S47 now at 12 days and still waiting

[NewDad990325]

We are under s47, sw told us that this had to be completed within 10 days, but now at day 12 with still no indication of when it will be completed. Apparently the delay is due to availability of the various people to complete the mash meeting.

Or SW told us that by law it had to be completed within 10 days at the start, so stressed about what the ramifications of the delay would be.

The background is that we were in care and support because my partner's daughter is living with her grandmother (my partner's mother) and because my partner has a disability. Due to concerns that my partner has been known to associate with sex offenders and there were concerns about her daughter, they are in PLO, in a neighbouring LA where her daughter and mother live, though they had been anticipating coming out of that this week, until we went to S47 with our son.

The S47 came about because my partner send a photograph of the children to an old friend who is in prison for raping his partner.

I was really shocked when my partner revealed this information, not just that it had happened but that it just got blurted out randomly in front of a social worker. Obvious the proverbial hit the fan immediately.

After several meetings with various SWs over the next few days and some difficult questions such as they would ask "Do you know xyz?" People who we went to school with, we got into a bit of a panic.

We were asked to provide a list of anyone that we had any grounds to suspect may be a risk.

I gave this serious thought and concluded that my mother is in the Salvation Army, and I know the parents of a convicted sex offender is also there and that my mother considers the parents as friends so I did ask advice on the situation in that regard. I also mentioned a few people that are dead and an ex partner of my late wife who I have never met. Additionally my concerns with the Salvation Army are that in my teens I was groomed by a respected person there, who is no longer there, but the organisation as a whole backed him up and threatened me with legal action if it was reported to the police.

After explaining what had happened to me at the Salvation Army when I was younger the sw said that in her experience adults who have had these experiences tend to be over cautious or don't see the risk. She said that she had no concerns about anyone else mentioned as suspected that given all the details I had given that her observation is that I am overly cautious which is not a bad thing, but she said she would like us to do some work on better risk assessment so that I can redress the balance and to help my partner identify risk better. That is something that I am really looking forward to if am honest, even though I know it might be difficult to do.

Social worker advised not to have any contact with my family until she got advice from her manager. Met with the manager a week later and she said as long as we didn't take our 5 month old to the Salvation Army, leave him unsupervised with my mother or visit while the sex offenders parents were there then she had no problem with my mother or any of my family. In the meantime, my mother had a stroke brought on by stress.

SW seemed to be suggesting a CPP was what she was looking for but her manager in the meeting seemed less convinced siting that she didn't see an immediate risk and that would be required for CPP. So as it stands, we're waiting in limbo and the S47 just keeps dragging on.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear NewDad990325

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board. Thank you for your post. My name is Suzie. I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser.

I can see that you and your family are going though a difficult situation.

You are the father of a baby boy (aged 5 months). Your partner has had social work involvement and there is a PLO process in another borough for her older daughter who lives with her mother. Your partner is disabled. There are also concerns about your partner’s actions in sending a photograph of the children to a convicted sex offender in prison, and in relation to past events and links in the family network to sex offenders. I am sorry to hear that you were groomed as a child and that the organisation the person worked or volunteered for did not protect or support you. I will provide details about support services for you. The police can and do investigate allegations of historic offences and this is an option open to you. It sounds as if you have already had a full discussion with your social worker about what happened, and they should have informed you about this too.

You explain that you had a care and support plan for your son, but this escalated to a child protection investigation. It has not been completed in the timescale the social worker informed you about. This is understandably causing you and your family anxiety and distress. I am sorry to hear that your mother recently had a stroke. I hope that she is recovering.

Unfortunately, as you and your family live in Wales, I am not able to provide any detailed advice as Family Rights Group’s advice service covers England only. Our funding and expertise are also specific to England and although there are some similarities between English and Welsh child welfare processes and legislation there are significant differences too such as the care and support process you refer to which is unique to Wales.

In your situation, however, you can certainly remind the social worker including by email that you would welcome urgent clarification of the outcome of their investigation and that you are aware the timescale they provided has passed. They may have had guidance from their manager by now though, so hopefully the situation may be a little clearer.

Our guide to working with a social worker may be helpful as it provides tips to help parents when their child has a social worker so is not specific to a particular jurisdiction.

We have complied a list of useful services in Wales which you can find here. I hope that you will be able to get further advice and support there, I would recommend the following also:

• Dewis Cymru
• Parents Protect website and confidential Stop it now helpline : 0808 1000 900
• Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse directory of support services in England and Wales for those affected by child sexual abuse
• Supportline
• Family Line .

I hope that this is helpful and that you are informed of the outcome of the child protection investigation very soon.

Best wishes

Suzie

[NewDad990325]

Well it was 8 days over the statutory period but S47 has been completed and going to a Child Protection Conference.

In the meantime we have accepted the opportunity to take part in a programme of identifying risks of sexual exploitation with SS which we start next week, the prison have been contacted and the offender is no longer able to make any telephone calls or send any letters to my partner, and the prison have been contacted about returning the photograph. It turns out he had over 100 photos of children in his cell, so the prison have been having issues locating the photograph in question. To learn he had so many photos was alarming to say the least. I know he has a son, but why would he have 100 photos of him in his cell?!?!? On the plus side, my partner has now accepted that there are a lot of pointers to there being far more concerns about him than she had realised which is a big step for her; she has always been very trusting and loyal to her friends so to see her finally seeing things as a broader concept and admitting that she misjudged him is huge progress and has been acknowledged by our SW.

After a meeting with a social worker this afternoon we were told if we continue to work with SS then they may not need to progress from the conference to Child Protection, although we are fearful of the worst case scenario which isn't being helped when we search the internet for more information and see what the options are following the conference.

No date yet for the conference and given how long it took for the S47 to be completed then I doubt it will be within the 25 days it is meant to be, though we were told it would normally be within 3 weeks.

I have read that we should file a report to social services in the meantime but I have no idea what that should include.

Given that the person my partner was in contact with is in prison then I don't really see there is the "immediate" risk that would be required to go to Child Protection, let alone go to a Supervision order (and I don't see any way of making that work with us in a two bedroom flat and me working, unless my partner moved into her mothers with the baby, which would breach the restrictions that the neighbouring LA have in place regarding her daughter)

With a supervision order being impractical, PLO would by my reckoning be the only option if they want to go beyond child protection and we have been told repeatedly that we are "nowhere near" that point, though as our social worker is newly qualified and with the escalation we are likely to be assigned a new social worker who may see the situation differently, so obviously that is a worry.

Is there anything else that we can do whilst waiting for the CP conference that would ease their concerns? We have already demonstrated that we are prepared to jump through all the hoops they have put in front of us, and even put more hoops up to jump through, eg I cut my family off completely because of my mother's links to the Salvation Army, until we got clarification from a senior SW.

We do feel like one social worker in particular is trying to break us down with passive aggression, and we are concerned that my partner suffers from seizures brought on by stress, which the social worker is well aware of and it seems as if she is deliberately trying to bring a seizure on to use against us. So far my partner has managed to avoid a seizure at least when she is alone with the baby, but we both have concerns about how long this social worker will keep trying to force one. She also seems to be trying very hard to play my partner and I off against each other as if she is trying to split us up. While this has put brief strains on our relationship, we remain strong together and we have no intention of ending our relationship.

If there is anything more we can do then all advice is appreciated as our baby is our only priority.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear NewDad990935

Thank you for posting on the parents’ discussion forum again.

You continue to have concerns about how your case is being managed but you intend to work with the process which is very good and likely to help you achieve the best outcome for your family.

In your previous post, it was explained that we are unable to offer detailed advice in respect of social services in Wales. Information related to services in Wales who might be able to assist you was given in the response post. I suggest you look again at that response and the services mentioned.

I am including a link to the Welsh GUIDANCE relating to safeguarding in Wales which I hope you will find helpful whilst you are going through the child protection process. Also included is HERE information related to child protection procedures in Wales

Hope this is useful.

Best wishes

Suzie