Advice needed - risk assessment

[DalmationSpots]

Hi all,

First time posting. I have two children (M 9 and F 4) and split up with their Dad earlier this year.

I met my new partner and slowly introduced him to both children. He has met my family who get on exceptionally well with him, both children really like him and we have made plans (holidays) for the next year.

Due to an incident with my ex I rang the police. They came out, confirmed the incident met a threshold for conviction (malicious communication) however decided not to press charges and for him to get a warning. Police said because the kids were present they would be doing a referral to social services.

Social services contacted me, and at the end of the call asked me if I knew about my current partners conviction. I knew nothing and eventually they told me he had a historical child sex abuse conviction. I advised that I would be ending the relationship and they said they would be closing the referral.

I went to my partners to break up and he disclosed to me that he was 13, the girl was 10. He had undiagnosed autism, Asperger’s, adhd and severe depression. He was a very naive 13 year old. He plead guilty immediately and was given a hospital order with no restrictions. He was on the sex offenders register from 14-17.5. He was discharged from the hospital order just before his 18th birthday.

I requested a Sarah’s Law and the police confirmed everything my partner had told me was true and correct. He has had no reoffending or any contact with the police since 2006.

Social services are now doing a risk assessment. No contact between my partner and children until the risk assessment has been done. Childrens dad has branded partner a paedophile and is strongly objecting to any involvement. The girl has contacted me, said she fully supports my partner they were both kids and he shouldn’t be getting punished now.

Social services left paperwork behind which rated the preliminary risk as a 6.

Any advice or guidance on what to expect (realistically).

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear DalmationSpots

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear about the difficulties you and your family are experiencing.

You have separated from your children’s father. An incident which occurred with him resulted in a referral to children’s services. You explain that although the incident met a threshold for conviction the police are not pursuing a criminal case and gave your ex-partner a ‘warning.’

If you need any advice in relation to domestic violence please see this link to specialist domestic violence services. If you need any private law advice in relation to contact between your children and their father please see these sources of legal advice.

When children’s services became involved they notified you that your current partner had been convicted of a child sexual offence when he was also a child and that he had spent time on the sex offenders register and under a hospital order which, I understand, allowed him to receive treatment for his mental health needs. These processes ended before he was an adult. You don’t say what treatment or support your partner received while he was under these restrictions.

It is unfortunate that your partner did not tell you about this history when you began a relationship with him, in recognition that you have young children. I understand that it may be painful for him to discuss but it would have allowed you to get advice and to consider what you might need to do to make sure that your children were safeguarded. I think his lack of transparency to begin with may be seen as a potential risk factor.

Initially, you decided to end the relationship and children’s services were happy then to close the case. However, you have since changed your mind having heard your partner’s account of the situation. This has prompted children’s services to stay involved. They are asking you to ensure that your partner has no contact with your children while they undertake a risk assessment. This is standard practice. You are complying with children’s services’ recommendations but querying what you should expect.

You may find this information about assessments helpful.

In the situation you describe, children’s services are assessing what risk your partner may pose, considering the detail of the offence committed, what interventions he has had and his current situation. They are also assessing your insight into possible risk and your capacity to safeguard the children. You say that the victim has been in touch with you to say she supports your partner and he should not be ‘punished’ now. The purpose of the risk assessment is not to punish your partner but to ensure that your children are not put at any risk of harm.

Your partner may find the Unlock charity useful as they provide advice and information to people who have past convictions including those offences committed as minors.

You may both also find the Stop it Now website to be informative and Parents Protect too.

It is important that you continue to work with children’s services and ask that they keep you updated and are transparent with you. These tips on working with a social worker suggest how to do this.

There can be a number of different outcomes to risk assessments depending on the circumstances. It is not possible to predict what findings your social worker will make but they should be clear with you about any recommendations they make, why they are making them and any potential consequences of not agreeing to them.

Your children’s father may look into his options if you continue with a relationship, too, if he continues to have concerns about this. Child Law Advice or Rights of Women offer legal advice in these situations.

You may want to post again or call for advice once the assessment has been completed and you have received a copy. Our Freephone advice line number is 0808 8010366 and lines are open from 9.30 am to 3.00 pm Mon to Fri (except on bank holidays).

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie

[DalmationSpots]

I just wanted to post an update for anyone who like me will be reading various forums for any insight, hope or realistic expectation.

As previously stated my partner has a historical child sex abuse conviction from when he was 13, with a female under 13.

Social services came out and met me and my 2 DC. They then went and met my ex partner. They then went and visited my partner who had obtained a copy of his discharge papers and report. He was completely open and had to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions regarding what happened and had to describe it quite graphically. The social worker went to the school to discuss the children and spoke to both children whilst there.

Contact has been zero between partner and children during this period. Contact with social services had been extremely limited and for my first time dealing with them I found it very frustrating - I guess I expected them to be in contact a lot more but truth is they barely bothered me or the children except from one visit.

Deadline was mid October - on the day I received a call from the social worker to advise me that they had concluded the assessment and they had no worries with my partner spending time with my children - their only suggestions were not to leave them unsupervised which they’d recommend for any partner and for partner not to be around during bath time which again is what they’d recommend.

I expected a list of rules and struggled to adjust to the sudden right it’s ok now - but pleased with the results.

[Nic2302]

Hi Dalmatian spots, I’ve just read through your story.. gosh those times must of been so difficult.. I’m going through a similar situation, slightly different… I am currently going for full custody of my grandchild and my partner(ex) was accused last year of rape(adult) police carried out their investigation and thankfully he got “No further action”

I 100% don’t believe he was guilty of this (more info but unable to disclose) because of this court battle cafcass are involved and section 7 reports have been carried out, obviously my partners NFA has come up and now they want to carry out a level 2 report with police which we are waiting on… I’ve told me partner that we have to take a break for now as I don’t even know what’s going to come of this and I don’t even know if they say for him not to be around… I will always put my granddaughter first but it’s just the not know…it’s so frustrating!

If I do chose to get back with him then I know for sure a risk assessment will have to be carried
out… what does this entail exactly??

I know my granddaughters dad will have something to say about this (rightly so) because he has thought me all through the court process!!

The unknown is soo worrying

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Nic2320

Thank you for your post and welcome to the discussion board. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser and will be replying to you today.

You are caring for your grandchild; court proceedings are underway for the child to remain with you. This is contested by the father.

Cafcass have requested a Level 2 police report regarding your partner who was investigated for rape. You do not believe your partner raped someone. The police investigation resulted in no further action. You are not currently in a relationship with your partner. You understand that a risk assessment will be completed should you resume your relationship with your partner. You are seeking further information regarding this.

CAFCASS will look specifically at the risk that your ex-partner may pose to your grandchild in relation to the allegation that was made against him, as well as your ability to act in a protective capacity. There are many reasons that allegations may not proceed to a criminal charge or conviction - this could be that the police/CPS did not think there would be a reasonable chance of prosecution - but it does not mean the alleged offence did not take place.

CAFCASS may be concerned that this allegation was made in the first place and they may say that they would not recommend that he has any contact with your grandchild. CAFCASS will consider any information that is submitted by the police - including why the investigation was dropped - in making an assessment of the risk he may pose. Should this raise concerns they may decide to make a referral to children’s services for further support and possible intervention. I have added HEREa link to information regarding a Section 47 child protection enquiry. This sets out the process and has a step-by-step guide to inform and advise you.

Best wishes, Suzie

[Nic2302]

Good evening, so cafcass have now had the police report back and have confirmed that the “victim” did not want to take things further, “victim not supporting a prosecution” it has also come out that she is apparently a “vulnerable “ adult and therefore highlights a power imbalance.

Cafcass have now recommended because of this that my partner has no contact with my grandchild and will recommend this to the court…

What are the next steps, it’s mentioned it will be referred to children’s services… Will a risk assessment be carried out by them and would that only be if I chose to remain with him(not together at the minute)

What weight does cafcass recommendations carry and could the risk assessment say something different as it’s more detailed… just need to know my options

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Nic2302

Thank you for your further posts. I will respond to them all here.

I am sorry to hear that you are still finding the situation difficult and confusing.

CAFCASS have now informed you that they are recommending that your partner has no contact with your grandchild. This is due to concerns that your partner may pose a risk of sexual harm. This is because he was alleged to have committed a sexual offence against a vulnerable adult. Although the police investigation resulted in no further action you have now been informed that this was due to the alleged victim’s vulnerability and withdrawing from the criminal process. Your query relates to whether you have to accept CAFCASS’ recommendations which they will share with the court.

There has been a suggestion of a referral to children’s services, and you are wondering what will happen then and whether there will be a risk assessment carried out.

The current private law court proceedings and any future children’s services’ involvement focus on your grandchild’s welfare and safety. As she lives with you under a Child Arrangements Order, you have primary responsibility for her care and so CAFCASS (and children’s services, if they become involved) will look to you to keep her safe, including from any potential risk of sexual harm from your partner. It may be wise therefore to consider carefully why the CAFCASS worker is recommending no contact and to consider what the implications might be if you do not comply. However, as you are in private law proceedings, which is outside our remit, you may find it helpful to get some specific legal advice about the current court case from one of the following services who are funded to provide this advice:

Child Law Advice: family line 0300 330 5480, Mon to Fri, 10 am to 4 pm, email and webchat.

Rights of Women: family advice line 020 7251 6577 (please see their website for opening times).

You do not believe your partner committed an offence. It can be difficult to contemplate that someone we know or care for may have harmed another person, but it is important to be able to acknowledge potential risk and be protective when caring for a child or vulnerable person.

You may find it helpful to look at the Parents Protect website or speak to an adviser on their confidential helpline.

If CAFCASS intend to make a referral to children’s services, you can ask them to provide you with a copy of the referral or specific clarification about their concern. However, it seems this might be in relation to any potential risk of harm from your partner if you resume a relationship and your capacity to protect your granddaughter. It would be for children’s services to decide, within one working day, whether to assess it or not. Please see this information about how children's services work. You may also want to refer back to previous responses and links contained there.

I hope this has been helpful. I understand that this is not an easy situation for you.

If children’s services become involved and you have any further queries, please contact the advice service again. As you are a grandmother, please post on our specialist kinship carers’ forum for advice from other kinship carers, as well as from me. If you prefer, you can contact the advice service via one of the other methods linked here.

Best wishes

Suzie

[Nic2302]

Hi Suzie,

Thank you for your reply.. first please let me just clarify, my partner was NFA’d due to the victim withdrawing or not wanting to continue with the investigation, whether that was down to her vulnerability I don’t know, I was just told by caffcas that she was/is a “vulnerable” adult. I did ask if they could explain a little more to be and If there was anymore information on that but they said they can’t say anything more… in my previous post I’m not sure I mentioned that this was not a one of incident and this was someone who my “ ex”had involvement with on more then one occasion whilst we were on a break “3 times I believe” hence why am confused about the whole vulnerability adult part?? Obviously there is a lot more to the story but my question is, if the alleged victim was vulnerable and the police thought as much then how would it become an NFA, wouldn’t they have an obligation to proceed without her help??

Again I don’t know there law nor understand it!
I know my partner had relations with another women but do I think it was rape…absolutely not but that’s besides the point…
I fully understand that cafcass are following protocol and their and my main priority is to protect my granddaughter and that is exactly what i am doing and will continue to do… do I think he’s a risk.. NO…. Has he ever been left unsupervised with my granddaughter.. NO (I wouldn’t expect him to nor would I leave her as I don’t believe she’s hes responsibility) I’m just annoyed that cafcass could not disclose anymore info and I just have to except their words, I thought even for my own safety they would provide me with more info…if there was any major concerns. I have carried out a Claire’s law report which has come back clear apart from that (i understand not all incidents are reported to police)
I’m not sure if more will be disclosed in our final hearing (dad going for full custody)

I have messaged cafcass asking for more info but a week has past and nothing..
it just saddens me that they can make that decision based on the info (if there’s real cause then fair enough, I get that) but at least disclose why!!??
Also they haven’t once tried to reach out to my ex for he’s side, basically he’s guilty despite, no evidence of rape, NFA and statement withdrawn or victim does not want to continue…
It has come to light the the victim is know to the police for numerous things so I’m not sure if that plays a part in her vulnerability ??

Fast forward they have referred it to social services who I have spoken to, given details and my opinion on the matter, they are due to give me a call back to let me know what the next steps are going to be..

My question is I’m obviously not with my ex at the minute (we still text and meet for coffee just for general chat) will they need to carry out a risk assessment regardless if I’m with him or not?
How would that make any difference to the cafcass “No contact” recommendation anyway, because if it isn’t going to make any difference then I see no point in the risk assessment and might refuse… if no contact is allowed anyway then there’s no risk right?? So what’s the point in putting us all through that for the same outcome when we go to court?
Would I be able to say that to them ??
I did ask cafcass what factors brought them to a no contact order as opppsed to a no unsupervised one but no answer yet but that has made me feel that they know something that I don’t when it comes to the whole situation(hence why I asked for more info)

Although I felt when I was speaking to the cafcass lady she seemed a little sarcastic when I asked her “what do you mean by vulnerable” and was like “just vulnerable you know” which I thought was a bit rude considering you are telling me how my life will be now. Like I said I fully understand their job role and what they are doing but at least explain a little more to me so I understand, it’s people life and future in their hands, you can’t make decisions without explaining the reasons(that’s my opinion anyway)

Hypothetically if I was to resume a relationship with my ex months down the line, how would this work…. Obviously this would be when my granddaughter is not around… and I would be open about it to them but does no contact mean no contact with her and me… this hasn’t been specified


Thank you in advance

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Nic2302

Thank you for your responses and the update.

I do not think I am in the best position to answer the questions you are asking in any great detail.

“Will they (Children’s Services) need to carry out an assessment?”

I imagine that they will because they have been asked to do so and will have to give ‘reasons’ if they do not. I understand that you are awaiting a response to your initial conversation with them. From what you write, you show insight into the concerns that have been raised about your ‘partner/ex-partner’ – children’s services ‘will or may need’ to report on this (via assessment).

“Hypothetically if I was to resume…?”

I cannot helpfully answer this question, so will not speculate. I suggest you ask the professionals involved.

I am sorry not to be able to elaborate more.

I note that you asked a question of someone who was on our Forum in 2016 (Bex4502). I am not sure whether you will get a response from them, they are no longer posting.

Best wishes

Suzie