Historical claims and Social Services

[Nugget]

Hi all new here, oh gosh where to start. My ex new partner, has allegations of sexual nature on his criminal record, been proven in court not guilty. Social services made me kick him out, stop all contact with my children and him, put my children on child protection and end our relationship and are now pushing for my 17yr old daughter to move out as soon as she turns 18 she has 2 children. When she moves out they are going for a PLO. What can I do to stop this, also sw wants to reopen my daughters case against her father, he sexually assaulted her not rape, kissed her bum, sent inappropriate messages to her. Me and dad had spilt due to DV when that happened, and ss where involved then, CPS closed the case as it had been 12+months waiting on the information gathered, basically the local authority (police) let her down by not doing there job, daughter doesn’t want it reopened, she’s got on with her live, rebuilt her relationship with dad, all under supervision. Please please help

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Nugget,

Welcome to the parents’ forum and thank you for your post. I’m sorry to hear about the difficult time you are going through and hope that the following advice is of some help to you.

When there are concerns that children might be at risk of sexual abuse children’s services have to consider what steps need to be taken to keep the children safe. Although your partner was not found guilty in court this does not necessarily mean that children's services' concerns are unreasonable. He may still pose a risk to your children and children's services have a duty to investigate this. They recommended to you that you end your relationship with him and stop any contact between your children and him, and you say that you have done so. I would encourage you to continue complying with these recommendations and if you do decide to resume your relationship with him then it is very important that you are open and honest with children’s services about this. You can find more information on our website HERE about children’s services involvement when there is concern about sexual abuse.

I am unclear why children’s services have said that they are planning to start the PLO process once your eldest daughter moves out. Is it because they see her as a protective factor for your other children? They may be worried that once she moves out your other children would be more at risk of harm. If children’s services do begin the PLO process then I would advise you to seek legal advice as soon as possible. You would be entitled to legal aid and should instruct a solicitor to support you. You can find a local solicitor using the ‘find a solicitor’ search function on The Law Society website. The best thing you can do to reduce the concerns of children’s services is to continue working with them and ensure that you completely understand what it is that they are worried about. You should also ask them to be very clear with you about what they think needs to happen to keep your children safe. You can then work with them to achieve these changes and avoid the need for children’s services to start the PLO process or make any applications to court.

You are concerned that the social worker also wants to look further into the historical allegation your daughter made about her father sexually abusing her. The social worker does need to take into account historical children’s services involvement and the context surrounding the children and their family. Having said this, your daughter should not feel pressured into speaking about this with any professionals (including police and social workers) if she doesn’t want to. She may find it useful to get an advocate to support her; they can help her communicate her wishes and feelings to the professionals involved, including if she doesn’t wish to speak about this issue. She could contact the Coram Voice advocacy helpline on 0808 800 5782.

I hope that this is of some help. Please post again if you have any further questions, or you can call our adviceline (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm) on 0808 801 0366.

Best wishes,
Suzie