Advice on Section 37 report?

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stressedoutmum
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2017 9:49 pm

Advice on Section 37 report?

Post by stressedoutmum » Thu Jul 06, 2017 6:49 pm

Hi,
My 8 year old daughter is currently being monitored by the LA on a Child protection Plan under the category of "emotional abuse", and has had the same social worker for the last 2 years...however both myself and my daughter do not get on with said social worker, and to the point that in February this year the social worker was pulled from having any sort of contact with my child due to her constantly upsetting and distressing my daughter...a new (nicer) social worker was allocated to to direct work sessions with my daughter but the original SW was deemed the "Lead Social Worker" in the case and that she would still be the main author of any reports, hold conferences etc and make court appearances (court as in private law proceedings to arrange contact with my ex/father of child).
The "lead" has not seen or spoke to my child since December last year, and the new one has done a handful of direct work sessions with my daughter. the new SW, myself and daughter all get along fine and i thought things were going in a positive direction....
Until a section 37 was ordered for court and it was all authored by the lead SW who has not seen myself, my child's father or our child since very early February - and because of this report (along with a few procedural irregularities) my daughter was taken out of my care without warning to live with her father full time, me not seeing my child for 3 weeks, and now only seeing her for 90minutes a week in a contact centre.
i have a solicitor who has serious concerns with the report, along with a judge who also has concerns regarding the report and its authenticity.

I was just wondering if anyone knew / could advise on how and why (or if its procedure) a social worker who has no involvement with either families or the child can write a report like this - bearing in mind that none of the recent work with new sw is included...

This social worker and i have not got along since day 1 and she has been found to be biased and inappropriate before now when writing reports...

None of this makes any sense, especially when the allegations within the report cannot be proven..but meanwhile there's a very upset distressed little girl that just wants her mum..

Any help would be much appreciated..
Thanks

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
Posts: 4210
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Advice on Section 37 report?

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Fri Jul 28, 2017 11:50 am

Dear stressedoutmum

Welcome to the Family Rights Group Parents Discussion Board.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group. I am sorry that your post was not answered sooner, due to volume of work.
I am sorry that you are having difficulties with the social worker allocated to your case. You say that social worker doing direct work with your daughter was changed and this worked better for you and your daughter.

Your daughter is on a child protection plan which suggests that children’s services has safeguarding concerns. If you have not been working well with the child protection plan, children’s services is likely to take action.

In your post you say that a section 37 report was prepared. This means that you are involved in private law proceedings as this report is usually requested by the judge if he or she considers that children’s services should make enquiries to decide if they should apply for a care order.

As you have a solicitor representing you I think he or she is best placed to deal with any concerns you have regarding the report. I assume that the court has not yet made a final order even though your daughter is currently in her father’s care. It will be for your solicitor to ensure that the court is aware of discrepancies in the report.

In response to your question about the senior social worker being the author of the report, children’s services when directed by the court to do a report, can decide who will do the report. In your case the social worker know the case and would probably have been considered the most appropriate person to do the s.27 report. As stated above, if there are any concerns at all about the content of the report then your solicitor will need to bring them to the judge’s attention.

It is not clear from your post why your daughter was removed but it may be because of the concerns that children’s services have which has led to her being on a child protection plan. If it is believed that her emotional wellbeing is adversely affected then it may be that children’s services suggested that her father look after her to prevent them issuing care proceedings. I suggest you discuss this with your solicitor who has all the evidence in your case and is best placed to give you information and advice.

I have included a copy of our advice sheet relating to child protection for your information.

We advise where children’s services are involved with a family but in respect of private law proceedings. The agency that deals with private law matters in England, Coram Children’s Legal Centre (0300 330 5480), does not advise where a person already has a solicitor.

I hope you find this of help.

Best wishes

Suzie

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