implementation public law outline
Public Law Outline Practice Outline: Practice Reform Project, March 2015 The proposal for the Signs of Safety England Innovations Project described the PUBLIC LAW OUTLINE practice reform project anticipated the introduction of ‘pre-‐hearing conferences’, formal Signs of Safety meetings convened by and with chairs appointed by a judicial officer and with lawyers present supporting families and the child protection authorities. PLO meetings are now required to be held with families prior to matters proceeding to court to apply for a child protection orders. They are chaired by a senior officer and the family is advised to seek legal advice prior to the meeting. This project anticipates the Signs of Safety methodology being applied in all PLO meetings and reflected clearly in the documentation for meetings. The project outline sets out the detail of the practice activities, and policy alignment, in he lead up to and the conduct of the PLO meeting.
DANGER STATEMENTS & SAFETY GOALS •
Develop clear danger statements and safety goals (before the PLO meeting) that are written in plain language and are free from professional jargon that even the child would understand. Danger statements will acknowledge improvement that carers have made whilst making clear the dangers to the child/ren if nothing changes. Safety goals will be written in plain language and free from professional jargon and will state what the agencies need to see in order to be satisfied that the child/ren will be safe in relation to the stated dangers.
NETWORK •
Identify the network of family and friends, including through the genogram, and regularly work alongside it.
COLLABORATION •
Talk with parents and carers and make sure that they are clear and able to articulate what the professionals are worried about even if they don’t agree. Continually share with the parents and their network the direction the agency is moving in with the case. Direct work with the children will support them to understand the worries and bring their views of progress into the work with the family.
DECISION MAKING •
1
Practice Manager reviews the mapping with the worker commenting on particular areas that are clear and using questions to look at key areas and practice depth (rigor and grace) e.g.: o The relationship between the worker and parents and worker and children § Example question -‐ ‘on a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 is you have the best working relationship you could hope for and 0 is you can’t even get in the door… where would you rate it… where would the family rate it… when has it been at it’s highest… what was different then… what ideas have you got about how you could strengthen the relationship with mum… dad… child...’
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
The detail of any harm / complicating factors/ strengths and safety § Example questions for harm – ‘what happened, when did this happen, how often has it happened, how do we know, how serious was it, what was the impact on the children (dig deep here, don’t just accept assumptions)?’ § Example questions for complicating factors – ‘is there anything else that is going on in the lives of the child and their family that is making this problem harder to deal with?’ § Example question for strengths – ‘what have the family done since you got involved with them to show you they are serious about making things better for their children?’ § Example question for safety – ‘can you tell me about a time when the danger was present or there was a risk of the danger and someone did something to keep the child safe, who was that and what did they do?’ o What have we tried so far? § Example question – ‘if I was to ask mum, dad, grandma, children, what would they say we have done that has given them the best chance of turning things round and what else would they say they would have liked us to help them with that we haven’t?’ Decision whether to move to PLO. o
•
ALIGN PROCESS DOCUMENTATION WITH SIGNS OF SAFETY See appendices for examples PLO LETTER • Clear, and although formal not without compassion, written in plain language (this may be the last chance to engage with the family to build safety for their child/ren so they can remain in the family home). • Incorporates what is working well (strengths and existing safety), what the local authority is worried about (past harm, complicating factors and danger statement). • Following the letter, and prior to the meeting, there may be another opportunity following for the SW to work alongside the parents and the network to develop a safety plan that can be presented to the meeting. PLO MINUTE TEMPLATE • Adjusted from the national template to incorporate what is working well (strengths and existing safety), what the local authority is worried about (past harm and danger statement). PRE-‐PROCEEDINGS (PLO) MEETING • The meeting is held using the three column mapping with areas of the map pre-‐populated (avoiding repeated mappings) from the social work assessment / PLO Letter. o What is working well § Strengths § Existing safety) o What the local authority is worried § Past harm § Complicating factors • At the beginning (or immediately prior to the start) of the meeting the parents/ carers are invited to say what they think the professionals are worried about, if they are unable to
2
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
• •
• •
3
•
do so, the worker will be asked to carefully take them through the danger statement. The danger statement is then added to the map. Follow the same process with developing the safety goals Then invite everyone to scale:, ‘on a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 is that the family and their network have been able to create and are already following a plan to show everyone that the child will be safe in relation to the dangers and 0 is that despite everything that has been tried the family and network haven’t come up with or stuck to a plan to improve safety for the children, where would everyone rate this?’ Consider the plan put forward by the family (if this has been achieved) and use questions to explore any gaps and how/if these can be safely managed Form a judgement about safety (with the plan in place) using a scale of 0 to 10, ‘where 10 is I am satisfied that this plan will keep the child/ren safe in relation to the dangers and 0 is I don’t believe this will keep them safe at all, where would you rate it? Confirm decisions and actions review
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
APPENDICES:
4
1. Letter before proceedings (from Suffolk County) 2. Minute template (from Suffolk County)
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
Letter before proceedings (LBP)
PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER TAKE IT TO A SOLICITOR NOW Dear {parent and/or full name(s) of all people with parental responsibility} Re: SUFFOLK’S CONCERNS ABOUT {insert name(s) of child(ren)} – LETTER BEFORE PROCEEDINGS HOW TO AVOID GOING TO COURT I am writing to let you know that Suffolk County Council has serious concerns about your care of your child/ren, {name(s) of child(ren)}. We are so worried about your child/ren that we will go to court unless you are able to improve things. This means that we may apply to Court and {name(s) of child(ren)} could, if the Court decides that this is best for him/her/them, be taken into care. There are things you can do which could stop this happening. We have set out in this letter the concerns that we have about {name(s) of child(ren)} and the things that have been done to try to help your family. AN IMPORTANT MEETING ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT Please come to a meeting with us to talk about these concerns on {date and time} at the Children & Young People’s Service. The address is {address} and there is a map with this letter to help you find it. Please contact your social worker on {tel.no.} to tell us if you will come to the meeting. At the meeting we will discuss with you and tell you what you will need to do to make your child safe. We will also talk to you about how we will support you to do this. We will also make clear what steps we will take if we continue to be worried about {name(s) of child(ren)}. PLEASE BRING A SOLICITOR TO THE MEETING ON {insert date} Take this letter to a solicitor and ask them to come to the meeting with you. The solicitor will advise you about getting legal aid (free legal advice). We have sent with this letter a list of local solicitors who work with children and families. They are all separate from children’s services. You do not have to bring a solicitor to the meeting, but it will be helpful if you do. Information your Solicitor will need is: Local Authority Legal Contact Name and address of Lawyer WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DO NOTHING
5
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
If you do nothing we will have to go to Court. If you do not answer this letter or come to the meeting, we will go to Court as soon as we can to make sure {name(s) of child(ren)} are safe. YOUR WIDER FAMILY Our concerns about {name(s) of child(ren)} are very serious. If we do have to go to Court and the Court decides you cannot care for your children, we will first try and place them with one of your relatives, if it is best for your child(ren) to do this. At the meeting we will want to talk to you and your solicitor about who might look after your child if the Court decides that it is no longer safe for you to do so. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting with your solicitor on {date}. If you do not understand any part of this letter, please contact your social worker {name} on {tel. no.}. Please tell your social worker if you need any help with child care or transport arrangements in order to come to the meeting, and we will try to help. Yours sincerely {name} Practice Manager Local office/service Copy to: Social Worker {name} Local Authority Legal Team Enclosures: Map of office List of local Law Society Children Panel Solicitors List of things we are worried about
6
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
PLEASE SHOW / TAKE THIS TO A SOLICITOR WHAT IS WORKING WELL? Insert existing strengths and safety HERE ARE THE MAIN THINGS THAT WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT: 1. {Outline concern and past harm and give examples of when this happened. This should capture chronic ongoing concerns as well as acute episodes/incidents}. Date(s) Problem / past harm 2. Date(s) Problem / past harm Insert complicating factors here: DANGER STATEMENT WHAT CHILDREN’S SERVICES HAVE DONE TO TRY TO HELP {Who?} {What help has been given?} {When?}
7
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO SO THAT WE WILL NOT GO TO COURT: 1. Confirm that you will come to a meeting to talk about these concerns. Please try to bring a solicitor with you. 2. Continue to see and work with your social worker {insert name} and allow him/her to see {name(s) of child(ren)}. 3. At the meeting you will be asked to talk about how {name(s) of child(ren)} will be kept safe, with our help. Insert safety planning here:
8
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
Minutes of Public Law Outline Meeting Date: …………………………… Subject/s: ………………………………………………………………………………………. Social Worker: …………………….. Practice Manager: …………………………………. Service Manager (Chair): …………………………. Attended by: Mother of Father of Solicitor for Solicitor for L.A. Legal Representative Partner of Family Support Worker Senior Practitioner Minute Taker Introductions
Purpose of this meeting The chair …….. informed that this is meeting that is held to explain to parents and carers the serious concerns about (child/ren) and to make decisions about whether we need to make an application to the court to make sure that the (child/ren) are kept safe and that we make sure that permanent arrangements for their care are in place to make sure they are safe for the rest of their childhood. This meeting is held under what we call the Public Law Outline. The meeting will also look at whether there are things that anyone can or needs to do to delay or avoid us having to go to court. It is very important that we make sure that (child/ren) have safe plans in place for the rest of their childhood at the earliest opportunity and the meeting today will take this into consideration when agreeing the next steps. When we talk about “Permanency” this may be achieved through supporting parents to care for their children safely, or where this is not possible, by a variety of other ways; for instance through living with other family members which we call “kinship” placements, foster care, shared care or adoption. We will discuss whether any of these arrangements need to be under-‐pinned by the security of court orders. The chair………. summarised the “ground rules” for the meeting: a) That the LA will provide the minutes of the meeting (a summary of discussions and the decisions) b) That there must be no other audio or video recording c) That all parties are required to confirm they have switched off all such devices, inc. mobile phones
9
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
d) That the minutes are confidential to the parties involved (their legal representatives, CAFCASS and the court, if an application is made) and should not be disclosed to others without the agreement of all parties. OR The chair ……..confirmed that this was a review Public Law Outline meeting, following the meeting held on …… and will consider the actions agreed at that meeting, and the next steps. The chair ……..confirmed that parties had received copies of the letter inviting them to this meeting, which includes details of the Local Authority’’s concerns, and is used as the agenda for this meeting. In respect of opportunity to discuss the letter contents with a legal representative, …… OR The purpose of this meeting is to clarify the reasons why the Local Authority will be making an application in proceedings in respect of (Name/s), offering parents the opportunity to seek legal advice and guidance prior to this action being taken. What is working well for the child(ren) and the family? Insert existing strengths and safety here What are the social worker and the Local Authority worried about? -‐ review the concerns as identified in the letter, and any additions from the chair, and response from parties Insert past harm as identified in the letter Insert danger statement from letter here
10
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
Summary of discussions and LA proposed plans Decisions (including actions/by whom / when) Insert safety planning here Review Date (as appropriate)
Signed ……………………………………………………… Chair CC: to all parties and Safeguarding
11
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
DANGER STATEMENTS & SAFETY GOALS •
Develop clear danger statements and safety goals (before the PLO meeting) that are written in plain language and are free from professional jargon that even the child would understand. Danger statements will acknowledge improvement that carers have made whilst making clear the dangers to the child/ren if nothing changes. Safety goals will be written in plain language and free from professional jargon and will state what the agencies need to see in order to be satisfied that the child/ren will be safe in relation to the stated dangers.
NETWORK •
Identify the network of family and friends, including through the genogram, and regularly work alongside it.
COLLABORATION •
Talk with parents and carers and make sure that they are clear and able to articulate what the professionals are worried about even if they don’t agree. Continually share with the parents and their network the direction the agency is moving in with the case. Direct work with the children will support them to understand the worries and bring their views of progress into the work with the family.
DECISION MAKING •
1
Practice Manager reviews the mapping with the worker commenting on particular areas that are clear and using questions to look at key areas and practice depth (rigor and grace) e.g.: o The relationship between the worker and parents and worker and children § Example question -‐ ‘on a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 is you have the best working relationship you could hope for and 0 is you can’t even get in the door… where would you rate it… where would the family rate it… when has it been at it’s highest… what was different then… what ideas have you got about how you could strengthen the relationship with mum… dad… child...’
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
The detail of any harm / complicating factors/ strengths and safety § Example questions for harm – ‘what happened, when did this happen, how often has it happened, how do we know, how serious was it, what was the impact on the children (dig deep here, don’t just accept assumptions)?’ § Example questions for complicating factors – ‘is there anything else that is going on in the lives of the child and their family that is making this problem harder to deal with?’ § Example question for strengths – ‘what have the family done since you got involved with them to show you they are serious about making things better for their children?’ § Example question for safety – ‘can you tell me about a time when the danger was present or there was a risk of the danger and someone did something to keep the child safe, who was that and what did they do?’ o What have we tried so far? § Example question – ‘if I was to ask mum, dad, grandma, children, what would they say we have done that has given them the best chance of turning things round and what else would they say they would have liked us to help them with that we haven’t?’ Decision whether to move to PLO. o
•
ALIGN PROCESS DOCUMENTATION WITH SIGNS OF SAFETY See appendices for examples PLO LETTER • Clear, and although formal not without compassion, written in plain language (this may be the last chance to engage with the family to build safety for their child/ren so they can remain in the family home). • Incorporates what is working well (strengths and existing safety), what the local authority is worried about (past harm, complicating factors and danger statement). • Following the letter, and prior to the meeting, there may be another opportunity following for the SW to work alongside the parents and the network to develop a safety plan that can be presented to the meeting. PLO MINUTE TEMPLATE • Adjusted from the national template to incorporate what is working well (strengths and existing safety), what the local authority is worried about (past harm and danger statement). PRE-‐PROCEEDINGS (PLO) MEETING • The meeting is held using the three column mapping with areas of the map pre-‐populated (avoiding repeated mappings) from the social work assessment / PLO Letter. o What is working well § Strengths § Existing safety) o What the local authority is worried § Past harm § Complicating factors • At the beginning (or immediately prior to the start) of the meeting the parents/ carers are invited to say what they think the professionals are worried about, if they are unable to
2
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
• •
• •
3
•
do so, the worker will be asked to carefully take them through the danger statement. The danger statement is then added to the map. Follow the same process with developing the safety goals Then invite everyone to scale:, ‘on a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 is that the family and their network have been able to create and are already following a plan to show everyone that the child will be safe in relation to the dangers and 0 is that despite everything that has been tried the family and network haven’t come up with or stuck to a plan to improve safety for the children, where would everyone rate this?’ Consider the plan put forward by the family (if this has been achieved) and use questions to explore any gaps and how/if these can be safely managed Form a judgement about safety (with the plan in place) using a scale of 0 to 10, ‘where 10 is I am satisfied that this plan will keep the child/ren safe in relation to the dangers and 0 is I don’t believe this will keep them safe at all, where would you rate it? Confirm decisions and actions review
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
APPENDICES:
4
1. Letter before proceedings (from Suffolk County) 2. Minute template (from Suffolk County)
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
Letter before proceedings (LBP)
PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER TAKE IT TO A SOLICITOR NOW Dear {parent and/or full name(s) of all people with parental responsibility} Re: SUFFOLK’S CONCERNS ABOUT {insert name(s) of child(ren)} – LETTER BEFORE PROCEEDINGS HOW TO AVOID GOING TO COURT I am writing to let you know that Suffolk County Council has serious concerns about your care of your child/ren, {name(s) of child(ren)}. We are so worried about your child/ren that we will go to court unless you are able to improve things. This means that we may apply to Court and {name(s) of child(ren)} could, if the Court decides that this is best for him/her/them, be taken into care. There are things you can do which could stop this happening. We have set out in this letter the concerns that we have about {name(s) of child(ren)} and the things that have been done to try to help your family. AN IMPORTANT MEETING ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT Please come to a meeting with us to talk about these concerns on {date and time} at the Children & Young People’s Service. The address is {address} and there is a map with this letter to help you find it. Please contact your social worker on {tel.no.} to tell us if you will come to the meeting. At the meeting we will discuss with you and tell you what you will need to do to make your child safe. We will also talk to you about how we will support you to do this. We will also make clear what steps we will take if we continue to be worried about {name(s) of child(ren)}. PLEASE BRING A SOLICITOR TO THE MEETING ON {insert date} Take this letter to a solicitor and ask them to come to the meeting with you. The solicitor will advise you about getting legal aid (free legal advice). We have sent with this letter a list of local solicitors who work with children and families. They are all separate from children’s services. You do not have to bring a solicitor to the meeting, but it will be helpful if you do. Information your Solicitor will need is: Local Authority Legal Contact Name and address of Lawyer WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DO NOTHING
5
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
If you do nothing we will have to go to Court. If you do not answer this letter or come to the meeting, we will go to Court as soon as we can to make sure {name(s) of child(ren)} are safe. YOUR WIDER FAMILY Our concerns about {name(s) of child(ren)} are very serious. If we do have to go to Court and the Court decides you cannot care for your children, we will first try and place them with one of your relatives, if it is best for your child(ren) to do this. At the meeting we will want to talk to you and your solicitor about who might look after your child if the Court decides that it is no longer safe for you to do so. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting with your solicitor on {date}. If you do not understand any part of this letter, please contact your social worker {name} on {tel. no.}. Please tell your social worker if you need any help with child care or transport arrangements in order to come to the meeting, and we will try to help. Yours sincerely {name} Practice Manager Local office/service Copy to: Social Worker {name} Local Authority Legal Team Enclosures: Map of office List of local Law Society Children Panel Solicitors List of things we are worried about
6
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
PLEASE SHOW / TAKE THIS TO A SOLICITOR WHAT IS WORKING WELL? Insert existing strengths and safety HERE ARE THE MAIN THINGS THAT WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT: 1. {Outline concern and past harm and give examples of when this happened. This should capture chronic ongoing concerns as well as acute episodes/incidents}. Date(s) Problem / past harm 2. Date(s) Problem / past harm Insert complicating factors here: DANGER STATEMENT WHAT CHILDREN’S SERVICES HAVE DONE TO TRY TO HELP {Who?} {What help has been given?} {When?}
7
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO SO THAT WE WILL NOT GO TO COURT: 1. Confirm that you will come to a meeting to talk about these concerns. Please try to bring a solicitor with you. 2. Continue to see and work with your social worker {insert name} and allow him/her to see {name(s) of child(ren)}. 3. At the meeting you will be asked to talk about how {name(s) of child(ren)} will be kept safe, with our help. Insert safety planning here:
8
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
Minutes of Public Law Outline Meeting Date: …………………………… Subject/s: ………………………………………………………………………………………. Social Worker: …………………….. Practice Manager: …………………………………. Service Manager (Chair): …………………………. Attended by: Mother of Father of Solicitor for Solicitor for L.A. Legal Representative Partner of Family Support Worker Senior Practitioner Minute Taker Introductions
Purpose of this meeting The chair …….. informed that this is meeting that is held to explain to parents and carers the serious concerns about (child/ren) and to make decisions about whether we need to make an application to the court to make sure that the (child/ren) are kept safe and that we make sure that permanent arrangements for their care are in place to make sure they are safe for the rest of their childhood. This meeting is held under what we call the Public Law Outline. The meeting will also look at whether there are things that anyone can or needs to do to delay or avoid us having to go to court. It is very important that we make sure that (child/ren) have safe plans in place for the rest of their childhood at the earliest opportunity and the meeting today will take this into consideration when agreeing the next steps. When we talk about “Permanency” this may be achieved through supporting parents to care for their children safely, or where this is not possible, by a variety of other ways; for instance through living with other family members which we call “kinship” placements, foster care, shared care or adoption. We will discuss whether any of these arrangements need to be under-‐pinned by the security of court orders. The chair………. summarised the “ground rules” for the meeting: a) That the LA will provide the minutes of the meeting (a summary of discussions and the decisions) b) That there must be no other audio or video recording c) That all parties are required to confirm they have switched off all such devices, inc. mobile phones
9
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
d) That the minutes are confidential to the parties involved (their legal representatives, CAFCASS and the court, if an application is made) and should not be disclosed to others without the agreement of all parties. OR The chair ……..confirmed that this was a review Public Law Outline meeting, following the meeting held on …… and will consider the actions agreed at that meeting, and the next steps. The chair ……..confirmed that parties had received copies of the letter inviting them to this meeting, which includes details of the Local Authority’’s concerns, and is used as the agenda for this meeting. In respect of opportunity to discuss the letter contents with a legal representative, …… OR The purpose of this meeting is to clarify the reasons why the Local Authority will be making an application in proceedings in respect of (Name/s), offering parents the opportunity to seek legal advice and guidance prior to this action being taken. What is working well for the child(ren) and the family? Insert existing strengths and safety here What are the social worker and the Local Authority worried about? -‐ review the concerns as identified in the letter, and any additions from the chair, and response from parties Insert past harm as identified in the letter Insert danger statement from letter here
10
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
Summary of discussions and LA proposed plans Decisions (including actions/by whom / when) Insert safety planning here Review Date (as appropriate)
Signed ……………………………………………………… Chair CC: to all parties and Safeguarding
11
Implementation Public Law Outline ©2015 Resolutions Consultancy
