Any Ideas About Legal Help

Replies

By Tricia

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Fri 8 Aug 2008 08:35

I would contact your local CAB to see if they can advise you on the legal aspects of the circumstances which you face.

Also if you have an advocacy organisation locally to you I would contact them to ask what support they could offer you in finding out the truth in your son's care while in the hands of the local authority too.

Good luck and hope you manage to get answers sooner rather than later

By Alice

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Fri 8 Aug 2008 09:28

Hi Mark
First of all you need to get a complaints form from your Council
to make a formal complaint about the handling of the incident,
then ask for an independent enquiry which you are entitled to.
Typical Social Services to close ranks.
My Daughter was seriouly scalded in an accident at the day centre she attended, for legal reasons I can't say anymore
but I am going through the above proccess at the moment
Social Services won't know what has hit them when I have finished with them !!! if you decide to take legal action you can be in legal terms your son's litigation friend.
Also contact your MP mine is very interested in my Daughters case.

Hope this is of help to you

Good luck and keep us posted how you get on.

Alice.

By EL

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Fri 8 Aug 2008 10:00

I woke up this morning in quite a good mood till i read these comments it makes me feel physically sick to think that your son was assaulted by anyone let alone by people who are being paid to care for him my sister is 45 this month and has Down Syndrome, she has never been hurt at her day centre but being left to just sit and do puzzles all day only moving to go to the loo is in my book neglect, especially as she has inncontinence problems and does not always make it on time, if she came home scalded it would break my heart and i would have to rely on all my strengh not to go and physically hurt the person who should have been 'watching' her , the social services are the worst, i have been personally involved with them and a little girl who was being 'messed' about with, she was only 5 and could never know the details and terms used had she not been telling the truth what did the social do? sent her back home where all the abuse was going on she 25 now and heavy drug user now theres a surprise sorry but i have heard too many bad things about the social and in my book they are the worst people you could come up against, they do close ranks and record false statements they are a law unto themselves as of yet i have nothing good to say about them good luck to you both i really hope you get the result you deserve

By mark

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Fri 8 Aug 2008 12:31

Many many thanks for the replies.

I have already submitted a formal letter of complaint, not just about the two incidents I have mentioned in the original post but about nine different points. I've read my LAs complaints procedures and it could be months before we get any kind of resolution to it.

I have a question for Alice - when you mention and "independent inquiry". Do, you know who I would approach to conduct one? Is it something that has to be kicked off by the council? I have been compiling a long letter to my MP and was wondering whether I should ask him to instigate an independent investigation

By kerry.

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Sat 9 Aug 2008 11:04

Hi Mark
Perhaps mencap can help. They mainly deal with adults which your son now is and have all sorts of legal stuff (they do specialist wills and stuff for disabled people and their carers)
Try googling them perhaps.
I read your story with shock and mounting anger, it is disgusting and so so wrong.

A mate of mine works in a holiday place where the council run SS carers take these young adults for a weeks holiday: my mate told me about how they are meant to be with them at all times doing activities and such like but that they leave these vulnerable people to get on with it, while they go for sun beds and such like.
One time a lad fell off a go kart thing and as he was autistic, lost the plot and was terrified of people coming to his aid, my mate said even she didnt know what to do as he was scary. Where was his carer? No where in sight!

And these people were getitng a lot of money for the 'caring' roles!

By mel

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Sat 9 Aug 2008 20:48

hi Mark, what an awful situation.

everyone has the legal right to see their file, social services do have to take 'third party information' out of the file first though unless they can contact the third party and ask for their permission. I can assume that it is the same with the police file.
The department should have leaflets or information on their website about the procedure.

It may be though, that they are unable to release information until the member of staff has been dealt with, so it could be possible you may have to wait until that issue has been resolved.

If you are not getting anywhere, go through their contact centre and ask for the telephone number of the social services inspectorate.

By mark

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Sat 9 Aug 2008 22:16

I understand your point Mel about waiting until the issue has been resolved but I cant help feeling that there is some level of discrimination going on here.

My comparison is, supposing a mainstream child has an accident at school or a mainstream teenager gets involved in an incident at a youth club that leads to them being arrested. I'm pretty sure that in either of those two scenarios, the parents of the mainstream child would not still be waiting nine weeks later to be given the full details of the incident.

By Alice

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Sun 10 Aug 2008 18:41

Hi Mark
If you have gone through the complaints procedure and are still not happy, you can contact :
The Local Government Ombudsman
The Commission for Local Administration
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
They are the ones who will instigate an enquiry, it will take a long time, so can I suggest you have a meeting with your MP
before that and let him/her know you mean business.
Good Luck

By mark

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Sun 10 Aug 2008 22:11

Many thanks Alice. I am in the middle of drafting a letter to my MP - I'm on page seven already

By morello

Re: Any Ideas About Legal Help
Tue 12 Aug 2008 10:40

Please be aware that your letter will probably be stuck in a line so to speak for so long that they hope you will forget it. I have come up against similar problems to you and Social services well dont quite know how they have the nerve to call themselves that, stick together, gang up and do anything to keep you out of the frame. The basis is that they have no clue how to deal with anybody carer or caree who is autistic or caring for somebody. Violence is part of a problem we have to deal with. I was told that I would be in trouble if I attacked or marked my caree, but it is alright for me to be knocked black and blue and I have to just take it, I suppose until one day they go too far and kill me. I have no help at all , nobody to ring in an emergency ,and nobody to discuss or talk to about it. Since the socal worker left, she hasnt been replaced, which of course gets them nicely out of the equasion. I hope you remember that you are hitting your head against a brick wall, and that all the social services want is for you to disappear and care on your own, because they havent a clue how to deal with autism, let alone any violent behaviour. In fact most of them are pretty clueless. We are alone and the sooner we realise the better. I am alone and have to deal with it all alone, until the day I die or am knocked senseless because there is no help unless you fit into a certain category-LEARNING DISABILITY. What a bloody joke.
Mo