End of supervision order, what now.

[Aj5455]

Hi all,

Background
I have had shared care of my child since my ex and I separated when she was just 1. I brought my child (8 at the time) into my full-time care in early 2021, after I found out my ex's boyfriend was on the sex offenders register. I got social services involved and following a child protection conference it went to court and an interim care order was granted. my child stayed with me and saw her mother supervised in a centre once a fortnight with video calls in between.

I had a positive parenting assessment and cafcass too, gave me a good report. my ex lied to the social about her relationship with the man until eventually he was caught at the house. The court granted me custody, (live with order), I was soo relieved.

Due to her dishonesty and danger she put my daughter in, my ex was given two hours of supervised contact once a fortnight.

We were left under the supervision of the local authority for 12months which has been great. They have popped in and seen everything is ok given me updates on risks assessments regarding my ex and her partner. They helped move my child's contact with my ex into the community with maternal grandparents supervising, it is so much better and my daughter is enjoying it. Threw family group conferences we have all agreed that it will continue for the foreseeable future.

Sadly now, a month before the local authority are due to sign off, my ex thinks she is no longer a danger to her child and despite having a court order which states that decisions around contact are left in the hands of the father, she and her parents are trying to rule me, using tricks and false claims, telling me supervised contact without the LA involved is illegal followed by threats of returning to court.

Social services have told me the risks are still there and have given me written guidence that it remain supervised, which is brilliant, but I'm worried with the grandparents now appearing to back their daughter they do not see the risks and are no longer fit to act in the best interest of my child. The social don't seem to see it and have just said it's up to me once the supervision order ends.

I've proposed supervising the contact myself, but that hasn't gone down well, my ex is demanding her father does it, which is making me even more suspicious. I fear I cannot trust any of them,

Could I employ an independent supervisor, is there such a thing? Are there any charities that offer this service?

Sorry for the long rambling post,
Thank you for taking the time to read.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Aj5455,

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

You and your ex-partner had shared care of your child since the age of 1. At the age of 8, you began to care for her fulltime, after you found out that your ex-partner's boyfriend was on the sex offenders register. Children's services became involved, care proceedings were initiated and finally, a child arrangements order made to you, with your ex being given two hours supervised contact once a fortnight. A supervision order was also made for 12 months, and contact between your child and ex-partner has now been moved into the community and supervised by the maternal grandparents. You say this was all going well and that it was agreed by all parties that this would continue into the future. The local authority is now due to step out and you are concerned that your ex-partner and her parents have started to make threats, stating that the mother is no longer a risk and that contact should not be supervised any longer. The child arrangements order states that decisions around contact are at your discretion. Children's services have advised that your partner still poses a risk and have provided written guidance that it should remain supervised. You are concerned about the grandparent's capacity to safeguard your daughter and children's services have told you that decisions about contact remain with you. Your ex-partner has suggested that her father supervise contact but you are worried about this. You would like to know if you could employ an independent supervisor.

Firstly, it is great to hear that things with your daughter have progressed positively over the last 12 months. As you say, the child arrangements order states that contact between your daughter and partner should be supervised, and that anything above and beyond this is at your discretion. Up until now, your ex-partner's parents have been supervising contact in the community. Children's services have recommended that contact remain supervised and you agree with this. If your partner is unhappy with this, she may ask children's services what steps she can take to mitigate some of the risk she poses, and may choose to ask for a re-assessment in the future. She also has the option of applying to the courts to vary the current child arrangements order.

You are concerned about the maternal grandparent's capacity to supervise contact as you do not think they have sufficient insight into the risk from your ex-partner. Your ex-partner has suggested that her father supervise - if you have concerns about this, you may want to ask the social worker to risk assess him as a supervisor. Alternatively, prior to the case being closed to children's services, you may want to request a review family group conference to go over previously agreed plans, ensure everyone is on the same page about the need for supervision, and to explore other possible supervisors within the family network.

You mention the possibility of employing an independent supervisor - you could contact family contact centres within your local area, some of which may provide supervised contact within the community. You will likely have to fund this yourself, and your ex-partner may not agree, especially if she has proposed an alternative supervisor.

I hope you have found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie.