my son - ( he has sensory & behaviour issues we have been asking for years to be assisted with )
I had no involvement with the assessment, just attended the CP Conference via telephone - I am still awaiting all documents / notes / reports etc relating to this and have lodged a formal complaint with social services.
Due to long term family issues, not helped by Covid restrictions - family life ( including step children ) and relations were strained - I was asked to leave the family home prior to the CP conference, my ex then gave up work and thus gains a large social payment towards living costs, housing etc.
I did manage to obtain a report from the "families First" support worker, who again I had no contact with during the process, however whos report stated that I did not wish to dicuss matters with them when contacted - A further complaint has been lodged in relation to this false statement.
I hope this can give further insight into the situation.

Dear BSdad

Thank you for your further post and for the additional information that you have provided.

It sounds as if a child protection plan may have been made for your son, who has additional needs and was injured by his mother during a violent outburst. There are other children in the family home who are your stepchildren. I think the children have all remained at home with their mother although you moved out prior to the conference. I don’t know if the family issues you mention included domestic violence (which would be a concern for children’s services) or relationship breakdown. Either way, as your son’s father and a father-figure for your stepchildren, you should be properly involved in any assessment of your son’s needs, in particular.

You should have been provided with a copy of the social worker’s conference report for your son and a copy of the decision sheet after the conference. Full minutes of the meeting can take several weeks to come through, though.

You have already let children’s services know via a complaint what you are unhappy about – limited involvement, lack of paperwork and an inaccuracy in the paperwork that you have been given. If this is not resolved promptly as part of a stage 1 complaint you can take it to the next stage (2). Here is our advice sheet on complaints which explains more.

If a child protection plan was made, then there will be core group meetings which should (safely) involve you too. If a child in need plan was made instead of a child protection you should be involved in that as well. As a married parent you automatically have parental responsibility for your son. If your son is being cared for by his mother then children’s services will work most closely with her, but they must also work in partnership with you, involve you in the planning process and let you know what is happening. They must do this safely for all involved.

You don’t mention what contact you are having or any restrictions on this. Again, this something which must be properly considered.

You might find our FAQs for fathers helpful. If children’s services are still not involving you well, you can ask them for a written explanation for their reasons.

If you would like to discuss your situation with an adviser please call our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm or if you have a further specific query please do post back on this parents’ board.

I hope this is helpful.

With best wishes

Suzie

[BSdad]

Update -

The time limit for both stage 1 & 2 complaints response was exceeded and even extended - still with no reply.
I attempted to escalate to the LGO, but sadly they were unable to investigate as no official response had been provided - however, they did suggest contacting the councils chief executive officer - which I did - this must have ruffled some feathers as I then received an official response just 4 days later.
Sadly however, as the stage 1 meeting as per procedure, never took place - the fullness of my complaint was never communicated thus a full an concise response did not occur. Further contact was made and additional update was refused. Out of the 5 key points of the complaint, 1 was fully upheld, 2 partly uphead and 2 denied. With little more than admittance of failures and "oh well, we made mistakes, but it doesnt matter" in final communication. My issues were still not fully explained / resolved with reports and documents still outstanding....

With this in mind - I have now escalated to the LGO and await further decision.......

One positive tho, A long conversation occured with the head of child services for the area, with reassurances that my case was to be used as an example internally as to how not to treat parents - mainly fathers moving forward and was to be used in a service training seminar to hopefully ensure that such situations and actions do not re occur in the future....... Small win.....
I will further update when I can.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Bsdad

Welcome back to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post.

I am sorry to hear that you have continued to experience difficulties in relation to your family’s ongoing involvement with children’s services and their failure to properly involve you. It must be frustrating that the complaints procedure was also problematic although some elements of your complaint were upheld. I think you are doing the right thing by referring to the Local Government Ombudsman(LGO) who is best placed to look into and respond to the matter. Here is some further information about the LGO.

Thank you for sharing a positive too, that children’s services have recognised the difficulties you experienced as a learning point and are integrating this into staff training. It is encouraging to hear that the head of children’s services took on board some of the points you made and recognised room for improvement. Thank you for raising this on behalf of other parents.

Please do update the board as I am sure other parents will find it helpful and can learn from your experiences too.

Best wishes

Suzie

[BSdad]

update -
Sadly the positives mentioned in my last update appear to be nothing more than lip service in an attempt to appease me - I continued requests for the still outstanding social workers report with the head of service, these were unanswered and once again had to resort to contact with the chief executive who informed me of the gentlemans departure from the service.
I have finally recieved the social workers report today - some 8 months on from its production, and was sadly appalled at its content, no wonder I was not previously afforded it. With such negative and biased information contained within it, I once again have made contact with the chief executive asking for discussion on it, I am awaiting a response.
I am also in cotact with my local MP who has afforded a case worker to look into matters further, I expect contact from the LGSCO within the next two weeks and hope they will act upon my complaints.
It is truly sadening that in this day and age, that "professional socail care" workers can act in such un ethical manner, wihout being held accountable for their actions - and that social care services make repeated errors without learning from past mistakes.
I have lost all faith in my local service provider and can only hope for some form of justice to be granted.
This whole saga has left me a broken man, and only put more pressure on the already strained relationship I have with my estranged wife - it is clear now that some conspiracy and pre planning was involved owing to the outcome.
I will again update the situation when I can.

[BSdad]

another update -

I finally received the social workers report, some 8 months on - due to its content and production, a further complaint was made to childrens services. It was expidited to the new head of childrens services for the area and a web meeting took place. Sadly all my issues and the outcome I wished for did not occur, although further admittance of failings did occur, it was admitted that the initial assessment prior to the section 47 was unbalanced and that I was excluded from this. I am awaiting an official apology and reasons to why this occured and if nothing more, this will now add to the investigation that the LGSCO had now accepted to investigate.
To all those in similar situations - keep fighting - its clear that the service providers just want to brush you off and sweep issues under the carpet.

I will further update when LGSCO investigation is underway.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear BSdad

Thank you for your two recent posts updating us all about your situation, good luck with the Local Government Ombudsman process.

For other posters, here is some information about from our website about;

making complaints;
Government guidance about child protection procedures, called Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018, a good place to start reading is from page 34
and; information about the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO)

Best wishes

Suzie