Family Rights Group | Parents’ Forum

My husband has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for ABH, he is currently going for release on tag and had an interview with his probation officer. The probation officer has said he will be contacting social services because the crime is a violent crime.
The conviction related to a one off fight on a drunken night out, neither myself nor the children were present. We have been married for over 10 years and my husband is in his 40’s, this is his first offence. There has never been any domestic violence (or any violence of any kind before). The kids are stable and we have a good home and income and apart from the incident in question a very stable life.

What can I expect from social services? Will they be wanting to contact the school? Is it just a case of them checking to see if there have been any issues raised or will they want to come to the house and interview the children?

I know I have nothing to hide, but I’m worrying about how much involvement they will have.

Dear Mrs Worried

Thank you for your post and welcome to the Board, my apologies for the delay in responding.

From what you describe about your husband’s situation Children’s Services will ask a social worker to meet with you discuss your family make up and background. S/he will/should of course discuss with you the reason why they are visiting you. The social worker will ask you for general information, names of children, date of birth etc; s/he may/will want to see the children too. S/he may/will ask whether they can make enquiries from other professionals, such as school teachers.

The ‘assessment’ will look at most aspects of your family life, including family history, parental ability to meet the needs of their children etc. Working Together…2015, from page 19 outlines how assessments are conducted. From what you say your household has never come to the attention of the police in relation to domestic violence incidences, alcohol was the precursor to your husband’s violence to the other person. If he has addressed his issue with alcohol and can demonstrate this, it should be acknowledged as a positive in the assessment alongside the knowledge that there has not been any violence in your relationship.

I hope this response is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie