Can baby be removed without pre proceedings first?

[Rainbowbabymumma]

Hi. Sorry. Me again.
I was wondering if a baby could be removed at birth if pre proceedings haven't been done. My unborn is on a child protection plan. I ask if I am keeping the baby and they just say we won't talk about that here.
Could they remove it at birth if they didn't do pre proceedings, like if time ran out or they just didn't do it
Does it mean they aren't allowed to take it?
Thank you

[Rainbowbabymumma]

Also to add ...
If they say they will 'contact manager for legal advice or do a team around child meeting'..it's confusing. Team around child is early help ...so would it be they drop it to that or legal advice? Thank you

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Rainbowbabymumma

Thank you for your post and welcome to the discussion board. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser and will be replying to you today. I will respond to your two post here as they relate to the same enquiry.

You are seeking advice around protocols for removing a child following birth. You are seeking clarification on whether children’s services can remove your child outside of pre proceedings protocol. Your unborn child is subject to a child protection plan, you have tried to discuss this with the social worker but have not received a satisfactory response. I am sorry to hear this. It is a worrying and stressful time for you and not being able to discuss this with the allocated social worker is likely to compound your stress. I have added HERE a link to our 'top tips' guidance when working with social workers. It offers guidance on how to work well with them and what you may wish to consider if things are not going so well. I would encourage you to take a look.

You are confused by the information shared by the social worker. On the one hand, they have said they will be contacting their manager to seek legal advice and on the other, they are saying a Team Around the Child will be put in place, which as you say, falls under Early Help and has no statutory social work input.

Pre-proceedings is both a period of time and formal process. It is where children’s services consider whether they need to apply to the Family Court to start care proceedings. The courts have said this means the guidance should be followed unless there is good reason for it not to. Therefore, children’s services should follow this process but do not have to. It will depend on the presenting risk to the child. Please see HERE for further information and advice.

Social workers sometimes consider a child is in urgent need of protection. In this scenario, children’s services can ask the court to make an emergency protection order. An emergency protection order lasts for up to eight days and can be extended by the court for a further seven days. It can only be extended once. Please see HERE for further information regarding this process.

Children’s services cannot remove your child unless you agree under a Section 20, voluntary arrangement or by the court agreeing to an Interim Care Order. To note, you do not need to agree to a Section 20 request. Please see HERE for further information and guidance. I have further added a link HERE to information and guidance regarding care and related proceedings.

A Team Around the Child,is often referred to as a TAC. A TAC is a method of working where professionals from different agencies form a team. This is done on a case by case basis. The aim is to ensure that the right people are in place to meet the specific needs of a child and their family. So the term ‘team around the family’ is a way of working rather than a fixed group of professionals.

A team around the family is likely to include some people from early help services, education and health. It may also include those who work in drug and alcohol services or adult mental health services. The make-up of each team around the family will reflect the nature of the family’s difficulties.

Each team around the family will have a lead practitioner. They will assess the child and family’s needs and develop a plan of action and support with them. This will be specific to whatever difficulties the child and family face. This is voluntary support which means parents will need to agreed and give permission for one to be put in place. Many families find them helpful to address issues and needs without children’s services involvement.

I cannot say whether children’s services will seek legal advice or not. I do not have all the information before me, it is outside of our remit to comment and I do not think it is helpful to speculate.

I think it would be a good idea to email the social worker and their team manager to ask for a written response to clarify their position. To inform them, that you are confused following discussions with the social worker and need to seek clarification on the possible next steps. If you find this overwhelming, you could always ask a professional within the core group for support to undertake this task, or perhaps a trusted family member or friend.

I would advise you to continue to work with professionals and to seek support and advice from services to address and reduce the risks children’s services are concerned about.

If your child is removed from your care, children’s services have a duty to assess family or close friends who put themselves forward for assessment to care for the child if it is decided that they cannot stay with you. Given this, it would be sensible to think about whether anyone within your family (or close friends) would be willing to put themselves forward for an assessment. I have added HERE some further information and guidance regarding kinship care. This includes the assessment process and different types of kinship care arrangements.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you would like to talk to an adviser at Family Rights Group about your situation, please call the freephone advice line on 0808 801 0366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm. If you prefer, you can post back, use our advice enquiry form or webchat. Please refer to our website for further information.

Best wishes, Suzie