Hi There. I have 2 young people, both of whom are full time wheelchair users. As a family we have always been open and honest, and have worked hard to give each other support. My daughter has always said that she wants to move to supported living eventually and we support that, but what that will look like has always been very vague. My daughter also has mild/moderate learning disabilities, is deemed to have capacity but is easily led and open to suggestion. She recently mentioned to her social worker that, in order to increase her independence before thinking about making the move to supported living she would like to go on holiday with her carers again. She did this last year and I paid out of some saved hours and paid for the actual holiday out of my own money. I said this year I would pay for the holiday but didnāt have spare hours for the care payment. The social worker said she would return to do a review. This was in January - we heard nothing until April when I was told my daughter had made an allegation and now it was under safeguarding. I was told of the allegation and I explained how it could not be true. My daughter does have a history of saying things to get attention and then back tracking. This is all detailed in her care agency notes. I wonāt make this post longer than it needs to be but we now have carers 24/7 (at premium rate) and apparently the Authority is looking for a placement for her.
My concerns are:
A) my daughter has no idea what supported living will look like - she is under the impression that she will move to her own home with her current carers. This is very unlikely to happen due to the cost
B) There appears to have been no full investigation into the safeguarding issues - no one has contacted my son as a witness nor as a vulnerable person in his own right. Itās as if he doesnāt exist!
C) The social worker refuses to answer any of my questions - i asked if she had filled in the form for an Independent Advocate for my daughter, as advised by her LD Nurse and she refused to tell me.
So I wonder if anyone could advise me on what the process for
-
transferring to supported living should look like
-
what the process for safe guarding investigations should look like
Any advice would ber gratefully received
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hi @DonnaG , welcome to the fourm and I am so sorry to hear what has gone on. I have been in that same boat my self and it did my head in. What I can suggest is speaking to someone with legal advice but also make a complaint. Safeguarding should be done like a police investergation , you are within your right to go to the police and make your own safeguarding issue being herd . best of luck. the out come for me was that it was dropped and did not go any further but I have asked for the social worker to stay away from me as I was not happy the way it was being run the investergation that was .
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Welcome to the forum.
Firstly, I would like to say that the council should be paying for additional staff and their costs while on holiday. There was an important case concerning this involving Suffolk County Council.
How old are your children? Over 18 you are not responsible for ANY of their care costs!
Have a look at your LA website concerning Safeguarding, their policy and procedure should be there. Consider making a Subject Access Request, also via the main LA website.
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Hi @Michael_1910123
Thank you so much for replying. One of the hardest things to cope with has been the feeling that you are on your own.
I feel like we (my husband and I ) have been accused of something but we donāt know what so we canāt give any defence. In fact it has started to feel like the social worker is happy to just let the situation stay as it is so I canāt advocate for my daughter and decisions can be made without my input.
My daughter did ask me to help her send an email asking to pause the process - I typed, she dictated, she pressed send, all recorded in the care agency notes - the reply from the social worker was āI know your emails arenāt confidential, phone me with your carersā. My daughter actually showed me the email!
I should also say that we have two carers who have continually talked about supported living and 24/7 care. Iāve always said weāre managing but now Iām wondering if they have presented an idea to my daughter. As I said she is very open to suggestion and everything is black and white with her. I have no proof so then I wonder if Iām being paranoid!
Itās such a difficult situation
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Hi @bowlingbun
My kids are older - 30 and 23. Itās the 23 year old. Tbf if she wasnāt a full time wheelchair user she would probably be sofa surfing and staying out all night! However I also donāt think she realised how stressful things would get and now her anxiety is so high she is making herself sick.
She has epilepsy and I spoke to her specialist nurse who suggested LD Psychology input but she was rejected for that. Her LD Nurse suggested an Independent Advocate - which sounds a great idea - and gave me details. My daughter and I contacted them together but it needs the social worker to fill in the form. She wonāt tell me if she has done so and my daughter doesnāt seem to know either.
Thatās a really good idea to look at the LA website. I will definitely do that.
Thank you so much
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As your daughter is an adult, then she can make a Subject Access Request to have copies of everything held on file about her, from whatever date seems appropriate. Iād suggest paper copies, in date order, printed one sided, numbered, and hole punched. (My LA canāt even get things in order!!!)
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@DonnaG ,yes it is a difficult situation trying to know what been said or done ,so you can defend your self. Sometime it is the Social worker who done this to get their own ways and I have been through so many fights with them, it always the hardest part. You can request but your dau will have to do it is ask for another social worker but if they donāt do what she wishes then you can put a request in for her on her behalf. If worst comes to the worst, go to the police and tell them that you are being bullied and you are afraid to look after your daughter. I would look at getting lasting power of attonry as it will help to make sure you can advocate for your dau or request she made ward of the court or something. I would seek legal advice or speak to citizen advice. hope that comes out of it
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Again thank you. This has all been very useful advice that I will definitely act on
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Do either of you have any advice re suspected undue influence by care workers?
Iām guessing that I would need proof which will be difficult as my daughter is completely enthralled by one of said care workers
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@DonnaG , yes it can be hard to prove but not that hard to get the proof. though you canāt have camera to flim due to certain rules. you could have a inderpend witness to see how she is with the social worker.
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Itās the people who care for her that Iām worried about - 2 of them especially
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if you are worried I would contact someone and speak to them about it.
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I would suggest that alone is very worrying. They should be keeping their distance.
Can you elaborate at bit more about what is happening between them?
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Hi @DonnaG - Iām glad you made it over here. Take care hon.
also tagging in @Ula and @Charlesh47 for their thoughts and advice
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Dear @DonnaG
Hello
I look after my adult daughter with schizophrenia who lives independently, she is v vulnerable and risky, she takes drugs and alcohol,
I call adult social care with any safe guarding concerns and problems with accommodation and money, it is a battle to get help.
I mainly hang out on roll call,
Nice to meet you,
Sorry you have so many worries
Warmly Ula
Hi All
Thank you for your comments. I have concerns that 2 staff members are influencing her to make decisions that she wouldnāt ordinarily make, and does not have the capacity to understand the repercussions or nuances of those decisions unless they are pointed out to her. I suspect that the 2 arenāt doing it āout of spiteā, but more they out of arrogance and a feeling that they āknow bestā. Also it would be very difficult to prove. My daughterās learning disability means that she takes everything as black and white, and wonāt really think anything through. Sheās more likely to just repeat something and then find herself on a situation that she feels she cabāt back out of
It feels very complicated
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@DonnaG can you have a word with the two carers and say to them what you have wrote above .and explain to them and that they give your daughter ideas that are not practical for her. Then they could understand and see that they donāt know best. Is that worth a try.