Social worker problems

[familyhelp]

I want to help my family with the problems they have with their social worker but don’t where to start.

My family member’s husband was arrested for possessing IIOC. They had their devices taken by the police to be investigated at a few months ago.

One of problems is the social worker is telling other professionals that the family member’s husband has been charged when they haven’t as yet.

There are a number of anomalies with the social workers report which are not being corrected such as incorrect name details which look like they have been copied and pasted from the police report,

The other problem is the social worker is also informing people that shouldn’t need to know about the situation.

My family member wants to inform the social worker about the errors in her report etc. but is too frightened to as she is worried that telling the social worker about the incorrect information that she has said and is written about her husband will make her look like she is supporting him which could result in her children being taken off her.

We don’t know if the family member’s husband is guilty or not (he is insisting he is innocent) but there are a few strange things that have been written in the reports and have been verbally stated that don’t add up including the police stating at one of the children’s meetings that they have on record an incident that happened a while ago that we can be 100% sure didn’t happen.

[Robin D]

Hi and welcome.

I'll start by suggesting you are very careful, especially in what you post on-line and is traceable back to you as an individual. Here is OK as you are posting under an alias, but other sites may not be as secure. A key concern is that your family member appears to have shared the social workers confidential report report with you, yet it should be available to the police, other involved professionals and the courts. I imagine that means you can do no more than advise.

It is common fir professionals to share confidential information and for certain things to be repeated in reports from other departments, organisations and authorities.

You there are children, and it appears that they may still be with your family member. They and you need to be even more cautious that you are not seen to be siding with the husband to the possible detriment of the child(ren), or indeed create suspicions about your own priorities at this time. The police and social workers need to be sure that the children have not been affected, and that the photographs are not of them. The further protection of the children is frankly the highest priority and your family member is best advised to go along with everything at this stage.

Regarding your specific concerns, if the social worker is passing incorrect information, then it's perfectly appropriate for your family member, or their husband to get that information corrected. Frankly that is best done through his solicitor. Given the gravity of the allegations, I trust he is represented? Your family member should not worry about trying to correct information, provided it's kept factual. If it cannot be done through a solicitor, then she should write a letter detailing the facts that are incorrect. Note that it needs to be fact, not opinion. The social worker is entitled to form their own opinion and to include it in their report. Alternative she could start a formal complaint. Details of the complaints processes can be found at https://frg.org.uk/get-help-and-advice/what/complaints/ and on the local authority's own web-site.

If your family member believes that the social worker has wrongly breached confidentiality, that should be address by the complaints procedure, if not through the solicitor.

Your family member may wish to take independent legal advice about the arrangement for the children. If so, they should find a solicitor on the 'Children panel' not otherwise connected to the case. It's possible, if not probable, that Children's services will start proceedings to protect the children from the husband (presumably the father). Your family member is best advised to do whatever is necessary to reassure the authorities that she has the welfare of the children central to her actions whatever she thinks of the guilt or otherwise of her husband.

Hopefully this is of some help? The FRG advisor will likely be along to provide better advice advice and guidance.

Good luck.

[KJY88]

Hi there - we are in a somewhat similar position to you with a family member and we did query something said at a meeting which we felt wasn't necessary on a 'need to know' basis because of the variety of people in attendance, some of whom had no need to know what was said which was of a speculative nature.) This was addressed by an explicit warning about this at the next meeting. Plain facts like where the police investigation has got to, names and dates etc, are different and I can't see how a polite message about this to the SW could prejudice him/her from trusting your family member or thinking they were minimising the offence. Politely asking for a correction to incorrect facts in what was written so it was accurate is entirely appropriate in my opinion. However I totally get this fear that anything said could be used as evidence showing you aren't taking things seriously enough and it might be putting your children at risk. Can I suggest you or your family member join the forum for family members on the Stop It Now website as once you have posted a few times you will have access to privately messaging others who seem to be experiencing similar problems and as a private message you won't have to worry about your post being seen and coming back to bite you. Also I found this link helpful to understand the 'official' stance on information sharing https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... rvices.pdf

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

I want to help my family with the problems they have with their social worker but don’t where to start.

My family member’s husband was arrested for possessing IIOC. They had their devices taken by the police to be investigated at a few months ago.

One of problems is the social worker is telling other professionals that the family member’s husband has been charged when they haven’t as yet.

There are a number of anomalies with the social workers report which are not being corrected such as incorrect name details which look like they have been copied and pasted from the police report,

The other problem is the social worker is also informing people that shouldn’t need to know about the situation.

My family member wants to inform the social worker about the errors in her report etc. but is too frightened to as she is worried that telling the social worker about the incorrect information that she has said and is written about her husband will make her look like she is supporting him which could result in her children being taken off her.

We don’t know if the family member’s husband is guilty or not (he is insisting he is innocent) but there are a few strange things that have been written in the reports and have been verbally stated that don’t add up including the police stating at one of the children’s meetings that they have on record an incident that happened a while ago that we can be 100% sure didn’t happen.

Dear familyhelp

Welcome to the kinship carers discussion forum and thank you for your post.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group and I will respond to your post. I see another poster has also responded to you from their own experience.

Your family member’s husband has been arrested for downloading indecent images of children and the police are still investigating. He has not been charged by the police.

The concerns you have relate to the information that is being shared with other professional regarding the offence and the worry that there is inaccurate information in the report prepared by the social worker. Your family member is worried about asking for these inaccuracies to be changed. The police have shared information about an incident which you say never happened. I am unclear why are certain about this if the police have recorded information. It would be for your family member’s husband to ensure that any information held by the police about him is correct.

Here is the government guidance about information sharing in child protection

If there are factual inaccuracies in the social worker’s report, then it is important for these to be changed by the social worker to ensure that information about the family is correct. Having said that, if the social worker has expressed a professional opinion, then, it is unlikely this will be changed. As it is not clear how long ago the report was prepared and signed off, it may be that you family must write out the correct facts and ask that it is added to the case file so that the correct information can be read. This is not supporting her husband but ensuring that correct information is recorded about her family.

I suggest your family member contact Lucy Faithfull Foundation on0808 100 0900 for advice. The offer advice to the non-offending and offending parent/person which might help her to navigate the difficult situation she finds herself in now.

If you or your family member wish to speak with one of our experienced advisers, you can telephone the advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)

Hope this is useful to you and your family member.

Best wishes

Suzie