Intervention from the Local Authority or Children’s Services (sometimes called social services) is stressful and often leaves parents exceptionally anxious about what is happening with regards to their child. All members of the care team (including the three partners) at BH&O have considerable experience in dealing with cases involving children’s services, and have written articles to help those in need of advice. These include accusations of injuries to children, care and supervision orders, and applications for discharging or appealing an order.
A Family Group Conference (FGC) is a decision-making process that empowers families to take responsibility for resolving issues that affect their children. The idea behind a FGC is to bring together the family, friends and relevant professionals (such as the social worker, school etc.) to develop a plan of action that addresses
What is an initial viability assessment? If there are safeguarding concerns about a child, Children’s Services (sometimes referred to as social services or the local authority) start to think about whether there are any other alternative carers within the family network that could care for that child, if they can’t
One of the most common enquiries we get is from birth parents who want to challenge a decision to remove their child permanently. They phrase it in many different ways but in essence they want to know how to stop their child being adopted or placed in long-term foster care.
I first wrote this article in 2018 and I am updating it because parents still need this advice, and they need it early. This article is about what you should do if you find yourself in hospital with your child, facing allegations of causing injuries to them. People take their
By Ruth Hawkins A report published this week by the Children’s Commissioner for England, suggests there are 15,800 babies under the age of one year considered by local authorities to be vulnerable or highly vulnerable and at risk of harm, but still living at home with their parents. This comes