Early Help & Safeguarding saying no unsupervised access?

[eastertime]

I noticed a thread on here a few days ago (can't find it now, will keep looking) from a mum who seemed to have been contacted out of the blue by Safeguarding, telling her that her child's grandparent has recently attempted suicide and kept baseball bat and other things that could be considered as weapons in the house.
I don't think the child lived at grandparents' house but was a regular visitor.
On the strength of the info received by Safeguarding, they told this time not to allow unsupervised access with her child and this grandparent.
A friend of mine is going through something similar with her kids and a family member.
She's been contacted by Early Help & Safeguarding saying no unsupervised access should be allowed. But my understanding of Early Help is that it's voluntary and no restrictions or orders can be enforced without going through due process?
Just wonder how or even if this unsupervised thing is enforced? Do they do spot checks or turn up the address?
My friend hasn't been allocated a social worker for her kids because she agreed to the no unsupervised access request from Safeguarding. So, if her kids don't have a social worker - is she likely to be contacted again or spotted checked and so on?
I work for the council but not Safeguarding, she's asking me so many questions but I've no idea. She can never get through to speak to anyone. Have left loads of messages and emails but nobody ever replies.
Do we have any social workers or Safeguarding colleagues here who might be able to advise?

Anyone? x

It’s really advice/guidance; it can’t be legally enforced without a court order which is a lot further along the line from early help.
If your friend said they weren’t going to supervise the contact or an incident came to light where the children had been put at risk then they’d be involved again - do assessments, put plans etc but they always seek cooperation from parents first

The first step is always to ask the parents to supervise contact if there are concerns for the potential safety of the children,
it’s more like advice/guidance, as Vsirbdo said,
there won’t be repercussions for not doing it, although agreeing and then not doing it will mean they won’t trust your word in future, so you can definitely expect a less positive experience.

It’s likely they will check, they can speak to the children at school or speak to other family members.
If they find out that unsupervised access has occurred they will definitely take it further,
so it’s always best to stick to what they advise, they are only trying to do what is best for the children, if they decide there is no risk she will be told it can go back to unsupervised.

Just out of curiosity, if no incidents come to light and the parent follows the no unsupervised request, how long does the case stay open or my friend's kids on the radar of Safeguarding? Should she expect periodic phone calls , spot checks and people calling to see the kids at school? When does the case get closed?

I had an issue similar, but not the same (regarding unsupervised access though). I readily agreed and they closed the case a month later; never heard from them again. They also kept calling me by the wrong name entirely though (I did repeatedly correct them), which may have had something to do with their complete disappearance. Luckily, I agreed about the contact as noone ever checked it.

@eastertime

Just out of curiosity, if no incidents come to light and the parent follows the no unsupervised request, how long does the case stay open or my friend's kids on the radar of Safeguarding? Should she expect periodic phone calls , spot checks and people calling to see the kids at school? When does the case get closed?

The case will close when they decide there is no risk to the children, if there is a police investigation it will be when that is closed, if it is due to mental health concerns it will be when they think the person has shown they are no longer struggling and are potentially a risk to the children.

She should be prepared for them to check up on her or keep her updated on the situation but not expect it as if she is following their advice and keeping it to supervised contact only they won’t need to be involved any further.

I can’t think of any reason why someone wouldn’t want to follow the advice tbh, it’s not as if it’s no contact, supervised contact is easy, they only advise it to avoid any potential risk to the children.

I need help my daughter and partner have been told they are not allowed unsupervised access with my gran son I initially had been looking after my gran son which he said he wanted to social services my daughter as mental health problems and her partner has been band from driving for 4 hrs and admitted to probation he is an alcoholic I was sharing care with coreys dad's nanan coreys grate nan during the holiday both times she has let her grandson go with is father when drinking in supervized on one occasion he drove Corey home and stayed their all wk end and didn't let me pick him up he then returned him on the Sunday the following wk I spoke with social services and they said they would speak with other nan and tell her not to do this the following wk I took him to nans again and when I was supposed to pick him up she wouldn't let me she keeps phoning Fran son and telling him I keep reporting him to social services with I don't I'm trying to follow what they say I now have had no contact with my grandson for over a wk if I phone he doesn't answer and she says her gran son has full custody of my grandson I am extremely worried about him she keeps telling him that he can't stay at home because is mum is mental and needs to be sections and this is not the case we have spoken to social servicess the one asignes to coreys case but she says their isnt any thing i can do is grate nan is 76 and grandad recently had a stroke and has dementia i dont think my granson needs to be in thease surondings he needs stability and to be around other young people he doswnt see mum as sshe won't let him and lives miles from mum i don't understand how social services can do this can any one advize. Me