challenging section 47 enquiry

[wendynogs]

hi I am a full time carer for my two severly disabled grandchildren aged 10/11 (I also have a 9 year old son
my daughter (the childrens mother has the same condition which is progressive and as its chromosomal can be life limiting. The boys have severe learning difficulties are non verbal although one child is starting to articulate a few words doubly incontinent both on the autism spectrum one has adhd and is recovering from a spinal fusion both have limited mobility fall constantly no spacial awareness sensory processing disorders they have very complex needs but are both happy and doing well ...both have their needs very well met albeit my son does suffer as I have had to fight Social care tooth and nail for a care package that meets their needs and when you take into account the dynamics of 1 person meeting all their needs it is a massive task and we have dedicated carers who help I have found myself fighting social care tooth and nail as they keep trying to reduce the boys care package and have taken away the carers petrol allowance and reduced carers rate of pay to £7.50 per hour I find it almost impossible to recruit staff for this rate and no petrol money and Social care will not budge on this hourly rate so we have had to use agencies which has been an ongoing nightmare no continuity no staff trained in the boys needs and so on and so on a total nightmare sadly the agencies are costing 20 plus per hour yet I am refused to pay 8.50 plus petrol I have just been through the complaints process and got to stage three it was a dreadful exhausting thing to do and I still am awaiting the outcome to be completed
I am utterly exhausted and sick of complaining
Both boys go to a special school (which I thought I had a good relationship with) I have been attending regular CIN meetings and have engaged with all of the professionals in the boys lives social care has been a running nightmare but I got on with the job in hand hoping that it would al; be resolved ....it never was My youngest grandson T has always presented with low level bruising
and its something we have just got used to and it has never been raised as an issue it has never been significant just small brusies from playing and due to his complex needs and mobility problems also the fact that he has autism and has meltdowns has raynauds syndrome hypermobility very little body fat we have come to accept that is the way he presents but one day at school the nurse rang re a concerning bruise on his thigh and questioned the amount of bruises in general I looked at bruise on thigh and whilst it was not very worrying i was of the impression that he had come by it because school transport had prob held him in his seat while he was having a meltdown due to his transition issues basically this was ignored and a section 47 enquiry was instigated by school nurse who was economical with the truth misled the professionals regarding lots of information about me and my family a paediatrician examined T and stated bruises could be accidental or non accidental and now the low level bruising really was becoming an issue I was expected to account for every bruise he sustained and when I tried I was accused of lying ..the police were involved and a strategy meeting was reconvened because of 3 bruise on his shin
and a child protection was convened and all the children placed on a child protection plan due to neglect.
My question is how do you challenge what you as a parent/carer believe was a unlawful section 47 enquiry as it excluded boys carers (who work with boys all day every day) and was not evidence based did not allow significant people in the childrens lives to be involved in the process and did not try to gain the childrens views also witheld information re ongoing safeguarding concerns re transport and fundamentally did not take into account the complexity of the boys condition basically the school nurse the head and two sws have excluded all the professionals in the boys
lives and have placed my familly in the very precarious position of being on a cp plan and still presenting with low level bruising (which is not going to change)
re the cp conference 1 The chair did not receive any of my paperwork as the email address given on the leaflet was wrong 2 The chair excluded members of my family ,my carers and did not read out statements as had been promised 3.The core assessments had not been completed in enough time to challenge and how would you challenge them anyway............I feel very very strongly that the section47 enquiry and subsequently the Cp Conference was not evidence based excluded significant people did not ascertain childrens views my views were not allowed to be part of the prcess due to the email address not working and the chair refusing to read out or even look at statements

[David Roth]

Hi wendynogs, and welcome to the family and friends carers' discussion forum.

It sounds as if you really do have a lot on your plate, and I can well understand why you say you are feeling utterly exhausted. Raising children with multiple disabilities can be tiring in itself, but you have also had to do battle over the level of support from children's social care, and now you have been subject to child protection procedures which you feel have not been carried out fairly.

I do know you have said in your post that you are sick of complaining, but I'm afraid that if you want the local authority to re-consider the way it is dealing with these child protection issues, then a complaint might be the only way to go about it. You have spelled out very clearly in your post what your concerns are, so at least you do have something you can use as a basis for drafting a letter of complaint.

Your complaint relates to both the process of the investigation and the way the case conference was chaired. My advice would be to put all your concerns into one letter of complaint, and send that to both the council's complaints officer and to the manager of the child protection service.

I wonder if you have ever been offered respite care? I realise that the children might find that sort of change difficult to deal with. However, if the council could find the right carers, with some sort of introductions for the children so they can get to know them first, a break of a few days might serve a couple of purposes: it might give you a break in order to re-charge your batteries; and it might also allow social workers and others to see how the bruising happens. This is just a suggestion, and I realise you might not think it right for you and the children.

There are two of our advice sheets that you may find useful, if you haven't already read them: 9 (Child protection procedures) and 25 (Challenging decisions and making complaints): http://www.frg.org.uk/need-help-or-advice/advice-sheets

Please do call our advice line, to talk this situation through with one of our advisers, telephone 0808 801 0366, 9.30am-3pm Mon-Fri.

[David Roth]

wendynogs, I would just add that there ought to be a core group meeting arranged, to meet up in between the child protection review case conferences. While you are of course still complaining about the way the initial investigation and case conference were held, you could also try to ensure that the information that wasn't presented at the initial case conference can be considered by the core group. The core group doesn't remove the child protection plan from the children, but it does ensure that all parties are kept up to date on the progress of the plan.

Although you are not happy with the way the local authority is working with you, it is vitally important that you continue to work with them, and to engage with them so that you are able to make your case.

[RobB]

Hi Wendynogs, sorry to hear about the situation you have been put in by, it appears, professionals taking actions without justification. It seems to happen far too commonly. We ourselves have had allegations laid against us which we have just cleared ourselves of.
Just to add to David's suggestion of respite care. We are respite carers for disabled children and think it might help you in the ways David has suggested. If you do not already have respite you may be concerned about having to deal with even more social workers. Personally we have found the social workers who facilitate respite care far more understanding and compassionate than those involved in child protection. However they do talk to each other so, in my view, it is important to be aware of that. What you may say to one branch of social workers may be quoted by child protection to back their claims even if it is out of context. Hope things start to improve for you.
RobB

[wendynogs]

Thank you for your advice .....I have found the FRG a real source of help when things seem very hard

[wendynogs]

Hi I have some questions

1 would it be discriminatory to not have had a professional with experience of my grandsons disability
therefore drawing the wrong conclusions re the bruising...I believe this to be disability discrimination

The child was not seen by the SW before commencing a section 47 enquiry ?? what are yopur thoughs re this

The school nurse wrote a damning report which was found to be untrue and the hearsay presented as fact was not checked by SW ??

The bruises were always described as unexplained ...but I did explain them quite clearly and this is documented in a CIN meeting minutes i also had my advocate there who remembers not only did I explain them I demonstrated in my opinion how they were sustained

The SWs withheld important safeguarding information to the police which did not paint a true picture ie they knew of longterm safeguarding issues and did not relay them to the professionals
involved

The SWs did not make an attempt to communicate with T although we had a member of staff who offered to help

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi wendynogs,

I was just wondering if you have begun the complaints process as David recommended. If you have, what stage have you reached?

In our child protection advice sheet that David previously referred you to, it discusses the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board aka the safeguarding procedures. Each area has its own safeguarding procedures which explain how child protection enquiries (i.e. s47 enquiries) will be carried out. It must comply with government guidance set out in Working Together 2013. If you are pursuing a complaint I think it would be useful for you to request a copy of your local safeguarding procedures.

As part of the assessment process, it would be usual for the social worker to contact any relevant professionals involved with the children, including any specialists involved with your grandchildren because of their disabilities. Certainly there should have been some specialist guidance.

Additionally, the social worker should have met with your grandson. It is usual for a social worker to speak with a child alone (or with an independent professional such as teaching assistant present if you do not agree to that) in a way that is appropriate to the age and level of understanding of each individual child both during the assessment process and then if they are subsequently made subject to a plan.

In terms of whether to begin s47 enquiries, that would be a decision made at a strategy discussion by Children’s Services, the Police and sometimes other relevant professionals. Again there is more information about this in our child protection advice sheet.

Regarding the report of the school nurse, it would not be for the social worker to check this information. The report is the opinion of the nurse and would be presented at the child protection conference to be discussed by you and all the professionals. Or have I misunderstood what you been by this?

I’m afraid I do not understand the point you are making about information sharing with the police. If you’d like me to respond to it could you please explain what you mean.

Best wishes

Suzie

[wendynogs]

Hi Thanks
1 The SW did not see child
2 Who is accountable for ensuring that what is presented is evidence based??

My complaint against SN was upheld although they did state she followed the local safeguarding children procedures....which she did not same SN CONTACTED ss numerous times re bruises to Ts
shins these were grossly exaggerated and there were reports of (other injuries) !! simply not true

Section 47 substantiated ...This is simply not true this is exaggerated everyday bruising to a child with mobility issues in fact I would go so far as stating that the time frame between initiating section 47 and the no of bruises sustained were less !! than a normal child with Ts disabilities

CPC Convened

[wendynogs]

CPC
1 M y carers who work with boys (they are never on their own) were excluded from conference
2 the reports they wrote were not shared
3 The SN kept on lying her information was false and she and the head teacher painted a picture of neglectful parenting which was compounded by a completely untrue report to conference by SWs
I challenged the conference decision in a timely fashion had meeting with safeguarding officer
and made formal complaint
I got the confirmation from NHFT that my complaint was upheld and SN lied repeatedly which also painted a very sorry picture by now of HT and Sws who had presented a bucket ful of lies to conference
I had contected solicitor who had advised me that she could not act re the CP issues but she was very clear she felt that the Core assessments did not meet the boys needs and she applied for an emergency JR re the failure to produce a core assessment that meets childrens needs
However this seems to have had a detrimental effect as they are now using this as a means to not reconvene CP conference or answer any of my formal complaints

I have last week found out that they have decided to go down the PLO route and I feel this is utterly ridiculous The evidence presented to conference has proven to be untrue and they are now applying for a court order

These children are so disabled that I am utterly distressed and cant believe that they can get away with such utterly appalling behaviour

[David Roth]

Wendynogs, when you say that the local authority has now 'decided to go down the PLO route', I take it you mean that they are now in the initial stages of applying for care proceedings, using the procedures laid down by the Public Law Outline (PLO)?

This is an extremely serious step, which could result in the removal of the children. It is very important for you to think about what steps you will need to take if you are going to oppose the application. I would suggest that the two things you would need to do are (i) ensure that the local authority are following PLO procedures correctly, and keeping you informed as required; and (ii) making sure that you have all the information including professional assessments that would support your view that the children's bruises are not the result of non-accidental injuries.

From what you have said, the local authority has not been good at communicating with you, so you may need to keep in touch with them to find out what stage of the PLO procedures they have reached. The Ministry of Justice has a useful flow-chart illustrating how things ought to happen. For example, if they have held a legal planning meeting and decided to go ahead with a care application, then you ought to get a letter before proceedings, which would be the trigger for you to get legal aid: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/pro ... wchart.pdf

You also state that a number of your complaints have been upheld, for example that descriptions of bruises were exaggerated. I would suggest that you need to ensure that you get all these findings in writing, if you have not already got it.

It sounds as though there has not yet been a definite decision to take it to care proceedings, and so a lot will depend on what the local authority actually does decide. However, the threat is there, and I would suggest you need to start preparing for what might happen.

If it does go to proceedings, it will be because the local authority believes it has a case for saying that the children have suffered or are at risk of suffering a significant level of harm. The court's decision on whether to make an order or not will only be based on any evidence that is presented or emerges in court. You will need to think about how to make sure your evidence gets into court, to support your view that there has not been significant harm, and nor are the children in danger of suffering it. Any written views from professionals will be very helpful in supporting your case.

Please do feel free to come back for advice, or to call our advice line (0808 801 0366 open 9.30-3 Mon-Fri) if the case does go ahead.