Child in need meeting

[UpsetAndStressed]

I am absolutely at my wits end with social. Since my husbands arrest and they got involved they have been awful. They don’t communicate with me or send me things like the allocation letter & single assessment when they should have and when they do two to me they have different stories every time.

My MIL is currently able to supervise contact & they have said I’m unsuitable for the following reasons depending on which version of events they decide that day
- my husband is lying and is definitely guilty, he maintains his innocence but I have always acknowledged to social I understand he could be guilty
- I don’t know all the case details. The police have shared info with them and I know the potential charges and certain bit of info but apparently not everything. This makes me unsuitable but my MIL who knows less is ok?
- my husband is manipulating me
- it would be too hard on me emotionally
- I wouldn’t supervise properly
- I haven’t left the relationship but initially said I would if he was found guilty and they’ve told me he’s guilty so I should have left by now. (He’s not living at home anyway due to bail conditions so it’s not like we are actively in a relationship)

They completed a single assessment which resulted in a child in need plan. Before this happened they escalated to a section 47 because they wanted to speak to my daughter in school and I didn’t give permission because my daughter didn’t want to have to speak to them at school (they told me this was to give her emotional support and 100% my choice but it turns out it was direct work to establish if my husband presented a risk to her) I eventually found out the section 47 has again resulted in a child in need plan.

SW says we need a child in need meeting next week with me & my husband to discuss our thoughts opinions & feelings. What can I actually expect from this?

She also says the child in need plan is in the process of being finalised and will be sent to me once complete but don’t we need the meeting before the plan can be at the stage where it’s being finalised?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear UpsetAndStressed

Thank you for your updating post. I am sorry to hear that you are finding children’s services’ involvement and their way of working with you very stressful.

It sounds as if you are unhappy with the decision that the social worker has made that you are not (currently) suitable to supervise contact between your husband and your daughter. It might be a good idea to ask the social worker what they would like you to do to address their current concerns and to move forward with being able to supervise i.e. would they recommend that you complete a specialist protective parenting/mothers as protectors course?

Your daughter’s case has remained at a child in need level although children’s services did escalate to a child protection investigation in order to see your daughter at school which they must have decided was necessary. They then stepped your case back down to child in need again with a planned meeting due next week.

You should ask the social worker to confirm when their proposed child in need plan will be ready as it will need to be agreed by you and your husband, as your daughter’s parents. It will be discussed further at the child in need meeting. Sometimes the meeting happens first then the plan is produced but it can happen as your social worker suggests where the plan is drafted and then considered and actions agreed at the meeting.

The meeting will usually include other professionals involved with your daughter e.g. school, school nurse, in addition to you and your husband and the social worker. However, it may be that this meeting will not involve the other professionals as you suggest it is just you and your husband and the social worker, to discuss the proposed plan.

You can find out more here. You may want to write down some points about what you would like to discuss. Every child in need plan will be specific to the child’s circumstances so in your case it may focus on contact arrangements, any recommendations for work you can do and any support or services to be in place for your daughter. The social worker should also make clear what the proposed arrangements are for them to visit, who else will be involved and the frequency of meetings. It is also important for the social worker to make sure that you and your husband are aware of what children’s services would do if you did not agree to the plan or it was not kept to.

I hope this helps. If you have another query you are welcome to post back or contact the advice service again us via our freephone advice line, our advice enquiry form or webchat.

Best wishes

Suzie

[UpsetAndStressed]

Hi,

Child in need meeting ended up being scheduled for Tuesday 4th April and has now been changed to Thursday 20th April.

I have finally got a copy of the section 47 report which says it was completed on 27th February, although I wasn’t told about it being completed until I chased them up on 20th March.

Are there timescales that this should be completed in? It seems like social are just dragging their feet at every opportunity and nothing is actually happening?

Part of me wants to make a complaint at this stage due to the lack of communication, their refusal to put anything in writing and the constant delays to everything but I’m worried that they will retaliate and make things harder for us.

[Need help 2021]

I will be honest with you they will not rush as your police investigation is not complete they will want to know what the put come is they did that to me my case dragged for 3 years including police and socail and my son was put on section 47 .

[UpsetAndStressed]

It’s just not right is it? Me & my daughter have done nothing wrong yet no one wants to help us. I was just thinking surely there are policies and procedures they have to stick to?!

[Need help 2021]

The only advice I can give you is to contact Lucy faithfull and also to a course with them which you don’t need to pay and get socail service to do a risk assessment but for that I think they will wait for the outcome Wht you can do untill then is so the course with Lucy faithfull so they can see you are doing everything you can to protect your little girl if you don’t mind me asking how old is your little girl .

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi,

Child in need meeting ended up being scheduled for Tuesday 4th April and has now been changed to Thursday 20th April.

I have finally got a copy of the section 47 report which says it was completed on 27th February, although I wasn’t told about it being completed until I chased them up on 20th March.

Are there timescales that this should be completed in? It seems like social are just dragging their feet at every opportunity and nothing is actually happening?

Part of me wants to make a complaint at this stage due to the lack of communication, their refusal to put anything in writing and the constant delays to everything but I’m worried that they will retaliate and make things harder for us.

Dear UpsetAndStressed

Thank you for your further post regarding the planned child in need meeting which has now been postponed to later in April. I can understand your frustration regarding this.

You mention that the s47 report was completed 27 February, but you only received it March 20th. It may be that the completed report had to be signed off by the social worker’s team manager who might not have been available because of holiday or illness. It would have been helpful if this was communicated to you.

In your post you ask whether there are timescales for completion. The answer is yes. The guidance states that s.47 enquiries should be completed in 45 days. You can read the government’s statutory guidance Working together to Safeguard Children HERE . It is a long document; I think the information you need can be found from page 33 at paragraph 76. You can also ask the social worker to provide you with a copy of their policy for assessment.

I suggest that you speak with the social worker’s team manager about your concerns and, if not satisfied, should you wish to make a complaint here is information from our website relating to complaints.

Should you wish to speak to an adviser, you can telephone our free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays)

Hope this is helpful

Best wishes

Suzie

[Pinkstar]

Hi, what happened when they visited your daughter at school. A social worker came to see me today an said she would like to talk to my daughter at school,h daughter will not like this but I felt as if I had no option but to agree because if I said no I would look bad.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Pinkstar

Thank you for the two updates.

It may be a good idea to say to the social worker that your daughter may not be comfortable to speak with her and ask if a member of the school staff could be present.

Here is some information about working with social workers from our website and can I refer you again to pages 10 and 29 of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018.

Child Law Advice has some information on their website too, here is a link to.

Best wishes

Suzie

[Terrifiedparent]

How did you get on Thursday?
We had no end of problems with CS, 4 different social workers and it wasn't until I made a complaint to a community social worker that things were then escalated and resolved.
We are now signed off from the CIN plan and just have to follow a safety plan until the investigation is completed and then they will review it depending on the outcome.

Its worth speaking to somebody if you aren't happy, I had to do something called the Mcewen programme for almost 3 months for me to be able to supervise contact.