A worrying time.

[hyper]

Hello all, I am in need of some desperate help. Saying I, it is my brothers family at risk by child services and the social worker.

This is part of an already painfully emotional state all around, myself included feeling my brothers pain and anguish.

About four weeks ago, my brothers 16 year old step daughter , after a blazing argument, accused him of a sexual offense when she was 15.
The situation of accusation lead my brother to been arrested, bailed, an emergency child protection order in place.

For 2 and a half weeks my brother suffered badly, not been able to see his 3 children, of his own, he had with the mother, and the forth, the step daughter, who he had brought up for 11 years has is own child.
No one from child services had even bothered to explain the situation and what was happening, or made any contact with the father.
He only knew something, when myself acted on his behalf and contacted child services, several times to get an answer.

The step daughter is known to lye, and since the apparent event of accusation , showed no signs of abuse etc, maintaining a fun, pal type friendship ,with the accused.

I myself, rung the police child protective services, to give them a list of why the lye is a lye and other evidence, the police were very good and neutral.

Eventually 3 weeks had gone by, and one day , the step daughter breaks down into tears to the mother, and confesses it was all fabricated.
She felt trapped.

The police were called, a statement was made, the police, with all the other evidence, are happy she was actually lying. All investigation dropped , no further action.

Great my brother was reunited with his family, his step daughter hugged him and apologized , he was happy to have all his family back, and knows his step daughter needs some therapy of some description.

Happy for one day. The child services turn up at the door, you both must sign this agreement, the agreement says you can has the father,not spend time alone with your children or take them out places. The mother must report any cuddles etc as such.

If you do not sign this, i will consider your children are in danger.

They both have refused to sign, my brother has suffered enough, now they want to make him suffer some more.

Even the police CPU considered this harsh when the parents informed the nice lady officer, who stayed neutral throughout.

I have seen the social worker, she is definitely not neutral in any way, the concerns she put on this order are her own words, made to sound seedy by clever adaptation of wording.

example - physical contact , her words - intimate physical contact

Advice please, where does my brother legally stand?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi Hyper

Welcome to the parents' discussion board.

My name is Suzie, one of Family Rights Group's online advisers.

Sorry to hear that your family, particularly your brother has been going through such a difficult time, with the current joint investigation that has been taking place between the police and Children's Services. It seems that he was subject of an allegation of sexual abuse, made by his sixteen year old step daughter, that later appeared to be false. Therefore, it is clearly a distressing time for all of the family.

Under normal circumstances, because the police have stated that they have no reason to continue to be involved, it is may be likely that Children's Services may wish to complete a core assessment, to see if there are any further support needs that they have as a family, that did not come out during the initial enquiries.

It seems clear that the young person is in need of counselling or therapeutic support, possibly by way of a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services referral. This can be done by the social worker or the GP. The school may even be in a position to complete this, depending on the arrangements in your local area.

Can I suggest that the Lucy Faithfull Foundation 0808 1000 900 are contacted for some support to family members. They have expertise in helping families come to terms where they may be allegations of sexual abuse. To help family members explore some of the difficult emotions that could result when these type of issues have been raised.

I think your brother should seek legal advice via www.lawsociety.org.uk.
before signing any written agreement with Children's Services. It is important he does this as soon as possible, because he does not want to be accused of being uncooperative or trying to obstruct their attempts to engage with the family.

Either way, where a working contract has been made between a family and a social worker, it should then be reviewed at regular intervals, so that everyone continues to be happy with it, and i continues to reflect any important changes in his family circumstances.

If it would be helpful, your brother may wish to contact our advice line on 0808 801 0366 Monday to Friday 09.30 to 03.00 pm.

Best Wishes


Suzie

[hyper]

I thank you Suzie for your advice. This morning on my brother and his partners behalf I contacted child services.

Unluckily, the social worker who was dealing with the case answered the phone. I asked to speak to her boss, she said ''my boss is in court today i will inform him, but he will have to speak to the family'' and not me has an advocate.
Although I explained I know the wrongs in the situation and have a better understanding.

Example - This form that the family has to sign, has the wrong date of births on it for the children. Plus other errors.



I informed the social worker that the family do not wish to communicate with her, a communication break down,
The family feels that the social worker will not listen , will not explain, and has already labelled the father with some sort of guilt.

Example- initial assessment was not explained when started, or ended, or outcome.

I also informed the social worker that the family request a new social social worker.


The family is not in objection to a core assessment , but in objection to unfounded, none evidence based, restrictions to the father.


I have contacted the law forum, their advice seemed nonsensical to the situation.

Would the approach of a new social worker be the correct path?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi Hyper

You could request a new social worker but Children's Services do not need have to allocate one. Any decision to re-allocate could depend on resources, skills and experience of any available social workers in the team.

Because you do not have parental responsibility, there will be a limit to the amount and type of information the Local Authority agree to share with you.

Perhaps your son could ask for a meeting with the social worker and their manager, in order to discuss the concerns you have as a family. If he consents, you could attend as his support person.

Following this, and depending on the outcome, he could decide what to do next.

Best Wishes

Suzie

[hyper]

Perhaps your son could ask for a meeting with the social worker and their manager, in order to discuss the concerns you have as a family. If he consents, you could attend as his support person.

Thank you Suzie, it is my brother not my son. They are looking for a change of social worker on the fact that the current social worker is been bias. She is not remaining neutral, there is school boy errors in what suppose to be an official document. D>O>B e.t.c. This is because the social worker does not confirm her notes with the parents.
The 16 year old step daughter has told the social worker she does not want to be on this document, the social worker does not listen to this.

Can the 16 year old be put on this order, do they have any rights over a 16 year old?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi Hyper

I apologise for the error.

Children's Services core assessment is not an order, but is there way of assessing the quality of parenting within the family home.The Local Authority have a statutory duty to include all children under eighteen, within the household, and to include what attempts they have made to obtain their wishes and feelings.

If a sixteen year old does not wish to be included, her views will be taken into account, but the social worker must consider her position within the family home, and record these actions on the file.

Best Wishes


Suzie

[hyper]

Hi Hyper

I apologise for the error.

Children's Services core assessment is not an order, but is there way of assessing the quality of parenting within the family home.The Local Authority have a statutory duty to include all children under eighteen, within the household, and to include what attempts they have made to obtain their wishes and feelings.

If a sixteen year old does not wish to be included, her views will be taken into account, but the social worker must consider her position within the family home, and record these actions on the file.

Best Wishes


Suzie

Thank you for the answer,

The core assessment, can they impose harsh conditions on the father without evidence based facts, while the core assessment is ongoing?

Also, if they felt they have evidence to feel the father is a threat to impose such conditions, should the police not be informed and be a joint opp?
However the police have already done an investigation, and was unfounded by the lye.

The social workers list of concerns for the father are based on the original lye, how can this be?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Hyper,

The polices role is to decide whether there is enough evidence to prosecute your brother in a criminal court-where the burden of proof- is that it is beyond reasonable doubt that the offence occurred. As his step daughter withdrew her evidence-the police will no longer be able to pursue a case against your brother.
However, this does not mean that your brother did not abuse his step daughter-just that it cannot be proved in a criminal court.

Until the social worker has completed her assessment-it has to be assumed that your brother may still be a risk to his step daughter and his other children.

So while she does the assessment-it is normal procedure that he has no unsupervised contact with the children. Often, children services will ask a parent, who they are worried may be a danger to a child, to move out of the family home-until all assessments are completed.
I know it seems unfair-but they need to be sure that the abuse did not happen, or that steps are taken to ensure that the children can self protect against your brother-in case an assault did in fact occur.
It is also common for children-(and adults) to withdraw statements –even though an assault had occurred. Pursuing a case in court can be a very difficult thing to do-especially when the alleged perpetrator is also a family member.

I strongly advise your brother to cooperate as best as he can with the assessment process. He (or you) could also contact the Lucy Faithfull Foundation-as I advised before-they can talk through the assessment process with you
I hope this answers some of your questions but please post again if you are unsure.

Best wishes,

Suzie