section 47

[supersaint07]

five years ago today I was on police bail for some very serious allegations, including rape, dv, pimping, drugs, recording sex and selling it on dvd and theft from a bank account.
these allegations were made by my ex g/f who happened to be pregnant in which I thought was my baby but her story it was any of the 30 men I had pimped her out to.
that evening I met up with a an old girl friend from 16 years ago who I found on facebook.
within a few hours she told me she had been married with 4 kids, her ex ran off with a 16 year old and left her with the kids, she had to give up her job - money was tight, and she on the rebound had fallen in with a violent controlling man who did not work and soon was to take her for every last penny she had. her oldest son had learning needs and she found it very hard to help and ss were ignoring her pleas for respite care, one day which was 3 years previous to me meeting her things came to a head and her eldest was naughty that day - egged on by her partner she got a belt and hit him several times on the bottom.

next day the school saw the bruises and the world went swinging into action -ss came around and removed the children and police investigation swung in... this a year later culminated in my now wife being given a 4 month prison sentence - though she was released in 3 weeks due to an appeal. - when I met her she was living in a hostel and quite frankly a mess.

she lived about 50 miles away from me - but as luck would have it her mum lived in the same town as I did. this was a way back from her hostel and with my and her mums support she moved into a bed sit and became a carer for her disabled mum.

now back to me - I was released off police bail with a no crime and my baby was born and promptly taken into care partly to protect him from me the big bad and the mum who had serious mental health problems.

it went to court where they ordered a dna test, which it came back I was indeed the dad.
(please may I note many men would have walked before this point)

the next time it went to court if they could have dragged me outside and shot me I think they would have done and very begrudgingly they gave me an hour and a half contact per week.
ss notice me outside court with my g/f and mentioned it to me, but I truthfully said it was very early days yet I did not know was happening and also this was about me and my son - and not anyone else.

the case dragged on when I had to attend physcarasist and physologists (spelling) - do drugs tests etc - it then some seven months after the birth went back for a finding of fact. I was totally exhonerated of all the allegations made against me - and this changed the game.

I then had to attend a ten week assessment at action for children and then they basically told me I had had to move 169 miles away where my family lived for support and they also wanted my son as far away from his mother as possible.
through out this my girlfriend was still me and she was invaluable in helping me through this very stressful part of my life.
however it was undecided if she was going to move with me - she was her mums carer and now seeing her children seeing her children unsupervised every fortnight, this is why I never mentioned it to ss and more importantly apart from the first meeting with them they never asked me again my relationship status – they didn’t ask and I didn’t tell.
However being honest though un-decided she was going to move with me we did do a bit of a planning, part of this was to ring probation who had no problems with her moving in with a man with a small child and her social worker who said and I quote “I don’t think what you did will happen again – good luck”
I then moved back to my sisters house and had to go through a 10 week home assessment which included announced and un-announced visits, during this time she came down to visit me for a week her a long weekend there, the person doing the assessment once I won her trust I told her the whole story and she had a chat with her, she told her she deserves a second chance and that would be the end of it and she could live her life going forward without worrying about the past.
This had a huge impact on her and there was a noticeable change instead of worrying about her past she was now looking forward to her future. This was the thing she was waiting for and just before xmas 2009 she moved down with me into my sisters and I proprosed to her on xmas day.
The final hearing was in January 2010 and I was given a residence order and a supervison order, the birth mum was given contact 6 times per year
In that period ss contact was minimal but when we got married the manager of childrens services came out to see us mainly to discuss contact going forward with the mum, she sat in our front room looking at our wedding pictures – at no stage did she say that she needed to carry out background checks – in fact her advise on contact and I quote “why don’t you simply disappear”
The supervision order lapsed and also we heard no more contact from the mum.
16 months later april last year I received a letter through the post from the court for a contact order. She was given twice per month in a contact centre, things progressed but to quickly for my liking and she was soon demanding overnight stays – so the court ordered a section 7 report. This recommended no over nights but it just said at this stage so that was argued and an annedemum report was ordered, one of the recommendations was to carry out background checks on my wife.
We refused this as we believed it was nothing to do with her and this was about contact only.
However her solicitor was not happy with this and neither was my ex – and they pressed cafcass.
To that end as it was going to go back to court to order them we came clean over her conviction.
This has now triggered a section 47 this is where I need help?
It is also important to note we have kept off everyones radar and we have done a very good job bringing him up, we have several people who can bear witness to this and a sw came out on Monday – and now we are awaiting next steps. I have been signed off work depression and have a letter from the doctor saying I am to stressed to attend court next week for a special directions hearing they set up at short notice
Please can anyone help me – sorry this is so long.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi supersaint07

Welcome to the discussion board, and thanks for the level of detail you have given in your post, about your long and complex situation.

Sorry it has not been possible to respond to your queries as soon as we would like. We are a relatively small team, so are not always able to answer the posts as quickly as we would like.

It certainly seems that there has been extensive social work involvement as a result of allegations that have been made about your family. However, in spite of this, your son became subject to a supervision order (in 2010), (which must now have expired) and a residence order
to you, which means they were satisfied with your parenting of your child.

If I understand you correctly, Children’s Services have intervened in your ex partner’s contact application that is currently before the court. Firstly, they have been completing a section 47 child protection investigation. Secondly, as a result of the concerns raised from this, they have asked the court to make a more urgent decision how to keep your baby safe.

One reason for their concerns could be because your partner’s past conviction, and prison sentence previous about the physical injury to her child, was not shared with them. Therefore, they may not believe you are cooperating with their assessment.

You state that the Local Authority have asked for a ‘special directions hearing’ as part of the current contact order application that is placed before the court. This means the judge could request a section 37 report is completed by Children’s Services to inform them about the baby’s welfare at this time.

Either way, it is key that you work closely with your solicitors, via http://www.lawsociety.org.uk so they can give you the best possible legal advice.

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I just wanted to be clear about your circumstances before giving you a more detailed response.

Best Wishes

Suzie

[supersaint07]

Hi thanks for your reply
I dont haveva solicitor or can afford one. My ex is under old rules legal aid and she has the lot.
It is complicated as private law is now meeting public law.
Monday hearing was originally about over night stays but all this came along and the court are naturally interested

A couple of points surely when the manager of children services was in our front room looking at our wedding photographs and we were under supervision order surely it should have been done then.
Yes my wife has conviction but this was eight years ago and she has not been in any trouble since then. It all seems very unfair.
God knows what my ex will say when she finds out she is going to have field day.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi supersaint07

Thank you for the update.

As your case still seems to be in private law, and we give limited advice because we are not funded in this area of childcare law, can I suggest you contact the Children's Legal Centre on 08088 020 008 www.childrenslegalcentre.com.

If however, you find it does become public law you will automatically be entitled to free legal advice and could contact our advice line for support on 0808 801 0366 Monday to Friday 09.30 am to 03.00 pm.

Best Wishes

Suzie

[supersaint07]

Sorry does a child in need plan constitute public law.... and do we get legal aid then

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi supersaint07

A Child in Need plan is the way for the Local Authority to offer you family support on a voluntary basis.

This on it's own does not constitute public law proceedings, but as stated, your situation appears to be a bit more complex.

Please refer to my previous advice. Have a quick look at the link, and if you have any further questions, feel free to come back.

Best Wishes

Suzie

[supersaint07]

hi it went to court today - and I was not there as signed off from attending
ss on Friday called us and said they were going to a child in need plan - and it would not take place for a few weeks until my little boy went to school - no need to worry.
however the court today as banned all unsupervised access with my wife - now she is main carer as I am the primary bread winner - this now means I cant goto work or anything
we really are now stuck
this does not seem at all fair for an incident eight years ago and nothing since.
so I will now have to quit my job - wont get any benefits as intentionally made myself jobless
this situation goes from bad to worse
please help me

[blueplain]

When I was placed on a child protection plan I quite my job and rang up income support, I said listen I have been put on a child protection plan, it is very seriouse and I need to conform with the children services to everything they ask to a T. As it is a government department that has placed me in this situation where it is impossible for me to work or I risk loosing my children then I request that you place me on income support under these mitigating circumstances. I also need to support my partner as she is not able to maintain the care of my children while under such pressure from the children services.

Well they placed me on income support and here I am still on income support 2 years later, with them finnaly withdrawing at the end of summer

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hello again supersaint07

I’m sorry to hear about the decision in court and the difficulties it has caused you and your family.

Focussing on Children’s Services for a moment, it is positive that they have suggested a child in need plan. This is a voluntary arrangement between you and Children Services to ensure that you have the family support services that you need. As an alternative, Children’s Services might have suggested that your son was at risk of significant harm and moved to a child protection conference. The fact that they haven’t is a clear indication that they can see you are doing a good job of parenting your son and keeping him safe.

The main difficulty that you are facing is clearly that, in the course of the private law proceedings, the court has ordered that your wife does not have unsupervised contact with your son at the current time. Has a timescale been put on this restriction? Is it while further assessments are carried out or until another scheduled hearing? It sounds as though Children’s Services would be likely to give a positive assessment of the care that both you and your wife have given your son which may change the view of the court.

If the court restriction is likely to be temporary, I wonder if you are able to manage this by taking some further leave from work and/ or by involving family/ friends in helping to care for your son? Alternatively, you could approach Children’s Services to discuss the current difficulty and ask what support they can offer, particularly as they have identified your son as a “child in need”. It may be possible, for example, for Children’s Services to fund some childcare or a holiday scheme for your son.

Blueplain has given some really useful advice about the benefit situation. If you do end up having to leave work, I would advise that you take some further advice from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. I would also advise that you ensure Children’s Services are doing all they can to assist the situation by, for example, providing a letter of support to the benefit office.

I hope this helps.

Best Wishes

Suzie
FRG Adviser

[supersaint07]

Well its been ten days since this draconian court order has been imposed. And since ss have told us a week ago they dont support it. There has been no phone calls no letters I have still not officially received it in the post.No visits to check its been aadhered to. All of this is a bit of a farce.