Police Investigation and PLO

[nanatired]

Hi
I am looking for any insight to how this may work.
Step Daughter was arrested 6 months ago and being investigated for child cruelty and neglect.
Her friend was staying at hers at the time and was also arrested. It turns out the investigation was mainly with her friend and the treatment of the children in her care.
Daughter has been through PLO and Social services believe it was very positive for her and they along with IRO believe children should be returning to her and are putting reunification plan in place.
Case is due to be sent to CPS within the week and should nfa decision be taken, they will return home soon.
What happens though if CPS decides to prosecute. Bail conditions were initially no contact with under 16s. Then changed to family supervision for other children and then in Dec we were told we can supervise contact with her and her children at our home. Would they let the children home pending trial or is it likely to stay as it is? Solicitor believes there are no charges to answer and the investigating officer also thinks it isn't likely but obviously won't be held to that.
Thanks for any insight given

[Robin D]

Hi nanatired. Sorry it's been a couple of days throughout which I am sure you have been quite stressed.

It's not an easy question to answer as it's criminal law that FRG don't normally deal with. However, I have taken the opportunity to discuss with my police sergeant nephew whilst giving no details. He first pointed out that he cannot offer direct advice. However his view is that even if it is NFA'd the local authority may still have concerns and take further action. He imagines the difficulty for the police is determining if your daughters friend was acting in isolation, or if your daughter either participated or if it was 'reasonable for her to be aware' and she therefore failed to protect the children.

Unfortunately, I think this is a case where what will be, will be, and I cannot see any way of predicting the outcome of the criminal investigation, or any subsequent child protection proceedings based on the information you are able to provide.

What I can say, with some confidence is that contact between your daughter and her children should be maintained, and both police and children's services will be well aware of this and have a duty to support it if at all possible. This is why I suspect supervised contact has been maintained while the investigation proceeds.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear nanatired

Welcome to the kinship carers’ discussion forum and thank you for posting.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group and I will respond to your post. I am sorry that there has been a slight delay due to volume of work, but I see that another poster reached out to you.

It has been a difficult time for you and your family following the arrest of your stepdaughter and her children being placed in foster care. Despite the situation it appears that there are some positives as the view is that the children may return to their mother’s care depending on the outcome of the criminal investigation. A reunification plan is being considered by children’s services.

Although the children are looked after children since there is an independent reviewing officer (IRO) it is not clear if they are living with you (I assume this is the case) or with unrelated foster carers. In either case it will be a good outcome for the children and their mother if they are able to be in her care.

You have stated in your post that if the decision from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is no further action (NFA) the children will go home. However, your specific questions relate to the alternative outcome with a trial taking place.

Would they let the children home pending trial

Or is it likely to stay as it is.

It is very unlikely that the children would return home pending trial. The outcome of the trial would be unknown, and children’s services would not want the children having too many moves.

The current arrangements would probably remain in place unless children’s services decide to review the case by considering the decision to charge the mother for cruelty and neglect. It is important to remember that children’s services primary concern is the safety and well-being of the children.

It is possible that children’s services may consider applying to the court so they can share parental responsibility for the children. Please see information in this link relating to care proceedings as the Public Law Outline (PLO) process has already been instigated but if the children are in your care or foster care, children’s services may decide to continue with the voluntary arrangement under s20. There is information about this here

Now it is simply a case of waiting for the CPS decision and hoping for the best outcome.

You can post again if you have any further questions.

Should you wish to speak to an adviser you can telephone our free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)

Hope this is helpful to you.

Best wishes

Suzie