To think this is a safeguarding issue?

[Turtleyturtles]

SIL has a moderate learning disability and long term health conditions, mid-forties. She is very naive and trusting. She has regular care and support but lives on her own. In the last few months she has met a man on a dating app (without a learning disability) who has just come out of prison, multiple convictions of very serious violence and harrassment. SIL knows about his conviction and but says he has changed. SIL is travelling many miles to stay with him for most of the week in his halfway house accomodation that he rarely leaves because he has restriction orders placed on him. There are already signs of coercive control, he doesn't want her speaking to her family, asks her to bring him food, phoned her thousands of time when she was in hospital for 3 weeks from complications relating to infections he had given her. He also moved in with her for several weeks until the police found him and took him back (and then placed a restriction order on him from the town where she lives). Apparently nothing can be done at his end until he harms her.

My question is about safeguarding. SIL's main care worker is stressing her automony and freedom to make decisions. But I think she is at serious risk of harm because she is increasinly being isolated by him, i.e. undue influence and pressure. SIL has no friends, only her very frail mother in her eighties and her brother. SIL's health is increasingly poor too, she's in constant pain, in and out of hospital etc. She however is going willingly to see him and says she loves him.

Her brother is considering raising a safeguarding concern. If he does, what should he say on the form to get someone to protect her? We all think it's now time for her to go into care because of her vulnerability. It's not the first time she has been targeted. I'd appreciate any advice from anyone who understands the system.

Yes she is because she has been abused before. None of the men caught obviously, because so few are.

Probation officer! Yes that sounds like a great idea. Maybe he was released early and now he is in violation of something. Definitely speak to his probation officer.

Thank you. I am scared of him but you're right, I shouldn't be. He looks pathetic from the press reports. All great advice, thank you so much. Just to add it's not my DH, he's my ex but we were together for a long time and still close, co-parenting etc.

The MCA sets the capacity bar so low it doesn’t usually work, and it doesn’t work at all for idiotic decisions. They’re legal.

SW can’t do a lot - even if they wantEd to, they can’t just grab DSIL and lock her up. Where?

You’d be better off focusing on the predator. He would be more easily contained. Police, probation and ring the prison. Have her to stay too.

Thank you, that's good advice. If she's not allowed to stay and he's not allowed to visit her home/toen, that definitely limits them.

I'd ask her social worker for a mental assessment to check her capacity. If they say she has no capacity then you can ask social services to stop this abusive relationship. If this is ignored then the police will get involved. A restraining order can be placed against him.

Does she not have a social worker?

The trouble you’re going to run into us tgat a local authority’s ability to curtail someone‘s autonomy is heavily restricted by the Care Act. It’s going to come down to whether she is deemed to have capacity or not.

Put in a safeguarding, reference the care package she has and for what reasons she needs that care package, reference everything that happened with this man.

He’ll lose interest when she doesn’t have a flat and/or vagina for the taking. Sorry to be so blunt, but try and remove her from home for a bit.

Get her a new phone.

Speak to everyone you can...he is a known violent abuser and the authorities need to be doing something to stop it happening before it does.

Women's aid and other domestic abuse charities would most likely have some good advice.

Also contact the citizen advice bureau and see if you can get a free advice session with a lawyer.

I suppose the big question is, who will be held accountable if something were to happen? Social services? Probation?

If he hurts her, it'll stay with her forever and she will never be the same person again.

The advice above - targeting the perp instead, would probably have more chance at being fruitful.

Please contact probation in your area. They can look at this situation and have been known to intervened in relationships, especially under licence conditions.

I'd also apply for both a Clare's Law and a Sarah's Law disclosure - one is domestic abuse, the other is child sex offences.

Thank you, I agree. I'm trying to support her brother (my ex) to do a lot of this but this kind of thing isn't his strong point. I have a history of doing everything for him (I was a rescuer and sorted stuff out) but I have stopped doing that. But this feels different. And it is my children's auntie who they love.

She meets the threshold for adult safeguarding so I would make a referral including all the info in your post. If she has been assessed as lacking capacity around her money then the presumption over capacity which is principle one can be rebutted and absolutely a social worker should be undertaking a capacity around her contact with this man including sexual relations. It must be worrying for you so I would include in your referral that she will need an independent advocate as part of making safeguarding personal to ho support her. Article 8 of hra right to a private and family life can be interfered if there are safeguarding concerns. A referral can be made to marac and it sounds from what you say the risks are substantial where loads of different professionals sit to look at the risks. He should also be discussed under MAPPA. If she is assesses as lacking mental capacity and she cannot be kept safe in the community they can look at a best interest decision to move her somewhere more restrictive like supported living or residential care and apply for a DoLS which can restrict her movements. The police potentially if she does lack mental capacity for sex then it is classed as rape as she will not be able to consent and around contact the police can put further restrictions such as him not being able to contact her but they cannot put restrictions on her so still a risk. If she does have capacity then they should be using a risk management meeting tool such ad a varm to manage the risks. There are things that can be done to keep her safe. Coercion can also impact someone's ability to make decisions. Good luck

Thank you, that's helpful. The press reports state attempted child abuse/grooming too.

This is brilliantly helpful and makes total sense, thank you so much!

Not necessarily, the Care Act section 11 says that if she refuses an assessment that the LA still have a duty if there are safeguarding concerns. It shouldn't just be around her lacking capacity where the local has a duty, there are plenty of homicide reviews where no action was taken because they were deemed to have capacity and ended up being killed.

Not necessarily they can put restrictions on him but cannot on her so she could still access him and given his behaviour it is a massive risk.

They key here is what the Care Act outlines as to whom ‘safeguarding’ applies to:

have needs for care and support; are experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect; and are unable to protect themselves from abuse or neglect due to their care and support needs.

it’s all going to come down to a judgment on her capacity.

All op can do is try, but getting a local authority to act to restrict someone’s choices unless they are incredibly unwell and very very very very clearly lacking capacity is not easy.

What a difficult and worrying situation for you all.

I work in a nhs community learning disability team in England. I would definitely contact her social worker or adult social care for her local authority (or funding authority if different) so the situation can be highlighted. They can consider a capacity assessment around her understanding of intimate relationships and coercive behaviour. We have speech and language therapists in our team who can work with the social worker to tailor the capacity assessment to her communication needs.

If she has capacity then it would be considered an unwise decision but she could receive easy read information and education from a community LD nurse which may help. If not then it could be raised as a safeguarding and next steps considered. Raising it with his probation officer is also a good shout.

Our community LD team has an advice and guidance line with Duty professionals on each working day, so you could speak to them for area specific advice as well.

Thank you.

I've just spoken to my ex (her brother) and SIL's social worker is working with a speech and language person to assess her capacity. Apparently her brother and mum have power of attorney over her financial affairs and health. And someone has done Clare's law request, so SIL has a button on her phone she can press in an emergency. So more is happening than I thought which is good. Apparently brother can't contact his probabtion officer, it all has to go through SIL's social worker.

Anyone know if you can contact someone's probation officer and how do you find out who it is?

I don't actually understand what you are trying to say as she clearly meets the threshold for safeguarding adults from the information from the first post. Even if she did have mental capacity, consent is not required for safeguarding and a local authority would not be acting as part of its legal duty if it was to say sorry you have mental capacity, good bye and this has happened if you read homicide review reports. They still have a duty where there are substantial risk of harm or death, whether she has capacity or not and this could include approaching the courts under inherent jurisdiction

I’m not talking about consenting to a care act assessment - I’m talking about the criteria for meeting safeguarding.

The criteria is clearly laid out in my previous post - have care a support needs (tick) is at risk of harm (tick) and is unable to protect themselves (that’s the key thing here) for meeting thresholds for safeguarding. Someone who has capacity is allowed to make unwise choices that can put them in harms way.

The OPs relative may or may not fall into the criteria on the grounds of mental capacity.

Part of a S42 enquiry particularly in this case should include a needs assessment, would make sense to take an holistic approach.

‘concerned that she doesn’t demonstrate capacity to understand the consequences of the decisions she’s making’ is a helpful
phrase.

Thanks both of you. I have just googled the criteria and I'm pretty sure she is an adult at risk because she meets the definition in the first three bullet points and at least 2 from the second list (learning disability and long term health conditions). Possibly also the last bullet point given her mum and brother have power of attorney over her health and finances.

An adult at risk is defined by The Care Act 2014 as a person who:

• Has needs for care and support (whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs)
• Is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect;
• and
• As a result of those needs is unable to protect themselves against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it.

An adult at risk may therefore be a person who:

• is elderly and frail due to ill health, physical disability or cognitive impairment
• has a learning disability
• has a physical disability and/or a sensory impairment
• has mental health needs including dementia or a personality disorder
• has a long-term illness/condition
• misuses substances or alcohol
• is a carer such as a family member/friend who provides personal assistance and care to adults and is subject to abuse
• is unable to demonstrate the capacity to make a decision and is in need of care and support