- What happens when a child sustains an injury
In this episode of *MyBump2Baby Expert Podcast*, host Carla Lett is joined by Camella Cephas, Head of Children and Care Law at WSP Solicitors. Together, they discuss what happens when a child sustains an injury, covering both accidental and non-accidental injuries. Camella shares expert insights into the legal processes, social services involvement, and the rights of parents during investigations. She also provides guidance on when to seek legal help and explains how family law solicitors can support parents in navigating complex situations. This episode offers valuable advice for parents concerned about child safety and legal rights.
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Camella Cephas
Carla (00:00.746)
Hello everybody and welcome to My Bumped Babies Expert Podcast. Today I am delighted to be joined by the lovely Camella, the head of the Children and Care Law area at WSP Solicitors. Hi Camella how are you?
Camella Cephas (00:17.28)
Hello, I’m well, thank you.
Carla (00:20.298)
Good, good. Today we’re going to be covering what happens when children sustain an injury. And we’re going to be talking about the legal aspects around that. But before we get started, would you mind sharing a little bit about you?
Camella Cephas (00:34.454)
Yes, so my name is Camella as you already said, I am a qualified family solicitor qualified in 2011, initially trained and worked in London before moving back to the Gloucestershire area. And I’m now a board director and head of children and care law at WSP solicitors. I’m also an accredited member of the Law Society’s children panel.
which means that we can represent children and ensure their voice is heard in court proceedings. So I specialize in children law, both public and private law children. And I also like to advocate for my clients at court hearings as well.
Carla (01:18.582)
That’s interesting, I bet you’re so busy all of the time.
Camella Cephas (01:21.878)
Yes, it is busy, but it’s very rewarding. When people find themselves in difficult situations, according to family, it’s a motive, it’s stressful for them. And that’s why we’re here. And I’ve got a great team of family solicitors at WSP, all with the expertise to assist and provide that support to families.
Carla (01:45.454)
brilliant, that’s brilliant and that’s what we need really, support because you don’t know what you’re to be faced with sometimes through life as we make our way through life and start a family. So you know it’s really really great the work that you’re doing there. So today obviously we’re going to be talking about what happens when children sustain injuries and I don’t know about you but for me my little ones are always injuring themselves all the time.
Camella Cephas (01:52.704)
Yeah.
Camella Cephas (02:10.897)
you
Carla (02:12.126)
Olivia is climbing up everything, falling down. And I have been in situations when I’ve gone into nursery before and I’ve been like, right, yeah, she fell there, she fell there. But you do feel like, my goodness, I hope they don’t think that I’m doing anything to my own child. for some people, unfortunately, the reality is it does start raising, the questions start getting raised. And what we want to do is just talk about those non-accidental injuries today.
Camella Cephas (02:25.142)
Yes. Yeah.
Camella Cephas (02:38.4)
Yeah.
Carla (02:38.878)
And just at what point you actually need to seek that legal advice. So, Camilla, would you mind if I just ask, if a child does sustain an injury and social services become involved, what point should parents seek legal advice?
Camella Cephas (02:43.244)
Yeah.
Camella Cephas (02:57.548)
So usually what would happen is social services would begin an investigation and as soon as they start to assess the important situation, it is important for parents to understand their rights and obligations as well as the potential outcomes of their involvement. Social services might initiate formal proceedings, they might say they’re going to do a child protection plan or they might start court proceedings. Again, it’s crucial.
to have legal representation to ensure that parents’ voices are heard and also to protect the child and family’s interests. If social services say that they’re going to take legal action, they might say they want to remove a child or go to court. Again, legal action should be sought immediately so that you can challenge that if that needs to take place. Also, social services might say that they want to do something called the Public Law Outline and will provide parents with a letter.
signal in potential legal action. And again, that’s another key time when they should seek advice. So I think in summary, they need to seek legal advice as early as possible. Because a solicitor can help navigate the complexities of social services involvement, and ensure that the child’s welfare and the rights as a parent or guardian are fully protected. And often what would happen is it’s a referral from
a professional you’d mentioned taking your child to nursery. So it might be the nursery makes a referral or a child might have been taken to hospital because you can see that there is an injury and then that professional makes a referral to social services. again, it can be very highly emotive time, a very stressful time. And that’s why it’s so important to get that legal advice as soon as possible.
Carla (04:48.638)
Yeah, I mean it’s hard enough when your child does injure themselves but then when you know there’s that accident or something’s happened you feel so guilty anyway and then to actually have the added worry of actually people are thinking like you know you might not be caring for them the best and things like that it can be really really stressful as well so it makes sense to have that support early on really. So what
Camella Cephas (05:13.789)
Yeah.
Carla (05:16.786)
What would you say parents’ rights are then during a social services investigation?
Camella Cephas (05:23.714)
So during an investigation, parents do have rights and there needs to be a fair process. So they have the right to be informed. Social services are required to explain the nature of the investigation and what prompted it. And they should be kept informed of the progress of the investigation and any decisions that they’re making about the child.
Parents also have the right to respond to any concerns raised by social services. They are able to prevent their side of the story, provide evidence and explain the circumstances, what they say has led to that investigation. This might be during meetings or assessments and parents can express their views and ask questions. Parents also have the right to legal representation and that’s why it’s important to seek that legal advice and representation.
And this is especially important if social services are considering legal action or if parents don’t agree with what the measures social services are saying they’re going to take. Parents also have the right to see documents relating to the investigation. If there’s been any assessment or proposed assessment, any child protection plans.
They’re also entitled to know the findings or outcomes of any assessment or any medical examinations of the child that might be relevant. I think it’s also important for parents to know that during an investigation they still have the right to see their child unless there is an immediate risk of harm. And if social services believe that the child is at immediate risk of harm then they need to apply to the court for an order or to try and suspend some contact.
But again, parents must be informed of this action before. And again, even if social services have the view that the child is at significant harm and needs to be placed outside of the family or in foster care, then the parents still have the right to contact with them and to spend time with them. And that may even be supervised. But at that point, the court is usually involved around that.
Camella Cephas (07:36.182)
Parents also do have the right to challenge any decisions by social services. They’ve got the right to attend court hearings if the matter goes to court. They also have the right to participate in the decision making. If social services decide that they want to initiate child protection reviews, then parents have the right to attend those meetings and participate in those discussions. Parents have the right to privacy.
So social services must keep family information private during this investigation. And also they do have the right to protection against an unlawful removal. So I touched on it earlier, but social services cannot just remove a child from the home without a court order. There is a caveat to this though, if they believe that the child is in immediate danger and the child safety needs that, then they would
still need to get an order but that can be under an emergency protection order or the police can get involved and they can get what’s called a police protection order. But there is usually then this will then go into the court arena. So I think in summary the parents do have lot of rights, they need to be included in decision making and they need to be kept informed.
Carla (09:01.29)
Hmm, yeah, yeah, of course. I mean, obviously everyone sees the news and these awful stories, you know, of children that have, you know, unfortunately social services haven’t stepped in, you know, in enough time. So obviously, you know, we all want that kind of, you know, we want to make sure that, you know,
social services are doing their jobs, but then at the same time, it’s really difficult as a parent, especially when you know you’ve not done any harm or meant to do anything and an accident has simply happened. Just to kind of have that thinking, worried that people think that you would harm your child. But I mean, would you mind elaborating a little bit on the difference between an accidental and non-accidental injury to a child? Is that okay?
Camella Cephas (09:51.1)
Yes, I can. I think, as you’d mentioned earlier, there are often circumstances where children, know, they might be able to an aid and they get bumps and bruises. And, you know, those are accidents. And parents can usually say this is how that happened. A non accidental injury is, is a term where physical injuries or signs of abuse to a child. And these injuries are often identified. Often when it
child, a parent or guardian takes the child for say medical treatment as I’d explained earlier. But their explanation of how the injury occurred doesn’t match with kind of the medical profession or view of what happened. So it’s an injury that’s not an accident. And so it’s usually deemed that that was inflicted on the child. And that’s the key part there.
Carla (10:51.22)
Hmm yeah yeah so they’ll they’d look assess the accident if they’ve had to go to hospital and then see from there if it matches up that makes sense. I
Camella Cephas (11:01.462)
So they’d assess the injury and then they would say whether that could be, you know, is it just an accident or is it non-accidental? So for example, a non-mobile baby sustaining significant bruising is something that would be classed as non-accidental because a child who’s not mobile at such a young age, how would they kind of be able to say, so those are the things that could be classed as non-accidental. But again,
that has to be backed up with serious medical evidence in support of that.
Carla (11:35.528)
Yeah, yeah, of course. And also there are children that unfortunately are in the situation where, you know, they might be being harmed at home and they might not actually get to the point where they’ve got an accident, you know, they’ve got that kind of injury that sustains a hospital, that needs a hospital visit. So, you know, I can understand it really, because I suppose the hospital, when they are looking at these and the doctors,
you know, it might not, they don’t know how many times the child has been injured before, do they? So they’re seeing it for fresh eyes, really, and looking at it that way. But yes, so what role then does family law solicitor, what role does a family law solicitor play in helping parents navigate an investigation by social services?
Camella Cephas (12:07.06)
Yeah.
Camella Cephas (12:24.972)
So a family loss list is crucial.
Camella Cephas (12:34.178)
throughout the process. Because again, they’ll be explaining the rights and responsibilities. It’s such an emotive and stressful time. It’s important that parents understand their legal rights during the investigation. Also to provide that expert guidance, the solicitors can offer you that advice as tailored to the specific circumstances of the case, explaining the procedures the social services must follow.
Obviously, if parents are confused or anxious, a solicitor can clarify the situation and also suggest the best course of action, which can help to reduce uncertainty and stress in this time. Also assisting with communicating with social services. So social services will usually have a lawyer as well on their behalf. And it’s important that the parents views are put forward to the local authority or social services. So a solicitor can mediate that
communication and can make sure that their views are properly conveyed. We can also draft the formal responses to social services and review any documents that come in. Again, if matters go to court, then the solicitors are going to be imperative in representing the parents in court. If they do seek any court orders, if we’re at a court hearing and the parents might need to give evidence or a medical professional.
having a solicitor there to cross examine them and help with that evidence as well. Also, if they want to challenge something, they might think that a procedure has not been followed correctly and again, a solicitor can challenge that. They can also attend meetings and conferences with parents and that again, is just to give them that support and advice and can ensure that they are provided with the right reports and assessments. And also, I think with
solicitors as well. We know how highly stressful and emotional this is and we can actually provide that emotional support and reassurance for parents as well. Because ultimately our role is to work to resolve the situation in the best interest of the family. So this might be, you know, some kind of negotiations and so forth as well.
Carla (14:49.942)
Yeah, it’s just having that additional support, especially, I mean, for a lot of people, it might be the first time they’ve ever gone through something like this. And unfortunately, I always say this, but you don’t know what you don’t know, do you? So it’s like, you know, having that support and someone that actually knows the process and can explain it in a really easy to understand way just makes it so much easier really for the family. So, you know,
Camella Cephas (14:52.982)
Yeah.
Camella Cephas (15:13.034)
Yeah. Yeah.
Carla (15:19.07)
when it comes to the social services and know parents and misunderstandings what steps can parents take to prevent misunderstandings with social services in case of accidental injury?
Camella Cephas (15:35.01)
Accidental or non-accidental? Because obviously they’re kind of slightly different. Because if it’s an accident, the chances are that social services are probably not going to get involved. It’s when it’s non-accidental or it’s deemed that the injury occurred non-accidental. I think the important thing is just for parents to be open and honest with social services from the beginning. And I know, again, that’s easier said than done when you know you’re in a very stressful situation.
Carla (15:41.14)
Yeah.
Camella Cephas (16:03.496)
know you might be at the hospital and lots of medical professionals are asking lots of questions and you feel like you’re being asked the same question over and over again. But it’s just important to be honest, try not to fill any gaps. If you can’t remember something it’s better to say I can’t remember because if it you know you’re being asked questions about something that happened four weeks ago or three weeks ago.
the tendency might be to fill that gap and that later on might then be seen if you actually do remember all what you were telling a lie. And that might not have been your intention. So it’s be open and honest, I would say keep a diary of things that have happened since, you know, social services become involved, then start to keep a diary and a log, look back at dates, and then things can hopefully jog your memory. And if something has happened that has caused this injury to a child,
It’s just better to be upfront and honest from the start. I know that’s probably going to be scary, but actually it can ensure that you get the correct legal support and that things are handled in the best way for the child.
Carla (17:08.628)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Making sure that the child is safe and, you know, making sure that everything is okay. So yeah, that is really, really important. So in terms of the, you know, the after, the actual once everything has been decided and it’s gone through and the investigation has concluded, what are the different options that are kind of…
What is the aftermath, I guess, of this?
Camella Cephas (17:41.138)
I guess it all depends on how social services conclude their investigation. So they may conclude an investigation and be satisfied that the injury was an accident, the child’s not at risk of any harm, and they might end their involvement with the family. They may take a view that they want to remain and just to provide some support to the family that might be through a child protection or child in need process.
If however, social services remain concerned with the injury and that they believe that the child is at risk of harm, then they are likely to initiate court proceedings, in which case they will seek various court orders. Now, again, that sounds quite scary, but there is a bar for that. Social services do need to be satisfied that the child is suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm. And they need to prove that to the court.
And then they can apply for what’s known as an interim care order and that would give them temporary parental responsibility that they share with the parents. And that would usually then they would have that throughout the court proceedings. Within the court proceedings, there would be an assessment of the parents. There would also be information obtained from medical
professionals to give an opinion on the injury and social services would then put forward their case as to how they believe the injury occurred and who they believe inflicted the injury on the child, which the parents would then respond to. And then at court there would be kind of like a mini trial, it’s called a fact finding hearing, in which the judge would consider all the evidence and make a decision as to whether those allegations have been proved.
And then after that, the court then needs to consider whether the child would suffer or be likely to suffer harm if the child was in the parent’s care or returned to the parent’s care and whether or not the child would then need to be placed outside of the family. So it is, it can be obviously a long process. It just determines on whether the investigation concludes in a manner that doesn’t require any further work from social services.
Camella Cephas (19:59.84)
or whether they feel that they need to be involved. And again, it’s just the importance of getting that legal advice and support.
Carla (20:07.984)
early on as well really. Yeah, yeah so if a parent is in, does find themselves in this situation then, would a parent need to pay for a solicitor and is it really expensive? That’s often, you know, something that people worry about.
Camella Cephas (20:09.375)
Yes, yes.
Camella Cephas (20:22.262)
Yeah, of course, a really important question. Yeah.
Of course, you know, especially with, you know, the current climate and living costs, it’s an important thing to consider. With social services, become involved with a family. You are in most cases entitled to legal aid and that will cover the costs of legal representation.
Carla (20:48.842)
Goodness! I bet a lot of people don’t realize that.
Camella Cephas (20:51.914)
Yeah, probably not. And it is important. know, it is obviously there’s different elements of family law where you’d have to be assessed and you may or may not be eligible for legal aid. But if social services are involved within your family, and if they are saying that they’re going to initiate legal proceedings, then you are automatically able to obtain legal aid, irrespective of your financial circumstances.
Carla (21:19.518)
Yeah, yeah. Gosh, you guys, you must cover so much and see so many different kind of scenarios.
Camella Cephas (21:27.668)
Yeah.
Carla (21:29.515)
wow! So, at WSP, obviously, you deal with this side of things, but you do also deal with a lot of other family law aspects as well. So, would you mind just telling us a little bit about you guys?
Camella Cephas (21:41.76)
Yep, so WSP Solicitors, we’ve been making life less complicated with legal advice since 1758. we, yes, very long time, wealth of knowledge here.
Carla (21:50.1)
Wow! You don’t look that old.
Camella Cephas (21:56.198)
the brand of WSB. So we operate in Stroud and we also have an office in Gloucester and within family law ourselves we offer a wide range of services. So we do private law children as well and that could be with parents who are trying to navigate you know whom they should spend time with we can offer assistance with that.
We can also offer assistance, know, there might be disputes in terms of one parent doesn’t want a child to go somewhere or we can help with that as well. Often parents may find themselves in tricky situations where they might need to obtain some advice around domestic abuse. We can offer that support. We also offer mediation and that can be between parents considering
know, arrangements for their child or it might be that fortunately the marriage has come to an end and we can offer support around divorce. We also offer a really good service now for parents that are separated but they are amicable and actually they want one solicitor to deal with all of their divorce and financial affairs and that’s called Resolution Together so we offer that service.
Carla (23:14.338)
that’s good.
Camella Cephas (23:15.676)
Yeah, we you know, the idea a lot of people think when you know, you have issues in family law, you need to go to court and kind of have a legal battle. But actually, now there’s so many ways that you can deal with things outside of court together and you know, find a resolution. So we have a what’s called a separating together department and we can obviously help look at all of those things as well. Brilliant. Thanks.
Carla (23:37.168)
I like the name of that. yeah! Yeah!
Camella Cephas (23:41.374)
Yeah, so yeah, so we offer a wide range of services across our family law team. And then we also within WSP as a business, we offer services for businesses, know, commercial property, commercial disputes, buying and selling a business. We also offer other services for individuals, so it might be that you’re buying a house, wills, trusts and probate, estate planning.
Camella Cephas (24:08.404)
we offer a broad range of services.
Carla (24:11.382)
That’s amazing and a lot of the time one might lead into another because definitely if you’re listening to this and you haven’t got a will, that is something that you absolutely should have and you guys can help with that as well. and you know, it’s a case of like, know, once you decide you’re even gonna separate, then there’s a lot of things that happen after that that you need to amend and change. And so it’s just nice to actually have that support through your family law solicitor. So.
Camella Cephas (24:15.124)
Yes. Yeah.
Camella Cephas (24:21.77)
Yes. Yeah.
Camella Cephas (24:33.429)
Yes.
Yeah.
Camella Cephas (24:39.926)
Yeah.
Carla (24:40.416)
We’ll put all your links underneath if that’s okay, Kamila, so people can contact you directly. But thanks so much for being our guest today. I really appreciate that. It’s really informative.
Camella Cephas (24:43.308)
Brilliant.
Camella Cephas (24:51.106)
Thank you for having me, it’s been great.
Carla (24:53.568)
Thanks.