Knock, knock. Who’s there? Social Services...this is one moment that will make any person experience a cold shiver of fear and many will close the door and refuse to engage.

However, it has never been more important than now that you open that door, speak to social services, find out why they have come and then seek legal advice if you are worried.

It doesn’t matter if you are a parent, living with a parent or an extended family member, if social services have come to speak to you about a child, you need to take it seriously and deal with them appropriately. So often we see clients for whom conflict with social services has spiralled out of their control and we give them all the same advice – however hard it is, you must invite them in and listen. While I have used the “door knock” as synonymous of actual procedures, social services do have a legal duty to protect children in their area and they must come and speak to parents where there are concerns about a child’s welfare.

It does not always mean that they are planning to take the children away, but it does mean that inquiries need to be made.

Social services do not exist to find children to remove to foster care or adoption and, in the right circumstance, their preferred outcome will be to help the family to keep the children. Social services can provide support, but do need to see that parents are working honestly with them. Without this working relationship, parents can find themselves feeling targeted, which often leads to a refusal to engage and a quicker application to court.

When social services are involved with children because of worries about their care, it generally falls into one of four categories: n At the lowest level they may simply visit because of an allegation or concern, talk it through and go away, never to be seen again.

n The second level is that they can bring together all the professionals involved with the child, and the parents, and have a Child Protection Conference to decide how concerned they all are and create a plan to support the family and protect the child.

n If that fails, or their concerns are more serious, they will write to you and tell you they are having a ‘Pre-proceedings meeting’. This means they are so worried that if things do not change they will apply to the court for an order. You must take this seriously and see a lawyer. If you have received this letter you are entitled to free legal advice and support at these meetings.

n Finally, if all else fails, or their concerns are immediate (such as in serious injury cases) they will apply to the court for an order. These court cases are known as ‘Care Proceedings’. Often social services will be asking the court to approve the removal of the child to a safe place, but sometimes they simply want to be allowed access to the child to check they are okay.

If you are a parent in care proceedings you are, again, entitled to free legal representation, so please do not wait to find a lawyer.

The law is changing and the courts are under pressure to conclude care proceedings as quickly as possible so it is essential that when social services knock on your door the first time you get advice and support as soon as possible.