Father on remand/Birth certificate

[FHT967]

The father of my child is on remand facing serious charges (although his lawyer says no jury would convict as they lack evidence of the charges ) Social Services became involved about 6 months ago and put my unborn on a Child Protection Plan and basically forced me to break contact with the father or they threatened they'd go after a court order to take my baby away . Recently the Plan was stepped down to a Child in Need Plan which they said shouldn't last long . When the Plan is taken down completely and social services leave me alone, could they return or be made aware if I resumed contact with the father in prison ? And I want to put him on the birth certificate but as he's been on remand since months & in the event of conviction which could see him put away for years , would I be facing the terrible hassle of needing to get his signature(he's being held in another country & post is an absolute nightmare) for basic things involving my child ?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear FHT967

Welcome to the parents' forum and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry that you have had a stressful pregnancy. I can see that you are struggling with the current situation and considering what you will do when children’s services close your baby’s case.

From what you say, children’s services have significant concerns about your baby’s father. He is facing serious charges (you don’t say what they are) and is currently on remand abroad. Although his lawyer has advised that there may not be sufficient evidence to convict him, this will not necessarily lessen children’ services’ concerns. It is hard to know exactly what the issues are as you haven’t said what he is on remand for but you have said that he will be put away for years if convicted. This suggests that he is a high risk offender or the alleged crime is extremely serious. I can only give general advice based on the limited information provided.

You have experienced a child protection investigation and conference where the professionals concluded that your unborn baby was at risk of significant harm and so made a child protection plan for the baby.

I think that children’s services were worried that a continued relationship with your baby’s father i.e. contact with him, was unsafe for your baby and unsure whether you understood the reasons for the concerns sufficiently in order to be able to protect your baby. They said they would ask the court to make an order to remove the baby when they were born if you did not comply. I can understand that this felt very threatening. It does suggest that they considered your relationship with your ex-partner or his behaviour to be high risk.

You did act protectively to keep your baby safe and the plan was stepped down to a child in need plan, I think on the basis that you were not maintaining contact with your baby’s father and that you were caring for the baby safely.

You are hopeful that the plan will end soon. You want to know if children’s services would get involved again or if they would be notified if you contact your ex-partner in prison once the case closes. From the information you provide, it is very likely that they would be notified by the prison and that they would become involved again. Agencies must share information when it is necessary in order to protect the safety and ensure the wellbeing of a child. Children’s services may be more concerned this time about your insight and about whether your earlier cooperation was genuine. Is there anything in the current child in need plan which sets out what would happen if you resumed contact with your baby’s father? Children’s services can hold a legal planning meeting if they consider it necessary.

Is there a concern that your baby’s father’s behaviour is coercively controlling, are you seen as vulnerable in some way or is there a concern about radicalisation ? Are you receiving support or advocacy from any specialist services who understand the issues involved? It is important to make sure that you clarify with children’s services and any other agencies involved in the child in need process what their expectations are before they close the case and that you ask them to spell out what would lead to a re-referral.

You want to put register the baby’s father on the birth certificate . This suggests that you want him to continue to play a role in your baby’s life as it would give him parental responsibility (PR) for your baby. Children’s services’ may be concerned about this, for the reasons discussed above. You can find out more about PR in the downloadable table here. If you are married, the baby’s father will automatically have PR but if you are not married, he would need to be present when you register the baby (which is not possible as he is in prison abroad) or you would both have to take other legal steps to do so. This may also lead to a re-referral to children’s services.

You can find out more about registering a birth here. You can get legal advice about parental responsibility from Child Law Advice .

I would recommend that you discuss your situation with a children law accredited solicitor, explaining what the circumstances are, the concerns about the baby’s father and children’s services’ involvement before you consider resuming contact with him in prison or working with him to register him on the baby’s birth certificate.

I hope this is helpful to you. Please post back if you need to but specify what the concerns are so we can provide more tailored advice. Or you can ring the freephone advice line on 0808 8010366 to speak to an adviser (please see the website note about our Christmas opening times.

Best wishes

Suzie

[FHT967]

My partner has been charged with several things , the most noteworthy to Social Services is that he is accused of possession of indecent images of children. Although I have seen the actual paper from court with the charges and it states pseudo images of children, which I know are from a social media site He used to use where to view an image you have to download it ,& strangers send all sorts of depraved images on chat . They weren't stored on his phone either but deleted . The police went through the internal drive to retrieve them. His past relationship in 2018 ended badly and his girlfriend accused him of domestic abuse ( later retracted the charge ) & put files on his computer to get him in trouble, which resulted in him being charged with extremism & terrorism . Even though this all started in 2018 they only arrested him in 2021. The Child in Need Plan mainly states ongoing emotional support & the need to obtain secure accommodation in a council house for myself and my child . There is no mention about what would happen if I resumed contact with the father as due to their threats I've had to claim I want nothing to do with him and Don't want him involved in my child's future . Although when my child was put on the Protection Plan I had asked what would happen if I resumed contact & they responded that they would seek a court order to take away my child . They have always maintained that that I was vulnerable & was being coercively controlled & abused . I'm not receiving advocacy as every lawyer I've asked for advice from in the past has just said that as this case has not gone to court they would not normally get involved & just to work with the social services. One last question I have is that due to the nature of the charges against him, would the prison Allow photos to be sent in of his own child, or is that prohibited?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear FHT967

Thank you for your further post and the information relating to the charges against your child’s father. He has charges against him related to indecent images of children (IIOC). You state they are pseudo images, and they were not stored on his phone but found on internal drive. It is usually the case in situation like these that the police check hard drives to establish evidence of the crime being committed.

You are concerned about what would happen should you resume contact with your child’s father. If you read the response to your previous post, you will see that this was answered in that professionals share information where there are safeguarding concerns for a child.

It is also important that you are not seen to be minimising what you partner has done or providing justification for his behaviour.

From your post, it appears that although you have told children’s services that you want nothing to do with the father, this is not your true position. Should you resume contact with him then children’s services would be concerned about your ability to protect your child and insight you have regarding being a protective parent. As you were told at the time you asked about what would happen if you resumed contact, the likelihood is children’s services would apply to the court for an order to remove your child from your care.

You may find it help to contact Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Stop it Now, for advice and support. Here is a link to their website. Also, the NSPCC has information about women as protectors

Should you wish to speak to an adviser, you can telephone our advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 930am to 3pm Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays)

Hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie