Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

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Piper
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Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2019 9:35 pm

Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

Post by Piper » Sat Aug 17, 2019 9:12 am

Hi....please could someone give me some advice on how social services can put our children on child protection through false information and what can we do to get help. Me and my partner have been on social services now for 14 months after being told the case was closed.
We have recently had a son and there was a conference held without us being told.....they have put our children on child protection through stuff that happened months ago and they have admitted that the professionals have got to hold a review because they have made mistakes.social services know what they have done and because the social worker appointed to us had lied the manager had even changed her. Now as far as I'm aware you can't just change social workers??? There is so much more to this but we really don't know which way to turn...putting us on a order through history is nuts ....please could someone give us the right information on what to do please
Thanks

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Re: Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Thu Sep 12, 2019 1:32 pm

Dear Piper

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post. I am sorry that you have not received a response sooner due to the volume of posts we are receiving. I am also sorry to hear of the difficulties you and your family are experiencing.

You are very unhappy with the way children’s services have treated you and your children, who are currently on a child protection plan . This includes your new baby son. (Congratulations on his birth).

You disagree with the basis for the decisions that have been taken and with how things have been done, which you feel has been without your knowledge or consent.

It must be very hard for you to work with children’s services when you feel so strongly that they have not worked openly and honestly with you. However, it is important for the children’s sake that you are able to let them know what you are unhappy about and why, while at the same time cooperating with the child protection plan. By working with the social worker and the other agencies involved you can make sure that you know what is happening, you can show what you are doing to care for and keep your children safe and you can be as informed as possible about what the worries are for the children.

Sometimes decisions are made about children that relate to incidents/ situations or allegations that happened previously – if the children are still being impacted or at risk in some way because of that situation. However, as parents you should always be given an opportunity to put forward your views, both when you have visits from the social worker or when you attend formal meetings such as a core group or a child protection conference . Parents should always be invited and supported to attend conferences (unless that would put someone at risk of harm) and the main meeting that takes place without inviting parents is the strategy meeting which plans any child protection investigation . I don’t know if that is the meeting you refer to? You can ask the new social worker to clarify this for you.

When there is a child protection plan there must always be a follow up review conference to decide if the plan should stay in place or not.

There could be a number of reasons why a family are allocated a new social worker so I cannot really confirm why this happened in your case. Hopefully it is a good thing for you and your family that there is a new social worker involved and that you may be able to work better together.

Here are a few suggestions of what might help:

If you or your partner are vulnerable in some way, maybe through health needs or disability, or due to the difficult relationship you are experiencing with children’s services, you could try to find out if there are any advocacy services locally that might be able to help you. It can be difficult to find an advocate but it is worth seeing if it might be possible. Our advice sheet may help. You can ask the social worker about this too.

• Here are some tips on working with a social worker .
• Here are some tips also on getting ready for a child protection conference - including how to deal with factually incorrect information in reports.
• If you have support from family or friends you could ask for a family group conference to be arranged to bring them together to help support you and make a safe plan for the children.
• If you think it is necessary you can consider making a complaint – but don’t stop keeping to the plan and working with everyone involved.

Just to note, a child protection plan is not an order – if there is any mention of children’s services going to court to seek a court order then please do get in touch with a solicitor urgently or ring FRG’s Freephone advice line to get some advice.

This information about might help explain more about what should and what can happen

Maybe you would like to discuss your situation with an adviser ? If so, you can call our Freephone advice line on 0808 8010366 Mon- Fri 9.30 – 3.00 pm.

I hope this helps.

With best wishes

Suzie

Pink butterfly
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Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2019 4:08 pm

Re: Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

Post by Pink butterfly » Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:21 am

Hi can I get some advice please

I am a young autistic mother who had her child stolen from her and placed under an SGO when he was nearly a year old.

Social services came into my life when my unborn child’s father contacted them because he was afraid of being a dad.

On the first meeting with ss we were forced to sign paperwork to allow ss to have access to our medical records, and to discuss how they were going to help/ support us. We told them that we needed to get a new flat as our tenancy was nearly up.

A month later after the first meeting, ss came to see me in our flat which we had set up as home, even though some of our things were in boxes. Ss claimed this wasn’t good enough, they also spoke with our housing officer, this was where the lies started as ss forced us out of our flat claiming that we hadn’t been working with the housing officer when in fact we had been.

A few days later I went into labour and was in hospital, just as labour had started m, ss came in and handed us a letter and told us our child had been placed on a child in need plan.

I couldn’t believe it, a week after I gave birth we were told to attend this meeting set up by social and was told we needed to have a solicitor. The information brought up in the meeting, were lies about my now ex partner, lies about me and my family.

I tried to speak the truth and no one listened. I went back to the hospital and a few days later was told I wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital until ss said I could. There was nothing wrong with my health or my baby’s, the staff were impressed with my care tasks and more but ss wouldn’t listen. After 3 weeks in hospital ss arrived with a car full of our belongings and told us to get in the car as they were talking us to a special unit. We were taken from our family and support network to a place we were isolated in.

Whilst at this unit I was told to complete the assessments otherwise they threatened to take my child from me. I asked ss and the staff multiple times why I had been sent to that place and all I got told was that they had information to say I wouldn’t cope as a parent. Yet they refused to let me show them what I was capable of doing

Fast forward 7 months and we were in court as social still had concerns about my partner at the time and myself. They claimed he had emotionally and physically abused me, yet there was no proof from either of us, and ss never saw us together as a couple.

In court, I was refused to tell the truth about everything that had happened, when the verdict came through from the judge she refused my evidence and believed everyone else’s.

Social services refused to read my autism assessment and claimed I was unable to look after my child. They never undertook any actual assessments nor did they have any proof that I wouldn’t be able to cope with raising a child.

Since my son has forcefully and wrongly been placed on an SGO I have had my contact cut to next to nothing, even tho the court order said it would be twice a week. I have only seen my child 3 times since he was stolen from me. I have made complaints to social, I have been contacting other solicitors and no one will help.

The SGOs are now trying to stop my contact all together, I do not get on with one of them as she has lied to ss about me. Also ss were supposed to bring all my belongings to the most recent place I’ve been living in and now they are refusing, and now the SGOs are threatening to throw my belongings away as well as shut me out of my child’s life.

I am extremely concerned about him as he’s not getting the care he should, yet ss claimed I wasn’t looking after my child even though they were happy and cared for and kept safe.

I have been fighting to get my baby back for nearly a year. I had been to many solicitors and no one seems to want to help. I got myself a business, I’m going to be doing some courses from home so that I can spend more time with my baby.

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Re: Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Mon Jan 20, 2020 3:31 pm

Dear Pink butterfly

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

I am sorry that it has taken some time for you to receive a response to your post.

In your post you mention that the court granted special guardianship order for your son to be cared for by someone else. It appears that this order may have been made as part of care proceedings brought by the local authority.

It is very hard for someone to have a child removed from their care and your distress is clear from your post. Unfortunately, it is not possible to go behind the order made by the court as, although you disagree, the court would have considered all the written and verbal evidence before reaching its decision.

You have mentioned a few things regarding your case. Firstly, that there were lies about you and the care of your child, that children’s services (the new name for social services) forced you out of your home. A social worker does not have the legal right to end your tenancy so I am not sure what you mean when you say they forced you out.

The fact that your child was on child protection plan means that there would have been an assessment to determine whether your child had suffered harm and at risk of further significant harm in the future. A child protection plan gives the opportunity for parents to work with children’s services and other professionals to address the identified concerns.

Children’s services will usually become involved with a family after receiving a referral and there are procedural guidelines. Please see our advice sheet An introductory guide to Children’s Services

If the child protection plan is not working and children’s services consider that the child’s welfare require them to make an application to the court, then they would apply for a care order. Family or friends put forward by the parent or parents can be assessed with a view to having long term care of the child. Alternatively, a family member or friend could apply to the court for an order even if children’s services do not make an application themselves. It is not clear from your post the circumstances in which the special guardianship order was made for your son.

It is possible to ask the court’s permission to apply to discharge a special guardianship order but you would have to be in a position to show the court that the concerns that led to the order being made are no longer relevant and that you have made significant changes. Legal aid may not be available to you to make the application and if you seek advice from solicitors they will want to know that you have an arguable case to present to the court. Unfortunately, saying that children’s services told lies is not likely to be a basis on which to go to court.

In any case, since there were court proceedings before the special guardianship order was made, you would have had the opportunity to inform the court of anything that was incorrect or lies.

Please read our advice sheet Special Guardianship: what does it mean for birth parents? for more information.

At the beginning of your post you mention that you are an autistic mother, were appropriate adjustments made for you, if you needed them, by children‘s services when they were working with you. If you believe this did not happen then you may wish to consider making a complaint about this and our advice sheet Challenging decisions and making complaints provides more information.

You may also find it helpful to contact this organisation which advises mothers whose children are not living with them

Regarding your belongings, you could try asking a police officer to accompany to collect them if you believe there will be any difficulties in you attending by yourself to do so. Alternatively, you could try and make arrangements through children’s services with the special guardians for a time when they can be collected by you or someone on your behalf.

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

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie

Frazor
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Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2019 1:44 am

Re: Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

Post by Frazor » Fri Feb 12, 2021 11:26 am

I proved my case was built on nothing but lies there is no evidence of anything being true that was written or even who had written any of it yet in 2017 they still won a care order of my two children, in 2016 when they got involved in my life the lies started from then on and still to this day. Is there anything i can do to stop this

LEF88
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2020 11:23 am

Re: Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

Post by LEF88 » Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:01 am

How do I take my situation to court when social services have put family on a child protection plan. Mistakes have been made and my children are suffering as a result. I have years of working for/with social services positively as an employee and due to a child with additional needs. I have had nothing but praise around the way I parent/managed until recently when an allegation was made against my child and they doubted whether I withheld information. I have always been the one to push for involvement when my child behaved inappropriately in any way. This was not the normal behaviours of my child and the other child's parent was present and dealt with the initial situation where we both believed it to be a misunderstanding.. More information was brought to light and social services wanted to look into it which I understood and cooperated straight away. This included my child residing out of our family home for nearly 3months. Libel information has been written and used, relevant information left out and things written completely out of context meaning the decision was not made based on holistic view of our situation. I have got myself an advocate to ensure nothing is written out of context in the future and I have challenged the decision. I have contacted to local mp and am awaiting a meeting with the Head of service to address the failings. I am trying to be patient but it is all taking so long. I have asked for advocates for my children also because they are now questioning why my child is upset saying being on a plan would not cause that. They are not considering the fact they lived apart for 3 months or that a child who lived with us for most of their lives has now been placed elsewhere due to them looking into all this. The pandemic then on top can not see family or friends then the one friend they was still using as a support bubble had to stop because they are on cpp.

I have engaged completely but sitting in those meetings hearing them say I failed to safeguard yet 1. We will never know if anything has actually happened. It has been looked into and no further actioned. I have still written a safety plan to account for potential risk.
2. I could never safeguard from a risk I was unaware of and have never denied it could have happened.
3. The other child's parent was there and we both made the same decision but only I am jumping through their hoops. It feels like discrimination because my child is the one who potentially did something wrong.
It is so difficult for social services and I completely understand they have to consider all possibilities but it is emotionally damaging me listening to them say things that are not true and i don't want my children to see me break which will happen if they don't correct what they have written. My children deserve the best and if they keep portraying what they are I will walk away so my kids get the best even if it's not me but I know the social services are wrong.

I am now at a point where I would rather go in front of a judge and let them deal with it but the local authority said they have no plans for court which means legal will not take it on at the minute. If I refuse to attend meetings will that push them to take it to court. I know I have so much information that supports my case and feel completely let down by the way my family have been treated.

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Re: Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Thu Mar 11, 2021 4:56 pm

Dear LEF88

Welcome back to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post. I am sorry that there has been a delay in my responding to your query.

It sounds as if the situation is still difficult for you and your family despite your cooperation and your understanding of children’s services’ role in assessing and putting plans in place to protect children from harm.

I think that you are very unhappy that some of the information that has been recorded in the social worker’s report is wrong and that other relevant information has been omitted or taken out of context. You have taken all the steps that we would recommend to try to make sure that you and your children are properly involved and to have your concerns addressed.

It is good to hear that you now have an advocate.

You have requested advocacy for the children too. Here is a link to advocacy services from Coram Voice and NYAS .

You have challenged the decision to make your children subject to a child protection plan; so, I think you are involved in the formal complaints procedure.

You are due to meet with the Head of Children’s Services.

You could go to the Local Government Ombudsman if your complaints are not addressed via the complaints procedure.

You have involved your local MP.

You are doing all the right things to try to address any factual errors, to highlight your disagreement with some of the information held on file and to make sure that your perspective is properly included.

I do understand your wish to put the case before a judge, but children’s services would usually only go to court if they were applying for a care or supervision order which they are not intending to do now.

Judicial review is the only other legal route to challenge the legality of a children’s services’ decision but is often not the best route, it can be a complicated area of law and can be very expensive. Please see the information on page 17 of our advice sheet on complaints.

I would encourage you to continue to attend meetings, difficult though it is, so that you are involved in the decisions for your children and so that you can respond to any concerns or queries. The child protection meetings will happen even if you are not there, but it is better if you are.

I hope that this helps.

With best wishes

Suzie

Scraggy2021
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:02 pm

Short team foster

Post by Scraggy2021 » Mon Mar 15, 2021 5:43 pm

Hi my me is XXXX I have 4 kids which have been put in short team foster care they are trying to say it was die to neglect which they have no proof of it I'm wanting to know how I can stop it from going to adoption and to get my kids back I've done nothing wrong to the kids all my life to my kids for it to get this far I'm just wanting some advise on how to get me kids back where they belong .
Last edited by Suzie, FRG Adviser on Wed Mar 17, 2021 9:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Moderated to protect anonymity

98drollins
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Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2021 11:02 pm

Re: Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

Post by 98drollins » Tue Mar 16, 2021 10:27 pm

Hi, On 19th Janaury myself, partner and ex friend was arrested on willful neglect, obtrution police and aiding and betting. The police turned up 10 times within 6 days looking for a wanted male never shown us a picture and only said he was a danger to women and children. It was only on the 4th day they turned up for a second time and then produced a picture. On the day we were arrested social services took my 3 children into care. We have been placed on bail pending further investigation; social services are taking me to court, but not taking our ex friend to court and she has her child back. I had a police office say I was making it about being a victum of domestic violents. The wanted person told me a fake name and didnt tell me about his past only to find out at the station that he was a sex offender and the social and police are saying that i knew when i didn't.
Social services are using my past against me, I have had social services involved on and off since 2012, I feel I have been hassled by them and have noticed that everything I have say they twist it or lie about it. They say they were going to support me and never do. Social services are trying to contact my violent ex to tell him what is going on and that his opinion off me.
I feel the social service have one motivative and that to have my children into care and that I wont be allowed to see them until their 18 years old.
I have proven to my lawyer that the social arent telling the truth along with other health professionals. I really don't know what else to do, I feel so alone.

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

Re: Being treated wrong by social services and being put on child protection through lies which are proven

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Tue Mar 23, 2021 2:58 pm

98drollins wrote: Tue Mar 16, 2021 10:27 pm Hi, On 19th Janaury myself, partner and ex friend was arrested on willful neglect, obtrution police and aiding and betting. The police turned up 10 times within 6 days looking for a wanted male never shown us a picture and only said he was a danger to women and children. It was only on the 4th day they turned up for a second time and then produced a picture. On the day we were arrested social services took my 3 children into care. We have been placed on bail pending further investigation; social services are taking me to court, but not taking our ex friend to court and she has her child back. I had a police office say I was making it about being a victum of domestic violents. The wanted person told me a fake name and didnt tell me about his past only to find out at the station that he was a sex offender and the social and police are saying that i knew when i didn't.
Social services are using my past against me, I have had social services involved on and off since 2012, I feel I have been hassled by them and have noticed that everything I have say they twist it or lie about it. They say they were going to support me and never do. Social services are trying to contact my violent ex to tell him what is going on and that his opinion off me.
I feel the social service have one motivative and that to have my children into care and that I wont be allowed to see them until their 18 years old.
I have proven to my lawyer that the social arent telling the truth along with other health professionals. I really don't know what else to do, I feel so alone.
Dear 98drollins,

You say in your post that you, your partner and ex-friend were arrested in January for wilful neglect, obstructing the police and aiding and abetting. The police visited your home 10 times in 6 days in search of a wanted male who they say was a danger to women and children. You were arrested and your 3 children taken into care. You are now on bail pending further investigation and children's services are initiating proceedings. You say that you were informed at the police station that the 'wanted' person was a sex offender; you say you were not aware of this and that this person had given you a fake name. You also mention that you have had previous children's services involvement and that you have not always received the support that you would like. You are worried that your ex-partner has been contacted and are concerned that your children will be taken into care until they are 18.

Firstly, you mention that you children were taken into care on the day you were arrested. Were they removed by the police? If this was the case, they may have been removed under police protection powers, which last for 72 hours. I am assuming from your post that your children are still in care; have you consented to a S. 20 agreement, and are they in the care of family or friends? If your children are in care, this means they are looked after, and that the local authority has certain duties towards them. It may be helpful for you to understand a bit more about this, which you can find out here.

Secondly, it is not clear in your post what your relationship is to the 'wanted' man and whether this person came into contact with your children. It seems that children's services are concerned that this may have happened and that given he is a sex offender, this has put them at significant risk. Are you able to clarify this? In any case, children's services have now initiated care proceedings, which shows that they have reason to believe that your children have suffered or may suffer significant harm in your care. Over the duration of care proceedings, a number of assessments will be carried out, and a decision will be made at the final hearing as to where your children should be cared for in the longer term. There are a number of things that could happen: if the court thinks that you are able to provide your children with a safe level of care, they may be returned to you. If, however, the court assesses that they would still be at risk of harm, a care order may be made. Even if your children remain in care after the final hearing, there is a presumption that you will continue to have contact, unless it is not in their best interests. You can read more about care proceedings here.

You mention that you have a solicitor - has a first hearing already taken place? It is important that you now work closely with the social worker to understand the reasons care proceedings have been initiated and engage in support to address these concerns. It is also important that you speak to your solicitor about anything that you may wish to challenge. Have you been offered a family group conference? This is a helpful way to gather support from your family and friends and to consider who may be able to care for your children if you are unable to.

I hope you have found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie.

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