Parent assessment on father

[Lemon1]

Hi I’ve posted on here before with my situation. My partner was sentenced to 24 months in prison for domestic violence towards myself . Shortly after him going to prison I found out I was pregnant. My daughter is now 1.5 years old , my partner has been out of prison 8 weeks .the social services are aware we’re in a relationship however he isn’t allowed contact with the kids . He still hasn’t met his daughter because I’m afraid they will take them from me . They have said my partner needs to be assessed before any contact. It’s been 2 months and he still hasn’t heard from her . He’s tried to contact her several times and no answer . She has been in communication with probation but that’s it . I think this is disgusting. He’s not been made part of this assessment in any way . We still don’t no where we stand with contact .do you think this is really unprofessional of the social worker ?can I just add that my kids was previously on child in need but this was closed some time into his prison sentence. I passed the assessment with no concerns with my parenting

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Lemon1

Thank you for your post. My name is Suzie, I am an advocate at Family Rights Group and will be replying to you today. I am sorry to hear of your situation. The delay and lack of contact from children’s services must be frustrating for you.

Concern that a child has experienced or witnessed domestic abuse is a very common reason why children’s services become involved with families. Research shows that children can suffer long-term. And the legal definition of significant harm specifically includes a child hearing or seeing someone else being harmed (see section 31(9) of the Children Act 1989) . I have added a link HERE to our information and guidance regarding domestic abuse. If you scroll down the link you will see we have created specific information for mothers and a separate one for fathers that you may find helpful.

Your partner was convicted of a domestic abuse crime against you and sentenced to prison for 24 months. He served his sentence and is now released. You have resumed your relationship and you say at this point, he is not allowed to have contact with his children (one of which was born during his prison sentence, and he is yet to see).

Children’s services contacted you and your partner eight weeks ago to advise they would be completing an assessment, but since this time and despite trying to contact them, they have not come back to you.

I suggest you contact the allocated social worker and their manager by email to ask them for an update. You can find out the team manager’s details by requesting this from the general children’s services contact number if the allocated social worker is not responding to your attempts to contact her. Part for the assessment will involve an assessment of risk. This will need to be completed to ascertain the level posed by your partner and what measures need to be put in place to address them. This is likely to focus on your ability to protect yourself and the children should the situation arise. Of course, it should also include your partner and identify what he needs to evidence and undertake to ensure the the children are not exposed to domestic abuse.

If you are not satisfied with the response from children’s services, you may wish to make a formal complaint. I have added HERE further information and guidance regarding this process.

Hopefully, you have been directed to a domestic abuse charity for support and guidance regarding your situation. I have added a link HERE to Woman’s Aid for your reference. They have several different ways you can contact them (details are in the link).

I have also added a link HERE to Respect. This is a domestic abuse charity for perpetrators of domestic abuse. It may be useful for your partner to contact them for further information and advice regarding the type and level of risk assessments they undertake. Further to raise this matter of a risk assessment with his probation officer.

I hope you find this information helpful. To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). For Textphone dial 18001 followed by the advice line number. Or you can ask a question via email using our advice enquiry form, or post again on here. There is also a webchat service that you may wish to access. The webchat is not a bot, you will be answered by one of our advisers. Please refer to our website for further information FRG.org.uk

Best wishes, Suzie