Received an unexpected call and visit from a social worker 3 weeks ago

[Okailey2000]

Hi, I'm a 23 year old mum of a 20 month old girl. About 3 weeks ago, a social worker called me and said that they got a call from a police officer regarding an incident with my ex-partner. She said she needed to see me emediatiely, and came to my house within 30 minutes. Whilst at my house, she checked the rooms and asked me questions about my relationship with my daughter's father and my mental health. As I have schizoaffective disorder and high functioning autism. She then told me she needs to complete a child and family assessment. My question is, what is a child and family assessment? Because she explained briefly but I still dont understand. Also, will they take my daughter away from me?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Okailey2000

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board. My name is Suzie. I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear about the difficulties you are having at the moment.

Children’ services have recently contacted you following an incident with your ex-partner in which police were involved. It must have been quite serious as you had an urgent visit from the social worker the same day.

I hope the social worker explained more about the police referral involving your ex-partner. It is usual practice for a social worker to look around a family’s home, to ensure that it is safe for a child. It sounds as if your home was fine as otherwise she would have said if there was a concern about it. It is also usual for a social worker to consider a parent’s own needs when looking at a child’s situation. And they need to ask about relationships to assess whether they are safe and supportive or risky. Your partner was involved with the police. So the social worker may have wanted to clarify the status of your relationship i.e. to confirm that you are separated. They may have asked what contact, if any, he has with your daughter.

You responded very responsibly. You allowed the social worker to come at short notice and you cooperated with her enquiries. She explained that she is going to do an assessment. You are wondering what this will involve. We have full information here which you may find helpful. In brief, the social worker will explore your daughter’s developmental needs, your and her father’s parenting capacity as well as family and environmental factors. The purpose is to have a clear understanding of your daughter’s needs and her family situation. Then, to identify whether any support or services are needed to help keep your daughter safe and well. You should be fully included in this process. The social worker should keep you informed and updated.

You are worried about what might happen. Many parents worry that children’s services will take their child away from them. This can only happen in the most serious circumstances and with a parent’s consent or with an order from the court allowing the child to be removed. We have a FAQ which explains this in more detail. You can find it here.

We have some information for parents with mental health needs and disabilities here. If you need any reasonable adaptations made to help you work with children’s services then do ask for them to be put in place. This could include asking for an advocate to help you participate in meetings if needed. Please see here for more information.

If you feel that you would like any additional support for yourself or for your daughter we have some useful links to services here.

I hope that this has helped a little. You are welcome to post again or call to speak with an adviser if you have any queries during the assessment or afterwards. Our advice line is open Mon to Fri, from 9.30 am to 3.00 pm (except bank holidays) on freephone 0808 8010366.

Best wishes

Suzie