Can anyone tell me how to get Social Services to help a neglected child ???

[clumsymum]

In my role as a school governor, I have become aware of a little girl (10 y.o.) at school who is being neglected ? It?s a long story, but last night she had to go around the neighbourhood knocking on doors asking for someone to let her sleep there as her mum had locked her out?

Anyway, school have contacted social services on a number of occasions over the last 2 years about her neglect. Nothing happens.

How do you get social services to do something?

clumsy, I really wouldn't worry too much. Any concerned adult has a duty to report child protection stuff and you have done the right thing by doing that, particularly as you don't have the Head around today. I would have run it past the deputy or the chair of governors though BUT the needs of the child are most important here. Who cares if you have made a slight procedural boo-boo; the child's needs are what matters and now they are being looked at again in light of what happened yesterday, which is how it should be.

You've got the correct end result here so don't sit there getting hot n' cold about it!

You've acted urgently in response to the specific events of yesterday evening, which the Head won't be aware of if she is not in school today.
You might have an awkward moment broaching it with the Head later, but if she cares enough about this little girl for the school to have been raising the issue of her safety for two years now, then I am sure she will understand why you made the call.
Of course it is possible that SS are involved in her life already, one would hope so. But from what you see, it's not obvious that they are. IMO it is honestly much better to report the issue several times in good faith than to make the possibly lethal mistake of assuming she must be in the system already. Gaps do unfortunately occur in Social Services provision, for all sorts of avoidable and unavoidable reasons.

I didn't say that she shouldn't have reported it, rather that she should have done so as a concerned adult rather than a representative of the school.

I'd much rather information was passed on to social services than not at all. My comment was merely to do with procedures especially as she didn't follow the school's policy.

Presumably, if the Head were in today, you would have spoken to her first?

As she's not, you acted in the child's best interests and reported it yourself.

Just speak to the Head tomorrow as soon as you can, so she doesn't hear it first from someone else.

You did the right thing.

Screw procedures! There are far too many stories of neglect about where peple have been afraid to report it or whatever and the only person that suffers is a poor innocent child!!

Do you work in a SW office? I don't know about Honoria but in ours, NSPCC wasn't given any more attention than anyone else. We'd rather be speaking to the person with the concerns directly than getting the information third hand in most cases. There's nothing worse than asking the NSPCC worker questions and finding out they didn't ask that and now there's no way of speaking to the original caller.

If the head had been in today, she would have known what was going on, and I'm pretty sure she'd have been reporting it today.
But in any case, yes I would have talked to her before reporting it myself.
TBH thinking about it, I think really that the school should be reporting it anyway. The dep. head should have done it in her absence (and TBH I don't know that he hasn't).

Mrspnut. I did give my details to the woman from NSPCC (foolhardy I know, but actually she strongly persuaded me to do so). It wasn't until the end of the conversation that she told me that it can't be guaranteed that the parents won't be given that information "but it is very unlikely". Which scares me more than somewhat.

I have contacted chair of governors to tell her what I've done, and will speak to Head in the morning.

I think as per other posters, you may have stepped out of line procedurally, but morally you took the only available action, and most people would surely see that your actions came from motives of concern, not politics. Ultimately, the information regarding this little girls latest experiences is now in the correct hands quickly.

Good for you.

Gulp. Just had a phone call from Head. Had my knuckles rapped, partly because if a report comes from school, then school has to inform the parent that they are submitting a report to social services.

If SS tell the parent that someone from school made a report, the parent will shout at school for not telling them first. Apparently the family know all about those rules, even if they don't know how to care for a child.

I really wish they were'nt so damn persuasive about giving our details tho'

Beginning the conversation with you may keep this anonymous, then asking again and again for a name, and then saying "well you may as well give us a name, you've identified yourself by now anyway", will actually make me think twice about ever reporting anything else.

YTou did the right thing

Last night she was out alone in the cold; tonight might have bee the night she got knocked down, or lost, or taken.

Well done you and you should feel proud, not bad.

I am not a social worker but do work with them. I can agree with HG and her comments. I also work in a profession which regularly gets accused of 'doing nothing'. Quite often it is because if agenices are given informtion it is anonymously or hearsay that cannot be verified. Unfortunatley to 'get things done' people have to stand up and be counted. However I am always amazed when something goes badly wrong regarding a child all the people who come out of the word work with various concerns which they never reported at the time (like the Birmingham case where the child starved to death and neighbours had seen the children eating bread left out for the birds). I regularly have to advise on data protection and confidentiality issues. I have always said I would always prefer to justify why I shared information to protect a child than to stand in front of a serious case review becuase now the child is dead because I hadn't done anything.
CM you did the right thing.

Head teacher also points out out that she 'knows the family, and their circumstances'. Apparently this kid's mother is 'really struggling at the moment'.

Now I get on well with this Head, and she obviously knows her job (30 years in the profession, a good head teacher), but I feel rather about that comment.
So that makes it okay for the kid to have to beg a bed, does it?

Thanks Grump ....

must go and feed my own child now.

I think you did the right thing here. I think hiding behind the process, as the Head seems to be doing, is not good enough. I'd like to hear how this goes CM, if you have time to update us in the future.

Grump, will the parents get my name then ??

TBH Doodle, right now I would like to hear no more about it ... I feel I've aged 10 years in one afternoon.

No, it doesnt make it alrigth. you know it doesnt.

like grumpalina my last job involved working alongside ss on cases (I was an Organiser for homestart, we had a contract for funding to take SS cases). The more flags raised about a family the more chance appropriate help will be given.

imagine if you had left it for the Head, she hadnt acted and something terrible had happened as a result? becuase in RL that does happen and the poor kid doesnt deserve that. you did exactly the right thing.

No SSD would not give your details but I am not sure what the head is going to put on her form. I would have thought she would just say that due to concerns a refferal had been made via the school but I would just make sure especially as she is trying to distance herself a bit form it.

I would also suggest that you advise any of the people who see this little girl begging for food and knocking on doors to call the Police there and then. It is much easy to get action when the situation is occuring than in response to a past event. They can take her to a place of safety under a Police Protection Order. This lasts for up to 72 hours in which time SSD must do an assessment and put measures in place to protect the child whatever they may take.

I hear you CM. It's a tricky situation and I really feel for you but once again, you did the right thing by the child.

Thanks all for your support, whilst I KNOW I've done the right thing, I still feel slightly queasy about it. It's odd, I think I know why people shy away from reporting such things now.

Made worse cos Dh is away tonight, so no-one to pourme a glass and rub my back (I carry stress in my shoulders, really sore tonight).

I hope the child is tucked up somewhere warm tonight.