Father being stopped from seeing his child for the 3rd time in 3 years

[F1234]

My partner and his child’s mother have been separated since the child was 6months old, the child is now 3. The last 3 years the child’s mother has constantly manipulated my partner and made things difficult to see the child. He has been to court twice, where a court order was put in place to see the child twice a month and have regular calls through the week. This June the father was supposed to start having the child from Friday-Sunday twice a month as opposed to just Saturday-Sunday.

The last month, the child’s mother has gone to social services as the child has apparently disclosed something to her. My partner then was not allowed contact with the child for 5 working days until a social worker had spoken to them and this was the first weekend we were not allowed to see the child. My partner went and spoke to the social worker that spoke to the child, who said they have spoken to the child and that they are not stopping the father from seeing his child, if he wanted to see the child then it was down to both parents. What the child had apparently disclosed to the mother was that myself and his father were committing indecent acts of a sexual nature. This did not, nor has it ever, happened while the child has even been in the house as we only have him two nights a month.

We thought that may be the end of it, but the mother has now signed a section 47, she has said that the father is to have no direct or indirect contact with the child for the 45 days of the investigation being carried out.

We are both concerned because what the child has apparently disclosed is untrue and feels as though words may have been put in the child’s mouth by the mother. The court order is not being adhered to. It feels as though any time the father meets a milestone with the child like having them for full weekends, access is stopped. This is having a massive impact on the fathers mental wellbeing but he’s too worried to get any help because social services said they were going to check his medical records for any mental health issues(he has never suffered from any mental health issues). The father feels as though he is being backed into a corner with no where to go as the last time the mother took him to court it was very expensive and he is still paying that off.

Both parents have already been through mediation, gone to court twice, have a court order in place. The only contact they have is over email about the child.

Is there anything we can do to stop this happening again? Is there any steps we need to take right now as the investigation is going on? All my partner wants to do is be able to see his child. Any advice would be massively appreciated please.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear F1234

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 current difficult situation. You explain that your partner has been to the family court to obtain a court order (a Child Arrangements Order) to see his 3-year-old child. The arrangements for your partner and his child to spend time together had recently been due to increase.

However, the child’s mother contacted children services with an allegation said to be from the child that they had witnessed you and your partner engaging in sexual activity. You state that this is not true and are worried that the child’s mother may have manipulated this allegation.

The social worker initially stated that she was not stopping your partner from seeing his child. Children’s services do not have parental responsibility (PR) for the child. They would only acquire PR if they obtained a court order e.g. an interim care order. However, children’s services can make recommendations about contact especially where there are child protection concerns, even if there is a court order in place, if the child’s safety requires it. This does not overturn the court order (as only the court can do that) but it can be that it is not adhered to while the child protection concerns are being investigated.

You say that that children’s services are now doing a section 47 investigation. However, the child’s mother has not ‘signed a section 47’ as such as it is a statutory process which does not require parental consent although it still means that children’s services should work in partnership with parents. A parent therefore cannot stop a child protection process happening. The child’s mother may have signed a ‘written agreement’ stating that she will not allow contact while the investigation takes place. A written agreement is defined as a document which sets out what parent/s agree they will do or that they will not do. Social workers often ask a parent to sign a written agreement when an allegation against the child’s other parent is being looked into. Please see here for more information about this.

The timescale of 45 working days is a maximum and so the investigation can be completed much sooner.

I would suggest that your partner contacts the social worker directly, in writing, to ask them to clarify, in writing:

• The current process
• How children’s services will involve him in the assessment
• Their current recommendation that he should have no contact with his child
• The reasons why they are making that recommendation
• How long he is being asked to agree to this temporary safety plan
• What will happen if he does not agree

He could also confirm in writing his commitment to his child and make clear that he is cooperating. But he can also stress that he wishes to resume contact as soon as possible, when the investigation is concluded. He could also state any worries he has about the impact on his child of not seeing their father during this time.

We have some tailored advice for fathers about child protection which you can find here as well as detailed explanations of child protection procedures.

If the investigation concludes that the concerns are not substantiated, then there should be no reason that the court ordered contact should not progress as planned. If children’s services are worried about how the allegation was made etc they should address this in their recommendations too. However, if your partner needs private law advice about the current or future implementation of the Child Arrangements Order he can contact Child Law Advice or one of the legal advice services linked to here.

There are also some fathers’ services here.

I hope that this is helpful. If you or your partner would like to discuss children’s services’ role with an adviser, please call our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm (except bank holidays). If you prefer, please post back on this forum, or use one of other advice options.

Best wishes

Suzie