Are Social Services concerned about your family?

Are Social Services concerned about your family?

Families in the Devon and Cornwall area may be affected by Social Services. Social Services can be involved for range of reasons; parental drug and alcohol misuse, poor home conditions, neglect, and non-accidental injury, to name a few. It is important to remember that Social Services will be looking at the interests of the child, or children, involved, and how the above concerns may be affecting them. Sometimes, it is deemed unsafe for the children to remain at home, and care proceedings may be issued.

Alternatively, the Social Worker may want a family to cooperate in a process that allows the children to remain at home, under the supervision of the Local Authority during a period whereby the family will need to engage in a ‘Schedule of Expectations’.

In some circumstances, the Social Worker may seek legal advice and ask you to attend a Pre-Proceedings Meeting. You will have a letter containing the relevant information.

If you receive this letter, it is very important that you attend this meeting. It will be an opportunity for the Local Authority to outline their concerns with you and talk to you about what to do to avoid the matter going to Court. In some circumstances, if the concerns are particularly bad, the Local Authority may have already taken the decision to go to Court.

You are entitled to bring a Solicitor to the meeting.

At Woollcombe Yonge, we have a team specialising in this area of Law, and they would be happy to help. If you have Parental Responsibility for the child, you will be entitled to free Legal Aid, therefore you do not need to worry about paying any legal fees.

Call us today on 01752 827930 to see what options are available to you.