assessment to supervise contact for a friend and their child

[kearasnoop]

Hi my friend has put my name forward to supervise contact between themselves and their child , Cafcass has also agreed i should be assessed.I am quite happy to do this and have already agreed. Does anyone know what the process involves i have very little experience with social services and am learning as i go along. Would just like a general idea of what to expect prefer not to go in blindly .

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Kearasnoop

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear that your friend and her child are having difficulties.

From the information provided, it seems that your friend is involved in a court process regarding their child although I am not sure if it a private law process e.g. a parent applying for a Child Arrangement Order for their child or care proceedings. Either way, there are safeguarding concerns for your friend’s child and because of this they need to be supervised when they spend time with their child.

You may find this definition of supervised contact helpful.

You have come forward to support the family by agreeing to be assessed to supervise this contact. This is a positive thing to do as if successful it will help promote the relationship between your friend and their child, whilst making sure that the child is safe. It is a really important role and can be beneficial to the child that a known family friend is there to supervise rather than a stranger or a professional. Hopefully, this would allow contact to take place in a comfortable and familiar environment for the child.

It is reasonable for you to ask the social worker to provide you with information about what to expect as part of the assessment; they are required to be transparent. You should also ask for a copy of your assessment when it is completed.

The assessment will consider your suitability to supervise. The social worker is likely to ask your consent to make a number of checks to see if there are any concerns about you that would affect your ability to safely supervise the parent and child when they spend time together. i.e. by checking with police, children’s services’ records etc. Although you may not know all the issues due to confidentiality, the social worker will need to be satisfied that you understand any potential risk, that you can focus on the child’s needs and that you would be able to intervene confidently and quickly if a concern came up. I think the other key factor that the social worker will want to explore will be your willingness to work with them, to update them about how the contact is going and most importantly to inform them if there are any concerns or incidents while you are supervising.

If your assessment is positive, do ask the social worker to ensure that you and your friend have a clear agreement and guidelines about what the expectations are.

I hope this helps.

Please post back if you need any further advice or call our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm.

Best wishes

Suzie

[KatKat10]

Kearasnoop - did you agree for your name to put forward? If not just say you can't supervise contact. assessments are really evasive and they poke around in your life. If you have kids of your own, the last thing you want is Childrens Services sticking their beak in.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Kearasnoop

I just wanted to reiterate that it seems to me from the information that you have provided that you are wanting to help the family in this way and are willing to work with a social worker to ensure that you can demonstrate that you can safely supervise contact. It is positive to want to help your friend and their child to spend time with each other safely by being willing to offer this supervision.

I have already provided advice about what to expect as part of the assessment which I hope has been helpful to you.

I also wanted to reassure you that children’s services are not intervening in your life in a negative way; they are working with you to help promote positive safe contact for your friend’s child.

I hope that all goes well.

Best wishes

Suzie