While I wait for my partner and 13 year old to trail their tired but hopefully happy way back from bodyboarding at Whitesands beach, here’s a quick rundown of what happened in Watford Family Court in front of HHJ Vavrecka, sitting as a high court judge, at 2.15pm on Friday 28 May.
Category: Social services
Can a social worker take my children away?
I’m a parent and I have mental health problems and/or a personality disorder. Can a social worker take my children away?
I have a diagnosis of personality disorder. Can a social worker take my children away?
The medication I’ve been given means that I sleep so soundly I don’t wake up if the baby needs me in the night – and I’m a single parent. Can the Social Worker take my children away?
I know I need therapy to be a good enough parent, but my Social Worker says the waiting lists mean that I won’t even get an assessment for another six months and that even then I mightn’t get any help because I’m too unwell or live too far away. Can the Social Worker take my children away?
Continue reading “Can a social worker take my children away?”Lifelong Links
Must the police investigate allegations of child abuse?
Police have a legal responsibility to safeguard children under 18, together with other agencies such as the local authority, healthcare professionals and schools. This includes sharing information held by police which is relevant to protect a child from harm.
When a child has been the victim of child abuse within the family, police will often work together with social workers to interview the child or conduct joint visits to the home.
The police will investigate criminal offences such as physical assaults, sexual assaults and neglect of children. They don’t always decide to prosecute because it’s sometimes more appropriate for the family to work with social workers to protect the child.
Whether the police prosecute or not, there will, in some cases, be a need for structured support to protect the child. If so, the local authority may call a child protection conference where professionals and parents can discuss the risks and make decisions. The police are involved in these meetings.
Information about domestic violence is always shared by the police. This is because domestic violence can have a serious impact upon children even if the child is in another room when it happens.
The Police and Social Workers ‘Working Together’
Summary: In the United Kingdom, following the death of Victoria ClimbiÈ, child protection procedures are currently being reviewed once again. At the core of child protection activity is the police/social work relationship and the notion of ‘working together’ to respond to child abuse. However, there is often a failure to interrogate what rhetorical assertions about multi-disciplinary working actually amount to in terms of the micro-politics of ‘joined up’ endeavours. This police/social relationship needs to be analysed because of specific issues related to child protection, but also because of the creation of multi-disciplinary youth offending teams and the more encompassing popularity, within eee policy discourse of New Labour, of ‘joined up’ approaches to the delivery of child welfare services. • Findings: Interviews conducted with police officers and social workers in three different locations illuminate how they view their roles. Respondents reveal the tensions in ‘working together’ and a police tendency to perceive themselves as the ‘lead agency’. In addition, issues bound up with recruitment and selection are significant. Within joint police/social work specialist units, there is a blurring of the social work role. • Applications: It is argued that joint working between social workers and police officers needs to be subject to reflexive scrutiny. Perhaps, in the past, aspects of policing have been inadequately examined in social work education and training. The creation of a new social work degree may provide, however, an opportunity to address this issue. More generally, et should allow course participants the space to comprehend critically other ‘disciplines’ and the social processes that underpin joint working paradigms.
What is a section 37/41?
This is a section 37 hospital order with section 41 restrictions added. Only the Crown Court can add section 41 restrictions. It might add them if it thinks that it’s necessary for the protection of the public from serious harm.
When deciding whether to add section 41 restrictions, the Crown Court must consider:
- the seriousness of the offence committed
- any previous offences you may have committed
- the risk of you committing more offences in the future.
How long will I be in hospital?
A section 37/41 lasts until you are discharged by the Mental Health Tribunal or by your responsible clinician. If your responsible clinician thinks you should be discharged, they will need to get permission from the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice also needs to give permission for you to have section 17 leave or for you to transfer to a different hospital. Getting permission from the Ministry of Justice can take a long time.
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/legal-rights/courts-and-mental-health/section-3741/
Do you need psychology for social work?
You should be working in the social services field in a professional capacity and also get experience in research and research analysis. … A degree in Psychology can be an excellent path to becoming a social worker, provided you get the work experience you need to advance your degree.
https://www.bestpsychologydegrees.com/faq/can-i-become-a-social-worker-with-a-degree-in-psychology/
Social Work vs. Psychology
Both social work and psychology are fields that equip others with the necessary tools to help themselves. Social work and psychology are oriented towards the same outcome: recognizing and treating mental illness, and empowering individuals to improve their own lives. While they sometimes overlap and intersect, each profession approaches their work with individuals in a distinctive manner. As a result, each profession requires different levels of education, licensure, or certification.
Social workers help people solve and cope with everyday problems that arise in their lives. While some social workers require a bachelor’s degree, clinical social workers should have a master’s degree, appropriate experience, and a license for the state in which they practice.
Psychologists study emotional, cognitive, and social processes and behavior. They observe and make sense of the way in which an individual relates to others and the environment around them. Psychologists typically hold a doctorate degree in psychology and a license to practice. In some cases, a master’s degree may suffice for certain related positions.
As of 2018, there were over 700,000 social workers External link , according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS reports in 2018 that there were also over 180,000 psychologists External link . Both fields are also projected to grow in the coming decade, along with the overall employment of individuals working in these fields. This growth will be driven by increasing demand for healthcare and social services External link . If a career based on helping others resonates with you, there’s never been a better time to consider studying social work or psychology
Why Use Genograms?
Genograms are useful assessment tools that foster clients’ understanding of historical family patterns that might impact current behaviors, relationships, and functioning. From a social work perspective, individuals are embedded within many different systems that impact their lives, and the genogram emphasizes this systems theoretical perspective with a focus on the family. The family is perhaps the most important and universal system with which clients interact. Family systems influence an individual’s behavior, attitude, belief system, and cultural identity from one’s earliest days, and they play an important role in shaping one’s roles and relationships in society.
Use As An Assessment Tool
As an assessment tool, the genogram allows client and clinician to examine family structure in detail, and capture clinically-relevant information related to the quality and characterization of relationships. After capturing this information together, client and clinician can explore the ways in which family processes play out across generations.
The genogram can also be used as an intervention tool. Research has found that the act of creating the genogram itself has therapeutic benefits for clients. Further, genograms assist clinicians in understanding the origins of client behaviors and the sources of presenting problems. This information guides clinicians to effective intervention recommendations that are based in a client’s family system.
HOW LOW DO YOU GO?
JUST TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT, sick of still hearing it, does it ever end???
Still hearing malicious stories people have recently been told.
Well here we are 28 years on and still it goes on, it never ends, the pathological lying and the deceit.
- Lies about my mother who died 3 years ago and is not here to defend herself, lies about her character, stories about her generosity, charity and community work twisted into a sick story.
- Lies about infidelity – I did not date anyone until the marriage was officially over and I received the decree absolute. My son knows this because he was still in the matrimonial home with me after the divorce!
- Lies about me being mentally unstable and in his words “A complete nutter”, find this one quite funny because I nearly was 28 years ago!!!!. Thankfully after years of therapy discovered I was quite normal.
- Lies about paying for a property for me and my husband after the divorce.
- Lies about money and the divorce settlement.
- Producing fake business accounts to the court to reduce my share of the property. (Still have the documents for evidence when my children finally realize the truth)
- Producing a document from a local health clinic saying he could no longer work because of a back injury, apparently he would end up in a wheel chair!!!!!! Again to reduce my share. (Still have the document for proof if ever needed)
So just to set the story straight here is the final bill out of 140,000 pounds back in 1994 after 8 years of fighting to see my children. (I still have not seen my son in 30 years)
Yes after 8 years of fighting and 14 years of marriage, I finally received 6,392.00 pounds 23.79% of the total proceeds.
At least I got something which is more than his last girlfriend received after 12 years of being together. She is now hiding out in Spain, probably along with the many others who managed to escape!
Met the ex girlfriend on a recent trip to Spain and she was still terrified at the thought of seeing him again!!!!!
Speaks Volumes. How many others? Who Knows? Who Cares?
Linda
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