Mother: Maggie Smith aged 27 years has six children Saffron aged 1, Victoria aged 3, Fiona aged 6, Tiffany aged 11, Alan aged 12, Liam aged 13. Maggie is expecting another baby and is currently 4 months into her pregnancy. The father of her eldest three children (Liam, Alan and Tiffany) is ''Danny boy'' Brown and his current whereabouts are unknown. The identity of the father of the other children (Fiona, Victoria and Saffron) is known to Maggie but she will not tell social services. Maggie has a sister May who lives apporx 50 miles away with her lesbian Civil partner. May has a very positive relationship with all of the children and visits every weekend to take them out to the cinema, swimming pool, park etc. May frequently offers to have the children stay with her during school hoiuldays etc. but Maggie always refuses because of May''s sexual orientation. Maggie''s mother is also keen to help but she has been unreliable in the past, and is married to Joshua, who has a very old conviction (Schedule 1 offence The Children and Young Persons Act 1933) for assaulting a boy who kicked a ball into his garden. There have been concerns about the Smith Family for about six years. Unfortunatley Social Services files are rather sketchy in places. The children have had periods of registration on the child protect register. Previous concerns have included the children being home alone, being hungry (Alan was caught taking a teacher''s sandwich out of the staff room) and being smelly at school. However, Maggie has a very persuasive manner and she has in the past influenced the Area Safeguarding Children Board Conference to deregister the children However recently things have come to a head: * Liam has been excluded from school for physical assaults on staff and pupils and for ''inciting a riot''. He was arrested and the police are currently investigating the situation. * Alan copies Liams behaviour and has been aggressive towards his mother and his younger sisters. *Tiffany has started to present at school as withdrawn and anxious. About two years ago she was sexually abused by one of her mother''s boyfriends. Maggie declined offers of counselling for Tiffany as she thought it ''wasn''t helpful to bring up the past''. * Yesterday Tiffany had to call an ambilance for Maggie as she had collapsed in a drunken stupor in the Kitchen. Tiffany looked after her siblings at the hospital whilst waiting for emergency social services to accommodate them overnight. Social services were able to contact their grandmother and the children were transported to her care. As a precaution Joshua was requested to move out and he subsequently stayed with a friend overnight. *Maggie has today been discharged home with a referral to the substance misuse team. * All of the children have returned home. ON a more positive note: *Saffron is thriving, as maggie is really good with babies. * Fiona is a self-contained girl and is no trouble at home or at school. Current Context: When you visited Maggie and gained access to the house today, it was very dirty and squalid. There were no beds for the children there were various piles of dirty/soiled and smelly blankets on the bedroom floors. The bedrooms were filled with clutter and rubbish from take away meal cartons etc. The bedroom where Tiffany was sexually abused has been shut off and not used as it upsets Maggie to remember it. *****You have a strategy meeting scheduled with your team Manager/Practice teacher to discuss the case and formulate a plan for your intervention. Discuss the legal options available to you and explain your choice of action in this situation. In doing so, you must identify any legal powers and duties available to you as a social worker as well as other relevant law and policy that may apply.