NFA from police but SS dragging their heels

[J1022]

My partner was arrested for uploading iioc and released under investigation on the same day.

We have a young child and SS got involved. SS put conditions in place after the arrest i.e. he was not allowed to return to the family home, and no unsupervised contact. I wasn’t allowed to supervise. Our child was initially put on a CIN but then they escalated to CPP because they had concerns about me wanting to resume the relationship, and I went against their recommendations in an emergency situation where we drove to hospital together.

Three months down the line my partner got no further action (NFA) from the police because nothing was found on any of the devices.

The CPP is coming up for review at the end of this month. The social worker has told us that she will propose a 6 months extension to allow sufficient time for an assessment to be done of my partner, and a capacity to protect assessment with me. And to give me time to decide if I wanted him to move back in/continue the relationship. In the meantime nothing is going to change. The only change their looking at is me starting to supervise contact.

I just wanted a second opinion on this please? It seems harsh to me since NFA from the police. I was devastated when a CPP was put in place and wanted for it to be stepped down to CIN asap really.

Also the relationship between my partner and the social worker is strained so surely she shouldn’t be doing an assessment of him as not objective?

She said that if we went against their recommendations and he was returning to the family home they would seek legal advice. I don’t want to get to this stage without getting legal advice of our own first as I don’t want to risk court proceedings. I’m so devastated to be caught up in all of this as I have done nothing wrong.

[greenfairy]

Hello,

I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard time. I'm in a very similar situtation, my husband has also been arrested for distribution of indecent images. He has since been released
under investigation. He is allowed to have unlimited contact with the children during the day if I supervise him. At night he is allowed to sleep in a separate room in the house and I have to sleep with our children in another room.

To answer your question;
Yes, social services can still ask him not to stay at the family house even if there is NFA by the police. Social services don't need hard evidence like the police do, they only need to believe that a child is at risk to intervene. In their opinion NFA only means that the police wasn't able to reconstruct enough solid evidence for a CPS charge. However, they think "no smoke without a a fire" and if there was intelligence about indecent images, then your partner must have been involved in it.

I would suggest that you are both proactive with social services. It's also important to remain polite even if you get angry at what they say (trust me, I understand).

You have to show to social services that you understand your partner is a risk because of his behaviour and you have to show that you will protect your children. Social workers don't like it when we downplay our partners' offences. It raises concerns that we are blind to the risk.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

My partner was arrested for uploading iioc and released under investigation on the same day.

We have a young child and SS got involved. SS put conditions in place after the arrest i.e. he was not allowed to return to the family home, and no unsupervised contact. I wasn’t allowed to supervise. Our child was initially put on a CIN but then they escalated to CPP because they had concerns about me wanting to resume the relationship, and I went against their recommendations in an emergency situation where we drove to hospital together.

Three months down the line my partner got no further action (NFA) from the police because nothing was found on any of the devices.

The CPP is coming up for review at the end of this month. The social worker has told us that she will propose a 6 months extension to allow sufficient time for an assessment to be done of my partner, and a capacity to protect assessment with me. And to give me time to decide if I wanted him to move back in/continue the relationship. In the meantime nothing is going to change. The only change their looking at is me starting to supervise contact.

I just wanted a second opinion on this please? It seems harsh to me since NFA from the police. I was devastated when a CPP was put in place and wanted for it to be stepped down to CIN asap really.

Also the relationship between my partner and the social worker is strained so surely she shouldn’t be doing an assessment of him as not objective?

She said that if we went against their recommendations and he was returning to the family home they would seek legal advice. I don’t want to get to this stage without getting legal advice of our own first as I don’t want to risk court proceedings. I’m so devastated to be caught up in all of this as I have done nothing wrong.

Dear J1022,

Welcome to the parents’ forum and thankyou for your post. I am sorry to hear about the difficulties that you have been facing. I can see that greenfairy has already given you some helpful advice and I hope that the following is also of some help.

As greenfairy has said, children’s services may still have concerns regarding risk to your child even though the police have decided to take no further action. It does sound reasonable for the social worker to suggest that a risk assessment on your partner and a capacity to protect assessment on yourself ought to be carried out. This will help children’s services in assessing potential risk to your child and the assessments will need to be done before the social worker can make the recommendation for the case to be stepped down to child in need.

It is positive to hear that the social worker is suggesting that you might be able to supervise contact between your partner and child. This suggests that they do see you as having capacity to protect your child and want to support your family to move forward with this.

You mention that the relationship between your partner and the social worker is strained, so you are concerned that any assessment the social worker carries out won’t be objective. The social worker should act in a professional manner despite the relationship being difficult and the assessment should be carried out objectively. If your partner has concerns that this is not happening then I would suggest that he speak with the team manager (you should be able to get their email address and phone number) to raise his concerns. It would be advisable for your partner to work with the social worker as best as he can, however if he really feels that this is not possible then he can make the request that a different social worker carry out the assessment (however it is not guaranteed that this request will be successful and this may put further strain on the relationship). Your partner might find it helpful to read our guide to working with a social worker which you can find HERE. It has tips for parents on how to work well with their child’s social worker and what to do if that relationship is not going well.

Finally, it is important to understand that although children’s services have no legal jurisdiction in regard to contact between your child and your partner (i.e. they can’t enforce their recommendations) they can escalate their involvement if they become more concerned and this could result in court proceedings if you go against their recommendations. For this reason it is recommended to work in partnership with children's services, and to be open and honest with the social worker if you disagree with their recommendations.

I hope that the above has been of some help. If you or your partner would like any further advice then you can either post here again or call our free, confidential helpline on 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm) to speak with an adviser.

Best wishes,
Suzie

[Irisheyes196]

Something similar my son was removed from his home as.his 5 Yr old made a cpl of disclosure dad hit me a 1000 times .
Was arrested bailled for 3 month
Deaf partner disabled kids no evidence only fictitious social workers .
Safe guarding medical unexplained bruises size 0.05 cm
Deaf mum dad dies .
Hounded by social services .
No interpreters ever .
For months .
Accuses mum.of hitting 5 Yr old
This is herendous.
Who can help a deaf woman.an
With autistic kids .
She wants to go to the papers

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Irisheyes196,

Thank you for your post.

I am sorry to hear about your son and his family's situation.

You say that your son was removed from his home as his 5 year old son made a couple of disclosures that his father had hit him 1000 times. He was arrested and bailed for 3 months. Your son's partner is deaf and has disabled children. You say there is no evidence for this and that the safeguarding medical showed unexplained bruises. An interpreter has not been provided and the mother has been accused of hitting the child.

I am not clear from your post at what level children's services are involved - this may be on a child in need basis or child protection. Children's services must treat parents with disabilities fairly and make accommodations for parents with disabilities to participate. You can read more about this here. It is unacceptable that an interpreter has not been arranged and I would advise that the mother write to the social worker immediately about this and makes a formal complaint. Take a look herehere for more information on how to do this.

Your grandchildren's mother may also benefit from an advocate. I would advise that the social worker arrange this for her as soon as possible. She may want to also search for local advocacy services. An advocate can assist her with communicating with children's services, putting her views forward and making a complaint.

Here are some other useful links/organisations that support those with disabilities that the mother may find helpful.

You say that your son was asked to leave the home. I am not clear whether he is still under bail conditions which prevent his return home. If he is no longer under bail conditions, he should make clear to the social worker that he would like to do so. He should ask what steps he may need to take for this to happen. Unless children's services have an order for the children, any request that he remain out of the home is a recommendation. However, it is important to understand children's services position on this as any return to the home may cause them to escalate their level of involvement if they have concerns about him.

Best wishes,

Suzie.