Scared about what Social Services might do

[confused]

My husband's step son has been assigned a social worker as he claims my husband is hitting him and punishing him too much and his bad behaviour at school has been attributed to this. He is a difficult child and doesn't respond to the same punishments as the other children so we have had to resort to the occasional smack and have had to shout at him a lot more than the others. As a result of this my husband is only able to see him in public places. The details of the case have now been passed to social services where we live and I am worried that they might stop him living with me and our two sons and my two daughters from a previous relationship in case they think that the same might happen with them. There is no evidence for this at all as he doesn't smack any of the other children as they are well behaved and don't give him any reason to, and he rarely tells off my daughters as I usually do it. I wondered if anyone could tell me what might happen if they do investigate it, are they likely to interview my daughters (aged 10 and 7) or stop my husband seeing our sons (aged 2 and a baby).

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear confused,

Welcome to the parents board. I am sorry about the difficulties that your family have been having recently and that a referral has been made to your local children’s services.
Here is a link to our advice sheet about child protection procedures.
: child protection procedures If you can read through this-it will answer a lot of your questions.
The child protection assessment
Page 8 onwards sets out what happens if the social worker decided to carry out an investigation. The initial assessment usually lasts up to 10 working days and this involves the social worker speaking to you as Mum and to your husband. The social worker should explain what the concerns are and will ask for your consent to speak to health (health visitor GP and school nurse-and other health professionals), the school, nursery, police and any other professionals who have been involved with your children. You can ask for a copy of the assessment. If more information is needed then the social worker will proceed to a core assessment-which takes much longer (can last up to 35 days from the referral)but asks the same questions but concentrates on your children’s needs and your ability as parents to meet their needs as well as looking at the wider family (to see what support is there as well as risks) and the environment.
So they will be looking for all the positives as well as any possible risks. You can ask as many questions of the social worker that you feel necessary
Will they interview my children
As a part of the assessment, it is normal for the social worker to speak to your older children and it is usual that she speaks to them alone. Please see page 5 of the advice sheet which explains why they like to see your children. It is important that you do allow the social worker to see your children as if you refuse they do have powers to apply to the court.
Will they make my husband move out?
If at any time during the assessment they believed that any of your children were suffering or likely to suffer immediate significant harm or were in immediate danger then the law says that they must take steps to protect your children or child at risk. They may want your husband to move out-but cannot force him to. However, if your husband did not move out in these circumstances then they may want you to move with your children to a safe address or consider whether any of your children should be removed into the care-of the local authority (by court order) or be accommodated.(with your consent.) They can only do this if you agree or they get a court order (or for up to 72 hours the police can take the children into police protection).
If the social worker wanted your husband to move out temporarily while they carried out the assessment, you could consider the following:
• The local authority have the power to offer emergency accommodation to your husband but do not have to ;
• Make sure that you agree a timescale with the social worker for the agreement to be reviewed-say 2 weeks;
• Make sure the agreement is in writing-get legal advice or speak to an adviser on our advice line before you sign it, if you can;
• What about an agreement that your husband stay in the family home but only have supervised contact with the children-ie that you or someone else-such as a relative or friend be assessed to supervise his contact with the children. You or the relative would have to be assessed as being able to protect the children from your husband. They are less likely to agree as it would be very difficult to keep to, as you have 4 children to look after. But it may be an option.

Moving out would only be necessary if there was a risk of immediate harm. From your post it is not clear whether there is this immediate risk. Has your stepson had an assessment that looks into why he is exhibiting such challenging behaviour and had your husband been directed to support to help him manage such behaviour –such as parenting courses?
If the social worker thought there was a “continuing risk” to any of your children she could consider a child protection conference should be held. See page 14 of the advice sheet and a film on our website
: film
I hope I have been of help but if you have any other questions at all please post back.
Best wishes,
Suzie