If Social Services are involved with your family because they have concerns for your child or children, you may receive a ‘Letter before Proceedings’ from them.
If you have received a letter from the Local Authority with the heading ‘Letter before Proceedings’ it is extremely important you take this letter to a family law solicitor that is a specialist in Child Law. If you are the parent of the child named on the letter then you will not have to pay for your solicitor as you will be eligible for Legal Aid.
The letter will include details of a meeting, which is sometimes referred to as a ‘PLO’ meeting. This stands for ‘Public Law Outline’. This is a series of meetings that try to address Social Services’ concerns about the care of a child or children. This meeting is held as Social Services and will be attended by the Social Worker, Team Manager and Legal Advisor. In addition, any other parent would also be invited to attend.
The meeting is very important. It aims to put a plan in place to prevent the concerns from continuing and to stop you from having to go to Court. During the meeting, Social Services will talk you through their concerns that should have been contained in the letter. You can respond through your solicitor and they can speak for you.
There are various options available to Social Services following the meeting. If you have worked well with Social Services they may feel the matter can be dealt with no further meetings are required.
If they feel that the concerns are ongoing and possibly getting worse Social Services may wish to carry out a ‘Parenting Assessment’ to establish if these concerns can be reduced. They could ask you to discuss a ‘Written Agreement’ with your solicitor. This is a document that sets out changes that they want you to abide by and agree to, as well as setting out what they will do. Your solicitor will go through each of these with you in a private room during the meeting.
If Social Services agree to a Written Agreement they will then arrange a further meeting to discuss the outcome of the Parenting Assessment and decide on future plans. Social Services may also ask you to put forward any family members or close friends as people that could look after your child or children while the concerns are being addressed. These are people you wish to be assessed to care for your child. They are a safety net to avoid your child or children being placed in the care of Social Services.
If Social Services are very concerned they could make an application to the Court.
If you have received a Letter before Proceedings or Children’s Services are involved with your family please contact our dedicated Family Law Solicitors at Martyn Prowel to discuss your matter further on 029 2047 0909.