Social worker

Hiya. Yes You can but you have to have a dam good reason, and lodge an official complaint against the current social worker in order to do it, because their policy states 'where appropriate' social workers will not be replaced in order to allow continuity.

We were given a social worker who placed my children on a protection register because they did not wear school uniforms cause I can't afford them, their health appointments were not up to date, my son had low attendance at school over 2 month period and my baby had nappy rash for 6 weeks.

I was able to show my children are 5 and 6 so uniforms are not compulsory, I got print outs from doctors etc to prove ALL appointments were upto date and always have been. My sons attendance was due to problems with his teeth and having an operation so therefore neccessary and I had to get the health visitor to confirm my baby had nappy rash while teething for 6 days NOT 6 weeks as social worker claimed.

Our social worker made many mistakes, told lies and generally put me through hell, all because I asked them to support me following my abusive ex trying to get access to the kids. I had to kick up a real stink to get anything done, like any other government agency they wont admit when they get something wrong, they dig their heels in and close ranks.

It was not until I made official complaint and threatened to hire an independant social worker to contest her, that within 2 days a new social worker was assigned, and we go back to conferenve next week where my kids are being de-registered as NO proffessionals have any concerns at all about any of them.

So the answer to your question is yes, but you will have to work very hard to make sure you get it, they will do everything they can to stop you so you will have a battle on your hands, but its worth it, because there is nothing worse than sitting there knowing the person who is suppose to be looking out for your children isnt doing their job properly.

Hope this helps x

P.s as for not wanting to see her, you can't refuse and they wont let you record conversations or take notes at meetings either, but you are legally entitled to insist that all interactions with the social worker are witnessed. you can choose anyone to be an extra pair of ears, family member etc, you can leave social worker standing on doorstep until they arrive if they turn up for a spot visit. I have a really good relationship with our health visitor so I used her as a professional witness holds even more weight. You have to inform them in writing that this is what you are going to do and give clear reasons why. Send a copy to all other professionals involved with your children, that way when they come round unannounces claiming to know nothing about it and threatening you with non complience (which they will do) you have everyone else from your core group to back you up x

rheascott83,

I cannot believe all the trouble you have had with SS, this sounds as bad as what happened to me! I have complained at stage 2 now and it looks like it's being upheld. Mine was all to do with DV too, the first SW blamed it all on me and took his side that I attacked him first!!! A 6ft 4 man who smashed my cheek bone, but it was my fault, that was self defence according to my ex and the SW!!! I am going to push to get all my kids records changed to reflect my upheld complaint as like you ALL professionals had no concerns. The worst thing is that I was suspended from work for about 3 months because of SS involvement. I'm about to complain abut all this to work, Louise, now you see why I'm soo exhausted, I've been fighting for so long! My complaint is very shortly going to be resolved in my favour I think, then it's time to tackle work and also to get my kids records changed to reflect the outcome of my complaint. Maybe then I can really start a fresh and not feel so tired.

anazzz

Yes it was all my fault too don't worry haha I was told by old social worker that I had to get rid of my tatty teds because she assumed my ex had bought them (as if he was the teddy buying type) because I was now teaching my kids that DV was ok, by keeping them on show.

I made it part of my complaint that she had a tendancy to assume things and pass them off as fact, she even had one report stating that in my position should I have an evening out I would be unable to care for my children properly when I got home and this caused a huge concern.....Well didn't she just describe every parent in the country single or otherwise, I wouldn't mind but I havn't drank alcohol (through choice) for 6 years so unless my evening out causes food poisoning my ability to care for my kids would be no different.

As for your record refecting your complaints and their errors.... DON'T COUNT ON IT. they have a very clever way of phrasing things any confirmation you get will ignore your errors and state things like we can confirm you are NOW doing...... whereas the reality is you were doing all along. To anyone that reads the file in the future it will NEVER read well in your favour it will read as if SS did all the hard work and brought about changes which you know they didnt. The only way to get that into your record, is for you to put it there. Write saying ' following your verbal confirmation that....... I have still not recieved this in writing as you told me I would. i am how ever glad that we now both agree that I never................ and I always................. Confirmed by................... and so on. Send copies to everyone involved then it will make it into your file, If you can get the person you give it to sign for it.

I turned mine on its head at the very next meeting, I provided reciepts for teddies proving her error and then demanded they house me in a bungalow, because my ex threw me down a flight of stairs so it really wasnt appropriate for my children to live in a home with stairs because it told them DV was Ok, and demanded a financial top up as I was thrown into my freezer so it would have to go because the kids would think the only reason I had it was so that if he ever came back it would be there ready and feeding the children only fresh is more expensive. They quickly dropped that line against me.

I have read dam near every training, research, policy, Plan, assessment from SS in order to see the world through their eyes (have you ever noticed that level 1 says Most needs being met... they do not have a catagory for ALL needs being met, as far as they are concerned every child is at risk from their caregiver. Being so thorough has ment I can see every mistake, every time they don't follow their own protocol I come down on them, but this is time consuming and no parent should have to go to those lengths to prove SS wrong.

Once you have clared things up, they still wont want to let go of you, they will ask you to engage in a volutery 'child in need' plan, do not be fooled this is a way of still having access to your life to build evidence against you for next time haha. Agree to it as not to will make you look bad. but do not agree to set visits. then when ever they want to visit be busy. After 3 months write to them and say As we are doing great and their are no concerns from professionals we are now withdrawing from child in need. They can't stop you you are free, BUT the first time your child appears in hospital or gets suspended for fighting they will be back, I know its not what you want to hear but once they hae you, they have you for life, the best you can hope for is that they are regularly checking up on you through school gp school nurse health visitor etc but at least they are leaving you alone.

From your conversation with Sasha21, you do not have to wait for complaint to get to end before contacting the ombudsman. After all do you really trust SS to deal with your complaint properly? the more officials you have involved the better, if you have the Ombudsman involved they can't just palm you off. CONTACT THEM NOW you can do it quick and easy online just google search

Good Luck x

Just read your post again, can't believe the sw brought Redford into a child protection decision, just shows how useless they are, the poor kids that need help are left to have crap lives whilst sw argue over teddies! Talk about bad judgement. I think they give the jobs to anyone as they are so short staffed cox some that I've met u really have to wonder about.

Hi everyone

I found this letter earlier its quite old but I found it reassuring that others share my concerns and thought that someone else might too.

http://www.aims.org.uk/Journal/Vol20No1/childProtection.htm

best wishes

Hi guys,

Just read your posts and although I have never had any experiences with SS I did work for them (dont scream at me!) and am now doing a degree to be a SW.

I 100% empathise and believe wat you guys are saying. I worked as a Family Support Worker along side SW's (sharing desks and offices with them) and my role was HELPING families on CP plans or Child in Need plans so that they could be removed from such plans.

I am not hear to defend all SW 's but I can say that there are some good ones out there (many of whom have had direct experience with SW themselves that has prompted them to do the role). But as you guys have seen there are ones who just simply dont have a clue.

This is the main reason I left to get my qualification because I was sick of seeing people be judged and criticised and set almost unachievable tasks. Unfortunately some SW think that having a degree makes you an expert in parenting (whether or not you have even had kids!) this is absolutely ridiculous! I was many times out- voted (and sometimes complained about) by professionals when sitting at a CP conference and it was totally clear the children should NOT be subject to a plan.

One thing I must stress though is that everyone blames the SW and I dont think that is entirely fair. When your children are placed on a plan it is agreed by several so-called professionals such as reps from school, health visitor, school nurse, landlord etc etc and this is often overlooked. As the person who did background checks when referrals were received I was suprised just how many "concerns" a school could have once you say your calling from SS, suddenly a health visitor finds evidence of several "important" appointments that were missed or your landlord notes your address has reports of loud music etc etc.

I think it is the system overall that is wrong. It is set up in a way that punishes women who have experienced DV, makes the poor feel inadequate and anybody who challenges or disagrees with what the system says is just 'obstructive and unwilling to co-operate'.

I wish you all every success in your plight and hope it everything goes well.

Hi Louise,

You are right about male victims of DV I apologise for not including them. Male victims would more than likely be more disempowered accross the board because there is such a lack of awareness about the cause and people often fail to see women as perpertrators of DV.

I did watch it and must say I was very disappointed with the action taken on the 1st and 3rd episode. The First family clearly had needs of their own and I dont understand why the BBC decided to broadcast their faces on TV like that - so unfair! As for the mother deciding to put the children up for adoption, it was no wonder given the pressure she was under but I didnt think they should have taken that decision from her so easily she had just given birth and had so much going on - it was clear she just needed help. I was very angry and upset at the end.

In my role I worked with families quite similar to those featured and I saw much worse home conditions than on there but children were not removed. I was sent in to support families in firstly recognizing the state their house got in to (because their is no point just telling someone to clean their home if they have always lived like that and cant see what you see) and secondly teaching them how to turn things round. It can be time consuming but so rewarding in the end and if I had to I would don my rubber gloves and get right down there and clean with them.

There are always going to be people who dont want to be helped but in my experience nearly everyone I encountered wanted to make improvements but just didnt know how or where to start. The key is a little patience and a lot of understanding.

I agree, on the BBC programme I felt that these parents wanted to keep their children and were trying to do the best they could with the knowledge they had.

littleangel it is good to read that there are some actions set in place for social services to go in and teach parents how to look after themselves, their children and their homes. I bet it was very rewarding to see.

How is your SW course going? When do you graduate?

I am sorry to read that you were made redundant due to cuts. It really is bizarre, because surely doing the role that you had ultimately cut spending in the long term?

I am not sure of the figures, but I would have thought it cost less to keep a family together.

I can't begin to imagine the stress that a SW faces dealing day in day out with families with extremely high support needs. Tell me, if children are separated from their parents, are the parents offered ongoing support?

Yeah unfortunately if there is no chance of getting your kids back then you dont get any support from CS. They only really work for the childrens needs.

It does cost less to keep a family together we were told it costs about £4,00 per week to have a child in care. What is most likely to happen now (and what my former SW colleagues tell me) is that CS only get involved with high end child protection cases now so the families that have mild to moderate needs are left to get on with it. Which of course could end up with those who have moderate needs coming in a few years down the line when things are catastrophicly bad. Such a shame.