Open Letter to the London Embassy of The Republic of Poland Open Letter to the London Embassy of The Republic of Poland

Dear Ms. Niesłuchowska,

I am writing to you in your capacity as the Head of the Care Proceedings Unit at the London Embassy, in the hope that you will relay the content of this letter to your colleagues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Polish Central Authority. I shall post this open letter on the AG Family Support website (https://www.agfamilysupport.com/blog/openletter) and update it with a reply immediately upon receiving such. I would like to volunteer my help in the current Covid-19 crisis.

I believe our respective professional roles are founded on values of justice, fairness and compassion in the context of supporting vulnerable Polish children and their families, especially those involved in care proceedings in the United Kingdom. Indeed, you and I have met in the past to discuss potential ways our professional collaboration could make such support more accessible, not only to the families in question, but also to social workers and court guardians in Poland, who are regularly tasked with completing family assessment reports for British courts. You will also be acutely aware of the challenges they face in completing such work and the serious implications of those challenges on the British courts’ ability to place Polish children with their relatives in Poland. The main issues revolve around Polish assessment reports often falling short of minimum British evidential standards and long delays in their being filed with British authorities.

In the current Covid-19 crisis, principles of collaboration and compassion are more important than ever. As our respective countries battle the pandemic, Polish families involved in UK care proceedings face unbearable uncertainty and unavoidable delays. This is because assessment enquiries in Poland are now significantly hampered by the lockdown of all but essential services and I understand that assessment interviews would, in many cases, have been suspended until further notice. But I strongly believe that with those challenges come opportunities to work together on making a real difference and helping those most in need.

I would therefore like to propose a series of measures aimed at supporting Polish professionals in their assessment work, most commonly as part of Special Guardianship enquiries on behalf of Children’s Services in the UK. I feel that as a UK- based, Polish-speaking Independent Social Work Consultant with nearly 25 years’ front-line experience, I am well placed to offer advice and consultancy to my colleagues in Poland (this is something we have discussed in detail in the past). I am happy to offer such consultancy free of charge, in the spirit of sharing expertise and knowledge for the benefit of others at this most challenging time. My offer includes:

One day per week free video-conference/telephone consultancy to Polish professionals and institutions. This would be an opportunity for them to:

- seek clarification and advice on British social support and legal systems, on evidence gathering, assessment templates, evidential practices and expectations in the UK, troubleshooting, etc;

- access assistance with direct liaison with client local authorities in the UK, where needed, in order to address issues and expedite completion of the work;

- access appropriate assessment templates and guidance on how to complete them in line with British evidential standards ;

- access information about British care proceedings processes and timescales, which those being assessed may seek and which the assessors might not have answers to and a better understand the principles of Special Guardianship Orders and child placement permanency that guide professional practice in the UK.

I am aware that one of the functions of Polish Embassies in the UK is to provide Polish practitioners with this kind of advice, in the context of the applicable law and procedures. However, I am not sure how accessible such might be for them in practice. Moreover, what I am offering is practical guidance and consultancy, based on my many years’ experience as a family court expert in the UK.

I would also like to take this opportunity to call on the Polish ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs to urgently discuss the need to reverse their 2017 decision to bar British-based assessors from entering the country for the purpose of completing SGO and parenting assessments for British courts and under British jurisdiction, on Polish soil. Such assessments had in the past included, and would continue to include,close collaboration with Polish institutions and professionals, who are able to use joint assessment sessions to complete their own enquiries. Let’s work together for the benefit of those most vulnerable amongst us. I anticipate the backlog of families needing to be assessed at the end of the Covid-19 crisis is likely to be enormous… 

I hope to hear back from you soon. We have exchanged correspondence in the past and my contact details are below

Yours sincerely

Arthur Gajewski