What will happen now

[Worriedmummy2525]

So there was an isolated (never happened before) DV incident over the weekend. Where police attended.
Police said that as protocol childrens services would receive a referral as there were kids present.
We do no live together and are not together.
The police arrested him and there was no further action taken by police and he was released.
Im just wondering what will happen with the childrens service's referral. As they havent been intouch yet and its been 3 days.
Obviously i have been worrying a heck of a lot.
I just need to know what will happen now.
He is the father to my children that witnessed the incident.

[Pepsiking1490]

Social services are meant to take action with 24 hours. If they haven't yet, then I don't think you need to worry about them being TOO interested (such as, placing your kids in emegency protection)

They are still likely to do an assessment though. Is the person involved the father? An ex boyfriend? This is important.

If not, they will want to check that you protected your kids over yourself. That you did everything reasonably possible to stop them from hearing, seeing or being hurt by the person in question.


If this was a random attacker,a friend or someone else who's otherwise removed from your life, chances are they will be on your side. You are the victim of a crime, not a safety risk to your children. But it's incredibly important to be honest with social services. If you decide to lie or hold back infomation that they later discover, you'll be seen in a negative light, when you want to be seen as a protective factor. If you lose the trust of the social worker, you'll suffer the consequences.


I'm sure suzie will be here soon enough and they'll correct me if I'm wrong.


For now it might be worth keeping a log of how often you see this person, and gather any evidence you have of this person not living with you, or of being an ex etc as this will only go in your favour.


Be proactive, contact women's aid for advice and keep a log of this.

Cheers.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

So there was an isolated (never happened before) DV incident over the weekend. Where police attended.
Police said that as protocol childrens services would receive a referral as there were kids present.
We do no live together and are not together.
The police arrested him and there was no further action taken by police and he was released.
Im just wondering what will happen with the childrens service's referral. As they havent been intouch yet and its been 3 days.
Obviously i have been worrying a heck of a lot.
I just need to know what will happen now.
He is the father to my children that witnessed the incident.

Dear WorriedMummy2525

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie. I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. You have already had some advice and support from another parent which I hope has helped.

I am sorry to hear that there was a domestic abuse incident at your home at the weekend which resulted in police being called and your children’s father being arrested. I hope that you had some support over the weekend. I am adding a link to domestic abuse services here, for your information.

You explain that this was an isolated incident. Sometimes domestic abuse is a one off incident. But research indicates that some families live with domestic abuse for a significant period of time before calling the police or getting the right help.

You are separated from your children’s father and don’t live together. He was arrested but later released as police are taking no further action.

The police explained that they will make a referral to children’s services. This is normal good practice to ensure that the children’s welfare and safety needs are assessed. This is children’s services’ role.

I understand that this is very stressful. You have been worrying about this since you were told about the referral. You had not heard from children’s services at the time of posting. As the incident happened at the weekend and the perpetrator was arrested, it is not unusual that children’s services were not in touch immediately. They have an out of hours services outside office hours and at weekends. But this is for emergencies where there is an immediate risk of harm which is not the situation that you describe.

When children’s services receive a referral they are required to decide within 24 hours whether or not to do an assessment. So I would expect that they would have been in touch by now to let you know if they are wanting to do an assessment. I think they would want to do so. However, if you have not heard anything and as this is causing you distress, I would suggest that you call the MASH or Duty/Assessment team in your local council area and ask to be informed about what is happening.

You have not done anything wrong. It is right to call the police when you need them to intervene. You have a right to be safe. However, children’s services are aware that children may be harmed by and may be victims of domestic abuse. So they will want to understand the situation and to make sure that you and the children are safe. They will also want to ensure that their father understands the concerns about domestic abuse, addresses any abusive behaviour and recognises that this is poor parenting. As the police are not pursuing a criminal case, children’s services will want to ensure that there is a safety plan in place to ensure that the children are not exposed to domestic abuse in the future and that you and their father get the right support to address any concerns.

I cannot predict the outcome of any assessment but some possible recommendations might be that:

• The children’s father does not have any unsupervised contact with the children or that any contact is facilitated by a responsible third party., until a risk assessment is completed.
• You may be encouraged to complete the Freedom Programme
• The children’s father may be asked to do a specialist perpetrators’ programme with an organisation such as Respect.

The most helpful information for you at the moment may be this advice about how children’s services work as this explains the different possible processes they may wish to follow, depending on the circumstances.

I would also encourage you to have a read of our specialist domestic abuse pages and FAQs for mothers on domestic abuse.

You may find our guide to working with a social worker helpful.

When you have heard from children’s services and if this raises more queries for you then please contact the advcie service again. You can post back on this discussion board, call our freephone advice line 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm (except bank holidays), use our advice enquiry form or webchat facilities.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie