There are several areas to be aware of, when dealing with the Social Services: -
At this point, should a crime be involved, I would make this observation. If you know you are guilty of whatever crime is facing you, admitting it to yourself and your family, would be less traumatic in the short term, however some of the issues covered here may ease the future path of your recovery. Trivialising the degree of criminality can never be seen as reason to defend it, should it have, of course, occurred in the first place.

1) From the very beginning, one has to understand the fear Social Services have of getting it wrong, of not preventing any or further harm to come to the children or person(s) they perceive, to be in harms way.

2) When SSD obtain a referral to check up a family or individual, it is with a preconceived statistical mindset, that they approach the job.


3) Once they have the necessary information, they will devise a plan, route and objective, how they progress along this route and at what speed, is the only control you will have, however, the destination they plan can be changed by your own input or lack of it.

4) Do Not be mislead by the various half-truths and lies they will use to get your co-operation. Never loose sight of the fact that they require you to fill the blank spaces of their reports and investigations. Never give in to threats like "we will take the children away"; I will deal with this nastiness later, within the dos and don't section.

5) They will say this is an assessment, what they mean is an investigation, whereby all you tell them will be verified. I.e. if you say you lived at an address in September 1987; they will not only check the council records, school records and police records, for that address, they will trawl through all police suspect notes and SSD (Social Service Department) reports, for any mention of your name or identity, as they may even suspect you had a past alias.

6) Their only aim is to get the family to "integrate", in this way they insidiously form a controlling power over the family and the direction it takes, they do not care about the distress they cause, as long as they achieve their final goal.

7) They use a number of reports, conferences and meetings, together with court action to achieve their aims. Unfortunately, most of the Social Services mantra is obtained from previous statistical data, physiological gobbledegook and pious prima donna Social Workers, who treat their own grievances against the male population, as a crusade.

8) As early as possible get a Solicitor to advice you, one you feel is not playing golf with managers and directors of the SSD. These unfortunate problems are put down to the professionalism of the individuals, but in the real world, monies and the need for a sedate progression through life, dictate what professionals will transcend to. As the exact percentage figure for this would require the compliance of the professionals concerned to extrapolate, one will never know how prevalent this is. Unlike MP's, who have a book of member's interests to be filled in.

9) If this all sounds alarming, it will have served the propose it was written. Understand the main ethos of the Social Services, you are guilty until proved innocence and even then, they believe in no smoke without fire, for they cannot be wrong, ever. If the court finds you innocence you still have not proved it to SSD. If the court finds you guilty and you are not, this becomes the stuff of nightmares, but belief in your own justice is all you need to keep your soul intact.

10) I have compiled a selection of key support foundations to underpin your contact with SSD workers. The structure of these will have the benefit of highlighting to the professionals, that you have knowledge of your basic rights and are not cowered into abject compliance by your fear of their sabre rattling.

It is always better to attack from a solid base, keeping your powder dry. Never say or do anything, without first asking yourself, do SSD need to know this, will it help me and what benefit does my family get from this process?