Increased SW sessions before downgrading from CP?

[Cyclamen]

My sons reported that the SW intends visiting weekly now (with her huge file full of worksheets to be completed... apparently they have to get through 3 each time!). She visits them at school, so I don't see any of this. I was wondering if this is a thing - visiting weekly before being downgraded? She has said in 2 core group meetings that the aim is to remove them from the register at the next conference. The situation which brought us to this point has now totally changed and there is no justifiable reason to keep them on the register, even though the school are trying really hard to muster up any imperfections in me. I hate the scrutiny. Have the boys misunderstood? Was it "I'll see you next week" because that day was a Monday and 10 days would fall in the next week, but not an increase in visit frequency, or is there a pile of paperwork to be completed with the children to remove them from the register and this is an effort to get through it all?

Can they go from being on the CP register to being not on a regsiter at all, or do they have to spend 3 months on the child in need regsiter?
Thank you

[Bossman1959]

Hi,

This must be very confusing for you.

My recolection is that the decision to remove the children is done at a case confrence. This could be because the SW has decided that everything is now ok and called a meeting, or it could be the meeting that would normally take place is at the right time to end the need to be protected.

I think regardless of when this happens there is usually a period in which the children are seen as children in need. I beleive that this is to ensure that the children are indeed safe from any further harm.
The process is not the same as it is as a protected child, there are no meetings, to discuss how things are going. It is more about monitoring them just incase the situation reverts to the same as before or something else happens to put them at risk.
Hope this helps.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

My sons reported that the SW intends visiting weekly now (with her huge file full of worksheets to be completed... apparently they have to get through 3 each time!). She visits them at school, so I don't see any of this. I was wondering if this is a thing - visiting weekly before being downgraded? She has said in 2 core group meetings that the aim is to remove them from the register at the next conference. The situation which brought us to this point has now totally changed and there is no justifiable reason to keep them on the register, even though the school are trying really hard to muster up any imperfections in me. I hate the scrutiny. Have the boys misunderstood? Was it "I'll see you next week" because that day was a Monday and 10 days would fall in the next week, but not an increase in visit frequency, or is there a pile of paperwork to be completed with the children to remove them from the register and this is an effort to get through it all?

Can they go from being on the CP register to being not on a regsiter at all, or do they have to spend 3 months on the child in need regsiter?
Thank you

Dear Cyclamen,

Welcome to the forum and thankyou for your post. I hope that the following is helpful to you.

When children are under child protection plans social workers typically see them at least once every 10 working days. They may visit more often than this if they feel it is helpful or necessary. It may be that the social worker working with your children feels that it will be beneficial to see the children more regularly at the moment. There is no specific ‘pile of paperwork’ that needs to be completed with the children, however the social worker does need to gather evidence to justify his/her recommendations at the next child protection conference.

As Bossman1959 has said it is not the social worker’s decision to end the child protection plan – it is the chairperson at the next conference who will make the final decision. The social worker should provide a report several days before the conference which explains whether they are recommending that the child protection plan continues or ends. This will be discussed in the conference and the chairperson will make the final decision.

If the decision is made to end the child protection plan then it is very likely that the chairperson and social worker will recommend that a child in need plan is put in place. Regular child in need meetings will be held (which are very similar to the core group meetings that you are currently attending) and the social worker will continue to visit the children, but less often. It is important to understand that the child in need process is a voluntary process and cannot be carried out without your consent. Therefore you don’t have to work with children’s services if you don’t feel that the help they are offering is needed for your family. You can see more information about this on our website HERE. If you do decide not to accept support under the child in need process then it would be a good idea to talk this through with the social worker.

I hope that the above has been of some help. If you would like any further advice then you can either post here again or call our free, confidential helpline on 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm) to speak with an adviser.

Best wishes,
Suzie