My nephew has been pulled away from his family

[Auntiedote]

Hi, my nephew has spent the last 5 days in a hotel as social servies and police arrived at their home last week after 5year old daughter told school that he pushed her down the stairs. Police said he had to leave the house and were not helpful. Social services said they would need a medical on the child. This happened the following day. No injuries or marks or bruises found. Child has now said she was bullied into saying such things by another child at school. Police were supposed to interview my nephew on friday and this has still not happened.
My nephew is alone in a hotel room going crazy and is obviously distressed. His partner is also very distressed and trying to cope with 3 kids under 5 by herself. They have never been apart in 10 years.
They are by no means a perfect family. My nephew was abandoned by him mum at 16 and left on the streets for a year. He has slowly starte dto rebuild his life with his partner and they have been good for eachother.
Social services made her sign a form to say he could not have face to face contact with them til investigation is over.
My nephew lost his dad to suicide a few months ago. This is scary for everyone. Surely they should be getting families back together when no evidence is found and child has admitted she made it up. The 3 kids are so upset and asking for daddy every minute. How can this be good for anyone involved. How can we get this moving? they are a young family with zero support except me. I am looking at legal advice too as i believe this is wrong.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Auntiedote

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board. Thank you for your post. My name is Suzie. I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser.

I am sorry to hear about the difficult situation your nephew and his family are going through. I can see that this is distressing for the whole family. Your nephew has recently been bereaved too which adds to his distress.

I will reply to your post here today. However, if you have any further queries please could you post on our dedicated kinship carers’ board which you can find here as it is a specialist service for relatives and friends rather than parents.

Children’s services are completing a child protection investigation due to an allegation by your nephew’s daughter that he had pushed her down the stairs. This is a joint investigation between children’s services and police. When children’s services receive information that suggests that a crime may have been committed they must inform the police. The police’s role is to investigate whether there is evidence that a crime has been committed whereas children’s services are the lead agency in terms of protecting children and ensuring that their needs are being met.

There will have been a strategy meeting which began the child protection enquiries and which led to the visit by social workers and police to the family home. When there is an allegation that an adult may have harmed a child the adult is often asked to agree to move out temporarily while the investigation is being completed. This means that the child can safely remain at home. Your nephew acted responsibly by agreeing to stay elsewhere for a time and by agreeing to cooperate with children’s services. Because of the nature of the allegation the child’s parents were asked to agree to her having a child protection medical. It is good to hear that the child did not have any injuries. This is reassuring. The outcome of the child protection medical i.e. no injuries is relevant evidence that will be included in the investigation.

We don’t advise on police processes but your nephew can contact the police service involved to clarify when/if he will be interviewed. The Advice Now website contains a range of information about police processes which your nephew may find helpful.

The maximum government timescale for children’s services to complete an assessment is 45 working days. Of course, it can be completed much sooner and in your nephew’s family’s situation hopefully it will.

You state that your nephew’s daughter has provided an alternative explanation e.g. that she was bullied into making the allegation by another child at school. This will be considered as part of the investigation.

You are understandably anxious for your nephew to be able to return home to this family as soon as possible.

You may wish to provide your nephew with details of Family Rights Group’s advice service so that he can discuss his situation with an adviser. The freephone helpline number is 0808 8010366 and the lines are open from 9.30 am to 3.00 pm, Mon to Fri. In the meantime, it may be helpful for him to find out more about child protection processes, here. There can be a number of different outcomes to a child protection investigation depending on the circumstances, whether the concerns are substantiated and any other relevant information. These are explained in more detail on pages 91 and 92 of government guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023).

Your nephew may want to consider sending an email to the social worker asking them to confirm in writing:

• What their current concerns are – now that they have had the result of the child protection medical and referring to his daughter’s comments that she was bullied by another child into making the allegation against him
• When, and under what conditions, they say that he should be able to return home
• When and where he can see his children while he is not living at home
• How he will be involved in the child protection enquiries and assessment
• If there is due to be a child protection conference
• If they have advice or any help they can offer him with arranging somewhere else to stay
• What will happen if he returns home without this being agreed
• What will happen is he doesn’t agree to the plans for seeing his children

It is a good idea for him to request this information in writing even if he has already asked them in a meeting or during a telephone call with a social worker.

Asking for a response in writing will help your nephew make sure there is a clear record of what has been said. It can make it easier for him to think through his options and will be useful if he seeks legal advice.

It is good that you are helping your nephew and his family at this difficult time. I hope that the advice provided above will help.

You or your nephew or his partner can contact the advice services again with any further queries. In addition to this parents discussion board, kinship carers discussion board, telephone helpline you can also seek advice via our advice enquiry form or by webchat.

Best wishes

Suzie