Best interest meeting with social worker Regarding Adult Daughter who lacks Capacity

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Hi, is there any Adult Social workers on here who can advise me how a Best Interest Meeting goes please as I am a Nervous wreck, they are only wanting this meeting cause I’ve decided Not to go ahead with the supportive living my daughter was meant to move into a few weeks ago as I have my concerns , I’m Not saying No to supportive Living as I’m getting older and she needs it as she wouldn’t survive without it , just not there, will there be other options etc, it’s that not knowing and the social worker is the Decision maker, please help😢

I’m a MH nurse who’s been involved in Best Interests meetings. What exactly are your concerns? What does your daughter think? Even with reduced capacity (I presume due to a MH diagnosis?) she has the legal right to an opinion.

Hi, my concerns is one of the other service users she’s unpredictable at times, she has grabbed my daughters books , ripped them and wet them with a cup she knocked over, she has also pushed me into the fireplace whilst I have been picking my daughter up where my daughter got upset by seeing this so therefore I am worried about her safety, also most of the time she has either been sat at the table all day with her head down or just looking at the wall, or I have found her on the landing hand flapping and pacing up and down and also there’s been a lot of times where she has refused to wave to the carers , kept her head down even when back in the car and won’t pick her head back up till away from the house and then I’ve had to calm her down when back home as she has been so upset, also she won’t go to the toilet there, although she has been there for hours and had drinks and also the carers at the beginning couldn’t understand why my daughter was being placed down there when there are 2 other service users who have More Complex needs and my daughter isn’t as bad, they even tried talking me into asking about a bungalow not far from there where there’s a lady that is quiet and I said we will see how this one goes, my daughter is Verbal but gets very confused as she is in fluoxetine and quetiapine, she has had her meds reduced already and I’ve asked for her meds to be reduced again as she is a lot more calmer and more alert, so we have another appointment later this month for this.Should they take all this into consideration as I feel it is out of my hands.😢

Should there be other options for her available, am I worrying too much over this, and would it have to go to court if there was any disputes, cause it’s just not right for my daughter to go to that house, it’s not fair to put her through that, it was me who asked for help quite a while ago for her as she was smashing my windows etc, but she has calmed down now as her meds have been reduced, she is more herself apart from her Autism, cause when all that happened she had possible psychosis which she is now being weaned off her meds

Yes, the decision maker does have to take all of that into account. Tbh it doesn’t sound like it’s in your daughter’s best interests to go into that accommodation anyway. According to the mental capacity act (the law through which these decisions are being made) your daughter’s opinion has to be sought-capacity is a spectrum, and even if she lacks capacity in some areas she may have capacity in others-and it does appear that she doesn’t want to be placed there either.
Honestly, best interest decisions are supposed to be a consensus between everyone involved in your daughter’s care. If you can’t agree it’ll have to go to the Court of Protection, especially if your daughter does have some capacity. You said that her meds are being reduced? It’s that the case then it might be worth suggesting that the meeting is adjourned until after the medication reduction has settled so that your daughter can have more of a say in her own future. There should always be multiple options though. You need to find out why they’re so keen on this placement for your daughter.

My daughter spoke with the Mental Health Advocate yesterday and she managed to tell her herself that she doesn’t want to go to that house and that one of the other service users makes her upset and then she was asked about other options for other accommodation and she said yes to the Advocat, can the social worker go against that with it being her own voice, thanks

Unfortunately, technically, yes. The advocate will represent your daughter at the best interests meeting. Your daughter's voice should be given very heavy weighting and, as the Mental Capacity Act says that capacity should be assumed, her capacity in this regard should be reassessed. If she's found to still lack capacity to determine where she lives, then the decision maker (in this case the social worker) will decide what she thinks is in the best interests of your daughter-which may not be what she wants. Hopefully it doesn't come to that though. It sounds like both her, and you, have strongly made your wishes known and that should be taken into account.