False accusations and me living away from home

[kh75]

Can anyone please advise?
My eldest made false allegations against me (violence) in early June. She left home that same day. The police viewed our CCTV footage and had no concerns for my younger children. Then out of the blue, a fortnight later, SS and the police swooped in and removed my children. They stayed with family for a week. And for them to return home, I had to agree to move out. We had a conference meeting 3 weeks ago where it was decided to make this a Child in Need Plan rather than a CP one.
We are in limbo. Nearly 6 weeks on, I'm still sleeping elsewhere every night and having to rely on friends to supetvise my children with me each day my husband is at work.
I haven't been interviewed by the police, or by SS.
None of it makes any sense. The S47 assessment report was riddled with inaccuracies, lies and twisted conversations. We flagged this up before the conference, the chair wasn't interested. I've asked the SW to look at the statements I've made, she doesn't want them.
This feels beyond cruel. Our family was a solid unit, we had no reason to believe anything would happen like this. It beggars belief.

We don't know whether this is still a S47 investigation or whether it's been switched to a S17 - can it be both at the sane time?
We do not know how long I might be required to sleep elsewhere.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear kh75,

Welcome to the parents’ board and thank you for your post.

You say in your post that your eldest child made false allegations against you in early June. You say that police viewed CCTV footage and that no concerns for your younger children were raised. Two weeks later, your children were removed by police and children’s services, and went to stay with family for a week. In order for your children to return home, you were asked to move out – an initial child protection conference was held 3 weeks ago and it was decided that your children should be placed on a child in need plan.

You say that you are now still sleeping outside of the home and are required to be supervised by friends to supervise you around your children. You say that the S 47 assessment report contained inaccuracies, which you raised prior to the conference, but that the Chair did not take note of this. You feel that you are being treated cruelly and are unsure as to whether this is now under S 17 or S 47. You do not know how long you are being asked to sleep outside of the home.

Firstly, it sounds as though your children were removed from your care under police protection. You say this was out of the blue, but the reasons for this should have been made clear to you at the time. Just to note that children can only be kept under police protection for 72 hours – you say that the children stayed with family for a week – did the social worker ask you to consent to a section 20 agreement before they were returned home. It is important to note that children’s services can only keep children from their parents if their have an order from the court or if the parent consents to this.

A section 47 investigation was then carried out which resulted in your children being placed on a child in need plan. To answer your question, this means that this S 47 investigation has now ended and your children are children in need under section 17 of the children act (1989). You say that there were a lot of inaccuracies in the initial assessment and that you were not given the opportunity to discuss these at the initial child protection conference. If you feel that your voice was not heard or that the conference was held in an unfair way, you can make a complaint about this – this may lead to another conference being held. Take a look here for how to do this. I would advise that you also request a meeting with the social worker to discuss part of the assessment that you do not agree with. You may also want to write down your version of points you dispute and ask that this be attached to your children’s file.

In relation to your living situation – children’s services do not have the power to tell you that you cannot live in your own home. However, if you do move back when and they think this poses a risk of significant harm to your children, they make take escalate action or even seek legal advice, which could lead to them applying to the courts..

Initially, they may have asked you to move out in response to safeguarding concerns that wanted to further investigate. Children’s services may still have concerns about you living with your children, and if this is the case, these concerns should be very clearly communicated to you. Do you know why they continue to ask that you live outside the home? I would advise that you request a meeting with the social worker to make clear that your children’s safety is your top priority, and that you would like to move back home in a way that reflects this. You can ask the social worker what the current barriers to this are. The social worker should work with you to address any existing risk and any actions they would like you to take should be part of the child in need plan, which should be closely monitored. If you do not think you are being treated fairly and that your situation continues to drift, you should speak to the child protection chair. You can also make a formal complaint – for information on how to do this, look here

I hope you have found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie.

[kh75]

Thank you Suzie

We had a family network meeting last week where the SW met our support bubble. The majority of them made it clear in this meeting what a complete farce this is, and noone has previously ever had any concerns re my ability to safeguard my children. We brought up all the inconsistences in the first assessment report and the advice given since our family were first dropped into this horrible situation - very inconsistent and confusing guidance.
From that meeting, the SW came to see us today. She spoke to our children and then to us. After 6 weeks of sleeping in a separate place to my children, today I was allowed to move back into my own house, allowed to go away with my family next week, and allowed to be a Mummy again without being supervised.
I am in shock but relieved, joyous, and so very grateful. We know that the children are still under Child in Need plan and we know SS will be in our lives for a long time from now, but I haven't felt this positive for a long time.