If things do not improve enough with a Child Protection Plan, Children’s Services might start pre-proceedings.
Pre-proceedings happen before the Local Authority applies to a court. This is known as care proceedings.
Pre-proceedings are where everyone works together to try to stop care proceedings from happening.
Care proceedings are when Children’s Services apply to the Family Court.
Children’s Services apply to court to ask a judge to decide if a legal order is needed to keep the child safe.
Pre proceedings can start at any time when a child is on a Child Protection Plan.
Pre proceedings will usually happen when risk to a child has increased.
Parents will have a parenting assessment if one has not been done before.
The parenting assessment will show if a parent needs extra support to help them improve more.
There will be a pre-proceedings meeting at the start of pre-proceedings.
A pre-proceedings meeting is a meeting to agree a plan to deal with any concerns that Children’s Services still have about a child’s safety or wellbeing.
What happens at a pre-proceedings meeting?
The social worker will say what concerns Children’s Services have.
The parents will be able to say what they think with help from their solicitor.
A plan will be made with the family and social worker.
The plan will say how to improve things for the child.
Say what support the family will need to improve things
Ask Children’s Services to arrange for a Family Group Conference
