Malicious referrals
Malicious referrals
Hi. I have a 2 year old son. Been with my partner 7 years. There was one instance of DV in 2016. Nothing since. Fast forward to today. An ex friend has a put in 2 anonymous malicious referrals to social saying im being abused by my partner. The second one has resulted in a parenting assessment. Im co operating with social. The initial meeting has happened and went well, my son shows no signs of being in an abusive household, coz hes not. Ive also reported the girl to the police for harassment and defamation of character. The social worker has been given the CAD number. Ive refused to do the freedom programme as its not needed. Im not being abused. Theres been no police reports made. No complaints from neighbours so they have no proof either. Just an anonymous call. What i need to know is, if she keeps making these malicious referrals, do i have to keep allowing social services into my life for assessments. At what point is it harassment from them as well as her?
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Suzie, FRG Adviser
- Posts: 4249
- Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm
Re: Malicious referrals
Dear CFT88
Welcome to the parents discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am FRG’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear of the difficulties your family is currently experiencing. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your post.
You are feeling harassed as referrals have been made to children’s services about your two year old son on two occasions. They express concerns that your partner is being domestically abusive to you, which you strongly deny. You mention one incident of domestic violence in 2016. Sometimes domestic violence can reoccur and sometimes the person being abused does not see this as abuse; this may be what children’s services are worried about, especially as you have a young child. This is explored in these FAQs. You are very clearly stating that this is not the case, in your situation, and it seems that your son is doing well.
You are suspicious that the referrer (who remained anonymous) is a former friend who is maliciously making these reports. As they were anonymous it is not possible to prove this, however, you have contacted the police so that they can look into your concerns and have passed the police reference details onto the social worker to show the action that you have taken.
The police will be able to advise on any harassment warnings or if any other potential criminal offences may have been committed.
When children’s services receive information from referrers especially anonymous referrers they don’t know whether or not it is true so they must decide if an assessment is needed, based on the information they hold. They have decided to do a parenting assessment following the most recent referral.
You are already working cooperatively with children’s services and are able to say no to recommendations that you think are unnecessary. From what you say, I think the assessment is ongoing. When it is completed, and if no concerns are found, it will be important that the report reflects your views and that the social worker does not just record that there is no evidence of concerns but also any evidence they have found that the referral may be manufactured or constitute a pattern of abuse. Always make sure you get a written copy of any assessment or outcome You may want to insist, if the case is closing or you are working with another service such as Early Help, that there is a note to flag up your concern about malicious reports and a recommendation of how to proceed.
However, if the assessment recommends that you and your family would benefit from support or that there is an identified risk it will be important to consider what influenced this and how to respond. It is a good idea to seek advice at this point, especially if you are not in agreement. These advice pages on children’s services set out how they work and explain more about the different outcomes there can be.
Please post again or ring the freephone helpline on 0808 801 0366 (Mon – Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm), if we can help.
Best wishes
Suzie
Welcome to the parents discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am FRG’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear of the difficulties your family is currently experiencing. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your post.
You are feeling harassed as referrals have been made to children’s services about your two year old son on two occasions. They express concerns that your partner is being domestically abusive to you, which you strongly deny. You mention one incident of domestic violence in 2016. Sometimes domestic violence can reoccur and sometimes the person being abused does not see this as abuse; this may be what children’s services are worried about, especially as you have a young child. This is explored in these FAQs. You are very clearly stating that this is not the case, in your situation, and it seems that your son is doing well.
You are suspicious that the referrer (who remained anonymous) is a former friend who is maliciously making these reports. As they were anonymous it is not possible to prove this, however, you have contacted the police so that they can look into your concerns and have passed the police reference details onto the social worker to show the action that you have taken.
The police will be able to advise on any harassment warnings or if any other potential criminal offences may have been committed.
When children’s services receive information from referrers especially anonymous referrers they don’t know whether or not it is true so they must decide if an assessment is needed, based on the information they hold. They have decided to do a parenting assessment following the most recent referral.
You are already working cooperatively with children’s services and are able to say no to recommendations that you think are unnecessary. From what you say, I think the assessment is ongoing. When it is completed, and if no concerns are found, it will be important that the report reflects your views and that the social worker does not just record that there is no evidence of concerns but also any evidence they have found that the referral may be manufactured or constitute a pattern of abuse. Always make sure you get a written copy of any assessment or outcome You may want to insist, if the case is closing or you are working with another service such as Early Help, that there is a note to flag up your concern about malicious reports and a recommendation of how to proceed.
However, if the assessment recommends that you and your family would benefit from support or that there is an identified risk it will be important to consider what influenced this and how to respond. It is a good idea to seek advice at this point, especially if you are not in agreement. These advice pages on children’s services set out how they work and explain more about the different outcomes there can be.
Please post again or ring the freephone helpline on 0808 801 0366 (Mon – Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm), if we can help.
Best wishes
Suzie
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