I am a child protection social worker AMA

[Dipsandcrisps]

Ask away

How will we ever break the cycle? It feels impossible, it's too ingrained.

What would happen if someone was reported for smacking their child?

Paris100 from what I am aware information is not always passed on but this might be down to how far the family’s case got.

The reason I say this is because we have had a couple of families suddenly move out of area when a child has made a disclosure which SS have decided to investigate.

The last time it happened our head made the comment “well that’s those children out of the system again!”

It makes me so sad/mad. I fluctuate between the two. Like clockwork twenty minutes or more before the end of the session the children in abusive homes begin to kick off . Hiding under tables, lashing out at children and members of staff.
One little boy I literally would have to pull him off me to hand him over to his shitty parents at the end of the day, despite the marks and bruises. I should have been someone he could trust!

What would your instinct say if a child consistently claimed to be afraid of a parent, but when you see the child with the parent it all seems loving and appropriate?

@ IHateCoronavirus your head is wrong, if you’ve been reported to SS and are under investigation they follow you. My ex turned violent when I was pregnant and I reported him to the police who then notified SS. I moved out of the area (across the country) for my safety and SS followed it up to ensure I really had done so and had no contact with him. A family member of mine is a social worker and if her child protection cases move she has to travel to visit them, she’s had people move all over the country but still has to visit them.

Wow so many questions ok I will slowly work my way through @IHateCoronavirus for a child to be removed from their family significant neglect and abuse has to be proven in court. This is done through evidence which is built up through home visits, direct work with the children and the social workers assessments. If there is significant abuse or neglect the children may get removed under police powers of protection.

The discrepancies over different areas comes from resources or lack of, this results in less social workers with a high caseloads and less time to dedicate to assessments.

@Tiredtiredtired100

@ IHateCoronavirus your head is wrong, if you’ve been reported to SS and are under investigation they follow you. My ex turned violent when I was pregnant and I reported him to the police who then notified SS. I moved out of the area (across the country) for my safety and SS followed it up to ensure I really had done so and had no contact with him. A family member of mine is a social worker and if her child protection cases move she has to travel to visit them, she’s had people move all over the country but still has to visit them.

Thank goodness, I’ll sleep a little better knowing that.

I hope you and your DC are safe and well now

@Finfintytint... sometimes we get that information from other services at that time 😂

Do you think the threshold for removing children is too high?

Do you agree with the adversarial nature of child protection proceedings? It seems wrong to me that it essentially becomes the LA VS parents in court. I know the guardian is there to advocate for the child but it still doesn’t fit comfortably with me.

How much have caseloads increased in the last 10 years?

No questions - just a thank you - it’s not an easy job and I’m grateful you do it.

@Subtledifference this is dependent on a lot of factors. If a woman has had children removed previously... what led to this was it her lifestyle of her partner that was the safeguarding concern. For example if the mother was misusing substances has she now stopped, where is the evidence for this, does she need any further support to address her substance misuse. This is a pre birth assessment that is ideally completed well before the baby is due.

@Twickerhun it’s variable, the social worker makes her assessment and management approve or decline it, but generally the child’s basic needs should be met- they should have food to eat, somewhere clean to sleep, weather appropriate clothes to wear.

I am an adoptive mum, my son has a full sibling who has been passed around family, foster care and residential unit and after 4 years back to birth family he was removed from and has missed years of education.

How do SWs justify to themselves giving birth family chance after chance to the detriment of the child.

@Prettybluepigeons.. I’m guessing your a teacher? Or someone who has seen the neglect and made referrals?

I know it’s annoying but these referrals make up the child’s history and build up a picture of their home life, I have had a case where we managed to remove a set of siblings after years of neglect and part of the reason given by the judge was the reoccurring referrals received by professionals and concerned neighbours.

I can imagine how frustrated you must be and believe me there will possibly a social worker that’s comes across this family that is equally frustrated.

@riotlady hello I’m glad you are doing well, there will be a record on the social services system which after a number of years will be archived. I don’t know how the school system works and how they record any safeguarding issues and how long they keep them for.

If a new pregnancy is flagged up your engagement and hard work will be summed in at the end of the child in need plan so it may well be that the social worker that is notified just updates the assessment and says another pre birth assessment is not required since you are doing so well.

Why do so many social workers lie about the needs and experiences a child has been exposed to during the matching process and why do so many suddenly ‘find’ the correct information once the adoption order has been signed?

This is always the biggest issue at our adoption group.

If a man claims they are an abused husband 6 months after their wife produces information from the police to say they were abused do you believe the man?

@OverTheRainbow88.. hello, I have come across research that says children do well if the are placed back in the care of their birth parents, however that is if changes have been made to the home.. I.e improvement of home conditions, parents addressing any parenting concerns.

This is a good read:

www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/sites/www.fostering.net/files/resources/england/understanding-permanence-for-lac-janet-boddy.pdf

@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander.. hello I’m assuming you have a grievance with the way a case was handled, you can definitely raise this with management and see if they can address your concerns. Children’s name have to be recorded as it’s a timeline for the child so it is easy to see how often the child has had social services involvement, we often have parents move around and it is beneficial for the new local authority to have a clear history for the child. The case recordings are kept on a secure system.

Thank you, will have a read

Thanks for answering OP. There had been involvement on and off for 10 years, this time CP plans due to severe neglect, substance misuse (mother and partner), failing to protect the children from unsuitable adults coming into the home, domestic violence witnessed by the children etc followed by emergency removal one night.
Older kids have gone to live with their father, the rest (partners kids) are in long term foster care. Mother hasn't really maintained relationship with older kids, not turning up for contact at the last minute, threatening contact centre staff, phone calls whilst under the influence etc.
Now says she is being allowed to keep the new baby (same partner) and father of older kids is surprised that her parenting assessments hasn't included whether she has maintained the parent relationship with the older kids. Apparently mother and partner are clean now.

@Sallycinammonbangsthedruminthe hello, I agree with you it’s not a good situation to witness but often it is genuinely a case of the social worker building a strong case as can be to present to the courts- that’s to say we are able to meet the theres holds to get this case to the courts. Whilst the child is on any plans there are regular meetings with all the professionals that are supporting the family and regular announced and unannounced visits to the family home by the social worker. A social worker cannot make the call to remove the children the only people that have the power to do that is the police or the courts of if the parents willingly sign over their parental rights... this rarely happens.

@Imissmoominmama I’m so glad to hear that your son remained with you, I’m sorry but I don’t know the process that is used by fostering social workers, I work within child protection. Although I do have a keen interest in the fostering team and I hope to work with them one day.

@Oldbagface hello hope you are well, I’m currently on maternity leave so I am not sure if my colleagues are seeing that I will be going into work soon on a KIT day so I can find out and update you then.

Thank you @Dipsandcrisps. Yes its a case from 10 years ago though. They recorded things such as "the children do not have beds to sleep in" and "Mum doesn't set aside time to read and do homework with dc2". They did have beds, the day the sw turned up they had taken the mattresses off and were 'trampolining'. DC2 didn't have reading or homework to do. He was 3 years old . (I did read with him, but not at a set time like I did with ds1 who was at school) DS1s name was consistently spelt wrong (think Danielle not Daniel). When i questioned this I was basically told that my case would be escalated if I complained and the spelling didn't matter as we all knew what it meant . I just hate thinking that my dc could access this one day and, while some of the report was true, and I did need help, a lot of it is exaggerated and based on heresay :(