Child protection

[Anonpriv221]

first time poster, long time reader.

Looking for advice on what a child protection conference review after 3 months on a cpp is like? What should I expect?

They will decide whether they will continue with the cpp, give you new guidelines or stick with the same ones, or de-escalate it to a child in need plan.

Don't worry about them escalating things and taking you to court/taking your child to foster care, etc... usually that is all done in an emergency rather than during the review plan.

I was in the same case with my baby, 3 months on the cpp, 2 months on the cin plan, and then case closed.

It varies enormously. I wouldn’t expect the cpp plan to end at the first review (it happens sometimes but only if the social workers realise there probably shouldn’t have been a cpp in the first place). They’ll talk about what has gone well and anything that hasn’t gone well.

Best advice is to stick to the plan and work on the areas they’re worried about. Often people can’t admit anything is wrong, when it very obviously is. So be honest with yourself.

Thank you for your reply.

we have a really good rapport with our social worker and the health visiting team. We’re being rated 9’s at each core review and SS are recommending it’s stepped down to a CIN as we’re on a Cpp for ‘exceptional circumstances’. (Unknown pregnancy when baby was born)

were positive after each core review but then start overthinking. Just dreading the actual conference review.

Was there more to it than just an unknown pregnancy, OP? That usually leads to a visit from a social worker but not a CP plan? How have they demonstrated your baby was at risk of suffering significant harm?

9s and exceptional circumstances plus you having a good relationship with your social worker may mean than you can be stepped down to CIN. I hope it goes well!

nothing else to add, I had been attending hospital all the way up to and including the week of me giving birth for test due to on going health issues. No criminal record, work full time as does my partner of 8 years and own our own home. I don’t smoke or take drugs. I occasionally drink but not to excessive amounts. They had concerns that the pregnancy was ‘concealed’ by ourselves and they wanted to look into my medical history and complete a family and children assessment.

A home visit was carried out by short term social services before we were discharged from hospital. Had to stay in for a week due to myself and baby picking up an infection. At the first conference they said they couldn’t determine if there was no risk due to only knowing us for 2 weeks, the health visitors and midwife agreed. We were then moved onto the long term team who have said from the get go that this was unnecessary but to be honest, any support is good considering how much has changed in a short amount of time.

the harm on the cpp plan was under neglect due to baby not receiving any antenatal care.

I genuinely cannot believe you've gone onto a plan if what you've said is all there is to it. I work in thus sector and seen a lot less not get past section 47.

Sorry a lot worse not get past section 47!

Our long term social worker was very surprised and so was her manager. Everything was positive at the strategy meeting before if was decided that child conference was needed. The only concern was from the hospital safeguarding team, their concern was that we knew about the pregnancy and concealed it due to previous miscarriages. We were under the reacurrent miscarriage team and were attending hospital regularly for that and other health issues. I attended hospital 9 days before baby was born and it wasn’t picked up by health professionals throughout. Or myself due to no symptoms, bump and continued periods throughout.

So the evidence of significant harm is ‘we can’t evidence significant harm’? Wow. I’d actually make a complaint about that.

Just to make you aware, a CiN plan is voluntary. You can decline.

The only concern was from the hospital safeguarding team, their concern was that we knew about the pregnancy and concealed it due to previous miscarriages. We were under the reacurrent miscarriage team and were attending hospital regularly for that and other health issues. I attended hospital 9 days before baby was born and it wasn’t picked up by health professionals throughout.

Being a bit cynical here....But It sounds as if the hospital may have made a CP referral in order to deflect from their own failure to detect the pregnancy.

Congratulations on your baby.

We have been made aware of that by our social worker and she has told us to remove consent when it’s stepped down but our concern is that it will be on record somewhere that we declined SS and don’t want it to effect us in the future. If we withdraw consent, would that be a red flag for future children? We’ve been trying for a baby for 10 years, it hasn’t happened in the most conventional way but we’re now terrified of future repercussions

This is something our solicitor has said to us. We’re planning on opening a complaint but want to wait until this is all over Incase it has a negative affect on our current case

Im astounded you're on a plan for this. So sorry, what a rollercoaster you must have been on.

The review conference is an opportunity for the child protection plan to be reviewed and for a collective decision to be made in relation to whether there is evidence that your child is at continued risk of significant harm.

Based on the information you have shared, the medical team caring for you must have had information that suggested you concealed your pregnancy. There are significant risks associated with this.

thank you for your reply.

There wasn’t any evidence of concealment in the initial report or any further reports. My medical history / attended appointments have backed this up. The original report stated that the concern was due to previous miscarriages. I’ve had a number of them over the last 10 years, most recent was January 2023.

I completely understand the risks of our baby not receiving any antenatal care and have been seeking support and guidance from my health visitor, gp and further support to ensure that baby is in the best health possible. I’ve also sought support for myself and so has my partner as this quite literally changed everything over night for us and had a massive effect on us both mentally.

im hoping that with everything now evidenced and with support from social worker and health visiting team that the review will be positive even if it’s not stepped down. I have a really good rapport with our sw and hv as they have been very supportive and understanding which has helped over the last 12 weeks

I was thinking exactly the same. In my professional experience, very few cases end up on. CP. it's usually Earky help or Child in need.

Unfortunately that didn’t happen.

2 strategy meetings were carried out whilst in hospital. Because of my history of miscarriages, this was enough evidence to deem that I had concealed the pregnancy. This has been disputed and proved with my hospital appointments throughout the whole pregnancy as healthcare professionals failed to pick up on this just as I did due to lack of symptoms, bump and continued periods. We have positive feedback from our long term social worker who has reassured us that we should not be on a cpp and that it shouldn’t have gotten this far in the first place. Given that I’ve never had any dealings with SS before, the whole thing has been a trauma dump. The only saving grace is that we get along with our sw and hv really well and have an amazing support network.

I came here looking for expectations and experiences on conference reviews as not much info is online following the initial conference. Regardless of the outcome, support is support and we will take it by the handfuls where we can. Just hoping for a positive one given the feedback we’re getting from professionals involved.