Contact Survey Update December 2012

On 5th December 2012 our chairman Fred Livings and fellow trustee Graham Castell met up with Peter Richards and his staff of the Contact Service at Dunbar House for what proved to be a very interesting meeting. The background to this is that having submitted the Contact Survey report to Children’s Services back in the summer it had been agreed with certain heads of department that some of the 16 recommendations would be implemented as soon as practicable. Also that there would be meetings arranged with the Judiciary, this was because several of the recommendations directly involve the decision makers – ie the judges and the magistrates in the Family Division.

The meeting on the 5th with the Contact Service was one of the agreed actions.

Present was Peter Richards Ops Manager.

With him was Sue Dawes Practice Manager of the Contact Service and her three staff, who manage the CFWs who actually take the LACS to their contact sessions.

Christine Hardcastle Senior Practitioner at The Ridgeway, Hastings who covers the east of East Sussex.

Tasha Beaumont who manages Newhaven, Meeching covering the East of East Sussex

And Annie McNaughton who manages the central corridor ie Eastbourne and towns to the north.

These staff all asked that Foster Carers should be aware that they welcome calls relating to contact issues and the correct numbers to ring are

Meeching, Newhaven 01273 337050

Ridgeway, Hastings 01424 724850 entral Eastbourne, Hailsham etc.. Ring either number

So it can be seen that this was a conversation with the people who can actually have an impact on the arrangements for contact.

It soon became very apparent that the staff and ourselves i.e. the carers, share very similar views over the problems that we have all commented on via the survey. All the points that were raised with regard to Logistics, i.e. distance of transport, strangers turning up to take the LAC to contact, management of agencies, better feedback from the supervisor have been agreed and are being acted upon. On this point of feedback we discussed the use of the word “Fine” which CFWs tend to use on the doorstop that seems to cover everything. Basically this is supposed to be a code that means there were no difficulties relating to emotional problems or challenging behaviour etc. From now on if there are problems that amount to other than “Fine” then there should be a phone call back to the carer AFTER the child has been dropped off to update the carer as to whatever the issue is. This should be happening from now on.

We had asked in the report (rec 6 and 7) that there should be a form of written agreement between the department with regard to the expected conduct of the birth parents during contact. This related to actually turning up and the over indulgence of the children with sweets and gifts etc. So we are proud to tell you that as of the last two months – i.e. since our initial meeting with Children’s Services that a new form of written agreement has been drawn up that all birth parents are required to sign prior to any contact taking place. This covers all the points that we asked for and more. For example if the parent now fails to turn up for three contacts then all contact is suspended pending a review meeting.

The decision to have another review has now been written up on Care First and is part of the standard procedure trigger by breaching the agreement.

Another area of concern is the lack of consultation or regard for carer’s existing LACs when a new placements contact arrangements are being set. There is a form that the child’s social worker uses to pass information to the Contact Service and this now has a paragraph for the carer’s preferences. Please advise if this is not being used.

Yet another area covered in the Survey was Contact in the home, both physical and by telephone. Results of the survey showed that few carers are happy with this form of contact with many negative experiences being reported. Something else that became apparent is that it has been the new carers who felt most pressurised by the department to agree to this.

It has now been agreed that

“there should be no pressure brought to bear on the carer to entertain contact within the carers home “

So if you find yourself being asked to agree to this please feel free to be robust and point the Social Worker to the Association. However nothing here precludes anyone from arranging such contact if they are happy to – It is just the “no pressure part” that matters.

The Contact Service also agreed to address the question of Facilitated Contact (Rec 16) which covers various issues surrounding the birth parents consenting to being honest as to why the child is in care and telling the child that he/she should not feel guilty or responsible for the situation. Also, that they want the child to be happy in their placement. This is a complicated area – If anyone wishes to know more about Facilitated Contact please let us know via the Contact Us page.

These are the main points that were covered but Peter Richards also agreed to chase up the Judiciary by which we really mean Judge Coates who is the head of the local Sussex Family Division so that we can address the actual decision makers with regard to the frequency of contact and the impact that poor contact has on the child. This is the next big step.