Children Social Care completely blind to reality

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Mill45
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2021 6:10 pm

Children Social Care completely blind to reality

Post by Mill45 » Fri Nov 05, 2021 2:30 pm

Hi,

I am a father, and I am in a situation whereby I can only have supervised contact with my 8-year-old son.

A while back, I was arrested on suspicion of downloading illegal images of children, which I denied. Due to that arrest, and understandably, Social Services imposed a restriction that I could only have supervised contact with my son until at least the Police investigation was over. The investigation took far longer than originally forecast so Social Services closed their case, leaving the restriction in place.

When the Police investigation eventually concluded, it proved I had never searched for such material, did not download with any intent, and had never viewed any of it, which supported everything I have ever said. However, they still charged me as the method I used to download TV programmes and films was notorious for having illegal or misleading content. So, in the eyes of the law I thereby apparently accepted that risk. This eventually led me to being forced into pleading guilty for possession of illegal images to avoid a wrongful conviction and prison, even though 99% of the evidence vindicates me.

I am now stuck in a situation where I still can only have supervised access to my son for just a few hours a week. This has forced my son to be effectively raised by a lone parent (his mum, my ex-wife). She suffers with mental health issues and is unable to cope with him alone, and I do not believe she is raising him anywhere near well enough.

Social Services have been useless throughout this whole process. They do not care at all about my son, his mum, me, or my family. They now refuse to even talk to me.

Now the legal process has concluded, all the evidence is available for Social Services to review and see that I am no risk to any child. It is all there in black and white. But they refuse to review or accept it. They also refuse to accept the outcome of The Crown Court and CPS, who acknowledge and accept this was all done unintentionally, and that none of this material was ever viewed, and there is not a scrap of evidence that gives any remote indication I am a risk to any child.

The Probation Service have said that they cannot believe how Social Services have acted, and they have stressed that they must accept the evidence so that this ridiculous restriction can be lifted. But they just will not listen!

I am in the process of submitting a formal complaint to the council via an advocacy service, but I fear this will be a waste of time as they feel as though they can operate above the law. They are also highly arrogant, extremely uncooperative, and they fail spectacularly in providing any help or support to me and my family.

It would seem that, if my formal complaint fails then my only course of action is to go through the courts. However, I have been informed this is extremely expensive, which I certainly cannot afford. But I feel, “why should I?” Why do I need to pay a fortune to combat their incompetency, and to get them to accept reality, truth, facts, and evidence?

Most of their reports also contain lies and twisted statements. But it is my word against theirs, and who is anyone going to believe??? They can write whatever they want, and they do, and then they pass it off as fact, when it is a load of hogwash.

So, what should I do?

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
Posts: 4210
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Children Social Care completely blind to reality

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Tue Nov 09, 2021 4:03 pm

Dear Mill45,

Welcome to the parents’ board and thank you for your post.

You are the father to an 8 year old son. You say that you were arrested on suspicion of downloading indecent images of children, which you deny. Children’s services became involved and advised that you only have supervised contact with your son until the police investigation concluded. They closed the case as the investigation continued and recommended that this restriction remain in place. You say that the police investigation concluded you did not search for this material and did not download with intent, but that you were still charged and pled guilty to possession if indecent images. You say that you did this to avoid prison and that the evidence vindicates you. You say that you continue to have supervised contact with your son for a few hours a week and that you have some concerns about the care he is receiving from his mother. You say that children’s services are refusing to talk to you and that they refuse to accept the evidence that you are not a risk to your child. The probation service are in support of this. You have lodged a formal complaint but are worried that this will not result in anything. You have been informed that you can go through the family courts but are worried that this may be expensive and feel that you should not have to do this. You say that children’s services reports contain ‘lies and twisted statements’ and would like to know what you can do.

Firstly, from your post, I am assuming that there is no open case with children’s services but that you are continuing to follow the recommendation of supervised contact. You say that you did not intentionally download any images but that you did plead guilty to this charge. Children’s services are likely to be concerned about this and any risk that may be posed to your child associated to such an offence – you say that there is evidence to indicate that you are not a risk, but that children’s services do not accept this. I would advise you to speak to a senior manager at children’s services to clarify what their current concerns are and what they may expect from you to address these and potentially progress towards unsupervised contact in the future. I am aware that you say no one from children’s services is speaking to you and therefore I agree that pursuing a formal complaint is now the next best step. You may find it helpful to read our page on making a complaint and what you can do if you are not satisfied with children’s services response.

Please note that children’s services recommendation that you have supervised contact is not legally enforceable. Nevertheless, if you and your child’s mother do not follow this, children’s services may become reinvolved and take escalated action. Whilst you are reluctant to go through the family courts, this may be an appropriate option in order to resolve the current issue around contact. You can represent yourself as a litigant-in-person. Unfortunately we do not advise on private family law matters, however, you can access expert advice on applying for a child arrangements order by calling Child Law Advice on 0300 330 5480. You may also find it helpful to read our advice sheet on applying for child arrangements orders here, but please note this is aimed at family and friends caring for children.

I hope you have found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie.

Mill45
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2021 6:10 pm

Re: Children Social Care completely blind to reality

Post by Mill45 » Tue Nov 09, 2021 4:42 pm

Hi Suzie,

Many thanks for taking the time to read my problem and to respond.
Firstly, from your post, I am assuming that there is no open case with children’s services but that you are continuing to follow the recommendation of supervised contact.
Yes, that is correct. The case was closed back in 2019.
You say that you did not intentionally download any images but that you did plead guilty to this charge.
Not exactly, no. This is a long story but the law only talks about "possession". It does not care about how it came to be in your possession. With the method I was using to download films and TV programmes I knew there was a high risk of downloading videos that were labelled as something else. Therefore, in the eyes of the law I accepted that risk, so would have apparently been found guilty of having such illegal material in my possession, even though I never searched for it, I did not know they were there, and I never viewed them, which is what the Police evidence proves. But in the eyes of the law it does not matter how they got there or that they were never viewed as it only cares about possession. If it had gone to trial and I was wrongfully convicted then I would have highly likely been sent to prison. Therefore, I had to plead guilty to having illegal images in my possession in order to avoid prison.
Children’s services are likely to be concerned about this and any risk that may be posed to your child associated to such an offence
Yes, and I fully understand that they would be. But they will not listen to me. Will not accept any evidence. Nothing. I had to plead guilty for the reasons outlined above, but they will just not listen. Other professionals that are involved are appalled at their behaviour. They just do not care about my son at all. They always look for the easy way out and the least amount of work for them, which in this case is just to ignore reality.
I would advise you to speak to a senior manager at children’s services to clarify what their current concerns are
Unfortunately, they are as blinded as the Social Workers below them. I once complained about the Social Worker to her manager, and all she did was pass the complaint on to the Social Worker I was complaining about :roll:
...and what they may expect from you to address these and potentially progress towards unsupervised contact in the future
They have already stated in their final report from 2019 that they will never allow unsupervised contact, even though there is not a scrap of evidence to substantiate their ridiculous conclusion, both at that time and still to this day. I now have a tonne of evidence in my favour but they refuse to accept any of it :x

The last Social Worker I had in my case was absolutely awful. She did not have a clue what planet she was on or what was happening. She was getting everything backwards. Her head was in the clouds most of the time. The rest of the time she was just making rubbish up, writing it down, and passing it off as fact :x
Please note that children’s services recommendation that you have supervised contact is not legally enforceable. Nevertheless, if you and your child’s mother do not follow this, children’s services may become reinvolved and take escalated action.
Thank you. Yes, I am aware it is not legally binding. However, I have continued to follow their ridiculous restriction as it would not be a good move to not do. Plus, they have my son's mother wrapped round their little finger. So if she got whiff I was not complying with the restriction then she would instantly report me.
Whilst you are reluctant to go through the family courts, this may be an appropriate option in order to resolve the current issue around contact.
Yes, I am afraid that his is looking like the only avenue. But I will follow through with the formal complaint first to see if that causes them to lift a finger. But failing that, going to court is the only way. However, I have been told this is a very expensive avenue, which I simply cannot afford.
You can represent yourself as a litigant-in-person.
I will look into that. Thank you.
I hope you have found this helpful.
Yes, thank you very much.

All of this is in my formal complaint, but I imagine it will all fall on deaf ears as the council in question, and Social Services, are just awful. All they care about is themselves. The complaint should have landed on their doorstep today so we shall see what they respond with, if anything.

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
Posts: 4210
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Children Social Care completely blind to reality

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Fri Nov 12, 2021 1:02 pm

Dear Mill45

Thank you for your further post and for your clarifications.

Are you aware of the organisation Unlock which provides advice to people with criminal records? You may find it helpful to discuss your situation with them.

Children’s services are not normally required to explore the reasons why a person pleads guilty. However, as you have made a formal complaint the issues you have raised in that complaint will be looked at again. It is important to be aware that in Stage 1 of the complaints process the complaint is usually passed back to the social worker and their manager to respond to first. If still unresolved, you can then ask that your complaint is progressed to Stage 2 where it will then be addressed by an investigating officer and an independent person.

If you do need to represent yourself as a litigant in person in the family court, in the future, then you may find the following services helpful:

Advice Now – they produce a range of useful information including advice on how to represent yourself in the family court and a guide to applying for a Child Arrangements Order without a lawyer – the standard version of the guide 'How to apply for a court order about the arrangements for your children without the help of a solicitor' can be read online for free.

Support through court provide practical, procedural, and emotional assistance to people representing themselves in court.

I hope this information will be helpful to you.

Best wishes

Suzie

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