Historic Allegations against my husband. How long does SW need to be involved

[Mumof3]

Cut long story short. Husband has been accused and has been asked to leave our home . I dont believe allegations and Crown Office dont have enough evidence to prooceed to trial, but , have been given 6 months to try get more evidence ????? Through all this heartache our children have been put on Child Protection Register. Visit from SW once a week . We have been allowed contact 3 times per week which is great . But , I have told SW i dont want any help / support from them as I feel their presence in our family home is impacting our children negatively We have complied with everthing SW have asked us to do . We are doing contact in the way they are asking etc and to be fare SW is very nice , but i cant stand her /:their involvement when we are doing everything they ask us . Next week she wants to chat to our children in their own rooms 1:1 . Now we have absolutely nothing to hide and have been frank and open with our children and SW i just feel uncomfortable with it . Feel as if we are on trial in our own home . Does anyone know how long SW involvement will go on . I hate days when she visits i am struggling day to day never mind the mental build up on the dats she comes out to " offer support" . Thanks to anyone in advance.

[Bee*]

Nobody is comfortable with having a social worker come to their home. Theres so much stigma against it in society, and I think pretty much everyone on here felt the same way, especially at first. If your social worker is quite nice, and you are doing everything right, that is possibly the best situation you can hope for. Having a social worker and being on a Child Protection Plan does not make you a bad mother, sometimes things happen beyond our control.

I would probably expect it to go on for at least 6 months, because you will have a review conference every 6 months, and also 6 months is the time frame that they've been given to get more evidence on the allegations against your husband.

[Mumof3]

I hope someone can answer please PLEASE . What happens next? Situation is still as above. If case is unproven can my husband come home ? Will he be allowed to come home before 6 months is up . We just dont know what our rights are. But , we want to comply with everything as dont want to jeapordise anything.. SW are satisfied I am putting my children first but this torture is so hard to endure not knowing what is going to happen re anything : court ; SW ; the future. Thank you to anyone in advance.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Mumof3

Welcome to the Family Rights Group Parents’ Discussion Forum.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group.

I am sorry that you are finding it such a struggle to have children services involvement following allegations being made against your husband. You have not given any indication of the nature of the allegations.

Children services may well have become involved following a referral from the police and, as a result of their concerns have asked that your husband leave the family home. This must be both upsetting and distressing for you and your children. However, as children services have a safeguarding role they have a duty to take action where they consider a child or children to be at risk

Now that your children are subject to a child protection plan it is very important that you continue to work with children services and adhere to the terms of the child protection plan. Failure to comply with the plan could lead to children services taking more serious action in respect of the children.

I note that you say in your post that you do not agree the allegations made against your husband. Depending on the nature of the allegations, this could lead to children services considering whether you are a protective factor for your children.

Since the children are on child protection plans, I should explain that it really is not up to you whether children services remain involved. It is important that you take on board any help and support being offered under the plan or, as stated above, children services could make decisions relating to your failure to keep to the plan.

I know that you are finding involvement with children services difficult but please do continue to work with the social worker as best you can. Regarding the social worker seeing the children on their own the social worker is allowed to speak to the children alone.

Regarding your specific questions about how long social work involvement will go on, it is difficult to say as this will depend on how satisfied children services is about any risk to your children. It is unlikely that children services will decide to end their involvement before a decision is made regarding your husband.

I should explain that even if the police/Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decide not to pursue a case against your husband, this does not mean that children services involvement will end. The reason for this is that children services and the police are looking at different things. Children services are concerned with safeguarding the children and the police whether they can bring a successful prosecution.

Whilst it must be difficult to have a social worker visiting your home, it is part of the safeguarding role that children services has for children in their area. It might help if you able to look at it from the point of view of not so much you being on trial but that it will show that there are no concerns about your parenting of your children. I am including a copy of our advice sheet relating to child protection for you to read. Hopefully, this will help you to better understand your current situation.

As you have not said what the allegations are against your husband, I am not able to offer you advice in this regard but if you wish to post again or alternatively, you could telephone our advice line to speak to an adviser. You can reach the advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open 9.30 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. Monday to Friday.

I hope you find this helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie