To assess or investigate a report, the social worker may first phone you or visit you at home. During an assessment or investigation, they can do certain things, such as:

• They can talk to you about your family and your child’s safety.
• They can talk to your child alone (without you). Sometimes, the social worker talks to your child at school or somewhere else outside of your home without telling you.
• They can talk to people who know your child. These could be teachers, counsellors, relatives, family members, childcare workers, doctors, neighbours, police, friends, or religious leaders.
• They can look at any paperwork, such as medical records, school reports, and court documents, for information about your child.
• They can come to your home at any time and ask to see your child. If you don’t let them see your child, they may decide to remove your child if they think your child isn’t safe in your home. For this reason, it’s best to work things out with the social worker if you can. If you’re worried about your child talking to the social worker alone, you could ask if someone you trust can be there during the interview.
• They can remove your child from your home without warning, if they think your child needs protection. They don’t need a court order before they remove your child.
• They can place your child in a relative’s care, such as with an aunt, uncle, grandparent, or a community member or family friend.
• They can get court orders to make sure your child is safe and healthy.
• They can work with guardianship social workers to place your child for adoption.

Social workers can offer the following services:

• support services for the whole family
• help with preparing voluntary care agreements to avoid removing your child from your care
• help with writing, monitoring, and reviewing your child’s plan of care
• help with writing special needs agreements for your child if your child has special needs
• monitor how your child is doing if they’re in foster care
• help for youth moving toward independence

At all times, social workers need to keep these things in mind:

• The child’s safety always comes first.
• The best place for children is usually with their families.
• Indigenous children should stay in their communities, if possible.
• Indigenous children should have the opportunity to learn about and practise their Indigenous traditions, cultures, and languages.
• The child’s opinion should be considered when deciding what should happen.
• If support services are going to help parents care for their child, the social worker should help get these services for the parents. Examples are home support, counselling, and parenting classes.
• Decisions about the child’s care and safety should be made as quickly as possible.
• The social worker must investigate any complaint in the least disruptive way possible to the child’s family.

Social workers are supposed to be guided by the principle that keeping families together is a good thing. They aren’t supposed to remove a child unless the child’s health or safety is in immediate danger and this is the best way to protect them.

The law says if a social worker believes your child has been physically or sexually abused, they must tell the police.

If a social worker contacts you or visits your home to ask questions about your Indigenous child, they may be working for a delegated Aboriginal agency. Delegated Aboriginal agencies have an agreement with the ministry to provide certain child protection services to Indigenous communities. Some delegated Aboriginal agencies have the same powers as ministry offices. Some provide only limited services to families.

Like the ministry or social workers, some delegated Aboriginal agencies have certain powers. They can:

• get and investigate reports of child abuse and neglect
• remove your child from your home
• place your child in a relative’s care, such as with an aunt, uncle, grandparent, or a community member or family friend
• get court orders to make sure your child is safe and healthy
• work with guardianship social workers to place a child for adoption

Like the ministry or social workers, delegated Aboriginal agencies may offer the following services:

• support services for the whole family
• help with preparing voluntary care agreements to avoid removing your child from your care
• help with writing, monitoring, and reviewing your child’s plan of care
• help with writing special needs agreements for your child if your child has special needs
• monitor how your child is doing if they’re in foster care
• help for youth moving toward independence

Delegated Aboriginal agencies work with families who live on reserve and off reserve across BC.

• If you live on reserve, your band may already be involved with a delegated Aboriginal agency.
• If you live off reserve, your local city or town’s Indigenous organization may also have a delegated Aboriginal agency.

See the BC Government website for how to find and contact a delegated Aboriginal agency.

If the ministry or social worker is investigating you and a delegated Aboriginal agency represents your band or community, you can ask the ministry or social worker to tell the delegated Aboriginal agency. The delegated Aboriginal agency may be able to give culturally appropriate help. For example, some delegated Aboriginal agencies get your entire family involved in your child’s care, and some have Indigenous mediators.

Ask for as much information as possible about why the social worker is investigating you.

• Ask the social worker to answer your questions, explain what may happen, and write out important information for you.
• Take notes about what the social worker tells you. You may be nervous during the meeting and not remember everything afterward. Notes help you to keep track of what you want to find out and have to do. Your notes are also an important record of your contact with the social worker. Save your notes to help remember what you and the social worker said.

Tell the social worker your views about the safety concerns raised for your child.

• Give the social worker the names of trusted people who know you and your child. They can help explain your views about what’s best for your child.
• Tell the social worker if your child is Indigenous.
• If you agree the report is true, share your plan to keep your child safe.
• If you believe the report is false, explain what you’re doing to make sure your child is safe.

Having a social worker contact you is stressful. If you disagree with the report, don’t argue with the social worker because they won’t change their report at this stage. You need to build trust with the social worker and move forward.

Ask questions about the report and say how you can make sure your child is safe. Remember, the social worker wants to make sure your child is safe. The best thing you can do is focus on how to make sure your child is safe.

If you believe the report is false, keep in mind the social worker has already looked at the report and decided to investigate. The social worker may disagree with you that the report is false.

Keep a copy of everything that can help you prove what you say to the social worker. This could be notes about meetings with them, drug test results, contact information for people who can confirm (back up) what you say, and letters of support.

Find out what services can help you and your child.

• If your child is Indigenous and you want an Indigenous community to be involved, tell the social worker.
• Ask for an interpreter if you have trouble understanding or speaking English. The social worker can get an interpreter for you if there’s one in your area. If an interpreter isn’t available, you could ask someone you know to interpret for you. If you ask a trusted friend or family member to help you, make sure they understand they’re there to interpret, not to defend you or speak for you. Your interpreter should always stay calm when talking with the social worker.
• Ask for someone to interpret into sign language if you need that.
• If you think you aren’t being understood because you’re from another country and have different beliefs about raising children, tell the social worker. You may be able to get help from an immigrant-serving agency to explain your situation or ask about things that aren’t clear to you. 

It’s important to know how to contact the social worker who’s investigating your child’s safety.

• Ask the social worker for their business card. If they don’t have one, ask them to write down their name, office address, and phone number. This makes it easier for you to give new information, tell them about anything you forgot, or ask questions.
• Write down the name and phone number of the social worker’s supervisor or team leader (their boss).
• If a social worker phones you, it’s very important to find out their name so you can phone back if you need to. If you’re too upset to talk when the social worker phones, ask if you can phone back. If the answer is yes, be sure to phone back as soon as you can. You can also ask to meet in person.
• If you can’t reach the social worker or don’t have their phone number, call the ministry office nearest you. Or ask an advocate for help.

All social workers have lawyers who represent them. Their lawyers don’t represent you and can’t give you legal advice. You have the right to talk to your own lawyer who can give you legal advice. They have experience and knowledge about child protection law and court processes. Having your own lawyer can be very helpful for you.

You have the right to get legal advice as soon as the social worker contacts you. An advocate or community worker can also help you.

• Contact Legal Aid BC immediately to find out if you can get a free lawyer. You can apply for legal aid when a social worker starts an investigation, or you learn you’re being investigated. Even if you’d like to work cooperatively with the social worker, call Legal Aid BC or the Parents Legal Centre.
• If you’re an Indigenous parent, ask for a band or community Indigenous representative to take part in the process. Your Indigenous community, band, or First Nation may already have a written agreement with the local ministry office or delegated Aboriginal agency to set out how your band or First Nation is involved in your child protection matter.
• If you’re an Indigenous parent, ask the social worker (or your lawyer) about getting an Indigenous child protection mediator to help with your case.
• Ask an advocate or community worker to go with you to a meeting with the social worker. Advocates and community workers can explain how things work. They can help you decide how to explain your situation, take notes for you, or help you find legal help. You have the right to have an advocate with you at all face-to-face meetings, if you want an advocate to be there. 
• If you don’t have an advocate or a community worker, a trusted friend or family member may be able to support you or take notes.

See also Legal Help.

While the social worker is investigating, you can give your ideas about how to take better care of your child, or how others can help you. It often helps to write a plan with the social worker to set out what you want to do to make things better for your child. This is called a safety plan.

Making a good safety plan is one of the best ways to meet your child’s needs. It could show the social worker your child is safe in your home, and they may decide not to remove your child. If the social worker decided to remove your child, making a safety plan may help to get your child back sooner.

When you make your safety plan, think about:

• why the ministry is worried about your child’s safety
• what’s best for your child
• what you really can do
• how much time it will take you to make changes (be realistic)
• what your child wants (especially if your child is 12 or older)
• what help you may need
• what you’ll do if you have to wait for help

It’s good to tell the social worker:

• ways you can make your situation better
• what you did in the past that helped
• what support you used or plan to use
• what you’ve already done to deal with the current problem
• if you need help to find a doctor, food, counselling, family therapy, childcare, or a safe place to live
• what you’d like the social worker to do to help you
• which family members and friends can help you
• the names of trusted people who may let your child live with them for some time, if that’s needed
• how your child can help (if they’re old enough)
• if your child is Indigenous, how they could be involved with their Indigenous community
• how your child’s school or teachers could be involved

You can also make a written agreement with the social worker for them to connect you with community services to address the child protection concerns.

The social worker may decide your child needs protection and may ask you to sign a safety plan or written agreement for support services.

If you and your social worker can’t work out a safety plan or an agreement, the social worker can apply to court for a supervision order without removal. This order outlines their concerns and conditions they want you to follow. Only the court can make orders.

• The social worker applies to court for a supervision order without removal at a presentation hearing. See also What Happens at Court.
• To get the order, the social worker gives documents to the court that include their concerns for your child’s safety and the changes they ask you to make. The social worker must also give you a copy of these documents. Get legal advice as soon as you get your copy. 
• If you agree to do what’s asked in the supervision order without removal, your child can stay with you. It’s a good idea to get legal advice even if you agree to the supervision order without removal.
• You or your lawyer can also tell the judge why you agree or disagree with the information in the court documents and the order the social worker wants.
• You may feel pressured to agree to a supervision order without removal. You may think, or be told, the ministry will remove your child if you don’t agree to the supervision order. If you’re in this situation, get help from a lawyer right away.

A lawyer can try to negotiate some or all of the supervision order on your behalf. If you have a court date, it’s very important you attend court.

Get help from a lawyer as soon as you know the court date. Contact Legal Aid BC, or find out when family duty counsel is available at your local courthouse. The sooner you speak to a lawyer the better, so they can answer all your questions or concerns. 

The social worker may decide to remove your child from your home if they believe your child needs immediate protection.

• If the social worker removes your child, they have to apply to court for an interim order within seven days of your child’s removal.
• The social worker has to notify you about this application and the court hearing date.

Get help from a lawyer as soon as you know about the court hearing date. Contact Legal Aid BC, or find out when family duty counsel is available at your local courthouse. The sooner you speak to a lawyer the better, so they can answer all your questions or concerns. A lawyer can try to negotiate with the social worker for the return of your child.

If you have to go to court, a judge decides what happens next. See If the Director Removes Your Child for what to do if you have to go to court.

Any time after the social worker starts an investigation, or if someone says you’re being investigated, you can apply for legal aid. You may get a free lawyer through Legal Aid BC. See How to apply for legal aid.