How messy does your house have to be to have involvement from SS etc?

[Howmessyistoomessy]

How messy does your house have to be before services get involved and support the family involved? Like when does it cross over from untidy to grubby to god we need to get someone in there advising those parents?

Ime absolutely dire, disgusting, stinking, piled high with rubbish with nowhere to walk as the floors are covered.
Then they offer for volunteers to come in for one hour a week to play with the child while you clean. Volunteer of course doesn’t turn up for 5/6 visits.
Visits from social worker when they turn up is a walk around to say yep, house is filthy, lets have a meeting, then again send in a volunteer to help who again doesn’t turn up and so it goes on and on.

An absolute shambles.
Poor kids living in filth.

Social services don’t get involved with a family just because the house is messy or untidy.

It will be an issue if they are already involved, and if there are indicators of neglect of the children, and if a plan is put in place for the parents to improve the home conditions and they don’t do that within the timescale specified by social services.

If the op ended a case for every untidy home they would never have time for anything else.

“If they opened”

When the children are at risk. E.g. Things left lying around that could be dangerous. Dirty conditions that are a risk to health. Unwashed children or clothes

You can look up the "Graded Care Profile" to see descriptions.

For housing it would be:
In disrepair, dirty, cluttered and unhygienic, adults needs for safety, warmth and entertainment come first.
or
Dangerous disrepair- but could be repaired easily (exposed nails, live wires). Long term ingrained dirt. (Bad odour/ no clear spaces). Child dangerously exposed or not provided for.

Where they see danger. Tools stored unsafely, pet waste not cleared up. Broken furniture, drug paraphernalia.

If there are no other problems, then high levels of disgusting.
If they are on the radar for other reasons, then mess gets added to the list of problems.

Do people's shoes stick to the floor when they walk on them?
If there anywhere safe and clean to sit down ?
Are the cups clean enough to be able to accept a cup of tea?

They'll not be interested in untidy. But they'll be interested in filth. Animal dirt on the floor, broken glass on the floor, no clean dishes, mouldy food everywhere, that sort of thing

Stuff stacked everywhere ie can’t access bed, sink, fridge.
Faeces and rotting food everywhere.

I used to work in social services and honestly? It's not about dirty housing. It's much bigger than that. Health, welfare etc. Neglect?

What is happening op?

If there’s a used yoghurt lid stuck to the bottom of your kitchen bin.

Or dog shit on the lamp shade.

The worst home conditions I have ever come across in my career: tiny home, utter filth, clutter...infact mass hoarding, animal faeces and urine everywhere, children living in complete squalor. I obviously had major concerns about this family, there was a lot going on, not just the home conditions.

Social care wouldn't escalate, said it didn't meet the threshold. The following day the rspca came out and removed the dog because low and behold... the home conditions were unsatisfactory.

I got the dog removed but couldn't get the bloody kids out. Absolute shambles.

I'll never forget the smell of that house and those poor children, I got in my car and sobbed after that visit. I still think about them years on as I moved from that area not long after. I hope they got some support in the end.

Depends on the sw in my experience. I was reported by someone who hadn't been in my house for years. One of the things they reported was broken glass everywhere. SW put in her report that there was broken glass on the floor and that my DC didnt have beds. I challenged this (I admit my house was very untidy and, in places dirty - but there was no broken glass anywhere). She admitted that she hadn't actually seen it herself.
I then pointed out that my DC did have beds. But they had taken the mattresses off to make dens. There was a pile of clean bedding in the corner of the room.

She also reported that we didn't have a useable bath. I had collected all the dirty laundry in it ready to take to the laundrette as she had suggested

Im not saying I didn't need help, or denying how bad it was before I get accused of that. But this particular sw did seem to see what she wanted without actually asking me to explain.

Soiled nappies left on the floor

I got the dog removed but couldn't get the bloody kids out.

That's awful.

Kids not having beds.
Kids not having bedsheets/ clean bedsheets.
Smell of urine/ faeces/ vomit/drugs.
No clean clothes for dcs.
No clear surface in kitchen to prepare food.
Dangerous items in reach of young infants eg fag ends on floor.
Not being able to open room door due to level of clutter.
Lots of bin bags not been put out.
Cold and dark due to gas/ electric running out
Unsafe- eg broken glass/ windows/ no rail on staircase, needles, loose wires, choking hazards
Dirty- animal or human faeces on floor, used sanitary products left out, mouldy food left out fir a long time, dirty nappies not in bin, lots of food/drinks on the floor, walls with lots drawn on esp offensive language, ripped paper etc, any drug paraphernalia
No/little furniture or very stained.
No space for play
Bath / shower filled with stuff so looking unused
Toilet and sink as if not been cleaned for a long time
Garden not safe/useable
Fire hazards

I don’t know the answer to this but just clean your house. Take it one corner at a time. It doesn’t have to be spotless but not fair for any child to live in a dirty house.

Only if it was a health hazard , messy would be fine, dirty is different

Basically if they feel the condition of the living environment is having a negative or detrimental effect on the children.

Some of it can show other things too. Inability to cook, prepare, serve, freeze food.

Inability to manage keeping on top of laundry/dish washing.

Inability to provide secure clean safe beds for the children.

Examples of a chaotic lifestyle. They love the word chaotic.

Lack of routine or stability.

Living in filth.

Living in filth which is a human health hazard.

No food in fridge/cupboards if children are hungry. No regular mealtimes. Nothing healthy being eaten.

Empty cans/bottles of wine/spirits/beer/cider.

Walls needing a lick of paint. Stained carpet. A stink.

Shit, piss, vomit everywhere.

Disarray more or less.

Omigod. I thought my house was a complete filth pit until I read this. My DH has been unwell for a number of years and I work insane hours, so we focus on the absolute basics. Keep the dishes washed, toilet and fridge clean, do the washing vacuum main areas, change the sheets, put the rubbish out. But the house is very untidy, cobwebs, dust and clutter accumulate. Lots of things very old or broken. Cupboard doors hanging off. It's not the best. We don't have a lot of money but we get by. We have managed to bring up a DD who despite our straightened circumstances is doing well at University and looks forward to coming home. We just can't really have people round.

And if you've got birds, cats, dogs - please give them up. If you're not capable of maintaining a clean home for children, you're not fit to have pets. Same goes for rats, guinea pigs and hamsters.
For some reason, people struggling seem to add a pet into the mix.

God, some of these replies are shockingly dreadful. Image a home being declared unfit for a dog but the kids were left to rot in it
I take it it’s not your home, op? That you’re not looking at what you can get away with rather clean your home?!

@hvnc

I worked in a niche public-funded-government-scheme for low income families. A lot of people said I should have became a social worker and I would have loved to. But your experience is the reason why I never would.

I knew of a similar situation when a family couldn’t rescue a dog due to severe over crowding - 6 people in a tiny two bed flat but yet we’re trying for another baby. The kids were living in complete poverty but ended up buying a pedigree dog to go with their two cats. I wanted to take the kids home, split them between my room and the spare room and I’d happily take the sofa bed. People advised me to become a social worker ‘to change things’.

Have the school reported smelly children or soiled clothes?

Why are SS coming to inspect?

Do half a room at a time. But it's likely you (or whoever you're posting about) will need help to get on top of it and stay on top of it. Running a home is satisfying if you're firing on all cylinders.

If you're not well physically or mentally, or you have addiction issues, or you have taken on more than you can chew (such as a dog when you can't afford to feed the family or a cleaner once a week), then you might need intervention.

Nobody wants to be the smelly kids at school.

Just to say abuse happens in the most pristine of homes too.