Shanta Green and her two children, Jack and Harley live with Irene Williams (maternal grandmother) in a small privately rented flat. Jackie O’Fern, the children’s father, lives about 100 miles away from the children. He rarely sees the children, other than for birthdays and at Christmas time. Shanta and Jackie have had a difficult relationship, and both have made various claims of active drug use in front of the children. Children’s services were involved at the time but ended involvement when Shanta and Jackie separated 4 years ago. Neither has used drugs since this time.
Shanta has a diagnosis of bi-polar affective disorder and receives treatment and support from the local community mental health services. Shanta says she takes her medication unless she forgets to, at which times her son Jack always checks and makes sure she takes it.
Irene Williams experienced a stroke 2 years ago, and experiences limited mobility and decreased ability to care for herself, as well as a new diagnosis of dementia. She is proud of her grandson Jack being such a caring lad, and helping her by getting her breakfast and evening meal ready, as well as making her cups of tea when he is at home.
Harley Green has cerebral palsy. She is doing well at school, and her teachers say she is a bright, sociable, and popular pupil. She is managing to mobilise mostly without aids at the moment, but does get very tired after a long day at school. Her teacher feels that Harley’s personal hygiene is not always as good as it could be.
Jack Green is often late to arrive at school. He says it is because he needs to help his mum to get his sister and grandmother ready for the day. He reports that his mother’s mood is quite low at the moment, and he is worried that she is becoming depressed. This means he has to do most of the morning organising with breakfasts and getting ready for school because Shanta struggles to get up on time. There is pressure to assist Harley to get ready in time for the school transport to pick her up from home, after which Jack has to then walk to school himself.
New details: Shanta is picked up by the police. She was found walking with Harley on the hard shoulder of the M2 motorway. She appeared dishevelled and her speech was confused and tangential. Harley was scared and concerned for her mother, but they were both unharmed. The police officers contact Jackie O’Fern and the local social services children’s services team, and in the meantime, keep Harley with them. Shanta is taken to the local hospital for psychiatric assessment.
Drawing on your understanding and knowledge of the duties and powers contained in Children Acts 1989 & 2004, describe how you would approach this scenario if you were the social worker. Consider the situation both before and after the new information contained in the final paragraph.
