Should I be worried?

[Newtothis2018]

Hi everyone,

I separated from my fiancé in Oct last year, we have two children aged 6 and 2.
I was notified by her solicitor in Dec last year that social work were involved. There has been a back and forth from our solicitors with me trying to regain contact with my children. We questioned why social work were involved and I was advised in March that the police were investigating and the social work then stepped in, which would have been December or earlier.
No one has had any contact with me, except through the solicitors letters.
My question is, if an accusation was made or if I had done something I should be concerned about, would I have been notified by now in some way? as that has been 8+ months now.

Thanks

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Newtothis2018,

Welcome to the Parents Board.

I am sorry to hear about the difficulties in your family and that you have not seen your children for 9 months. This must be very distressing.

You must be worried to hear that children services and the police are involved with your children particularly as you do not know the reason why. You are also worried that someone might have made some accusations against you to do with your children.

As you are a father (whether or not you have parental responsibility) children services should have included you in the assessment process. See the link below to our FAQ's for fathers. A social work assessment should generally be completed within 9 weeks so you can ask for a copy to find out the situation.

Your main question is -if you had been accused of harming your children or had done something that they would be concerned about, would you have been contacted by police or the social worker by now?

From a police perspective, I assume they would want to interview you, as early as possible, about any accusations but I don’t think there is any time limit. However, I would ask your solicitor about this.

In respect of children services, it is possible that there has been allegations made and a social worker has not notified you of this. We often hear that the social worker makes sure that mum is protecting the children from an allegedly “dangerous” father but then does not speak to father about any allegation (or does not know his whereabouts) and so does not get his side of things or advise him of support available to him to help him with his children. It sounds like this has happened in your case. The social worker may assume that you as dad can take steps to apply to the family court for a child arrangements order. It looks like you may be doing this. Children services may be asked to assess and prepare a report for the court application.

I suggest you or your solicitor email the social worker and ask her for a copy of the assessment. This should answer your questions.

Here are some helpful FAQ’s for fathers about children services.

I hope this helps but if you have any questions, please post on the board again or call our free and confidential helpline on 0808 801 0366.

Best wishes,

Suzie