Case closed - but recommended supervised contact

[Need help 2021]

If you don’t mind me asking you what did he actually do my husband has been put down has medium risk by probation but waiting till next week for his sentence we don’t stay to getter at the moment but my son is on child protection plan at the moment and sees his father in a contact centre

[Need help 2021]

My husband had to sign SOR which he did in nov I am not sure how long yet he will be on the register for yet . Will wait till next week and then they will do assessment with Lucy faithfull in April.

[Rodentia]

Possession of Cat A images. Not sure of full details as we haven't spoken since. However it may be different as my baby is unborn so there hasn't been a previous risk and currently as the baby isn't here they can't say he will be at risk if he's protected with me and supervised visits with him.

I imagine it does differ if you already had a child. I have two other previous children (not his) and there is no way he would be allowed any contact with them now etc.

[Need help 2021]

I don’t blame you we have to make sure that our kids are safe it must be very hard when you trust someone and then you come to find out with this how long to do you have till the baby is born .

[Rodentia]

Only 3 weeks , so this all came to light at the last minute! Who knows what will happen as time goes on.

Why has your case gone on since 2019?

[Need help 2021]

Basically what happens in December 2019 the police came and took his phone and other stuff in the house then socail service got involved and then close the case . Then in April 2021 he was charged for possession in a whats app group and his hearing is keep on getting cancelled and because I haven’t split up from him they are doing assessment to see how much of a risk he is but they report has come out that he didn’t such for the stuff but I left my family home and staying with my parents to make sure my son is safe but in the long term they want to make sure my son is safe .

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hello,
First time posting. So a few months ago my unborn babies dad was convicted of possessing IIOC, went guilty and is currently awaiting sentencing.

We are expecting a baby in a few weeks time and since the arrest had a case open with child services who were completing a pre birth assessment on our unborn baby. I have heard back that finally they are closing the case without escalating to a child in need or child protection or anything, however their recommendations after doing a risk assessment on dad is that he is high risk and must have supervised contact only (by his family members) and he has moved out of our family home.

I asked child services how this is going to be observed or managed if our case is closed and they basically said the babies dad will be aware he is only to have supervised contact, as will his "named people to supervise" and therefore he shouldn't deviate from it.

It seems bizarre to me that they have said High risk, supervised contact only....yet they have closed the case with no way of monitoring it.

I'm happy with the outcome and not challenging the decision but I guess my question is how, if at all is this contact ever monitored by child services? Would it be a case of if they heard he wasn't complying or he was left alone with the baby and they found out some how then they would re open the case and escalate things?

It just seems bizarre they have said .....there is a risk....but we trust it to be observed and dealt with by us as a family I guess.....

Or is this a case where they have actually acted reasonably and with sense instead of keeping us on a plan for the longest time?

Dear Rodentia,

Welcome to the parents’ forum and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I will be replying to you today.

You say that the father of your unborn baby was convicted of possessing IIOC and as a result children’s services became involved. They completed a pre-birth assessment and have told you that they will be closing the case. They have recommended that the father should only have supervised contact due to the risk that he poses.

You ask whether this supervised contact would be monitored by children’s services and whether they might become involved in future if they became concerned that he was in fact having unsupervised contact.

Firstly, from the information you have given it appears that children’s services feel that you will be able to protect your baby from any risk of harm and so they no longer need to be involved. Much of their assessment would have focussed on your safeguarding capacity. They will not be able to monitor the contact that the father has once the baby is born as they are no longer involved. However it is correct that if they receive any future referrals which bring to light concerns that he has been having unsupervised contact then they are likely to become involved again. If this happens then it is likely that their concerns would be much greater as your capacity to safeguard the baby would be brought into question.

I would advise that you comply with children’s services recommendations in order to keep your baby safe from harm. Please see our website here for more information about children’s services involvement when there is a concern about sexual abuse.

I hope that this has been of some help and I wish you all the best with the birth of your baby. Please post again if you have any further queries, or you can call our free helpline on 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm) to speak with an adviser in more detail.

Best wishes,
Suzie