How not to get reported again to Social Services?

[mloo]

I don't want to go into details about why they called -- something that used to be considered ordinary, you could argue DD is too young, I know some other parents let children of same age do same things. I don't know who reported me. SS recommended we do different, but didn't insist.

How can I be sure of not being reported to SS again? Is there ever a point when SS would say "Actually, we do think that's safe enough for a child that age to do, so we won't even go out to investigate it" -- or do Social Services investigate every referral made to them? I've tried but I'm sure I'll never get a straight answer (specific age guide out of SS), so what do I do?? When will I know it's ok to let DD do X without fear of SS calling?

If I apply for a CRB check, will investigation by Social Services get revealed?

I'm foreign to UK and all this is very upsetting. DH is English and says not to worry, just to ignore what SS said and do things as we were. But I don't want them to ever visit again....help!?

It's hard to advise with all this cloak and dagger stuff - although i do sympathise that you are uncomfortable discussing it. Can you not just tell us what 'X' is? We don't know you and it is anonymous. If we are aware of the specific issue we might be able to help...

It really hard to answer when dont know what x is

I think the Social services have a duty to investigate all claims (quite rightly).

Agree with HMC ,hard to give any advice really.

Like HMC says, hard to advise without knowing what it is that SS have an issue with. Is it something that was done once, or something that is done regularly - because if it is the former then they may leave you alone, if it is the latter then they may check to see if you have stopped doing it. Is it something that it would distress you culturally to stop doing? (sorry if that sounds rude or patronizing, it is not meant to) because there may be an argument about respect for your culture...

Waves back in fond affectionate way to ggirl

Without knowing roughly what the issue was, I assume that they were satisfied your child wasn't in danger or you'd know big time. My guess is they wont be back (thousands of serious claims to check) unless called again. You would def be on record though.

BTW, I can imagine how horrible you'd be feeling, I hope people don't judge you.

So from what GGIRL said I could be investigated for DD doing anything even just being left alone at home for ten minutes as a teenager until she's 18yo (DD is not disabled or anything like that). So I should presume SS comes to interview parents after any allegation of possible negligence for a child under 18yo, regardless of how possibly spurious?

They don't know it's spurious till they investigate.

crb check - is for criminal offenses.

sound slike you left your teenager alone whilst you went out.

you are quite within your rights to tell social services to fuck off

just say " FUCK OFF"

there is no law regarding what age children can be left - as long as there is food in the cupboards somewhere to sleep and heating lighting - and everyone is quite safe there is nothing to investigate

unless a 12 year old was incharge of say a 2 year old.

then that would be a bit dodgy.

but if just a teenager left alone and reported - tell then to fuck off

they have to investigate any report, even though they might find nothing wrong and you would ever hear from them again.

It's upsetting, but it doesn't sound like you did anything wrong if they didn't insist. So try to put it behind you and not worry too much.

We can't possibly answer your question without knowing what 'It' was. Perhaps playing outside without supervision at a young age? That used to be normal but is not considered appropriate anymore.

If you ignore what SS said and continue doing whatever it was that earned you a visit, they will likely visit again. If they have to come to you about the same thing over and over, well, that way lies the Child Protection Register, or whatever it's called.

Now that is not me making a judgement about the rights and wrongs of whatever unspecified thing you are supposed to have done/not done - you haven't even said...but you would be seen in a certin light by SS and that would potentially have consequences. iyswim.

There are 2 types of CRB check - anyone working in schools has to have an 'Enhanced' check, which includes things other than criminal convictions eg some mental health problems.

SS will investigate any report of a child under 11 being left alone - even for 5 minutes. So if the school phones up and child answers and says they're on their own, you may have only popped out to post a letter but the school is obliged to report it and SS will follow up.

Having said that, as other have said, there is no minimum age at which a child may be left. It's up to SS to judge each individual case as to whether the child is at risk. So for example it might be ok to leave an 8 year old while you post a letter, but not ok to leave a 14 year old home alone for the weekend.

How do you know that, 40-plus, about children at home alone under 11?
Do they apply the same rule of thumb to things like going to shops or school without an adult (supposing no longer than just 30 min or 1 hr)?

Well what is the difference between being left at home for 5 mins and playing outside/ walking to the shop. Lots of children play out beyond the age of 8/9ish.

without knowing what you were being assesed for i can't give any definative answers but yes SS HAVE to follow up each and every allegation no matter how silly it may seem to those involved.

if a child under 11 is reported to be left alone then yes that is seen as a priority report. if the child was 13 then the caller would be asked some more details, if they were left for less than half an hour the caller may be asked why they feel ss need to be involved.

there are no hard fast rules as to the age a child can be left unattnded but a general rule of thumb would be not at all for under 11's.

and no it doesn't matter if the child walks to school alone they would still investigate the child being left at home alone.

hth

in reality if you left a 10 year old inside the home whilst you posted a letter at the end of your road SS would come round, find out what happened and then go back writting a report for no further action.

but they MUST investigate because how do they know it was only a 2 minute trip to the post box? how do they know that you dont make 30 of thses trips a day and the poor child isn't alone for most of the day.

it seems silly but sometimes we have to waste 5 hours a day on seemingly daft refferals in order to catch the one family who screwing tehir kids up

Sorry, mamazon -- i don't understand. Are you saying SS won't necessarily investigate a child under 11 walking to school alone, but under 11 left at home is investigated no matter what?
I'm surprised because I would have thought a school journey is usually riskier than being at home for same amount of time.
What about a child going to the swimming pool alone at age 10-11 (common around here) how would SS treat that?
Crikey, I know loads of people who leave children under 11 at home alone for short periods, people mention it on MN, too.

if someone was reported for allowing their child to walk to school alone then yes it would require a visit.

but it owuld be assesed on the details of each individual case. if the trip to school meant a 5 minute walk with no major roads then nothing would be done. if it were a trip across town including a couple of major roads then they would offer some safety advice and recommend someone acompany the child until they are a little older.

whilst i take your point about lots of people doing this and far worse the one main factor is that they haven't been reported.

SS aren't telepathic. unless someone reports the parents then no nothig would be done.
in most cases an 11 year old being left for short periods will require nothing more than a brief home visit anyway, but WE HAVE TO INVESTIGATE ALL REFFERALS

Mamazon and fortyplus, thanks very much. What you said was much more specific and helpful than anything I was able to get out of SS by asking directly.
No wonder so many people believe that it's illegal to leave an under-14 alone a home in England and Wales. SS act as though this is the law, anyway.

regarding the crb thing, your post got me thinking (I've had experience with SS in the past) and so I emailed the crb askign them about this situation.

Standard Disclosures contain details of all convictions on record (including 'spent' convictions), plus details of any cautions, reprimands or warnings. For positions involving 'working with children', the Standard Disclosure will also give any information contained on government department lists of people considered unsuitable to work with children and/or vulnerable adults. These lists are held by the DfES and DoH.

(Spent convictions - A person convicted of all but the most serious criminal offences and who receives a sentence of no more than 2½ years in prison, benefits from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act if they are not convicted again during a specified period. This is called the rehabilitation period. In general terms, the more severe a penalty is, the longer the rehabilitation period. Once a rehabilitation period has expired and no further offending has taken place, a conviction is considered to be 'spent'.)

All Enhanced Disclosures involve an extra level of checking with local police force records in addition to checks with the Police National Computer (PNC) and the government department lists held by the DfES and DH, where appropriate. Local police information can be contained on both copies of the Disclosure. It is up to the Chief Constable of the relevant police force or forces to decide what, if any, information is disclosed. This could include information regarding allegations and complaints made to the police. Chief Constables can decide that some information may be relevant to the position but do not wish the prospective employee to see the information. This information will be sent separately to the person who countersigned the application only for their attention.

The CRB offer the Disclosure service but are not involved directly in the recruitment decision of organisations who obtain Disclosures of their staff. Ultimately, the decision as to whether the organisation are to employ someone based on the results of a Disclosure application and their own recruitment procedures lies directly with them.

HTHs. It doesn't answer the question directly, but I think it does provide some reassurance.

forgot to type, the following was their reply.

blech - sorry - haven't been on mn this week apart to look at a couple of threads I was e-mailed about. There was an article in Daily Telegraph a while ago about ss investigating a child under 11 left alone under the circumstances I described. I can't answer the question about why it's ok for children to be playing outside or walking to school at a younger age. My 2 walked together from when ds2 was 7 (yr3), but it's only about 200 yards with no roads to cross. The school knew this - in fact I'd often be there helping during the day - I just thought it was good for them to learn a little independence. My boys' school had a policy that any ks2 child could leave unaccompanied with a parent's permission. They asked that they should be notified of children walking to school without an adult and would phone a nominated number if the child hadn't arrived by 9am.

you have my sympathies in this matter ss seem very cruel sometimes but i suppose they need to check everything incase there is more underlying.
Mamazon - i walked across main roads caught a bus and had to walk the other end to school when i was 11 as we hadn't moved house yet but i had started the new term in my new school. lots of my friends were doing the same. I can't understand why ss would consider this unsuitable.
Children start senior school some just turned 11, how many of them get taken to school by parents?
seems daft.