Why is my involvement not ending

[Heg1234]

, my son and unborn are on a child protection plan due to concerns of domestic abuse and emotional harm. This was put in place in October 2020 after an incident in which I called the police on my children’s father as he was drunk and I needed police assistance to remove him from the property.

I have since moved out the village with my 2 year old, their father is not aloud contact with our son unless it’s in a contact centre and I have since had unannounced weekly visits to check he is not in the property, which he isn’t so of course has never been found here.

I’ve engaged well with social services, always let them in my home, completed domestic violence courses, always attended meetings and appointments and completed a safety plan to further safe guard in the event I ever need to, they’ve even forced me into having a hospital birth rather than the home birth I wanted.

Despite all this I have now been told my unannounced visits will be increasing to twice weekly when my baby is born (due 13th) and there is still no end in sight to social services involvement and I’m starting to loose the understanding as to why they are still in my life.

It might sound dramatic but having social workers in my life and knowing my unannounced visits will be increasing, they’ve forced me into a birth I didn’t want and when I ask for time scales of how long this will continue I get ‘we can’t say’ other than the next review conference in July there will not be a change in terms of the child protection plan, I’m left feeling deflated and there’s no way out.

I have asked what more I can do to end this and have my normal like back and I get ‘there’s nothing more you can do just keep doing what you’re doing’

My son and unborns dad hasn’t get completed any DV courses so they are using this and only this as a reason to keep my children in a plan but it just doesn’t seem right.

Why am I being essentially punished when I’ve never done anything wrong

What can I do, who do I speak to about having my unannounced visits decreased other than more social worker because she doesn’t seem to care

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Heg1234,

Welcome back to the Parent’s Forum.
Please accept my apologies for the late response to your post.
I can see that you have done everything you have been asked to do by children services and have followed the child protection plan. The social worker has praised you for what you have done and has asked that you continue to do as you are doing. Even so, the social worker has recently asked that they increase their visits to your home after your baby is born.

I can see why you feel that this is unfair to you as you have clearly worked so well with children services. However, as dad has not yet completed the courses he needs to do, he will be considered to remain at the same risk level as when the child protection plan was made. Also, your ability to protect your children may be lower after your baby is born because you will be more vulnerable-having gone through labour as well as having a newborn to care for.
This may be why they want to increase their checks. Ask the social worker for the reasons.
Are your family and friends supporting you? They could be assessed to be extra protection during this time and maybe reduce the social work visits.
I hope that dad will be able to work with the social worker, be risk assessed and complete any courses or support that he is offered so that you so that children services can end their involvement with your family.
I hope this advice helps but if you need further advice, please post again, or call our advice line on 0808 801 0366.
Kind regards,
Suzie