Child Protection Referral

[Guest]

A child today made an allegation about someone he knew hitting him( a few other things recorded but not like this). We followed procedures and my child protection co-ord phoned s.services for advice. We were told to make an immediate referral and to tell mum.

So we told Mum, and she obviously went mad, grabbed him and said he wouldn't be back.

In my 10yrs of childcare this is the first time I have had to do this and I feel poo. Half of me knows that we did the right thing but the other half is panicing in did we do the right thing.I know our main concern is the child, but the his mum just started shouting that they were going to take him away. I tried to explain that the the referral did not concern her but fell on deaf ears.I know this job comes with highs and lows (more highs) but this could change someones life.

Anyone been in this situation.

 

Net x

[Guest]

Net, yes you did do the right thing, if we leave the "difficult" situations for others to handle then the children will never be protected.

I had a situation when we found some "Slap" marks on a child when changing the childs nappy, (the child arrived requiring a change). We referred to S.Services, I said the child would be with us all day (6 hrs) and asked if I should contact the carer (the foster parent) immediately or talk to her when she collected the child. They said a duty officer would speak to the carer before the child was collected. I immediately wrote an "Incident Record" this is written exactly like an observation, factual and objective.

When the carer arrived I asked her to a private room and said "I need you to sign this incident report" and asked "have s.services spoken to you today."

They hadn't, , so I was the first person to inform her. I showed her the report, I reminded her that it was necessary for me to record the incident, report it and send a copy to Ofsted. She was a bit shocked and started to give reasons for the marks. I said that the S.Services would contact her and I would be available to do anything I could do to support her. Being a foster carer, she was aware of child protection procedures and handled it well. The child remained at the preschool and is still with us now. The carer informed me a few days later that she would have a review meeting at home with the foster agency she was with. I didn't hear from them or the s.services again. I phoned Ofsted and told them that I had made a referal and sent a copy of the signed report to Ofsted.

 

Many years ago I made a referral, physical abuse, and the father came storming into the preschool very angry. At that time, s.services didn't tell me that they would tell the parents who made the report, so I was not prepared for his reaction. (It turned out fine and the family got the support they needed)

 

The difference between these two examples is that it is best to be totally honest and open with parents, I explain our child protection policy when they join the preschool, I emphasise that the childs welfare is paramount, and that includes supporting the parents in ensuring the childs welfare.

 

I know how you are feeling and it is really horrible. Have you written an incident report? Maybe you could send a copy to the parent, then she can see the situation more clearly in black and white, ( now she is over the initial shock,) offer her and her child support. Reassure her of your confidentiality policy and hopefully she will return to the group with her child, once she realises you were doing a "good job" and not condemning her.

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Hi Net

 

Never been in this situation, so I can only imagine what you must be feeling like. I can't even begin to imagine what his mother must be feeling. It may be that once she calms down she'll re-think and bring him back to the group.

 

Does your child protection policy say you should speak to the mother first (assuming she's not the subject of the allegations) and then refer, or the other way round?

 

What will you do next - will you contact her and offer support? And have you written up what you have done so far, from the time the little boy made the allegation? You may be asked to write a report if there's a full investigation.

 

In the meantime, you did everything you could to protect this little boy: you believed what he was saying, you took professional advice, and followed procedure as you were advised. I know you're feeling low now, and its unclear what is going to happen next. But you did your job, and if you hadn't he may still have been in danger.

 

I hope it all turns out well for this little boy, and that you start to feel a bit better about what has happened, given a bit of time.

 

Maz

[Guest]

Thanks for your replies. Our child protection policy states that if we have concerns over physical abuse we will contact the duty social worker for advice and advise parent. Exactly what we did.

The problem is the family has been through berevment, illness and now this. Icing on cake.

net x

[Guest]

Oh and yes, we have completed the referral form and faxed that off, and written in the incident book of who , what, why, when.

[Beau]

Hi,

Sorry this has happened. I echo Maz in that hopefully once mum has calmed down and thought it through rationally she may come back and you will be able to work through it together. I have never been in this situation myself and can only imagine what it's like but you have my sympathy and thoughts.

[hali]

hi

 

i had my 1st experience of this a couple of months ago, rang S.S and was told quite rudley talk to the parents before they would do anything!!!!!

 

I was very concerned by this as i knew the mother would hit the roof,panicked alll morning, told the mother our concerns when she came in again pointing out our policies and she was quite calm, said shed had it before with an older sibling at school etc.....

i then rang S.S back and filled in their forms.

 

Anyhow never saw that child agian ..she never bought him back to nursery.

 

I do sympathise its a horible situation to be in

[bubblejack]

It's a really awfull situation to be in. Many years ago I was so concerned about a child's behaviour and bruising that extended from the top of her legs that I had no choice but to report it. I had to be present at the case conference together with the parents. The father was let off because he admitted he was a disciplinarium having been in the army for many years!!! There was only 2 of us that disagreed with this myself and a policeman. I really lost faith in social services from that day. The family who had only been in the area for a short while moved on but I still hope things worked out O.K. for that little child. Whilst wating for the case conference the childs mum continued to bring her and even thanked me for alerting S.S. After the case conference she came every day and the onus was on me to keep a check on her.

Another incident happened 4 years ago when a child came in to me complaining of bad pains in his back. When I asked him why he was hurting he blamed mums new boyfriend. for punching him. I had to phone the mum during the session because the child was hurting so much.and she confirmed that her new partner was very spiteful. I had a word with social services and after lots of investigating his own child was on the "at risk register" due to his violence. The mum was so grateful to me .

Sometimes parents know something is not quite right but are in denial. When you look back you will forget how bad you felt in reporting the case but know you only had one option to report the case.

[Guest]

Dear Net,

You did what you thought was right and in the interests of the child - end of story - it was obviously tough but as someone else said we really cannot overlook some of these things - just think how you would feel if something worse happened and you had not taken that first step.

Nikki

[catma]

Absolutely. If you didn't do anything you'ld worry even more. It takes courage sometimes and we worry about upsetting people, but it's our responsibility as professionals so don't feel bad. Better to proved wrong than to regret not doing something when you could.

Cx