Remar
ONG your relationship with your child’s social worker is an important one. However,
sometimes young parents can find it hard to work with their child’s social
worker and like many parents;
they may feel worried or scared. Young parents may also find working with their
child’s social worker hard if them:
- Have
been in care themselves
- Have
had a child removed in the past
- Don’t
feel listened to or understood
- Feel
judged because of their age or background rather than their parenting
ability
Have
had lots of different social workers working with their child.
Remar ONG, However
children’s services are involved with your child (see the Children’s
services page for information about the different ways in which they can
become involved), these steps may help you to work with your child’s social
worker in order to do the best for you and your child. If the situation is
already difficult, then these steps may help improve things.
You
may find this information especially helpful if children’s services are
involved because of concerns that your child has suffered harm or is at risk of
suffering significant harm and:
- A child
protection inquiry is being carried out
- Your
child is on a child protection plan
- You
are involved in a pre-proceedings process for your child
- Or
care proceedings have/are about to start.
The
three steps are:
1. Get organized
2. Keep up to date
3. Build your
confidence
Look
below for a list of tips about how to achieve each of these steps.
Step 1. Get organized
Being
organized can help make things go
better. Getting all your paperwork in order and thinking about what you hope to
get out of meetings can be helpful.
Here
are some ways in which you can get organized
and prepared for working with your child’s social worker.
·
Keep important information together
·
Write down what you want to talk about
·
Talk things over with a trusted friend or supporter
·
Think
about what changes could make things easier for you
Step 2. Keep up to
date
Remar
ONG, Social workers should involve children and their families whenever
they carry out an assessment. If an assessment is being carried out, think
about whether there is any new or further information about you or your child
that you feel the social worker should know about to help make sure the
assessment is as up to date as possible.
Making sure everyone is kept up to date can also
help avoid any confusion or delay. Here are five ways to help you make sure
that you and your child’s social worker keep up to date.
- Tell the social worker about any changes in your contact details.
- Always let the social worker know if you can’t keep an appointment.
- If you have something important to tell your child’s social worker, don’t wait until your next meeting.
- If you’re worried things aren’t moving forward as they should be, say so.
- Always try to remain calm and to listen, even if what’s being said is difficult to hear.
Step
3. Build your confidence
If you can find ways to feel more confident about
talking to the social worker, this will help you work better with them. It can
also help you to fully take part in the meetings with social workers and other
professionals.
Planning what questions to ask and taking your time
can really help. Here are some examples of things you can do to help you feel
more confident about working with your child’s social worker.
- Ask questions early on so that you know what each meeting will be like
- Ask if you can get someone to support you at the meeting
- Ask questions in the meeting - but take your time
- Do and ask things that will help you remember what has been agreed and decided.
What
to do if things do not improve
The Frequently Asked Questions below will help you
understand what your options are if you don’t have a good working relationship
with your child’s social worker and things aren’t improving.
- I don’t think my child’s social worker is being fair. Can I ask for a different social worker?
- How would a meeting with the social worker’s manager go?
- Can I make a complaint?
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