ADVICE ABOUT SOCIAL WORKER ACCESS

[JAY VEE]

Hello everyone.I have a 14 year daughter,who until recently has never been troublesome or given us cause for concern.In May of this year we were contacted by a social worker from an organisation called The Sunrise Team who operate from a local police station & work with the police.They informed us that our daughter was friends with another girl the same age who is well known to police & social services & that under no circumstances were we to let our daughter have any contact with her.Shortly after this, our daughter has been assigned a social worker from the local authority as they fear that she (due to her friendship with the other girl) is at risk from sexual exploitation.We were initially shocked but agreed straight away to work with SS. The social worker from the local authority is OK but often misses pre-arranged visits or just arrives unexpectedly.The social worker from The Sunrise Team is in touch with us regularly but now tells us that she wants our daughter to visit the aforementioned friend,despite previously telling us that she posed a risk.I have told her that we were 100% against this (the SW did tell us it would be a supervised visit) but she keeps pushing us to agree.I need to know if legally I can refuse all visits & access to my daughter from The Sunrise Team.We are still very willing to work with the local authority social worker & have always been very receptive to her advice.Any help/tips/advice will be very much appreciated.

[Miserylovescompany2]

Hello

Might I ask if your daughter is currently subject to any plan for example a child in need or child protection plan. Because if so you should have been given a clear plan of expectations.

I would ask to speak to both managers regarding what is being suggested and ask that you be given clarification in writing as to what is expected of you. Because if your daughter is not subject to any of the before mentioned plans then you (from my own understanding) do not have to agree. Even if there were either of the before mentioned plans you do not have to agree. I would be putting your concerns in writing.

With regard to allowing or not allowing CS entry to your home. You do not have to. But if they feel any child is a significant risk of harm due to their home or parents (whoever lives in the household) then they (CS) can ask the police to remove the child (72hr police protection) in this time though they have to prove their concerns to a court.

Also do you know if the other child is looked after by the LA? I am asking out of my own curiosity. As my own son is looked after and the LA have a duty of care to make sure he is safe.

The above is simply my own understanding as a parent.

[JAY VEE]

Thank you for your reply.As far as we are aware,our daughter is not under any care plan.I do not have any real issue with the LA social workers seeing her or us.I am annoyed by the behaviour of the social worker from The Sunrise Team & do not understand why we have 2 social workers from different organisations involved.I`m sure the LA social worker would contact the police or remove our daughter if that was required.The situation my daughter is/has been in does not concern her wellbeing while at home.The other girl has been removed from her home (along with some of her siblings) & is in local authority care ( also both LA & Sunrise social workers care for her)

Another reason I do not want the Sunrise Team SW involved is that as she also cares for the other girl & is always "bragging" about all she is done for her & how much progress she has made.Without wishing to seem insensitive about the other girl,our daughter is the one we care about.There is a lot more to this than I have posted ,mainly about the other girls family who until recently were not known to us but have taken great delight in threatening us with violence & trying to intimidate us on social media etc.We have notified the police on many occasions & given them evidence but their help was poor & sporadic.

[Miserylovescompany2]

Hello again,

I would imagine the Sunrise team SW works on only specific concerns (sexual exploitation being one of these).Therefore would of had more training in this area. This does not excuse the way in which she has disclosed information in the context which she has. I would take this up with her manager. Her conduct does not seem professional. I'm not 100% sure whether certain details can be shared when there is a safeguarding concern relating to the other girl but I would hope the details you are provided are proportionate to the concern. The 'bragging' part is most certainly not!

With regard to the ongoing concern of the other girls family threatening violence on social media. I would seek legal advice because the police should be proactively dealing with this. You might also require a non-molestation order if this gets worse. Were you given a crime number by the police? Because each time you report an incident you should be. Do your local police have a cyber crime department?

The Sunrise Team I believe have a website. There might be a complaints process on there. I would ask for their complaints procedure if not and decide whether you want to pursue this as a complaint.

[JAY VEE]

Thanks again I will be ringing Sunrise & voicing my concerns.It may well be that there is a reason for their involvement as you have suggested but we are still not happy with them.We have the crime numbers from the police & to be fair to them one officer in particular has done a massive amount of work to try & secure a conviction against a member of the other girls family but has come under pressure from the Sunrise SW to drop it as "It would undermine all the hard work we have done to build trust with the other girls family." Again,I`m sure that Sunrise have done a lot but the other families problems are not for us to worry about.We have just now been told that the SW visited our daughter at school today & also brought her home after school.It would be nice to be told in advance that our child is to be spoken to by SW even if we were not present.

[Miserylovescompany2]

I would of assumed that your consent would have been sought prior to speaking with your daughter and most definitely for transporting her home. My worry would be that this other family are aware of what is happening and that puts both your daughter and the rest of your family at potential risk. What additional measures are in place to ensure your daughter is safe? Because if this was flipped and you as a mother were proactively encouraging your daughter to visit this girl knowing the background CS would have come down on you with a tonne of bricks! So why do they feel its ok to place your daughter in a very vulnerable position? Simply because they need her to gather info from this other girl. I wouldn't be happy.

It seems one rule for them and a completely different set for everyone else.

How does your daughter feel about this. Has she found any if this upsetting or distressing. Because if so that's even more of a reason to stop this.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear JAY VEE

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for posting.

I see from your post that you have concerns regarding your daughter and the information you have received which gives cause worried for your daughter.

It is not clear from your post whether your daughter has been made subject to a child in need or child protection plan with children’s services following a referral to them about the risk of sexual exploitation because of a particular friendship.

You say your daughter was, prior to you being informed of the possible risk of sexual exploitation, gave no cause for concern. Having decided to act on the advice you were given by the Sunrise Team you have been working with the allocated social worker to ensure your daughter is safeguarded.

The cause for your current worry is that, having been told to prevent contact between your daughter and a particular friend, the same team that advised this course of action is now saying that your daughter should have contact with this friend. I think you need to ask for a proper explanation from the Sunrise Team for this change as your main concern in your daughter’s safety. It may be that in considering the needs of your daughter’s friend, they have concluded that it is not helpful for to be isolated from your daughter who might be a significant person for her.

I agree with the advice that has been offered to you so far. My suggestion is that the best course would be for you to ask for a meeting with the social worker from children’s services, her manager and the person from the team so that you can have a discussion about what is best for your daughter as well as clarity around the decision for contact between your daughter and this other girl to be resumed. It is important for you to know what has changed since you were given specific advice that your daughter should not have any contact to safeguard her from sexual exploitation. How will your daughter be safeguard and keep safe from the perceived risk of sexual exploitation.

At the moment you are getting mixed messages and hopefully this meeting will ensure things are made clear for you so that you can make an informed decision regarding your daughter.

Should you wish to speak to an adviser, you can telephone our free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 3pm.

Hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie

[JAY VEE]

Thank you Suzy.I have twice informed the Sunrise SW (in the presence of the local authority SW) that we feel we do not need their (Sunrise) involvement.The Sunrise SW disagrees but nobody is able to tell us if we are as parents,legally allowed to refuse them access.We have also never been given anything in writing explaining why all of this is taking place or told of our rights as parents.We also need to know if the police have the right to interview our child without us (or maybe a solicitor) present.Until today,we had no idea that the police had spoken to our daughter at school.

We have never been obstructive to any professional involved & have a LA SW visiting us & regularly.We have always co-operated with every authority but it is becoming increasingly hard to keep up with what is going on and am becoming frustrated that we are kept in the dark about the who/what/why of so much.Our daughter is also becoming more upset & confused & it feels like everyone else is allowed to make decisions for her apart from us.

[Miserylovescompany2]

I assumed children required an appropriate adult whilst the police speak to them? There maybe circumstances when this is not the case.

Might I suggest you take this to your MP - they should be able to write on your behalf and get a written response from CS and hopefully the Sunrise team. No parent should be left in the dark. I would also consider taking your daughter to the GP to discuss the ongoing distress this is causing.

[JAY VEE]

Thank you again.Our local MP recently told me,"I am far to busy to deal with constituents issues" to my face,so I would never involve her.Right now,I have serious concerns for my daughter (she is currently at school) and cannot get any answer from the school welfare officer or get hold of any social worker even though I have rang numerous times.I will be getting a solicitor ASAP.