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Social services will often notify you of their involvement in your child’s welfare with a ‘letter before proceedings’. If social services have contacted you it’s important that you are represented by someone who understands the legal process. Call us on 01616 966 229 to speak with one of our legal advisors, alternatively complete our online enquiry form and a member of our award winning family law team will contact you directly to discuss your situation.
If you have received this letter it could mean that social services and the local authority are concerned about your child’s welfare and have reason to suspect that your child is not being properly looked after. The letter may also indicate that the local authority believes the child’s needs – particularly behavioural needs – are too severe for you to manage alone.
Stephensons are an experienced firm of solicitors that deal with social services and many other public services and bodies on behalf of our clients. We can liaise with social services on your behalf and prepare everything required for any upcoming meetings or hearings.
Seeking early advice is vital in this area, as experts in this area of law, we understand the stressful and complex nature of social service involvement and can help ensure that you are fully equipped and prepared if the proceedings continue. Our team can help bring about the best possible outcome for you and your family.
The letter is notification that the local authority is considering asking the court if they can take your child into care.
The letter will explain why the local authority wants to do this and the reasons can be wide ranging. Pay close attention to the content of the letter and consider what steps you could take to address the local authority’s concerns.
The letter will contain details of a meeting, which you must attend. You should get help from a family law solicitor and ask them to attend the meeting with you. If you are a parent or have parental responsibility, you will not have to pay your solicitors costs if you provide them with a letter before proceedings.
If you do not attend this meeting, or address the local authority’s concerns the local authority will almost certainly make an application to court. They can then apply for an interim care order which may lead to your child being removed.
If an interim care order is granted, the local authority will share ‘parental responsibility’ for your child, meaning they can make decisions about your child’s life, including when and where they go to school, who they are allowed to see and whether they get medical treatment. This period could last a few days, weeks, months or until the court makes a final decision over who should look after your child.
A letter before proceedings is often a last chance to convince the local authority that you are willing and able to make changes to the way you look after your child. If you do not or are unable to make these changes, the local authority will almost certainly make an application to the court.
If you have received a letter before proceedings, it could mean that social services and the local authority are concerned about your child’s welfare and have reason to suspect that your child is not being properly looked after. The letter may also indicate that the local authority believes the child’s needs – particularly behavioural needs – are too severe for you to manage alone.
The letter is notification that the Local authority is considering asking the court if they can take your child into care.
The letter will explain why the Local authority wants to do this and the reasons can be wide ranging. Pay close attention to the content of the letter and consider what steps you could take to address the Local authority’s concerns.
The letter will contain details of a meeting, which you must attend. You should get help from a family law solicitor and ask them to attend the meeting with you. If you are a parent or have parental responsibility, you will not have to pay your solicitors costs if you provide them with a letter before proceedings.
If you do not attend this meeting, or address the local authority’s concerns the local authority will almost certainly make an application to court. They can then apply for an interim care order which may lead to your child being removed.
If an interim care order is granted, the local authority will share ‘parental responsibility’ for your child, meaning they can make decisions about your child’s life, including when and where they go to school, who they are allowed to see and whether they get medical treatment. This period could last a few days, weeks, months or until the court makes a final decision over who should look after your child.
A letter before proceedings is often a last chance to convince the local authority that you are willing and able to make changes to the way you look after your child. If you do not or are unable to make these changes, the local authority will almost certainly make an application to the court.
If you have been contacted by social services and they wish to visit you in your own home, this is usually because they have received a ‘referral’ from a member of the public or another organisation. This referral is often as a result of concerns about your ability to look after your child or children.
Once a referral is made, social services will make a decision as to which steps they should take. If social services are coming to see you, it is because they wish to investigate further. This investigation is called an ‘assessment’.
During an assessment, the local authority will attempt to learn more about the needs of the child and how capable you are of looking after those needs.
As well as visiting you and your children in the family home, the local authority may also visit your child’s school, your doctor or health visitor in order to get as much information as possible.
The purpose of an assessment is to find out if the referral was accurate and if there is any cause for concern regarding the child’s welfare. Usually, the local authority will want to know if the child is in any danger or if they are likely to suffer significant harm.
You should cooperate fully with the assessment. Failure to cooperate will cause the local authority to be increasingly concerned. Among some of the questions they may ask are; ‘are there any adult problems affecting your care of the children such as domestic violence and alcohol and drug misuse?; ‘do the children have sufficient clothes?’; ‘can I see some of the children’s toys?’; ‘do the children sleep in their own beds?’; ‘do the children visit the doctor or dentist regularly?’
A specialist children’s law solicitor can provide you with further information about what you should expect. You may qualify for financial support towards the cost of instructing a solicitor.
If social services have asked to speak to your child then it is likely that they are concerned about their welfare. This could mean because they suspect that the child is at risk of significant harm, or has already been harmed. It may also be because they believe the child’s needs are not being met.
By speaking to your child, social services – who act as part of the local authority – will hope to gather more information and evaluate how well the child is being looked after.
As well as speaking to your child while you are present, social services are also permitted to speak to them in private. Many parents will - understandably - find this difficult, and common concerns are that this will upset the child or the child will be pressured into saying things which are not true.
However, if you refuse to allow social services to speak to your child, this may be perceived as evasive behaviour. They could apply for a child assessment order – where you will have a legal obligation present your child for assessment – or even an emergency protection order (EPO) or care order. With any of these orders, social services could remove your child from your care against your wishes.
Therefore, it is very important that you allow social services to see your child, after contacting a family law solicitor for further advice.
If you are a parent, you may not have to pay your solicitors costs.
Removing a child or children from the care of their parents is one of the most severe steps social services can take. However, they are not able to take such a step in isolation.
In order to begin the process of removing a child, social services must meet one of three criteria:
Furthermore, before a court will grant social services the right to remove a child from the home, the local authority will have to show that it has done all it can to support you and your child and to remedy the situation. This will usually include a letter to indicate their initial concerns and inviting you to a ‘pre-proceedings meeting’.
If you have received court papers from the local authority you should contact a specialist children’s law solicitor immediately.
Without professional, expert guidance, it will be much more difficult to successfully challenge any steps to remove your child.
If you are a parent or have parental responsibility, you will not have to pay your solicitors costs in relation to these types of proceedings.
Social services are responsible for ensuring that children are safe and well looked after by their parents or guardian.
If social services receive information – either from a member of the public, or professional such as a doctor or teacher - which leads them to suspect a child may at risk of significant harm, or that their needs are not being met, they are obligated by law to take action to protect that child.
Depending on the severity of the information received, social services may decide to:
However, it is important to note that without the permission of the court, social services are unable to remove the child from the parent. The only exception to this rule is where they believe the child is in immediate danger, at which point the police can intervene and remove the child for no more than 72 hours.
In the event that social services are applying for a care order, supervision order or emergency protection order in relation to your children, legal aid is always automatically available - it may also be available to extended family members but will depend on whether they are eligible by way of their means and the strength of their case.
A “section 20 agreement” relates to section 20 of the Children Act 1989. It is a voluntary agreement which can be reached between the local authority and parents in the event that a child is considered at risk whereby a parent may be asked to consent to their child’s accommodation. Legal advice is vital in these circumstances and should be sought at the earliest opportunity.
If social services are involved with your children and family, a specialist solicitor can give expert legal advice and liaise with the services on your behalf. We can also help you prepare for any hearings or meetings to help give parents and children the best chance of staying together.
If you were abused or suffered harm when in the care of social services, or if the neglect of a social worker contributed to your harm, you might be able to make a compensation claim. Speak to an experienced solicitor to find out if you can sue social services.
If you’re involved in a case with social services, you may be entitled to legal aid. If social services are involved at a stage known as “pre-proceedings” or if they issue proceedings legal aid is available to all parents in these circumstances.
Social workers cannot remove a child from your care unless they have a court order or if you agree that the child should be removed. If there is an immediate concern of harm, a police officer may remove a child without a court order for a maximum of 72 hours.
This may depend on the nature of their concerns. Social workers usually look at the home environment and may want to speak to your child and look at various aspects of your home to ensure the child has safe living conditions.
If social services have taken your child into care, or have threatened to do so, it’s important that you are represented by someone who understands the legal process. Call our award winning team on 01616 966 229 or complete our online enquiry form.
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