AIBU to be angry we were subjected to Social Services Section 47 Investigation?

[Morbihanmum33]

Long post - sorry: My husband and I have 4 children, 14, 11, 7 & 2. No prior involvement with social services whatsoever. No ‘risk factors’ - criminal records / addiction issues / mental health problems / domestic violence / no issues at schools. Both of us have enhanced DBS. Professional jobs.

Our family recently had to endure the considerable distress and intrusion of a Section 47 child protection investigation.

Our 2 year old had light bruising across his thighs. Both my husband and I saw it but did not know how he’d done it. We flagged it when we took him to nursery, he is very active, trying to keep up with his bigger brothers. In the last 6 months at nursery, the nursery has filed 6 accident reports for incidents in their care, so they know what he’s like.

They rang me to tell me they had a statutory duty to report the bruises as they were unexplained and on a part of his body not normally associated with bruising. However, they assured me it was routine and nothing to worry about. They told me they made it clear on the referral that they did not believe we were responsible for the bruising.

The next morning a social worker called me and told me I had to take my son for a medical examination. This had to be done at the hospital - 45 mins away - immediately. I was due at work and had an important meeting so asked if it could be another time. I was told they could take my son into care if I did not go.

My son was given an examination by 2 doctors and I was interviewed at length. While waiting the social worker told me this was a Section 47 and that they would also have to see my other 3 children, and could go into their schools that same day if necessary to interview them! They also told me they had chosen not to involve the police at this stage!

The Drs found no evidence of non accidental injury. This was communicated to me and the SW at the time.

Despite this, the investigation still had to run its course over a number of weeks, with a visit to our home and interviews with the other 3 children, and them speaking to our GP and schools.

We all found the whole process deeply distressing and a total invasion of our privacy. I was fraught with worry the entire time. We were made to feel like criminals, with SS adopting a ‘guilty until proven innocent approach’. I’ve been left traumatised by the whole experience.

Having read up on this I understand that bruising in a non mobile infant under 6 months is always a major cause for concern, and some local authorities authorise automatic Section 47’s for referrals like this. However, government guidance is that (even with a non mobile infant) an initial enquiry or assessment should be made with the family before initiating an investigation.

Secondly, my child is fully mobile and the original referral explicitly said the bruising was not considered suspicious - so I do not understand why this was escalated in this way.

The cases (against all 4 of my children!) have been closed, but I’m so angry we were put through this. I also understand the fact an investigation was carried out will stay on file for a long time. I’m considering pursuing a judicial review on the basis an initial assessment should have been carried out and the lack of medical evidence did not warrant an investigation.

AIBU to feel like this - or should I just let it go?

It sounds like you had to endure a living nightmare. My sisters children are all grown up now but one of her sons was always getting injured. He fell off his bike and broke his collar bone and arm at 7. He was about 6 months later also was messing about in the garden with his brother 1 year younger and managed to break his same arm again squabbling over who went on swing. They were 6 and 7. He broke his same arm again at school in a rugby match when he was 13 too. In-between he had numerous bruises and scratches and scrapes from skatepark from falling off his skateboard but he always wore correct knee and elbow protection. Her other children didn't get Injured at all. She always said when she drove him to A&E she was always afraid a doctor might be suspicious of his same arm being broken 3 times. Hard as it is, and obviously raw I think you need to let it go. Fwiw I'm a Foster Carer and I had one SW complain to me because DFS bedroom was painted in 'Timeless' and not child themed. The child had football themed curtains and duvet cover he chose and matching bedside lamp and lampshade on ceiling. He was ND and struggled with too much bright stimulation. I got a consultants letter to say a less bright bedroom with less busy designs and colour would suit him best. She was not impressed when I sent a copy of the letter to her line manager.

How on earth is their professional status relevant ?The classism on this thread is vile.Middle class people can be just as horribly abusive. Their children deserve protection too.

Its not just classism. Surely its about what life is like for an employed professional and how that influences risk factors?

Children of parents employed outside the home tend to be more visible to society. Those parents are likely to pay for childcare, rely on other family members or neighbours for help, pay for things like football clubs and swimming lessons where other adults stand a higher chance of spotting signs of abuse.

Some cases of neglect also arise where parents just can't get it together to provide food and shelter etc for their child (can be due to severe sen, drug abuse, all sorts). This is less likely - someone who can hold down a job as say, a doctor or well paid lawyer, is more likely to have the money & organisational skills to care for a child. Their employer and colleagues are also more likely to spot substance abuse and help them engage with support, they may also get mental health support through work that may help head off issues before they get to breaking point.

time spent dealing with your complaint is time away from more constructive work op for the sw

That’s exactly why they speak to the siblings!!

I am not a social worker but I am involved in child protection strategy discussions where s47s are agreed. I represent a partner agency.

Whilst this could have been dealt with by a s17 assessment on the face of it, there could be other factors that raised it to a 47. However, even if it was a s17 assessment, they still would have spoken to the siblings.

Also, just because the medical stated that there was no evidence of non accidental injury doesn’t mean that there was no neglectful parenting (not saying there was just pointing out the deliberate physical harm would not be the only thing they were concerned about).

Speaking to the siblings provides information about their lived experience, chastisement, level of supervision by parents etc

By the way, if you are insinuating that in the future you would provide a false explanation if a similar situation were to arise, you will cause yourself no end of issues.

Have not RTFT but have you done a SAR OP? I would do this, and yes, I am extremely sympathetic to your inclination to take legal action. It appears that procedure was not followed correctly as the initial assessment by the doctor should not have resulted in a full blown enquiry.

From your description, the bruises described could have quite easily have happened from a fall onto something hard (like the bike which seems to be the actual explanation) or from something falling across the child's legs. For a very active 2 year old, it's not inconceivable this could happen.

The safeguarding system in this country does seem a bit messed up to put it mildly. I've done quite a bit of safeguarding training because of my job and some people in senior roles have IMO an inappropriate inclination to treat parents as guilty for the most ridiculous reasons. I have had to challenge this in training and recently sent an email after training challenging some of the things said and have not received a response. I actually think it's a safeguarding failure of sorts itself within the system to have this attitude because you are putting through all the children in the family (not to mention the adults) through a degree of trauma with this sort of investigation and this real harm should not be imposed lightly.

I think under the circumstances it wouldn't matter if you had a plausible explanation as they would still want to test that once the statutory report is made to see if it holds up anyway. I know it's horrible and you feel aggrieved but I would be inclined to put this down as a very unpleasant experience. Of course you shouldn't have been dragged through this but you know your children are not abused, you know you did nothing wrong. Since Baby P and Victoria Climbie the authorities told us how lessons would be learned and nothing like this would ever be allowed to happen again, yet every week every week with another child lost to the most horrific abuse. You can understand why the services have developed a sledge hammer approach when they are still failing so many children. I doubt fighting back because of the distress this caused will change anything other than use up more of your nerves and energy. It would probably be better for you as a family to try and put this down as a horrible and needless difficult time and try to move on now. The nursery manager seems to have her heart in the right place and be on your side. She will have known the hell you were enduring x

Perhaps you could write to one of the SW and point out how stressed you were and that you would have appreciated knowing on the Monday instead of the Fri if that had been possible.

There is a wider issue too which is that social services are understaffed and under-resourced and pursing this investigation probably meant a family in need didn't get the help they needed in a timely fashion.

Parents who abuse will say exactly the same as the OP. Injured innocents being hassled by a mean SS is a typical response. Very few admit it's deserved.

But also maybe this report was the trigger, but there have been several other reports across the children which have been filed as potential red flags, then adding up to going over the threshold to investigate.

Anyone saying complain, it's not fair, should not then be on another thread blaming SS for not picking another child's case up quickly enough.

Abusive parents go to all sorts of hoops to hide it

This is less likely - someone who can hold down a job as say, a doctor or well paid lawyer, is more likely to have the money & organisational skills to care for a child
Wtf? There's the "but I'm a middle class professional!! thing again 🤯
Why would doctors and (only well paid, obviously 🤣) lawyers be presumed to be more able to care for a child than anyone else?
Just absolute horseshit.

I’m struggling to see how you can take legal action over such a minor investigation. The dr at a&e is only able to say there was no proof of intentional injury, that’s not the same as saying it’s definitely accidental. Ss conducted a brief additional investigation. It was stressful but which part contravened the law? I think it’s a good idea to see the referral if at all possible as I wouldn’t want my child being looked after by a nursery who hadn’t been totally factual and would want to know what they’d said.

I know of children who should have been removed from their parents long ago and for some reason, despite tons of evidence of total neglect, they won't do it. Won't communicate with different departments, don't bother following up concerns, don't even record some phone calls or acknowledge emails, yet they have time for this level of investigation for a family with no history of issues. Makes me furious.

There are 1-2 DCs killed each week by parents - they are Bound to make errors with stats as high as that!

Agreed. And I say that as a well paid lawyer myself.

I was more vulnerable, my children are more vulnerable, because of this lack of willing to believe that someone who is professional could be abusive

A couple left their three young children alone to go for a meal. When on holiday in Portugal. One a doctor. Remember what happened to one of their children as a result.

Neglect is not confined to those on low income.

It’s really scary and intrusive, and it’s kind of like a guilty until proven innocent scenario. But unless some innocent parents are treated like this, some abused and endangered children will fall through the net. It’s a heavy price to pay but I’m my opinion it’s worth it for the greater good.

An initial enquiry was made. The nursery spoke to you and you said you did not know what had caused the bruising.
Given it was such an unusual place I don't see what else could have happened except an examination by a doctor.

Sympathy OP. My family was the subject of a s47 investigation when my youngest was a newborn in similar odd circumstances (the referring party put in a high volume of reports each year due to the nature of their work, and had never had one result in the level of response that I experienced). Hands down it was the worst few weeks of my life waiting for the case to be closed. The social worker definitely did things that would be worthy of a complaint (such as lying to say that she could speak to/inform DH’s employer of the investigation without our consent) but I never had the energy or inclination to pursue it, it’s a time of my life I’ve gladly just shut the door on.

I'm sorry about the distress this has caused you but they absolutely have a duty to report +/- investigate any unusual bruising pattern on a child.

My brother and I were covered in bruises as children over back/buttocks and thighs. Teachers noticed but mum was able to brush it off saying they must have been inflicted by other children at school. Because my father is a surgeon and therefore 'respectable', teacher concerns were never escalated.

Fast forward to brother having a psychotic breakdown from physical and emotional abuse.

My sister in law is a child protection social worker. They expect only a small proportion of concerns escalated to be a true concern but having set rules on reporting makes sense and the nursery have done their duty here.

Any professional nanny will tell you they have cared for or know of children neglected by well off parents. Kids wearing too small clothes with nannies begging the parents for money to get new clothes. Parents who work professional jobs and go on drug benders at the weekend leaving drugs out when they have very young children.
But it is the nannies care that stops the children being taken into care.

This is an issue parents of non verbal children experience on a regular basis. Vilified for minor injuries that all children get purely because their children can't communicate how it happened.

I am so so sorry you went through this as a child.

It sounds like a really stressful time and I totally understand your strength of feeling. But honestly, I would rather innocent families are checked and exonerated than genuine abuse cases be missed. I’d consider providing feedback on what could have been done to improve the communication etc but I wouldn’t be making a complaint otherwise.

I think it's fine to complain but think you need to be specific about the things that you think should be done differently for low risk referrals. Eg tell you to take your son to the hospital to be checked within 12 hours rather than immediately. When you say guilty until proven innocent you need to be explicit about what they did that implied that and what they could change etc

The bruising was to the thighs. Leg bruising is normal, thigh bruising is not.