Children in need - removing a parent from the home

[Rr 80]

Hi there,
I am wondering if someone can advise if under children in need a parent has to leave the home otherwise they would put the children in immediate temporary foster care?
The reason I ask is that I was told to do this as I am an alcoholic, I have kept it all away from my children and they have never seen me drunk or when I have had to be taken to hospital etc. there has been one incident when my eldest came back from school and found me passed out on the floor and that was the only time.
I was told by my social worker to leave the family home which is a bought property and I was in effect homeless, she told me that it wasn’t her problem and I had to make alternative arrangements or my children would be removed. She also stated that it would be for a considerable amount of time and quoted at least 3 6 months at the earliest. Therefore after doing air bnbs etc I signed a lease for 6 months on a house nearby that I honestly couldn’t afford, however 2 weeks after signing the lease I told her that I was seeking legal advice (my councillor and another suggested this) and within two days I was allowed home, and they are now looking to close the case. However I am now stuck with an empty property due to her information is there anything I can do ?
Thanks

[Rr 80]

Sorry the childrens social worker I don’t have one.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi there,
I am wondering if someone can advise if under children in need a parent has to leave the home otherwise they would put the children in immediate temporary foster care?
The reason I ask is that I was told to do this as I am an alcoholic, I have kept it all away from my children and they have never seen me drunk or when I have had to be taken to hospital etc. there has been one incident when my eldest came back from school and found me passed out on the floor and that was the only time.
I was told by my social worker to leave the family home which is a bought property and I was in effect homeless, she told me that it wasn’t her problem and I had to make alternative arrangements or my children would be removed. She also stated that it would be for a considerable amount of time and quoted at least 3 6 months at the earliest. Therefore after doing air bnbs etc I signed a lease for 6 months on a house nearby that I honestly couldn’t afford, however 2 weeks after signing the lease I told her that I was seeking legal advice (my councillor and another suggested this) and within two days I was allowed home, and they are now looking to close the case. However I am now stuck with an empty property due to her information is there anything I can do ?
Thanks

Dear Rr80

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear of the difficulties that you and your family have experienced.

Your children were under a child in need plan due to concerns about the impact of your alcohol use on your children. Although you have tried to protect your children from this you mention having had to be taken to hospital and one specific incident where your eldest child did witness you when you were incapacitated due to alcohol use. This may have been quite distressing for your child who may have felt responsible for managing the situation. Please see here for information about why children’s services can be concerned when a parent has alcohol use problems . I hope you are getting help and support now; you can find some links to specialist services here.

The social worker asked you to leave your family home so that the children could remain there safely otherwise they stated that the children would need to be placed in foster care. Children’s services would have needed your consent (or the consent of another parent with parental responsibility) to place the children in section 20 voluntary accommodation. Otherwise they would have needed to obtain a court order to remove the children or the police would have had to take the children in to police protection.

It is not unusual for social workers to ask (or recommend) that a parent leaves home in order to safeguard child/ren and to allow the children to have the stability of remaining at home. This is usually requested while children’s services are doing an assessment. The government sets a 45 working day timescale for a social worker to complete an assessment. However, in such a situation the social worker should explain very clearly that they are asking a parent to cooperate and have no legal mandate to insist that a parent leaves i.e. they should make clear that this is voluntary. They should also explain that they can only remove a child in certain circumstances (as I have set out above). The social worker should also provide the parent with a realistic idea of the timescale they are asking the parent to agree to remain outside the home for and how/when this will be reviewed.

You acted protectively by agreeing to move out while your children remained at home with their other parent. This had financial consequences for you i.e. paying for accommodation and then signing a lease for a property for 6 months.

When you challenged children’s services they quickly accepted that you could return home, presumably being satisfied that the children were unlikely to suffer harm by your return to the family home. From what you say, their concerns have greatly reduced and your children’s case is due to closed.

If you want to challenge children’s services about how your situation was managed and how this affected you, you could consider making a complaint highlighting the following (if applicable) :

• That it was not made clear to you that the request for you to live elsewhere while children’s services were assessing your children’s situation / working with your children, was voluntary.
• That you were not given a clear timescale for how long you were being asked to live away from home
• That there was no scheduled review of the plan
• That the circumstances in which children services could potentially remove your children were not explained to you.
• That the lack of clarity about the plan has had financial implications for you.

You can find out more about how to make a complaint here.

You may be interested in the following complaint against Newcastle City Council which was investigated by the Local Government Ombudsman:

Local Government Ombudsman complaint: Newcastle CC.

Amongst the Ombudsman’s recommendations were that :

• Children’s services should ensure that all parties involved understand the agreement is voluntary and explain any consequences of not following the agreement.

• Relevant staff should be reminded of the importance of providing parents with all the information needed to make informed decisions and keeping a record of any agreements.

If you would like to discuss your situation with an adviser please call our freephone advice line 0808 8010366, the opening times are Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm. Or please post back on this forum if we can help.

Best wishes

Suzie

[Rr 80]

Thank you so much for your response x I am due to have the case closed in the 8th of August so I am going to lodge a formal complaint once it it closed. She has backtracked, forgot meetings, not read messages, got the after school care names wrong etc. she has been lazy and slap dash to say the least but I want her to close the case before I go any further as I feel any involvement on my part now could jeopardise this.
Could you advise me if you would agree with this measure?
Thank you X

[benion]

Is there anything you can do regarding the rental on the additional home? No!

Should you complain? My advice is don't. Complaints about social workers are investigated internally so you will not achieve much.

The very last thing you want is to "rock the boat". Remember, until your youngest child is 18, there is always a chance you could be referred back to SS, whether for genuine reasons, or maliciously.

Do not make yourself an enemy of SS!

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Rr80,

You say in your post that you have concerns about making a complaint before the case is closed, as you are worried it may compromise this.

Despite advice given by other posters, I would encourage you to make a formal complaint for the reasons that have been outlined in my previous post. It is important to remember that parents and carers have a right to complain where they are concerned children’s services or a social worker have not done the right thing for their child or family.

Complaints should be investigated appropriately and in line with local policies and national legislation, regulation and statutory guidance. Complaints should not be used against those who make them and cases should be closed based on assessment of risk to the child.

If you would prefer to wait for the case to be closed to make a complaint, you can do this up to a year after the incident that you are complaining about.

I hope you have found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie.

[Bings]

So I have a friend here, he is a male friend social services asked him to leave whilst an assessment is on going as my 11 year old son made an allegation, my 11 year old son has now retracted his allegation and wants the male ro return home but social services are still saying no he can't, wasn't explained that it was voluntary they watched the boys get undressed 2 female social workers 2 boys age 9 and 11 I haven't been kept up to date with anything no meetings or appointments and the social worker doesn't get back to me either went to a meeting last week and I'm now back on anti depressants because of the whole situation what should of been explained to me, both boys have additional needs aswel

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Bings,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the parents' board.

You say that you have a male friend staying with you and that children's services have asked him to leave whilst an assessment is ongoing. Your 11 year old son made a disclosure about this person. He has since retracted what he has said. The social workers have said that your friend cannot return home. You say you have not been explained that this is voluntary. You also say that they watched your boys get undressed. You do not feel that you have been kept in the loop and say that the social worker has not gotten back to you. You are on anti-depressants and say your children have additional needs.

Firstly, I am sorry to hear about the distressing situation you are in.

It is important that you establish what kind of assessment the social worker is doing - from what you say, this is a child in need assessment. A child in need assessment can take up to 45 days and involves the social worker speaking to you, your children and other professionals to gain a better understanding of your family's situation. At the end of the assessment, the social worker will make recommendations around whether they think they need to remain involved. If they think they are areas where your family would benefit from extra support, they may recommend a child in need plan. You can read more about child in need assessments and plans here.

It seems as though the social worker has not communicated effectively with you and that you are feeling lost in the process. I would advise that you ask for a meeting with the social worker in order to discuss why an assessment is being, what the concerns are, what steps you can take to address these concerns, what support can be put in place and what you can expect from the assessment period. You may want to express your concerns about the lack of communication so that you and the social worker can establish a plan to address this.

You mention that the social worker has recommended your friend does not move back in. Your son has made a disclosure about this person, and the social worker has to take this seriously. They may have concerns that this person poses a risk to your children. If you decide not to follow their recommendation, they may be worried that you are not acting in a protective way. They may initiate child protection enquiries if they think your children are at risk of significant harm. You can read more about child protection enquiries here.

You mention that the social worker watched your children get undressed. Obviously you are concerned about this. I would advise that you escalate this concern to the social worker's manager and consider making a formal complaint. Take a look here for more information about this.

Finally, please do continue to seek help from your GP if you are struggling with your mental health. Remember, you can call the Samaritans at any time of the day on 116 123.

Best wishes,

Suzie.

[Bings]

They have said under no circumstances can my friend move back in as they haven't completed backround checks several attempts have been made to the social worker regarding this and she won't return calls or reply and to be honest she's quite difficult to work with and I'm getting emotionally drained now by it all

[Bings]

They still haven't mentioned that all of this is voluntary and I'm always made to feel rubbish