I am a child protection social worker AMA

[Dipsandcrisps]

Ask away

[Dipsandcrisps]

@scrivette.. hello if they ask to remain anonymous they will do. We have had many anonymous reports before and as long as enough information is shared to make an enquiry we go out and see the family.

[Dipsandcrisps]

@Paris100 hello, yes when families move to a different area their local authority is notified and if the family are on a child protection plan these details are shared with their new social worker, there is usually a meeting held where the new and old social worker attends, I have attended a few of these meetings.

[Itisbetter]

Do many of the children have disabilities and if so are the families given enough support?

[Dipsandcrisps]

@DrDreReturns hello, an assessment would be undertaken and usually if there are marks on the child a medical is also undertaken which is attended by the social worker. The social worker would speak to the child, the parents, schools, health and any other services supporting the family. The outcome of the medical would determine if the child could return home with support for the family. For example the parents may need to attend a parenting course, in more severe cases the child may be placed in foster care or with family members that have been assessed and deemed safe.

[purpleboy]

I know a severely autistic child living with a parent with severe LD and a grandmother with LD, the parent with severe LD is physically violent with the grandmother, (punching and strangulation) witnessed by the young autistic child, should we contact anyone and if so who? Could the child be removed for the mother's actions?

[Oldbagface]

Thank you @Dipsandcrisps. That is very . much appreciated.

[Dipsandcrisps]

@Subtledifference I would maybe take what she is saying with a pinch of salt, how pregnant is she? If her lifestyle has not changed much I would be skeptical that she is being allowed to keep the baby, also are the older kids adults or younger?

[Dipsandcrisps]

@Itisbetter hello hope you are well, I’m not sure how many disabled children have social service involvement as their is a separate team for children with disabilities.

[Dipsandcrisps]

*there

[Dipsandcrisps]

@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander I am guessing if this was a case from 10 years ago and there has been no new referrals or social services involvement since then it is likely the case will have been archived. Your children do have the right to request this information when they are adults. If you find they approach you with case notes that you feel were untrue I would have an open discussion with them about how you felt the information was not recorded accurately. Unfortunately there are professionals in every area that can sometimes not practice as they should. I am sorry you went through this, it is wrong and I always try to record my case notes as accurately as I can, it helps when making the case notes to imagine that an adult that had social service involvement has requested this information and is reading them.

[Dipsandcrisps]

@purpleboy I would make a referral to your local children services with as much information as you can provide, I would also contact adult social services as it is likely the adults also have social workers.

[Dipsandcrisps]

@SimonJT hello, I am sorry I can’t answer that as again I don’t work on the fostering team, but no one should be lying about the needs a looked after child has as they are then setting up this placement to fail, I would raise your concerns with the social workers manager.

[abstractzebra]

Hello,

We have a woman with 2 small children in our block who moved her boyfriend in.
He shouts and swears at the children every day and we hear noises which sound like he is hitting them. They cry a lot and the whole situation is very worrying.
We've been told that the situation is being dealt with but then are told that they are trying to speak to the mother alone but he is either always there or doesn't turn up for appointments.
We've reported either by 101, 999 and then by updating the housing association.
We've also been told that he's not a tenant and has no legal right to be there but he's still there and the abuse continues.
I can't quite get my head around the fact that every day it goes on is a risk but there only seems to be a weekly visit and the rest of the time he is free to carry on.
What do you think is likely to happen? We are doing our best but it all feels a bit pointless as nothing changes.

[TheFormerPorpentinaScamander]

Thank you @Dipsandcrisps I don't really want to open a can of worms by asking them to look at it again. I will of course just be honest with the dc about my views of it all if it comes to it, hopefully their memories will tally with mine. I think I had a spectacularly shit SW ( i think most are doing their best when faced with an impossible job). Unfortunately when i was in the thick of it as a parent I was to scared to argue with them.

[Subtledifference]

Oldest kids with their father are early teens. Baby due in about a month. Younger ones in foster are 6, 5 and 3.
Mother says she and partner are clean and working with SS, meeting regularly with them, have sorted their various MH issues, no longer associated with criminals or drug users etc etc.
On the surface their lifestyle has changed because i imagine having no kids to look after is considerably easier than having 5. It was the kids who often called the police or told their teachers what had happened. She has told the kids that they've had drug testing which is negative as part of this process and blamed her social worker for not allowing the older kids to know about the baby until very recently.
Difficult situation, I'm related to the older kids father and trying to support him, the older kids and also fathers wife and their children as they dont seem to have received much support since the children were placed with them just over 2yrs ago.

[Paris100]

@IHateCoronavirus

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!

This is what I’ve seen and suspected and it frightens me.

[scrivette]

Thank you *Dips.
*
Thank you for setting up the AMA, it's very interesting and useful.

[Dipsandcrisps]

@abstractzebra... hello it sounds like there is already social service involvement? I would continue reporting to the police regardless and there should be an out of hours social work team.. if you ring your children social services number after 5 you should be able to get the duty team number, the more you report the more times this social worker will get alerted the next day. This sounds a bit tedious but management will also pick up that there have been a lot of referrals made regarding this family and they will request an up to date assessment of the situation.

[Alwaysinpain]

@Dipsandcrisps Hi. Why is it that in most cases, you need to receive several reports before acting upon it?
I had a neighbour who was extremely abusive & neglectful of her two kids (10 & 7). I witnessed & heard the abuse myself as our walls were extremely thin and she frequently went out and left them alone (she openly spoke about it, despite my offers to watch them). I was on the verge of reporting after weeks of contemplating the repercussions (my child is autistic and terrified of this woman as it was). Then one evening, I heard the distinct sound of a child falling downstairs when I already had an idea she'd left them alone. I went rushing round and saw him on the floor at the bottom of the stairs (through letterbox) and called 999 for an ambulance. 5 mins later she appeared and luckily he was absolutely fine and was running around again. Stupidly, I ran inside and cancelled ambulance (I know, I'm an idiot but was frightened of her!)
The next day I made a report to SS and a week later she's showing me the letter she's got informing her she's been reported by an 'anonymous party' (which I understand has to be done) and that no action will be taken! She continued neglecting her kids and worked out it was me.
Cue 5 months of hell. Loud verbal abuse every time my child & I left our home. She made false reports to SS about me, false complaints to the lettings agent, contacted my employer to tell them I was a violent criminal (?! I'm most certainly not!), got her kids to be as loud as possible, messaged random people on my FB friend list including my relatives telling them I'm a prostitute, screamed at my elderly mother, scratched my car and...wait for it....told her children I was a paedophile! Causing them to run screaming shouting "Paedo paedo!" whenever I walked out of my house!

The police did NOTHING besides 'have a word' with her then proceeded to believe everything she told them, that I was some kind of nutcase that was making her life hell(!) and I got slapped with a Harassment Warning! And was shouted at by a police officer in front of my autistic child.
Meanwhile, she's continuing to violently abuse & neglect her children. Nothing was ever done. Nor could I do a single damn thing about it. Makes me sick! Why oh WHY did they ignore my complaint???

[winterchills]

Interesting thread!

[gottastopeatingchocolate]

Oh, the irony that my question was overlooked!!

Second question - is it OK to put a child on a CIN plan and never have a TAC meeting?

[Jenasaurus]

I have concerns about a neighbours children what is the first course of action please. There are 3 children aged 4, 5 and an older child about 11 who I think takes them home from school, they come home and bang on the door for ages shouting wake up to their mum through the letter box, the little one sits on the front lawn and the older one gets really agitated shouting out for her mum to wake up. She eventually lets them in after about an hour. I dont know the mum and assume she must be a shift worker to always be asleep but I am uncomfortable leaving it like this. Should I speak to the neighbour first. I kept a watchful eye on the children through the window and was prepared to go out if they became distressed but this keeps happening and I dont want to ignore it but equally I dont want to be a busy body that causes extra stress for the family.

[Alwaysinpain]

@Jenasaurus

I have concerns about a neighbours children what is the first course of action please. There are 3 children aged 4, 5 and an older child about 11 who I think takes them home from school, they come home and bang on the door for ages shouting wake up to their mum through the letter box, the little one sits on the front lawn and the older one gets really agitated shouting out for her mum to wake up. She eventually lets them in after about an hour. I dont know the mum and assume she must be a shift worker to always be asleep but I am uncomfortable leaving it like this. Should I speak to the neighbour first. I kept a watchful eye on the children through the window and was prepared to go out if they became distressed but this keeps happening and I dont want to ignore it but equally I dont want to be a busy body that causes extra stress for the family.

Oh wow... Sorry to butt in, but tomorrow the very second this happens, I would call Police. Report 3 unattended children

[Dipsandcrisps]

@Subtledifference it seems like this is going down the route of “start again syndrome” so a new baby looks like a fresh start for this couple. Unfortunately this is when the professional supporting the family either does not have sight of or has chosen to disregard the chronology of events that have occurred prior to this pregnancy.

It does seem unfair on the older children, I would speak to the older kids school in regards to getting them some therapeutic emotional support to support them with what they have experienced. Some school also have an on-site counsellor, in regards to their mother she will most likely be supported by professionals on a plan once the baby arrives and the professionals will be regularly sharing information so if anything of concern is to occur it should be picked up and passed onto the social worker.

[JenniferSantoro]

@Finfintytint

Why do you inform police of an urgent child protection issue at five to five on a Friday afternoon when you are about to sod off for the weekend when you’ve known about an issue for days?

This. Every fucking Friday. We used to call it the 3pm phone call. What really pissed me off was the response when asked when the job came in of “oh first thing this morning “.