There should be a Child Protection Review Conference not more than 3 months after the Child Protection Conference and then reviews not more than 6 months after that. The Chairperson should be the same person who chaired the CPC, and professionals, family members and you can attend, with a supporter/advocate. The social worker should show you their report two days before the Review happens, and other professionals should put their reports in writing, saying what has happened since the CPC. You must take the Review very seriously as it will decide whether the local authority intends to work with you or to take your child from you. Please follow the same tips as for the CPC. The Review will go over all the points in the CPC to monitor whether you and all those involved are doing what you were told to do. For example, if the CPC says you should get debt advice, or go to counselling, do a parenting course or not have any contact with a particular person (e.g. a violent partner), the Review will monitor if you have done those things, and if not, will ask why. Again, it is important to meet with the Chair before the review, as above. [24]
If the Review thinks that your child is still at risk of “significant harm” and doesn’t think enough has changed, your child will stay on “child protection”. If at the second Review they decide nothing much has changed, they have the right to convene a legal planning meeting for social workers and the Local Authority’s lawyers to discuss what to do next. You cannot attend this meeting but it can decide either to extend the Child Protection Plan to give you more time to make the changes they are insisting on, and to see if there are other family members who would look after your child if they think you can’t; or they can start court proceedings to take your child away. You should be told in writing what they are proposing.
sns-self-help-guide.net 