Help needed with potential legal action

[Hooeandsmiles]

Hi, I need some advice, and support on my current situation. I know each case is different, but I am just looking for an answer to how other similar cases have gone and the likelihood of social services taking my child away from me.

My 6 month old is on child protection. They have been on it for about 4 months. They are my first child and I have no arrests, convictions or any criminal history. I have a professional job which requires a DBS, a mortgage, and have been open and honest with the social workers, and have cooperated with their plan and things they wanted me to do, e.g. apply for Claire’s law, work with Harbour, attend all core group meetings etc.

My child’s father has 2 previous children who he doesn’t currently see, this is not for any safeguarding reason, the social workers know it’s not because they have checked. He also has no convictions or arrests and has a DBS for his job, but he does have what they describe as a ‘past’ from previous partners. there was allegations/reports of domestic violence, cohesion and Financial control, although as mentioned no arrests or convictions. He on the other hand has not done the things that the social workers wanted him to do and has not really built up a good relationship with them.

My child is on child protection because they say they are at risk of significant emotional harm if we argue/domestic violence occurs. In my opinion my child has never been under any significant harm, not but that’s just opinion. my ex boyfriend has never been violent towards me, but because the police had to be called to remove him from my property it was classed as a domestic violence incident. The police were involved because I had asked him to leave my property and he had refused. On the first occasion the police did arrive but he left without any caution etc, and on the 2nd occasion he had left before they arrived.

Cut to today, the social worker has told me he is fine to see our child, no safeguarding concerns, but I am not allowed to do the handover, but they say we are not allowed to be in a relationship and if we do they will seek legal action. In fear of that, we have decided to live separately and not be together at the moment. But we both know that in the future we would like to be together and to be a family again.

It was pointed out to the social worker that if my child was not there, e.g they were sleeping at there grandparents we could still see each other as this wouldn’t pose a risk to them , but the social worker still said she would seek legal action if we were together even without our child there.

So I know this has seemed a bit long winded but my main questions here are
1. If we remain living separately but do get back together in a relationship how likely is it they will get a judge to remove my child from my care?
2. If we do see each other when our child isn’t there how likely is it that they will seek legal advice for that?
3. And if in the future, although it wouldn’t be until a couple of months down the line, if he did move back in and we all lived together how likely is it that without any convictions or arrests that the judge will take my child away from me.

[KatKat10]

Hooeandsmiles, do you have a legal representative? If not get one. It sounds very Orwellian 1984. Practically everyone has an argument with their partner at some stage, although I am fully aware, that not all arguments are just arguments and can be quite sinister if a partner is threatening violence or controlling their partner and intervention is required. If you are in a DV situation, they blame the mother for not safeguarding children, but quite often there is no where to go as refuges are full and do not have the capacity. You are then stuck, going round in circles and getting punished by the SS.

I get the impression that the police and SS's are reacting to every little thing, no matter how trivial and there has been an increase, since all the tragic cases in the media in the last year or so. They have obviously been read the riot act of not letting anything go unnoticed. This is putting a strain on LA's as they do not have the capacity to cope, hence mistakes and cover ups and lies. Turnover of SW's is high, LA's are constantly recruiting SW's. No one wants to be a social worker. I can see this coming to a head soon, as courts are overwhelmed with a majority of cases coming to court that should not be going to court. There needs to be a complete independent review and overhaul of Social Services, a facility for parents to raise complaints without fear of retribution. Complaints need to be taken seriously and raised not only locally but with a central government department, so there is full transparency.
All social workers should be subject to yearly reviews and scrutiny and parents etc should get say and be able to submit feedback on a social workers performance, on what is working well and not working well and areas for improvement. Registration of social workers should be a yearly registration and reviewed. Anyone who does not meet the standards required, should be suspended or struck off.
Lets not get started on the cost to taxpayers of foster care arrangements and other financial payments.
KK10

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Hooeandsmiles,

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

You have a 6 month old child on a child protection plan due to concerns of domestic abuse. Your child's father has a history of allegations of domestic violence, coercion and financial control against him. You say he has no arrests or convictions. You say that since children's services have been involved, you have worked well with them and engaged in the support they have asked you to. Your partner has not done this. You say you do not agree that your child is at risk of significant harm. You also mention an incident in which your partner refused to leave your home when asked and had to be removed by police. There has been at least 2 occasions when you have had to call the police. The social worker has told you that your child's father can see your child, but that you cannot do handovers. They are also saying that you are not allowed to be in a relationship and that if you are, they will seek legal action. You have decided to live separately at the moment but would like to live together in the future.

Firstly, as you say, your baby is on a child protection plan because children's services are concerned about them being exposed to significant harm. You say you do not agree with this but also mention two incidents in which you have had to call the police for help. You say your partner has not been violent, but domestic abuse is any type of controlling, threatening or violent behaviour between parents, ex partners or family members. It can involve physical abuse; sexual abuse and rape; emotional abuse; isolation; controlling behaviour and coercion; threats and intimidation; economic abuse and financial control.

Children's services are worried because your partner has a alleged history of perpetrating domestic abuse against previous partners and they are concerned that he is now doing this to you. You say he has no arrests or convictions, but this does not mean that the things he has been accused of did not happen. They are worried about your child because children can suffer long-term harm from living in a household where domestic abuse is taking place. A child seeing, overhearing, living in, or spending time in a household where someone is mistreated will likely be viewed as evidence the child is suffered significant harm, or evidence the child is at risk of suffering significant harm. You may find it helpful to read more on our page about domestic abuse here.

It is positive to hear that you are engaging with the support services children's services have asked you to. Your partner's behaviour is not your fault - however, children's services will still expect you to act in a protective capacity to ensure that you and your child are safe. This means showing insight into the risk your partner may pose. You mention that you would like to live together as a family - children's services will expect you to prioritise your child's safety and wellbeing above your relationship, even if this means that you cannot all live together. Your child's father will have to take active steps to address his behaviour and to make positive change - it does not sound as though he is doing this right now.

You have been told by children's services that if you resume your relationship, they will seek legal advice. This means that they will consider initiating pre-proceedings or care proceedings.

In response to your main questions:

1. If we remain living separately but do get back together in a relationship how likely is it they will get a judge to remove my child from my care?
Unfortunately, I cannot tell you how likely this is. If you resume your relationship with your child's father, children's services may become concerned that this may eventually lead to arguments that may happen in front of your child. If they are concerned enough, they can initiate care proceedings. As part of this, they may ask the judge to grant an interim care order , so that they can remove your child for the duration of care proceedings. An interim care order will be made where the court has reasonable grounds for believing the threshold criteria have been met. This means the court must be satisfied that the child concerned is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm; and that the harm, or likelihood of harm, is attributable to:
- the care given to the child, or likely to be given to him, if the order were not made, not being what it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give to him/her; or
- the child being beyond parental control.

The judge will look at the evidence available to him/her and decide based on whether they think the threshold criteria has been met and whether removal is in your child's best interests. If the local authority thinks that it is not safe for the child to return home at the end of care proceedings, they may ask the judge to grant a full care order.

In some cases, if the local authority thinks urgent action needs to be taken to keep a child safe, they can apply for an emergency protection order or ask the police to take the child into police protection.

2. If we do see each other when our child isn’t there how likely is it that they will seek legal advice for that?
Again, I cannot tell you this - however, from your post, you say that the social worker has already informed you that they would seek legal advice if you saw your partner even if your child was not there.

3. And if in the future, although it wouldn’t be until a couple of months down the line, if he did move back in and we all lived together how likely is it that without any convictions or arrests that the judge will take my child away from me.
Again, I cannot tell you how likely this is. In making any decisions regarding whether to grant an interim care order or a care order, the judge will look at whether the threshold criteria has been met. Convictions and arrests are one indication of how much risk someone may pose but a judge will understand that not all allegations of abuse result in arrests or convictions, and therefore even without these, it is still possible that someone poses a significant risk.

If you would like to read more about care proceedings, take a look at our page here

You may also find it helpful to take a look at our useful links page for organisations who work with people who have experienced domestic abuse.