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Social Services Question

My friend has contacted social services regarding the safety of a little girl who lives next door.She knew already that the family were allocated a social worker .She said she was worried as well as the mother has a vile temper.
Social worker has been this afternoon and told the mother who has expressed concern over the girl.Is this the norm?Shes just had the mother hammering at her door screaming obscenities at her.She rang social services back and they said'well you didnt say you didnt want to keep your indentity confidential' to which my friend replied'well with the nature of things id have thought that was pretty obvious'..can anyone advise any further ?
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Comments

  • puddy
    puddy Posts: 12,709 Forumite
    not much she can do, she should have specified that she needed the details to be confidential, she cant expect the person who takes the referral to be a mind reader, no matter what the details of the referral is

    is there any chance of the neighbour calming down and accepting that your friend was just concerned and wanted to help or is she one of those in terminal denial?

    if your friend is worried for her safety she may have to consider phoning the police and reporting this, these details may also get back to ssd emphasising how concerning the mothers behaviour is to all and sundry
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,571 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    puddy wrote: »
    not much she can do, she should have specified that she needed the details to be confidential, she cant expect the person who takes the referral to be a mind reader, no matter what the details of the referral is

    I would have thought the premise would be that reports were kept anonymous unless specifically told otherwise.

    It was very unprofessional to tell the woman who had contacted SS.

    I would put a complaint in writing to the head of SS.
  • puddy
    puddy Posts: 12,709 Forumite
    most parents having been visited by SSD the first time would want some transparency about who has reported concerns about their children, whether that is a neighbour, school, the police or whoever, most referrers who want to stay confidential say just that, they dont leave it to chance
  • MummyOfTwo
    MummyOfTwo Posts: 474 Forumite
    well SS may have just said 'a neighbour' and neighbour is taking a pot luck guess. i wouldnt admit to anything, and if it persists, 999 immediately.
  • I've just spoken to her and she said shes worried for their safety as the womans got a rotten temper.The little girl has gone from a bubbly little girl always out playing in the garden to them never seeing her and they can hear her crying all the time inside.She just says her gut feeling is something isnt right and she would never forgive herself if something happened to her,so she doesnt regret calling them.Only that they are open to abuse themselves now as the police are always there with the mother and her new boyfriend fighting.
  • meritaten
    meritaten Posts: 24,158 Forumite
    which is why when I advise people to contact SS to do so anonomously - because they do tell who reported you!
    most people assume that calls are confidential - they dont seem to be as I have heard of this happening many times.

    No wonder people dont report it when they are worried! they are (rightly) afraid the person will be told who it was and they then get targeted.
    just one more instance of SS not having the common sense needed to do the job.
  • puddy
    puddy Posts: 12,709 Forumite
    has the woman ever been reasonable and is your friend sure that the social worker gave your friend's name rather than just saying 'we had a referral from a neighbour'?

    sometimes if it is a neighbour, it is very difficult to give details of the concerns without the client twigging who you are talking about even when its anonymous, you hae to be clear with parents what the concerns are and why it is a problem and to explain that you have to go into great detail, usually resulting in the parent guessing where the information has come from
  • puddy
    puddy Posts: 12,709 Forumite
    meritaten wrote: »
    which is why when I advise people to contact SS to do so anonomously - because they do tell who reported you!
    most people assume that calls are confidential - they dont seem to be as I have heard of this happening many times.

    No wonder people dont report it when they are worried! they are (rightly) afraid the person will be told who it was and they then get targeted.
    just one more instance of SS not having the common sense needed to do the job.

    we are required to be a transparent and honest with clients as we can. how would you like it if i came to your house alleging this and that and then said, well i know who is saying all this but im not going to tell you, that doesnt get the relationship off to a great start and does not help the parent trust anyone. if someone wants to stay anonymous they can
  • pineapple
    pineapple Posts: 6,934 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 25 April 2012 at 7:21PM
    I'm surprised the friend didn't think to raise the issue of confidentiality. I once contacted Environmental Health about a restaurant near our office and and despite it not being anywhere near as 'difficult', it was the first thing I asked about!
    I would double check with the Social Worker whether I had actually been named.
    Whatever - I think the Social Worker was unprofessional in not raising the issue of confidentiality at the time of the complaint. Plus in this case where there is already a record of police and Social Services involvement one would have expected a bit of discretion!!
    I used to work for Social Services (though not a Social Worker). We treated complaints as confidential - the exception being if it had to go to court etc and we needed the info as evidence.
  • paulofessex
    paulofessex Posts: 1,728 Forumite
    As Puddy explained regarding the info identifying the referrer is a pretty usual occurrence. If a caller expresses that they wish to remain anonymous the social worker should advise the caller that although their name will not be used, they have to be aware that the info may identify them.

    In the OP's case l applaud you for making the referral as only to often many people will not take that step. OP l would urge you to keep a diary of event's i.e. verbal abuse etc with the consideration of making a complaint to the housing department as well as the police should it continue.

    Also don't forget referrals can also be made 24hrs via the NSPCC Helpline 0808 800 5000, such referrals will be faxed to the relevant duty social work team within hours
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