To disagree with social services?

[Lilyfrilly]

I’m hoping someone here works in social services or just has some knowledge and advice.
name changed for this post.
my 4 children have been on a child protection plan since February this year. We go to core group meetings every 6 weeks with the professionals, to discuss how the plan is going and if we’ve done what has been asked of us.
we’ve gone from having a bad relationship with some of the professionals, to having a good one and working well together on the plan.
at each meeting, all the professionals are asked to give us marks out of 10. It’s gone from 3/4 to 7/8- the last few meetings have been really positive. Social worker visits unannounced at least once a week, and is always satisfied.
our next conference is in January. This is where the decision will be made on if we need to stay on child protection or can go down to child in need plans.
there is nothing more I can do than what I have done. Things are going well.
however, my social worker has said not to get my hopes up as although things are going well now, they have concerns things might not go so well again in the future.
bit surely in that case, we would just go back up to child protection again.
If that is the reason they use to keep us on the CP plan, then they could always say that reason since no one can see into the future. So my question is…. If at the next conference, it’s decided we need to stay on child protection, would I be wise to just accept that or can I challenge it? I can’t see how we would still meet the threshold but I’m anxious now.
i feel like I can’t do any more than what I have. I’ve also heard CP plans can’t last more than 2 years. But the thought of another year of this…

Thank you for your kind words x

Why on you on CP plan in the first first place? Your attitude is very flippant to be on one.CIN plans are parental consent based so its not just a case of " oh you can go on a CIN plan now and go back up if needs be"

I'm not sure because I don't work directly for, but loosely with, this department, and I believe that scores have to be above a certain level for x amount of time before downgrading.

I don’t want to be too outing by putting too many details to be honest.

Well done for making positive changes.
I’m not a social worker but a HCP so have lots of involvement. One of the reasons I’d think they’d be reluctant to step you down is if the reason for the child protection was another parent or adult? If perhaps you’ve discontinued a relationship or removed a family member but they think there is potential that you may go back to it or they may return, I’ve know this to be a reason to stay on a CPP.
If this is the case, I would be inclined to go with the continuing CPP, and continue to prove yourself.

You don’t need to put anymore details OP, you’ve received some great advice here without it. I think it sounds like SS just want a bit more time for the positive changed to embed although I can understand why that would be tough to hear. Humans are creatures of habit and it takes time for good habits to conquer bad. I wish you all the best as you keep moving forward.

You don't need to tell anyone what the reason is OP - they aren't asking out of concern they are just being nosey!

I hope things work out for your family and well done on making improvements I hope you continue and your family are happy

i can see the SS’s point of view if you’ve been on a child in need plan for 3 years before being moved on to child protection, in their eyes you had three years to turn it around but didn’t and now you’re only making improvements because your children are on a protection plan.

Thats not to undermine all you’ve worked for and achieved this last year, that is really brilliant and so damn hard. But maybe they’re thinking another year is needed because of how long it’s taken to get this point.

I know how incredibly frustrating and terrifying it must be but the best thing you can do is keep working well with them and accept that they see a different picture than you. They have your children’s best interests at heart, just the same as you. They’re not there to judge you as a person, just ensure you’re all getting what you need

Could you try and reframe your thinking on it? Lots of people actually pay money for parenting support and professional help.

You're getting loads of it for free and in a structure that you don't have to maintain for yourself. In a way social services are doing you a favour - they're organising all the support, telling you what you need to do, and all you have to do is turn up and follow the advice.

I completely agree it must be really difficult and challenging and upsetting to be put on a plan whether you like it or not.

But being a good parent isn't about getting angry with authority- it's about being able to carry that voice of authority inside you, know you're making good judgments, know how to prevent bad stuff happening to your children, even at hard moments when you are having a rough time yourself, even at the lowest times when you feel like an unhappy child yourself. Social services will let you move on when you have proved you can "be your own social services" inside your head. So trying to move on from resenting and resisting might be a really helpful step.

Well done OP it can't be easy but you are doing it!

I'm glad you've changed things to make your children's lives better.
But, having done better for a short time doesn't mean you're not going to slip with less support. You say that if things get worse you can just move back up but things are more likely to get worse if you go back down too quickly. Then they wont be able to provide the right support as quickly.

Well done for making positive changes but it's probably just a bit too soon. Children's safety is paramount.

If it's with regards to abuse in your relationship, SS are likely to hang around until you can prove you've resolved your issues, or finish the relationship entirely and cut ties.

No one can really give any advice or opinions as you haven't said why you were escalated from a CIN plan to a CP. CP is for children at significant risk of harm. As I'm sure you know, it's the step before your children being taken into care. You were on CIN for years and then stepped up, so something that gave them significant concern must have happened. That, or you were asked to make changes for years and didn't, which is very concerning by itself.

I appreciate you not wanting to out yourself or share personal details with a load of strangers, but the only person who can judge if it's safe for your children to be stepped back down to CIN are the social workers who know the actual details of the case. Unfortunately you've lost your right to make that call for the time being.

Im aghast by some of these responses. I can only imagine a lot of you have little knowledge/ experience.

OP these plan times are v long. There is clearly a high level of risk. The "marks out of ten" is a scaling of how safe and well the children are, not how good is your parenting out of ten. For e.g You may be the worlds best parent but letting the children be exposed to violence from a third party which stops them from being safe.

Please work with the professionals ,
A lot of work and opinions goes into a child protection conference from multi agencies so its not just one person's opinion

If you’re a nice easy case that requires minimal management, they will be in absolutely no hurry to move you off their caseload because it would then potentially be replaced by the family from hell to do something.

How long has the child protection plan been in place? It's unusual for cases to be stepped down at the first review as the ability to maintain change is not tested. The goal is that when the child protection plan ends then there are no further cycles of child protection - if there is a repeated cycle of child protection planning and then step down to child in need and back up again (especially for the same issues) then this raises serious concern about ability to sustain changes and would end with legal consultation. It does depend on what the reason for the CP plan is too and how you have been able to make/evidence change? It seems like you have been able to show change for the scaling to be so high which is really positive - I would ask your SW what they want to see to be able to say your child are not at risk of harm in your care and help you map how to get there if they are saying they don't feel you have achieved this yet. I am a SW by the way.

OK so having done CIN for several years, that not working and being put up to CP, why do you believe you don't need any more support? You didn't make improvements with low level help, it got worse. Only with intense scrutiny did things improve. So what will stop you regressing once they close the CP?

If we do just upgrade us isn't good enough.
. You need to be CERTAIN it won't. So why won't it?
. You don't need to answer it but think about it. Are you totally sure you can continue to protect your kids with very little scrutiny from SS in a way you've failed to do for years?

If you need the continued support for longer to ensure that it happens, then that's the best plan. I wouldn't appeal it.

Good luck

No, no domestic abuse. X

My advice is to stay reasonable (hard on such an emotive topic) but if they say they are keeping them at child protection then ask them to set a timescale that all continue to be well they will downscale. Then be enthusiastic about that and ask for it to be minuted.

Unfortunately it doesn't work like that - if cases need to be allocated then they are allocated regardless so it's in social workers best interests to move cases along quickly. Children can't not have a social worker so often they see case loads unmanageably high.

The original reason for CIN plans was a different reason for the CP plan. 7 months after the first CIN plans began, 2 of the children were taken off, and with our agreement, 2 were kept on due to them having some medical needs. Then all 4 of them were put on CP in feb.

good things to think about though. Thank you

And consider (and voice) how you feel you’ve been able to take charge of whatever the areas of concern are now. A change of heart (not just compliance) is needed because otherwise of course it will revert to previous issues.

Not all CPP are long. There is a minimum of three CPP meetings before a decision to remove a child PP can be made.

i think why you are on it is entirely relevant and I also wonder what role their father (assuming you are the mother) has in relation to all of it

Thanks so much. January will be the second review with the chair. The plan started this year in February.

Sounds like you are doing well to be scoring so high in terms of safety so definitely ask what they want to see from you to show long term safety. If professionals do recommend a continued plan then ask if they would consider a 3 month review instead of 6 months - we sometimes do this where improvements have been made but want to see them sustained for a little while longer but not the full 6 months. Hope it goes well