News
21 April 2010
Handling a brush with Social Services
Recently, our newspapers and TV screens have been full of dramatic headlines about the failure of social workers to protect vulnerable children and families. One of the consequences of this has been that a wider group of people now have responsibility for reporting suspected child abuse. This includes teachers, youth workers, doctors, nurses and the police as well as social workers. In addition, a more cautious approach is being taken and more children are being referred to Social Services in order to ensure that no abuse slips through the net.
In this climate of extra caution, the worst scenario is to be falsely accused of injuring your child. A string of unlinked accidents could result in a child’s injuries coming to the attention of the professionals and you receiving a call from the local Social Services team.
Professionals do get things wrong on occasion and the Beswicks family law team have had experience in defending families against false claims and ensuring that families stay together.
Facing the weight of medical opinion is daunting and without any knowledge of the system, you can feel hopeless. Fighting to keep your family together can be traumatic and undoubtedly an emotional rollercoaster.
It is vital to have an experienced legal team, such as Beswicks, to guide you through the process and to scrutinise and challenge all the evidence. Whatever your financial situation, if you are a parent or have parental responsibility, you will be eligible to receive non-means tested public funding (Legal Aid) to assist you.
Social Services work with families on a number of different levels and the length of their involvement will depend on the particular issues. There is often no need for matters to progress beyond initial enquiries. Alternatively they may convene an initial child protection case conference and possibly put in place a ‘Child In Need Plan’.
In more serious cases, an application to the court for a care order or a supervision order may be made. These proceedings can be lengthy, lasting usually around nine months and Social Services must satisfy the court that a child has suffered significant harm and the child would be likely to suffer further harm if such an order is not made.
Not all children are removed from families during the course of proceedings and children should remain living within the family if at all possible. If you are a grandparent or extended family member who is able to offer assistance, you should seek legal advice as you may be able to formally become involved in the proceedings formally.
It is hard to imagine that there could be anything more intrusive than the state intervening in your family life. Fortunately, the majority of us will never need to use or come into contact with social services, but we should not assume that it could never happen to us or someone that we know!
Should you or someone you know need legal advice and support regarding any family law matters, please contact Joanne McGuinness at Beswicks on 01782 205 000.
The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.
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