Advice regards follow on of section 47

[Wulfwitch]

Hi,

Having a few issues dealing with social worker following an allegation against us of giving my child medication to help her sleep. The medication is question was Piriton. At the time of the allegation my daughter would have been around 10-11 months old.

First visit of social worker was on 14th January with child protection officer from local police in attendance. They stated the accusation and checked medications in cupboards for any sign of Piriton or similar (but found none). Police officer left satisfied after social worker criticised state of house. She was unhappy with number of toys in daughters cot, state of kitchen (the floor was in dire need of a mop but the sides were clear apart from lunch things drinks) and a hoover lead trailing across the rear of the living room. My older boys bedrooms (8 and 12) were also criticised as messy. She informed me that my COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) would have no bearing on my ability to keep the house tidy. This was after she had to ask what it was. In fairness I must point out that my condition is fairly mild, although I do suffer from shortness of breath through prolonged activity which is worse during winter and a susceptibility to chest infections

She informed us that we had until friday (14th was a tuesday) to bring the place up to a standard and would return the next day to see how we were doing.

The next day she arrived (when i answerd the door her greeting was "ding dong Avon calling") and looked around stating she was very pleased with our progress. She didn't make any notes and didn't have her diary with her so we were told the next meeting would be "probably not next week but the week after".

Our next contact was the 23rd January via a phone call from our social worker (we'd now found out her name as she hadn't told us on her first visit, the 2nd visit she'd only given her first name). Informing us a doctor's appointment was being arranged for our daughter later that day. Understandable with the allegations so we didn't have a problem although I did request an appointment later in the afternoon due to school runs.

A 2nd call from social services confirmed the time of the appointment and who with but when we queried the exact reason for the doctor's appointment and we were told it to "assess if the medication you gave her has caused any long term damage". When asked again it was confirmed the medication was Piriton.

The doctor's appointment went fine, although the Doctor confessed uncertainty with the reason why (he hadn't been informed of what he was looking for).

With no further contact we phoned the duty manager on the following wednesday (29th). We were informed the section 47 investegation had been signed off the day before. We raised concerns over how the social worker was towards us as well but that went nowhere.

The following day the social worker called to arrange an appointment at our house to see us on the 6th February. Meeting started ok for a few minutes until I asked her where she'd like to sit and the response was "somewhere safe". She also then asked how the doctor's appointment went as she'd not had a chance to "catch up with the doctor yet".

We had 2 additional adults present in the room besides the social worker and her colleague. A family friend and my wife's mother who was also intending to take written notes.

When the family friend refused to give her first name only her surname we were accused of being difficult and deliberately obstructing her assessment. I explained that we felt her hostile attitude towards us was also making the assessment more difficult and that we didn't object to the assessment just the way she was handling it.

My mother in law then attempted to ask questions of the social worker such as why we'd not been given any information about the process involved.

Social worker terminated the meeting and left the property citing the "difficult conditions" and informed us we'd hear from her manager.

We hadn't heard anything by thursday 13th february so we called the social worker team, as social worker and the manager were out of the office we arranged to call again on the 14th.

Phone call on the 14th went ok, we were told meetings were being arranged for her to continue the assessment would be on the 4th march and the 10th March and that the meeting was terminated due to us using hostlile tone and language with raised voices towards the social worker and recording the conversation.

received a letter today from our social worker informing us the meetings are for us to seperately see the social worker at their office (myself on the 4th and my wife on the 10th) citing the need to assess us individually so they can provide support and advice.

We were also informed that the (suspected) recording of the conversation was an offence.

Hmm rambled a bit more than I wanted to there.. as usual for me:
Do we have to attend these meetings at their offices or can we request they be held here as travelling to the offices would be problematic with the travel time and fuel costs.
Do these meetings have to be done seperately?
We've asked this of them before but is there no way we can demand a new social worker?
Is recording a private conversation in the home between us an the social worker an offence as she stated?
Do we have to procede with this assessment? We're uncertain of the need for it, there was no sign of the piriton in house and they stated on the phone they were satisfied she hadn't been given any medication.

Thanks for any advice or help

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Wulfwitch
Welcome to the Parents Forum!

I am glad that you have cooperated with the social worker’s assessment even though I can see her communications with you have caused you a lot of irritation!

My advice would be to continue to cooperate. It is not unusual for part of the assessment to be in the social workers office-It is also a completely normal part of the assessment for a social worker to want to see parents separately. She may want to ask confidential questions (about your health, for example) Why don’t you ask for her to explain why? Ask her whether you do need to come to her office or can she come to your home as before?

I would also clarify the position regarding the section 47 investigation. Has it been completed or is it still ongoing? When can you have a copy of it? When does she expect the assessment to be completed? Have the police closed their case yet or is their investigation still ongoing?

Have a look at assessment-this explains what happens when children services carry out an assessment.

It is important to be able to work with the social worker, if you can. Not only will it mean that the assessment may be completed more quickly but it may also mean that your cooperation will be recognised, if things were to go further-such as towards a child protection conference.
However, I know, it can be really difficult especially if things have got off on a bad footing. Have a look at these tips to help you work with a social worker and what to do and how to complain if things continue on a difficult footing. Given what you have described, I think you will find them useful and they deal with the question of asking to record interviews as well.

Best wishes,

Suzie

[Wulfwitch]

Thank you for the reply and the advice. I've just had a quick read through the advice you linked and I'll have a better read later when the kids are in bed.

According the information we've been given over the phone: the police enquiry has been closed, we were also told by the Duty manager that the section 47 enquiry had been closed and signed off although the Social Worker later denied this.

The letter we received last week which requested the interviews at their offices stated that the purpose of the meetings was to see us "with a view to providing support, advice or services to enable you to meet the needs of the family".

You said it's fairly normal for interviews to be handled separately and at their offices, can we request otherwise (especially for it to be at their office) with a reasonable expectation it'd be given fair consideration? Money is very tight at the moment as is time as we're in the process of a mutual exchange to move closer to school and shops etc as well as my wife changing jobs to something with less stress and a better work/home balance

I've looked over the information on recording a conversation/meeting and it seems pretty much as expected in that we should ask first, we'd started a response to the last letter we received and were going to ask permission there to record the meetings.

One part I'm very curious though: Is it an offence to record a conversation/meeting in my home with a social worker if I don't seek consent from her first? Google search seems to give results leaning towards "one party consent": I can do so for my own use but not pass it to a third party

Thank you again for the advice.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hello again Wulfwitch

You have every right to raise the practical difficulties of meeting the social worker at her offices and ask for alternative arrangements to be made.

Children’s Services may have decided that it is not safe or appropriate for the social worker to complete her assessment at your home because of the way she interpreted the previous meeting. Although you may disagree with this, you cannot insist that the assessment takes place at your home.

I would advise that you acknowledge the difficulties of the previous meeting, reassure Children’s Services again that you had no intention of being hostile or aggressive towards the social worker and that you are willing and able to work in partnership with them in the best interests of the children.

Perhaps you could suggest compromise which both meets your needs and is acceptable to Children’s Services. Is it possible to meet the social worker at school or at a local children’s centre, for example?

Whether or not it is an offence to record the social worker without her knowledge would fall under criminal law. Unfortunately, as I am not a specialist in this area, I would be unable to give you a definitive answer on this. Our advice, however, would always be not to record a professional without their knowledge and/ or consent as this has the potential to further heighten concerns about hostile behaviour etc.

I hope this helps.

Best Wishes

Suzie
FRG Adviser

[Wulfwitch]

Ok and update:

Sent a letter on the 19th (signed for delivery) explaining we had no intention of coming across as hostile but we'd ensure we were more careful in future.

Also requested that meetings at home or a mutually agreed location (with conditions we'd limit the number of adults we had present).

My meeting was due to be today at 10.30

With no reply from our letter by post or mail we attempted to contact her yesterday without luck despite repeated promises of callback.

Final promise of a call back from yesterday's attempts was this morning (that didn't happen).

We called again, were advised she was in a meeting but she'd call us.

When she called us we repeated our reasons for it being very difficult to make the meetings and again made the offer (stating it was as mentioned in our letter) of a meeting here with conditions to help her feel more comfortable or at a mutually agreed location.

Her response was "I'll think about it" and then she terminated the call.

What can we do? My wife's just had a panic attack from trying to handle this. We understand the assessment is likely needed, we don't want to stand in the way of it and want it to go ahead. If we need help that can be offered us we'd gladly take it but this woman seems to be acting like a 3 year old who throws a temper tantrum if she doesn't get her own way

Wulfwitch