Pre-birth assessment almost done

[JulyBabyComing]

Hi,

I’ve not been on here for a while but wanted to do an update. We’ve reached the end of the assessment period for our unborn baby now and just waiting for the outcome to be written up. We’ve had 7 direct-work sessions over the last few months and covered things like: prenatal health, stress, attachment and bonding, pets, finances, relationships and mental health and baby care. They also did a session one to one with my partner. It’s been really indepth but it’s been good going through all of it.

We have continued to also have review meetings monthly during this time, and it seems they’ll continue until our baby is born.

Our social worker told us that we’ll be having a Public Law Outline meeting soon, and she said not to panic - she explained that the pre-birth team do PLO meetings in tandem with child in need and child protection plans, and that it doesn’t necessarily mean court. We’ve been asked to get solicitors for this meeting so we have someone there to help us make sense of it. Understandably, the idea of a PLO is making me a tad anxious as it sounds scary, but the social worker has assured us they have no concerns with us at all and the only concern is historic (me being in a pool) - this is also reflected in the letter we were given.

We don’t have the outcome of the assessment yet, but the social worker said it’s likely it’ll be that our baby is home and my partner supervises me for a little while - also long as our baby comes home I’m overjoyed.

We’ve also been asked to put some names forward for a ‘viability assessment’, which again sounded scary, but it was explained that it’s just incase we suddenly began behaving wildly out of character (like if we drinking heavily or something daft like that) and so they’d have back-ups prepared. We’ve been reassured they have no concerns and it’s highly unlikely it’ll come to this, as we wouldn’t do that.

I hope this helps someone

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear JulyBabyComing,

Thank you for your update.

You say you have reached the end of the assessment period for your unborn baby and that you are waiting for the outcome of the assessment to be written up. Your social worker has told you that there is going to be a PLO meeting soon. You have been told not to panic, and that the PLO process if often run in tandem with the child protection process and that this does not mean you are going to court. You have been asked to get a solicitor. You are understandably a little anxious but the social worker has reassured you that they have no concerns and that the only concern is historic, which is reflected in the letter you have been given. You do not have the outcome of the assessment yet but the social worker has said that it is likely that your baby can come home with you. You have been asked to put forward names for a viability assessment - again, you have been told not to worry about this.

It sounds like you have worked really well with children's services and that there are some positive outcomes from this. The social worker has reassured you that they do not have significant concerns and that it is likely your baby can come home with you.

Additionally, children's services have initiated the PLO process. This is also known as pre-proceedings. It is the stage that may happen before children's services take a case to court and offers families and professionals the chance to work together to affect positive changes. You can read more about pre-proceedings here.

I think it is important in your case that you are really clear on why children's services are initiating pre-proceedings and what steps they want you and your partner to take during this period. You say that you have a PLO meeting coming up - it is really important that you organise a solicitor for this. This will be an opportunity to discuss what the PLO plan for you and your family will be. There is some really useful information on the webpage I have linked above on how you can find a solicitor and what you can do to prepare for this meeting.

It is important that you do put forward anyone within your network who may be able to care for your child to be assessed, as you have acknowledged.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie.

[JulyBabyComing]

Hi Suzie,

Thank you for your reply - the social worker explained to us that PLOs are typically done as the last step before court but with the pre-birth team (that’s only been around in our local authority the passed few years) it’s something they do to have a legal framework in place surrounding the case and can be done along side child in need and child protection cases, and is more there as a ‘just in case’ so if something awful did happen, it wouldn’t be a last minute panic. I guess it must be something unique to our Local authority. She did stress to us not to panic and that they have no concerns with us, which was nice. Their only concern is the historic one of me being in a pool but otherwise everything is good and they’ve said we’ve engaged really well.

We’re still awaiting the outcome of the assessment and waiting for the assessment to be written up, but they’ve said they have no concerns with us at all which is great to hear. We’ve had the first
PLO now but it was more introductory than anything as we don’t have the assessment yet, they’ve said that because of the severity of the historic concerns (the pool) we’ll continue to have monthly PLOs until they’re satisfied all is well and we’re adhering to the plan that will be written up for baby - which we will. They also said, as long as everything remains positive, the PLOs will be relatively quick.

They’ve also explained that the pre-birth team also do a post-birth assessment once baby is home that lasts around 8 weeks, to ensure that we’re doing everything right when baby’s here.

Bit of a waiting game now for us, but I’m hoping these updates are helping someone.