Care Proceedings Research Articles

Review: See You in Court: A Social Worker's Guide to Presenting Evidence in Care Proceedings

Review: See You in Court: A Social Worker's Guide to Presenting Evidence in Care Proceedings

Balancing parents' and very young children's rights in care proceedings: decision‐making in the context of the Human Rights Act 1998

ABSTRACTThis paper explores whether the Human Rights Act 1998 has influenced the approach a range of professionals, including social workers, managers and children's guardians adopt when they examine and seek to balance the potentially competing rights of parents and children involved in care proceedings. Drawing on findings from an empirical study of the decision‐making process that influences the life pathways of very young children in care, it also explores some of the dilemmas professionals face in their day‐to‐day practice and examines whether parental rights are prioritized over children's rights in certain instances.

See You in Court: A Social Worker's Guide to Presenting Evidence in Care Proceedings - By Lynn Davis and Courtroom Skills for Social Workers - By Claire Seymour and Richard Seymour

See You in Court: A Social Worker's Guide to Presenting Evidence in Care Proceedings - By Lynn Davis and Courtroom Skills for Social Workers - By Claire Seymour and Richard Seymour

The State as Parent: The Reluctant Parent? The Problems of Parents of Last Resort

This paper will explore the idea of the local authority as a reluctant parent. It will consider the extent to which this reluctance is produced by the care proceedings system and its consequences for children. Local authorities are both expected to refrain from intervening (care proceedings are a measure of last resort) and to be fully prepared for intervention (whilst leaving children with their parents). Amongst the themes which will be developed here are the impact of the juridification of social work and the emphasis on the courts for holding local authorities to account; the balance between voluntary accommodation and compulsory care; and the problems of resourcing care services. Its main focus will be on children who enter care because of abuse or neglect. Its thesis is that the conflicting expectations on local authorities, resource constraints, and considerations of legal process make them reluctant parents.

Child Maltreatment in Diverse Households: Challenges to Law, Theory, and Practice

In the United Kingdom relatively little attention has been paid to ‘race’ and racism and the role of cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity in care proceedings. This paper will look at the background, law, and guidance on diversity in this field and explore the impact of notions of diversity in evidence before the courts. It will look at their relevance in allegations of 'significant harm’ to children and failures of parenting, and the coverage of diverse backgrounds in expert reports and parents’ statements. It will argue that while there is no evidence that the threshold criteria for a care order require reassessing, there is room for considerable improvement in attention to issues of diversity in evidence and in the experiences of parents attending court. The paper will explore the implications of the studies for theorizing law and the duties of the state and look at notions such as cultural relativism and concepts imported from cultural anthropology for determining culturally acceptable parenting. It will highlight problems with these approaches and demonstrate why ‘paradigms of intersectionality’ is a more useful and robust approach.

Every Child Matters? A critical review of child welfare reforms in the context of minority ethnic children and families

AbstractThis paper critically reviews some key government papers that together largely provide the foundation for the relevant child welfare reforms in England and Wales. The context of this review was to evaluate whether these papers and documents made sufficient reference to improving policies and practices for minority ethnic children and families involved in child welfare matters, given the research evidence from the early 1990s suggesting that such families may experience particular disadvantages or discriminations within the UK child welfare system. The research evidence cited draws upon studies that have considered the experiences of different minority ethnic groups from the point of referrals through to long term services, including those children who have been looked after in local authority care and those families that have been subject to care proceedings. This paper concludes that more is needed under the Every Child Matters agenda to both acknowledge and address the specific needs of minority ethnic children and their families, as identified in the range of studies published post Children Act 1989. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Role of the Court in Cases Concerning Parental Substance Misuse and Children at Risk of Harm

This article explores the potential of a specialist family drug and alcohol court, a new court‐based intervention to be piloted by government, for children at risk of care proceedings due to parental substance misuse. It examines the reasons for the initiative and considers its potential to improve outcomes for children. It concludes with a discussion of the key issues to be tested out through an independent evaluation of the pilot.

Judgements of Solomon: anxieties and defences of social workers involved in care proceedings

ABSTRACTEvidence from focus group discussions with social workers in child care and child protection was collected for a research project exploring decision‐making in care proceedings and seeking a better understanding of the causes of delay in the process. Here this material is used to examine social workers' feelings about their work and to explore the anxieties they expressed. Isabel Menzies's work on containing anxiety in institutions is used to provide a conceptual framework for thinking about the ways in which individuals' unconscious defences against anxiety may affect the structure, policies and practices of the organization in which they work. It is suggested that this dimension needs to be taken into account in understanding difficulties which arise in putting policy into practice.

Le genou de Clémence ou l'espace nostrique comme perspective psychothérapeutique

The writer uses the case study of Clemence' knee to present the phenomenological concept of Wirheit in german ( Nostrité in french) which can be translate into "being with" or "being together" in english. This concept is worth knowing in psychology because it can run the psychotherapeutic treatment more effective: care proceedings which will be able to create their own "being with" area vill start again the existential dimension of the patient; this sentient and unrepresentable (so unanalysable) base of the psychical human identity. In practice, we'll see that this therapeutic « being with » consists in working a spontaneous problematic "being with" called out by the patient. This defensive position can be identified in the light of a cover for the human being core. With the therapeutic help, such a "being with" will become the place of the embodied and incorporated self as a competent base for existence. It is noteworthy that the method used to make the reader's understanding easier is to start from a psychanalytic understanding of Clemence's problematic to move on a phenomenological one, so as to draw the efficient sight, for psychology, of this "being with" concept came from philosophy.

Revisiting children ‘home on trial’ in the context of current concerns about the costs and effectiveness of the looked‐after children system: findings from an exploratory study

ABSTRACTStatute and practice relating to s.31 part IV of The Children Act 1989 allow children subject to care orders to be placed at home with their parent(s). It is not uncommon for the courts to accept a plan for children to return home at the final hearing of care proceedings at which full care orders are granted. In such instances, children retain looked‐after status but, in terms of their day‐to‐day care, are looked after by parent(s). Whilst there are a small number of studies conducted in the 1990s relating to children ‘home on trial’, there is a much more limited recent literature. It is important to revisit this population of children, given current concerns about the burgeoning costs of child care proceedings and the looked‐after children system (LAC). This paper reports on a small‐scale exploratory study in one north‐west local authority area. Consisting of a file study and interviews with parents and professionals, the study examines the factors that contributed to initial removal of children to public care, the impact of the LAC system for children ‘home on trial’, stability of placements at home, as well as issues to do with the discharge of care orders. Particular attention is drawn to lone father headed households, a social group over‐represented in our sample. The study aims to inform further multi‐location studies.

Special Parenting and the Combined Skills Model

Background The Child and Special Parenting Service provides flexible assessment, long‐term domiciliary support and home‐based teaching to intellectually disabled parents. It provides key coordination between the Learning Disability Service and the Children's Service with focussed parenting assessments, where issues of child care and protection proceedings arise.Method Semi‐structured interviews and questionnaires were designed to evaluate user satisfaction for both recipients of the service and professionals referring to the service.Results A high level of consumer satisfaction was found and assessment reports were highly rated. The service is seen to help prevent family breakdown, to meet user needs and to be supportive and non‐threatening by the parents.Conclusions The combined skills model proposes a small, specialized service that acts as a linchpin for complex cases that require skills from both child and learning disability workers. The Child and Special Parenting Service receives an increasing demand for assessment. It is highly valued by the users and works strongly from an inter‐agency standpoint, coordinating complex packages of domiciliary assessment and support, and is a good practice model.

Classical Osteogenesis Imperfecta and Allegations of Nonaccidental Injury

We report 12 patients with osteogenesis imperfecta initially diagnosed with nonaccidental injuries. As a result, formal hearings, care proceedings, and criminal proceedings ensued and seven of the children were removed from their parents. The features suggestive of osteogenesis imperfecta at the time of the initial investigation included a positive family history in six patients, scleral discoloration in nine, abnormally large anterior fontanels in four, excessive numbers of wormian bones in four, abnormal bone texture in two, and abnormal biochemical findings in three. There were discrepancies between the fractures and other clinical evidence of inflicted trauma. The seven patients removed from their homes eventually were returned. Five patients remained at home. Information was available on the subsequent history of the patients for an average of 4.8 years. Although seven patients have had additional fractures, there have been no additional allegations of nonaccidental injury. When investigating children with unexplained fractures, it is important to review carefully their clinical history, family history, physical examination findings, and radiographic findings. Misdiagnosing patients with nonaccidental injuries causes substantial harm to the family and particularly to the child.

Emergency powers for child protection

This article examines the use of emergency intervention for child protection in England by the police and social services to establish when and why powers are used and what subsequently happens. It is based on two studies in England between 1998 and 2004: 1) The Police Protection Study (PP), which examined the use of police protection through a survey of 16 (of the 43) police forces in England and Wales and record reading (311 cases) and interviews (57) in eight forces. 2) The Emergency Protection Orders (EPO) study, which examined EPO applications though a national survey of courts, an analysis of cases (86) from six social services departments, and interviews (78) with social workers, lawyers, court staff and magistrates. There are wide variations in the use of emergency powers. The police act independently and in response to social workers' requests. Social workers resort to emergency powers in well‐known, serious cases when parents refuse co‐operation. EPOs are followed by care proceedings.

The Quest for Truth: Substantiating Allegations of Physical Abuse in Criminal Prosecutions and Care Proceedings

The protection of children from violence is increasingly being placed on national and international societal and political agendas throughout the world. Although responses vary, measures to punish abusers in the criminal courts and measures to protect child victims in the family courts are common to many jurisdictions. When an allegation of abuse is contested, the conflict must be resolved before these punitive or protective measures can be implemented. However, proving that a child has been abused is a process fraught with difficulties. This article explores the concept of proof and illustrates the challenges faced in substantiating allegations of physical abuse in criminal prosecutions and care proceedings in England and Wales. In so doing it considers the relationship between the two kinds of proceedings in the light of their respective punitive and protective objectives. It concludes that, although recent developments may occasionally have blurred the distinction between the two systems, the fundamentally different objectives of each remain and that this distinction justifies apparently conflicting outcomes in the quest for truth.

Coming to conclusions: social workers’ perceptions of the decision‐making process in care proceedings

ABSTRACTThis study reports on an analysis of the transcripts of four focus groups involving social workers from four English social work teams working with children and families. In the groups, social workers discussed the process of coming to a decision in care proceedings (where decisions are made about the future care of a child where there are concerns about the care provided in the family of origin). It explores how social workers described themselves coming to conclusions about cases, and how they perceive the courts as doing so. Noting the need in such important proceedings both for thoroughness and for speed (for delay is likely to be harmful to children in need of a secure home), the authors consider ways in which decision‐making might be distorted or delayed and discuss the perception of the social workers that some kinds of evidence are under‐ or overvalued by the courts. The authors conclude that, while it may seem that there is a trade‐off between thoroughness and speed, this is not always the case and that factors that cause poor decision‐making can also cause delay.

The uncelebrated parent: stories of mothers with learning difficulties caught in the child protection net

SummaryThis paper presents the stories of three mothers with learning difficulties whose children have been involved in care proceedings. Drawing on the example of the legendary interviewer, Studs Terkel, the authors let the mothers describe their experiences of the child protection system in their own words. From out of their intensely personal accounts comes a political narrative about the role of the state in the policing of marginalized and vulnerable families.

Parental substance misuse and child care social work: findings from the first stage of a study of 100 families

ABSTRACTParental misuse of drugs or alcohol is known to be a common issue for child care social workers, yet there has been surprisingly little British research on the topic. The study reported here attempts to address this gap. All files going for long‐term allocation in four London boroughs over on average 1 year were examined (290 files). Parental substance misuse (PSM) emerged as a major feature of social work caseloads. Of the 290 cases, 100 (34%) involved concerns about parental substance misuse. The families involving substance misuse were more vulnerable on a variety of measures: the children were younger, the parents had more individual problems and the families lived in more difficult social situations. PSM cases tended to be ‘heavy end’ at the point of allocation: they accounted for 62% of all children subject to care proceedings and 40% of those placed on the child protection register. There was a fairly even spread between alcohol and drug misuse, and a number of cases involved both. Substance misuse specialists were rarely involved in working with families, primarily because parents said that they did not think that they had a problem. Suggestions for ways in which policy and practice with PSM might be improved are made in light of these findings.

Impacto de los cuidados paliativos y perfil clínico del paciente con enfermedad terminal en un área de Medicina Interna

The medical assistance to patients with terminal diseases has been structured with Primary Care and Palliative Care Units as protagonists, and with other specialties as secondary roles. Nevertheless the impact of this group of patients in Internal Medicine areas is unknown. Our objective was to evaluate these parameters in the area of Internal Medicine of a tertiary teaching Hospital. Prospective observational study of all patients attended in Internal Medicine areas during June 2003. Patients were stratified in three cohorts (palliative, pluripathologic, and general). Incidence of palliative patients, origin, clinical features, and burden of hospital care in the last 12 months were analyzed. Univariate analysis of the clinical differences between the palliative and the pluripathologic, and general cohorts was performed, using Chi-square, Fisher, ANOVA and post-hoc tests and Kruskal-Wallis test. 52 (53.8% women; mean age 66.5 +/- 15 years) were included from the global study cohort of 339 patients. Incidence of palliative patients was 15.4/100 admissions. The patients were admitted from other specialties (57.6%), Emergency department (27%), and Primary Care (10%). Mean hospital stay was 14.5 (1-150) days, and survival 63.5%. The 68.5% of deceases occurred at home. Patients of palliative cohort, with respect to general cohort had less functional ability at baseline (47.5 vs 95; p < 0.0001), admission (40 vs 75; p < 0.0001), and at discharge (20 vs 75; p < 0.0001), and more functional deterioration during hospital stay (mean fall in Barthel's values at baseline-discharge of 27.5 vs 20 points; p < 0.003). There were no differences in the burden of hospital care in the previous 12 months. With respect to the cohort of pluripathologic patients, palliative patients were younger (66.5 +/- 15 vs 75 +/- 11 years; p = 0.001) and had similar functional limitations at baseline (47.5 vs 45), admission (40 vs 20) and at discharge (20 vs 20). Patients with terminal diseases are prevalent in the clinical setting in areas of internal medicine. These data support the role of the internist in palliative care proceedings, and prompt internists to acquire enough specific abilities to manage competitively these population.

An interpretive phenomenological method for illuminating the meaning of caring relationship

This study is a part of a larger project in which the aim is to illuminate the meaning of the caring relationship between patients and nurses in daily nursing practice. Empirical studies in this area inspired from the interpretive phenomenological method are not commonly used. The aim of this paper is to describe how an interpretive phenomenological method was used to illuminate the meaning of the phenomenon caring relationship in daily nursing practice. Data were collected during 16 nursing care proceedings using participant observation with field notes, and in addition to that two interviews, one patient and one nurse. The interpretation moved back and forth between the whole and the parts in a dialectic process. Initial interpretive understanding of interviews and field notes, meaning units and comprehensive understanding were presented. Themes from the patient's interviews were competence, lack of continuity, strain and vulnerability. Themes from the nurse's interviews were competence and striving. Themes from the field notes were interactions towards a goal. The use of interpretive phenomenology offered an opportunity for learning to understand the meaning of the phenomenon caring relationship in daily nursing practice with both strengths and limitations. This study gave an understanding of the phenomenon through the illumination of the patient's and the nurse's thoughts, feelings and actions in the nursing care proceedings that led to a more profound knowledge about how they together create an encounter through their unique competence.

Care, control and change in child care proceedings: dilemmas for social workers, managers and lawyers

ABSTRACTThis paper draws on findings from an interview‐based study of the ways that local authority social workers, social services managers and lawyers work together in child care cases in England. The study shows how stressful social workers can find care proceedings, and how much they look to the lawyers for support. It also shows how the lawyers’ involvement can bring new stresses and dilemmas. The managers are especially likely to resent ‘over‐involvement’ (as they see it) from lawyers, but lawyers are quick to defend their role and responsibilities. The paper shows how the complex, multifaceted dimensions of care, control and change interweave with professional differences in care proceedings: care for children, parents and social workers; struggles for control against the court, the other parties and sometimes the other professionals on one's own side; and responsiveness to change set against wariness about ‘lawyers’ deals’ and undue risk to children. The paper concludes that the valuing of difference, rather than its avoidance or suppression, is at the heart of effective inter‐professional work. It calls for greater recognition of this in current initiatives to promote interdisciplinary working in children's services in England.