Question on a case once closed....

[Balloonleg]

If social services close a case can they return in the future to check how the family is doing ? If a letter is sent saying it's closed ?

Yes.

And how do you know this

If it is childrens social care I believe if its closed then no contact unless new concerns come in. Social care dont have the time to step back into closed cases. I work in social care area but not social worker.

Not in my local authority, they simply wouldn’t have the time.
Cases aren’t closed if there are ongoing concerns.
We would only have made contact in the event of a new referral.

Saying they aren't going to be interested/don't have the time is not the same as saying they can't pay a visit if they decide to do so.

There are no circumstances in which the LA CPS cannot pay a visit if they so wish. They would have to explain to you though what concerns they have.

Hello, @Balloonleg I'm a manager of a child protection team.

We can only visit families under either s17 of the Children Act 1989, or section 47 of the Children Act 1989.

Section 17 (Child In Need) requires your CONSENT, and if we want to visit under s47 (Child Protection) we would have to have held a milo agency strategy meeting following concerns being raised with us. If it was found that there was a risk that your child had suffered significant harm, we could initiate a Child Protection enquiry and visit without your consent.

@Collaborate is wrong to say that there are no circumstances in which we couldn't just visit / check up on you. You have human rights and the right to a private life and it's not Social Services job to "check up" on families unless further concerns have been raised with us.

If social services have made contact with you, it could be that they have received a further referral regarding your children and they are trying to decide whether or not the case needs to be reopened? However this should have been clearly explained to you. If my team receives a referral on a family recently closed to us, I will often ask the social worker to call the family and explain that we've received another referral, and ask them to explore the concerns.

I hope that's helpful!