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→The child protection process
====Child protection investigations====
A social worker's first step when starting an investigation is usually to contact the person who is the subject of the report. They may decide to visit the child's home, interview one or both parents, and interview the child. They may also ask the parent for the names of other people they can talk to about the parent's parenting abilities, called ''collaterals,'' which are people the parent knows who can vouch for their parenting abilities. These collaterals collateral witnesses could be the child's family doctor, teachers, daycare providersprovider, counsellorscounsellor, or family members, and other relatives. The social worker may reach out and contact some or all of these collaterals collateral witnesses in the course of their investigation.
At the end of the investigation, the social worker might conclude that there is:will reach one of three conclusions.
# '''No concern:''' the social worker may close the file due to a lack of protection concerns, and give you a letter outlining this conclusion, which you should keep in a safe place.
# '''Some concern:''' the social worker may start with a lower level of intervention, including providing support services to the family in the home and making referrals to outside social agencies.
# '''High concern:''' the social worker may be concerned enough to take more control by supervising the parent's care of the child, starting a court proceedings, or even removing the child.
If the social worker concludes that there is a protection concern, you should contact a lawyer immediately to learn more about your rights.
===What happens if a protection concern is found?=== If the social worker investigating the report is sufficiently concerned about the child's living conditions, a risk of harm, or the reported a parent's unwillingness to cooperate with MCFDtheir investigation, then they may take further actions such as: * supervise supervising the parent’s care of the child with various terms and conditions that one or both parents must follow,* begin beginning court proceedings, or* remove removing the child temporarily or permanently from the parent’s care and place placing the child temporarily or permanently with relatives, a foster family, or a group home. If the MCFD has taken a child out of a parent's care, they must start a child protection action in court and seek a court order approving the removal. They need to serve the parent with court documents. All child protection proceedings are held in the Provincial Court and follow special rules called the [https://canlii.ca/t/85tk Provincial Court (Child, Family and Community Service Act) Rules]. STOPPED
* It is critical to get legal advice about your legal rights in relation to MCFD as early in the process as possible, and this becomes more important as the investigation goes on.
* If your child is removed, the ''[https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1245 Child Protection and Removal]'' script from People's Law School's Dial-a-Law website talks about parents' legal rights and explains steps you can take.