Social services

[Ilovemybabys]

Hi
Hi had a visit from social services regarding a referral from police because of an incident with my ( children’s father) but they closed the case on the understanding that he does not have unsupervised contact how long does he have to have unservised contact for he has never hurt his children in any way and it seems unfair on the children

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Ilovemybabys

Welcome to the Parents’ Discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie, FRG’s online adviser. I am sorry that we were not able to respond to your query before now.

Did the police refer to children’s services in response to a domestic violence incident? If so, you may find these domestic violence advice for mothers materials helpful. We also have a range of FAQs on contact arrangements for children which consider the issues around contact.

If you have agreed with the social worker that the children’s father will not have unsupervised contact it is important that you keep to this especially if it is the basis for the case being closed. However, you are absolutely right to want to clarify what their expectations are and how long they think this arrangement should last.

Also if you think that it would be safe for the children or even positive for them if contact moved towards being unsupervised you should ask the social worker what would need to happen (what steps the children’s father or you would need to take) for unsupervised contact to start. It is important though that you fully understand why the social worker thinks unsupervised contact could be risky for the children and that they are confident that you can keep the children safe.

I think that you should put your query in writing and ask the social worker to confirm in writing too what they are asking for and why.

Of course, the children’s father can also contact the social worker about this directly especially as he is the person about whom there are concerns and he is the person who it is recommended should not see the children without supervision. We have some FAQs for fathers that might be useful to him. He can also get his own independent legal advice if he wants to, to consider his options.

I hope this helps somewhat. If you want to discuss the situation in more detail with an adviser please ring our Freephone advice helpline on 0808 8010366 Mon – Fri 9.30 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

With best wishes.

Suzie