Child protection social worker- ask me anything!

[NynaeveSedai]

With the recent rash of social worker related posts recently which have been FULL of frankly bollocks I thought I would offer to answer any questions.

Disclaimer - different local authorities do things slightly differently though national standards should be followed, and I'm in England so can't talk about the rest of the uk

The police made a report (not a referral) to ss at the end of May. We haven't had any contact from a social worker yet.
I have sent a letter expressing willingness to engage and phoned a few times to chase. I know the case is with them and I know the social workers name-I've just never met her!
Should I continue to chase or just leave it. Im not super enthusiastic about being assessed if I'm honest, but I do want to get it out of the way and reassure everyone my kids are safe.
The situation if it makes any difference is that the 3 yr old got herself trapped on a balcony and a neighbour called the police. The police were satisfied she wasn't in danger when they arrived but felt the house was not clean enough and made the report.

In May?? That's far too long. I don't even know what to advise there as I cannot see why they would keep an assessment open for 3 months without doing anything

I guess you could make a formal request for a response and send it to the director of children's services, copying in the social worker and anyone else in the line management you can get the name of!

Thanks NynaeveSedai I thought it was dragging on a bit!
I called last week, genuinely expecting to be told it was closed and I was surprised to find the case ongoing.

On the upside, the house has never been cleaner!

How is the decision made about whether a child is in temporary or long term foster care? Would long term suggest the child being removed from a serious situation or is it just based case by case?

It's not true to say that I don't voice sympathy or show care for families going forward whatever the ourcome. I started this thread to answer questions and dispel myths, not to showcase my people skills. I'm answering factually, when I speak to people in life at work I relate to them as people in distress/under stress with empathy.

You began this thread to answer questions which I believe you have done to some extent, though in terms of dispelling myths less so. Your attitude though understandable within this system do little to reassure of any genuine concern for the well-being of families.

Know this, in these cases, weeks, months even years later, your actions will play in the mind whenever an innocent Mum is debating whether or not to take their child to A&E with a minor routine issue such as a bump to the head from playing or a high temperature and will prevent them from ever seeking mental health support should they ever feel the need. All because you did your job and that job regardless of your personal empathy makes no provision or consideration for how these families are to cope and function normally again.
I was not looking to high-five your people skills, I merely questioned why/whether or not you "carried" this home as you would other issues. And perhaps why as this system develops, nobody within SS has seen this glaring gap and been proactive enough to do anything about it.
Our family were very lucky, I had the time and immediate family support to get to the point I am at today. I have met others not so lucky and it is truly heartbreaking to think that your work/thoughts are done once cases such as this are closed.

NynaeveSedai -thanks so much. This thread is so valuable.

doubleshot given that investigations have to happen what do you think would help with this? I know a debrief has been suggested but I am unclear what would be in this that wouldn't be in your records?

There is no point in any worker thinking about cases once they are closed, this doesn't mean that we don't sometimes but it doesn't benefit the person we are thinking about in the slightest, not least because they are oblivious to our thoughts.

pasta
doubleshot given that investigations have to happen what do you think would help with this? I know a debrief has been suggested but I am unclear what would be in this that wouldn't be in your records?

There is no point in any worker thinking about cases once they are closed, this doesn't mean that we don't sometimes but it doesn't benefit the person we are thinking about in the slightest, not least because they are oblivious to our thoughts.

I have made clear earlier I understand that investigations need to happen (despite of course knowing why we were being put through it but at the time yet to prove it annoyingly).

What would I like to happen?
-I would like to put a face to the person who called me on my mobile in the middle of M&S from a number I did not recognise, who refused to give me her full name or email address. I would like her to explain to me quite what her inane questions actually led her to conclude?
Why she failed to ever communicate what her "concerns" were?
Why she wanted my "consent" to proceed but refused to tell me proceed with what?
Why she failed to ever respond to the file I had express delivered to her desk detailing the relentless list of complaints we had already filed with police over an 18 month span
Why when I told her the malicious referrer repeatedly continued with worrying, concerning and intimidating behaviour with serious consequences she did precisely nothing?(The police did thankfully but no thanks to SS)
Why it took me contacting her direct boss to finally get in writing that this whole debacle had been the work of a false and malicious referral. An email would have taken her two minutes!
I'd also like her to tell me how she thinks it feels to check the brakes on you car every morning before you put your child in the car because she refused to release the identity of the referrer until I managed to get the police to do so and take criminal action (which she hindered).

Finally we are oblivious to your thoughts-I was never in any doubt of this fact but that kind of proves my point, you never considered anybody at risk, but left me high and dry to prove that fact. No mean feat and let me tell you life-changing, not for the better. I trust nobody and have little expectation to do so again.
A debrief, better communication and yes a little empathy would have done a lot to alleviate the above. Hope that helps clear this up.

Doubleshot - my current position is that as a result of the actions of SW more than 2 decades ago I am hesitant to speak out about victims of abuse known to me. I see through what is going on, but those people are from the weakest sectors of society.
My debate is do I say and further damage is done or stay silent and the damage continues? Tough choices

eds is heritable, dominent gene apparently, is it a reasonable assumption that if one member of the family has a diagnosis then other siblings/parents/ children might be suffering from this as well?

there seems to be some evidence on some of the conditions charity websites that the conditions listed are co-morbid, is any account take of this?

eg if you have autism you are at a higher risk of x or y condition or vice versa?

Typing in the dark

User02 I am sorry to read of your quandry. I really wouldn't be able to recommend the way forward for you except that if your concerns are serious, I guess you have little choice, especially if they are vulnerable and you are unable to help appropriately?

Just to be clear, my aim is not at all to bash SW's, it is just nauseating to read their utter disregard and detachment from what they have made the miserable reality of others who are blameless. If I worked in a job and felt at any time that anybody I came into contact with had been left feeling failed,dismissed and vulnerable I would be bugging my superiors with suggested improvements to the system. I don't understand the you are oblivious to our thoughts sentiment.

But that's just me '-)

Hope you find the right way forward User02

doubleshot I have worked for over 20 years in a public facing job. I was speaking to strangers. I never once had a complaint about my professionalism or manners during these contacts. Sometimes people contacted the company to praise me, sometimes when colleagues had to get in touch with people I had met with I got compliments.

I could not face myself in the mirror if I thought lots of people were against me just because of my job. I would not be happy if I was disliked because of the actions of my colleagues. I would hate my colleagues to be thought of badly because of any interaction with me.

I think you have misunderstood what I was trying to say, the issue with thinking about people is that they are oblivious to our thoughts, what I am saying is that even if I am thinking about previous service users this is pretty pointless as they wont be aware of it, they will be oblivious to me thinking about them. It is more sensible to ensure that service users have what they need at the end of an assessment.
Moving away from specific cases, requesting your records should enable you to see what concerns have been recorded. It would not show who made a confidential referral, that information would be redacted before the file was given to you. It would also show any assessment undertaken.
The rest of points are pretty specific but it might be worth noting that individual service users are not usually given personal email addresses, this is as much to ensure any CP concerns are met within the tight timeframes as anything else. There is always a fear an email that needed dealing with to keep a child safe would sit in an individual email account because of annual leave, illness etc.

Pastaandpestoagain You say service users, I didn't want any services. I didn't get any services. What I saw happen was that my DCs and I were criticised and investigated on the say so of a manipulative con man. The SW were adults so responsible for their own actions. I say something completely different. I was up against so many. Nothing was ever found to back SW view but plenty to back my views.
I did find out the identity of the reporter, and a copy of letters from and to various parties including a very nippy letter to SWs from NHS. There was a lot of information on file that anyone could have realised the situation but SWs could not or would not see it.

I applied for all sorts of information and got it.

Information can be obtained if you are persistent.
I have seen nothing to change my view

Service users?

No I never met with anything approaching service.
Yes of course I've done all the relevant data requests - again , with no guidance. Blind persistence kept me going.
I have all the information now that could easily have been summed up in s single email that's how little they had to work with. But no yet again my time was less precious, it is for the victim to wade through the mine field and try and make their own sense of it.

Service user not a bit of it

None of the responses here at all do anything to address the issue of the holy mess that this sort of unfounded intervention does to a perfectly normal family.
One day your in a library with your toddler, the phone rings and suddenly your world is turned upside down.
The process is soul destroying, frustrating, terrifying and truly horrific and the aftermath is the loneliest a person could be.
But that's ok as you se it as you've done your job. If you're still unable to see the problem here and need further ideas on what could be done better let's chat. A debrief could have potential from my point of view though this thread has shown clearly that attitudes would need a significant amount of adjusting - while I respect there are very real awful cases the provision for those falsely accused is non-existent and your repeated failure to accept the damage done in such cases is a major cause fir concern. For both sides

There's a thread on here titled absolutely raging need to vent and some people are suggesting it's a CP/safeguarding issue but others are saying it isn't necessarily.

I don't know if this is appropriate and delete if not but there are some knowledgeable posters here so I wondered if you could suggest, other than the NSPCC, what the poor mum involved might do?

My next door neighbour leaves her 11yr old to look after her 7yr old for hours at a time. This isn't right, is it?

My stbxh likes to threaten me with social services as I have bipolar. As a way of scaring me, my children are really well looked after, clean house, fed etc. would he have a leg to stand on? How bad does a mums mental health need to be for the children to be taken?

Are care leavers more likely to become SWs than the general population? Are many of your colleagues care leavers?

How is the decision made about whether a child is in temporary or long term foster care?

Local authority applies to court for an interim care order. If granted, the child stays in foster care for the duration of the care proceedings (26 weeks) and parents do what they need to do/other family members are assessed in that period. When assessments have been completed the social worker writes a statement and care plan setting out what they believe to be the best course of action for the child, and the courts agree or otherwise.

Long term foster care is only ever used if there are no better options. Young children will be likely to be placed for adoption.

eds is heritable, dominent gene apparently, is it a reasonable assumption that if one member of the family has a diagnosis then other siblings/parents/ children might be suffering from this as well?

Your questions are medical, I am not qualified to respond to them. We do defer to medical professionals in medical matters; we have to.

My next door neighbour leaves her 11yr old to look after her 7yr old for hours at a time. This isn't right, is it?

Do you think it's safe? If not, have you reported it?

My stbxh likes to threaten me with social services as I have bipolar. As a way of scaring me, my children are really well looked after, clean house, fed etc. would he have a leg to stand on? How bad does a mums mental health need to be for the children to be taken?

Does your mental health impact negatively on your children? When you are low, do you have supportive people to step in and make sure the kids are supported? Do you manage your mental health as best you can with treatment and support?

The key question is what is the impact on the children - not 'what mental health diagnosis does the mother have'