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Child protection conference

64 replies

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 10:20

Anyone here who can help and answer some questions please?

OP posts:
Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 11:05

Oblomov23 · 23/03/2023 10:59

I fear / bet you that even if you ask she will come up with some reason why it's not ready and she can't bring it tomorrow. They don't like it when you have all weekend to read it and digest it.
I fear it won't even be sent out in the post till Monday and then by the time you receive it, if you even do with Royal Mail these days!, you might only have a few hours to digest it, that night, before the conference the next day.

It’s next Wednesday. Early in the morning. So it would need to come by Tuesday for me to read through it. God this is worrying me 😞

OP posts:
toddlermum27 · 23/03/2023 11:07

There may not be concerns about your direct care of the children, but if your children have been placed at risk by being in your ex's care, and you haven't taken proactive steps to protect them from that risk, seek to have them back in your care etc, the concern about you will be whether you are able to be a protective parent and put your children's safety first. Social workers want to be confident that when they go away, parents will be able to make safe decisions for children and not rely on social workers telling them what to do.

Thoughtful2355 · 23/03/2023 11:09

theyll want to assess you because you left your children in his care, he has been deemed dangerous to them in some waybut you let him take full parental care so they will want to know what sort of home life you could provide them instead and what they need to do regarding contact etc.

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 11:15

Thoughtful2355 · 23/03/2023 11:09

theyll want to assess you because you left your children in his care, he has been deemed dangerous to them in some waybut you let him take full parental care so they will want to know what sort of home life you could provide them instead and what they need to do regarding contact etc.

But I didn’t know there were concerns about him? As I was never informed of mash referrals. I’ve only found out about them recently.

OP posts:
Zola1 · 23/03/2023 11:26

Oblomov23 · 23/03/2023 10:59

I fear / bet you that even if you ask she will come up with some reason why it's not ready and she can't bring it tomorrow. They don't like it when you have all weekend to read it and digest it.
I fear it won't even be sent out in the post till Monday and then by the time you receive it, if you even do with Royal Mail these days!, you might only have a few hours to digest it, that night, before the conference the next day.

This is unhelpful scaremongering I feel.
If by some reason you haven't had the report the day before the ICPC, ask the chair if it can be stood down and rearranged to a day when you've had time to read the information.

The ICPC itself is very formal, it depends on the practice model your Local Authority use.
There will be representatives from health, education, Police, and the Social Worker. There could be representatives from different agencies such as Probation or mental health services, depending on the needs of your family. There will be a chair called an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO). Their job is to oversee the meeting and any subsequent plans to avoid drift and delay. They will chair the initial meeting, then a review at 3 months, then 6 months. At these reviews it's decided whether the plans continue, end, or whether the risk is escalating/static, so whether legal advice needs to be sought.
At the ICPC the Police will provide a verbal report. It could be that some of this is confidential so you could be asked to leave the room for a short time. School and health will also provide reports. They'll talk about attendance, how the children present, and whether their needs are being met in that particular area.
The only decision that will be made at ICPC is whether or not your children are at risk of significant harm and therefore whether threshold is met for Child Protection plans. There could be a recommendation to seek legal advice after the meeting, but this entirely depends on how difficult things are in your family right now and if there is a risk of imminent harm to the children.
At the end of the meeting after reports have been shared, all of the professionals will vote yes or no, and they have to give the category for the plan (these are physical harm, emotional harm, sexual harm or neglect). The professionals will also have to explain their reasons. This can be difficult to hear and so maybe think about taking a pad and paper to help you remember the things that are said, as they are going to be important. These are the things that need to be solved to get Social care out of your lives.
If threshold is met and the children are to go onto CP plans, an initial plan will be drawn up with essential immediate actions, and then a meeting will be held within 10 working days with Social Worker, school, health, parents, to draw up a full plan. Then meetings will be held every 4 weeks to review progress of the plan and see how everyone is doing. The children will be seen by their Social Worker at least every 3 weeks, this will include seeing their bedrooms and speaking to them alone. Depending on the worries about your care, the SW might also look in your fridge or cupboards, ask you about your medication or substance use, or talk to you about your relationship.
I would suggest that if you've been the non resident parent and haven't stepped in to assume care of the children at previous points of concern, this could be the worry about your care. Otherwise there could be something in your history, your relationship, or an issue around your mental health or substance use etc. I don't know you so I don't know, but you do need to be honest with yourself as to whether there could be any barriers you need to overcome. If your relationship with your ex was abusive, your children's SW might be worried you are going to struggle to stand up to him to safeguard the children.
Overall, it's quite formal but the chair will be nice and professionals are generally as kind as they can be.

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 11:28

Oblomov23 · 23/03/2023 10:48

Be organise. Write down times and dates of things you know. Have you got emails, or was it just a phone call, to tell you the mash referral was ok.

Pretend you were a private investigator, see it as a case, get any evidence you have sorted today.

Please phone them today. Your call will be logged onto the case. This will make a big difference. Please demand a copy asap. You will then be able to tell the chair of the conference, who hopefully will be sympathetic, how the case has been mismanaged.

I remember after the first mash referral that I know of, the social worker came round to my house and said he was taking the children off the child in need plan as he didn’t have any more concerns. So I don’t have evidence of that unfortunately.

OP posts:
Oblomov23 · 23/03/2023 11:28

@Zola1
It's not unhelpful. It's not scaremongering. It happens a lot. It's factual.

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 11:31

Zola1 · 23/03/2023 11:26

This is unhelpful scaremongering I feel.
If by some reason you haven't had the report the day before the ICPC, ask the chair if it can be stood down and rearranged to a day when you've had time to read the information.

The ICPC itself is very formal, it depends on the practice model your Local Authority use.
There will be representatives from health, education, Police, and the Social Worker. There could be representatives from different agencies such as Probation or mental health services, depending on the needs of your family. There will be a chair called an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO). Their job is to oversee the meeting and any subsequent plans to avoid drift and delay. They will chair the initial meeting, then a review at 3 months, then 6 months. At these reviews it's decided whether the plans continue, end, or whether the risk is escalating/static, so whether legal advice needs to be sought.
At the ICPC the Police will provide a verbal report. It could be that some of this is confidential so you could be asked to leave the room for a short time. School and health will also provide reports. They'll talk about attendance, how the children present, and whether their needs are being met in that particular area.
The only decision that will be made at ICPC is whether or not your children are at risk of significant harm and therefore whether threshold is met for Child Protection plans. There could be a recommendation to seek legal advice after the meeting, but this entirely depends on how difficult things are in your family right now and if there is a risk of imminent harm to the children.
At the end of the meeting after reports have been shared, all of the professionals will vote yes or no, and they have to give the category for the plan (these are physical harm, emotional harm, sexual harm or neglect). The professionals will also have to explain their reasons. This can be difficult to hear and so maybe think about taking a pad and paper to help you remember the things that are said, as they are going to be important. These are the things that need to be solved to get Social care out of your lives.
If threshold is met and the children are to go onto CP plans, an initial plan will be drawn up with essential immediate actions, and then a meeting will be held within 10 working days with Social Worker, school, health, parents, to draw up a full plan. Then meetings will be held every 4 weeks to review progress of the plan and see how everyone is doing. The children will be seen by their Social Worker at least every 3 weeks, this will include seeing their bedrooms and speaking to them alone. Depending on the worries about your care, the SW might also look in your fridge or cupboards, ask you about your medication or substance use, or talk to you about your relationship.
I would suggest that if you've been the non resident parent and haven't stepped in to assume care of the children at previous points of concern, this could be the worry about your care. Otherwise there could be something in your history, your relationship, or an issue around your mental health or substance use etc. I don't know you so I don't know, but you do need to be honest with yourself as to whether there could be any barriers you need to overcome. If your relationship with your ex was abusive, your children's SW might be worried you are going to struggle to stand up to him to safeguard the children.
Overall, it's quite formal but the chair will be nice and professionals are generally as kind as they can be.

If your relationship with your ex was abusive, your children's SW might be worried you are going to struggle to stand up to him to safeguard the children.

this part of what you said. This could be something.

OP posts:
MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 11:51

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 10:50

Why am I being scored though? Why would I be a risk? I have never had any reports on me, and ss have told me they are not concerned about me, but about what happened with the ex, and things that have happened before relating to him. I just don’t understand any of it 😳

The scoring relates to the safety of the children. Not all areas do scoring.

MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 11:52

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 11:05

It’s next Wednesday. Early in the morning. So it would need to come by Tuesday for me to read through it. God this is worrying me 😞

If you don't receive the report in time to go through it the chair should cancel and reschedule.

MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 11:54

Oblomov23 · 23/03/2023 11:28

@Zola1
It's not unhelpful. It's not scaremongering. It happens a lot. It's factual.

No social worker would deliberately not share a report that was finished and ready to share as this usually results in conferences being cancelled and practice alerts. It happens very often that social workers don't write the reports in time, this isn't ok but it's a separate issue. There is no deliberate conspiracy to withhold reports from parents. Chairs should not allow conferences to go ahead where the parents haven't had the report in good time.

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 12:00

Thank you for all the help and advice here. Can someone explain to me what the outcomes could be? Or likely to be?

OP posts:
MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 12:03

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 12:00

Thank you for all the help and advice here. Can someone explain to me what the outcomes could be? Or likely to be?

A) a child protection plan, which will be reviewed after 3 and then 6 months. 6 weekly core groups and 10 day social work visits
b) a child in need plan, 6-12 weekly network meetings and 3/4 weekly visits and closure when you and the network agree the work has completed
c) step across to early help (highly unlikely from a ICPC but an option)
d) case closure (almost impossible)

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 12:10

MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 12:03

A) a child protection plan, which will be reviewed after 3 and then 6 months. 6 weekly core groups and 10 day social work visits
b) a child in need plan, 6-12 weekly network meetings and 3/4 weekly visits and closure when you and the network agree the work has completed
c) step across to early help (highly unlikely from a ICPC but an option)
d) case closure (almost impossible)

Sorry for all the questions but what does a child protection plan involve?

early help unlikely has ex has always refused this. And they were on a child in need plan before but not for long so I’m not sure they will do that either.

OP posts:
toddlermum27 · 23/03/2023 12:16

@Zola1 's advice about what a child protection plan entails is helpful.

In very brief summary - social workers would have a statutory obligation (ie it's not voluntary for parents to engage with like child in need/ early help is) to monitor your children's safety.

There would be an action plan of who needs to do what to keep the children safe (some actions for your ex, some for you, some for professionals etc) and the plan would be reviewed regularly. Your children would be visited announced and likely sometimes unannounced by the social worker.

After 3 months there would be another conference to decide if the children are still at risk of significant harm, if they're not the child protection plan would end, if they are it would continue and then be reviewed every 6 months.

MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 12:29

it's not voluntary for parents to engage with like child in need/ early help is

This isn't quite right. It's not compulsory for parents to engage with a child protection plan either. However if the threshold is met and parents don't engage this could lead to escalation to PLO or court.

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 12:30

Thanks for everyone’s input, really appreciate it. So I understand I need to receive the reports within good time to read them before the conference but is there a set time limit and any proof of this incase I don’t receive it in time

OP posts:
MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 12:47

3 working days. You don't need proof of this, they won't deny it!

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 12:52

MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 12:47

3 working days. You don't need proof of this, they won't deny it!

Thank you, so if it’s Wednesday morning, would I not need it by tomorrow?

OP posts:
MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 12:56

Yep

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 12:59

Thanks again

OP posts:
Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 13:14

MaireadMcSweeney · 23/03/2023 12:56

Yep

I’ve asked for it, social worker just said I will receive it when it’s ready! No mention of when…

OP posts:
Bookworms77 · 23/03/2023 13:14

Op you need to sit down with the social worker tomorrow and ask her to explain the concerns and process clearly. I would hope this is why she is coming to visit tomorrow but make sure she does this. This should always happen before any decisions have been made and likely should have already happened but that’s not important now. There should be no surprises at any stage of the process and families should have a clear understanding of what are the possible outcomes, processes and likely plans. This should also include a clear understanding of previous concerns and involvement.

Im not in anyway blaming you here but I think you have either misunderstood or not been given the correct information. A child in need plan is entirely different to a mash content, a mash contact is different to a referral and a referral is different to an assessment.

Different local authorities use different systems and procedures and so it’s important you get this information from your child’s social worker.

If you go into the conference without the above being clearly understood then you need to inform the chair and the meeting should be cancelled and rearranged. This will not be held against you. It is the chairs job to ensure that the process is fair and followed correctly. That is for you and professionals.

Even at the threshold of CP this is a plan that involves you and your family. This is not social cares plan alone and not intended to be used against parents.

Any social worker worth their salt should want you to have all this information and be very honest and clear. If they do not do this then you must complain.

Bookworms77 · 23/03/2023 13:17

Just to add and you don’t have to answer this but if you have any doubts that you will be unable to understand the meeting or process or be able to share your views for whatever reason (such as disability for example) then you are entitled to an advocate. You can bring a trusted friend or family member or you can be provided an independent advocate by the local authority.

Biscuits1011 · 23/03/2023 13:33

Bookworms77 · 23/03/2023 13:17

Just to add and you don’t have to answer this but if you have any doubts that you will be unable to understand the meeting or process or be able to share your views for whatever reason (such as disability for example) then you are entitled to an advocate. You can bring a trusted friend or family member or you can be provided an independent advocate by the local authority.

I have alot of doubts, I’ve been told nothing about any of it. It will be difficult to ask the social worker anything tomorrow while here because all the kids will be around

OP posts:
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