Children taken into care?

[Futball13]

Will these children get taken into care do you think/have you any experience of similar scenarios...

Background...mum of four, two to current partner. However partner has alcohol issues, anger issues, has done time for arson, tried to set fire to previous family, domestic violence history. He has also recently been reported to police by current partner for trying to strangle her in front of kids. She has phoned police for several other incidents. He regularly leaves her then returns. She keeps taking him back. Social work involvement ranked up since strangling incident and children placed on child protection orders, so he is not allowed to be in company of children. He was also supposed to be arranging contact through a contact centre and going to as etc which he doesn't do according to her. She has not been very cooperative with children's services either.

However despite this she has been sneakily seeing him and has recently gone on a caravan holiday with him along with four children. Witnesses told social services about this holiday. What do you think might now happen, could children be taken from her due to failure to protect?

Well he should be vilified too. So many men just disappear from family life, leave it all to the woman, who buckles under the strain and not a word is said against the scumbag who's left without a backwards glance.

One didn't know he was father until recently as she was saying it was someone else, the other back with wife.

I would hope so.

Have you told social services what you know about her continuing this relationship?

Yes they know as she was on holiday with him, and know she's started to see him again.

This is how it gets very dangerous for the woman. She knows she can’t call the police because if she does SW will know she’s been with him

he knows he can beat her because she’s too scared to call the police

now they’ll be asking the children to lie for them too!

these people suck!

you would have been better off calling the police anonymously when she was on holiday with the guy and saying the kids were on a CP plan and he was present.

if you know he’s at her house you can also do this ask the police to carry out a safe and well check

If not already social services will/ should be looking to put the children on the child protection register but also starting legal proceedings. She's prioritising him over her children

Yes.

I would also report your concerns to social workers. It may help them take the children away. It’s sounds like they need to be removed from this unsafe situation.
I am sick and tired of reading about children being injured and murdered by those who are meant to take care of them.

Oh come off it. Its got nothing to do with a mumsnet attitude and everything to do with it happening up and down the country time after time.

Yes , She's not Protecting her children so they will be taking of her . They will first look if there's any alternative family that can take the children so the eldest father could likely be contacted

It could move to pre proceedings….but they won’t be removed straight away

Do you work in child safeguarding arena? The threshold is very high now for immeadiate removal…this would not IMO warrant immeadiate removal ? Pre proceedings and stay on CP …maybe LAC at home?

Would need more details to make an educated call, but on the surface legal planning meeting and ICO would probably be sort.

Suppose without knowing the full story it's hard to speculate what will happen. This is not the first time she has been caught with him therefore breaching the cp plan. Before this I had never even heard of a child protection plan.

It's very likely they will be taken into care yes. She needs to cooperate with social services, take all the help she can get and stay away from her partner at all costs or she will lose her children. Not only will that be horrific for her but it would also be awful for her 4 children to be taken away from their Mum. I pray she has the strength to stay away from him.

Did she sign a schedule of expectations? ...probably that will come next.

Not sure if anything signed. But there was a meeting after the last time she was seen in his company and she was warned. But not sure about any details really.

honestly?….. they won’t be removed anytime soon IMO as long as she’s saying what they want to hear….it’s called ‘disguised compliance’……I’ve seen this time and time again…..even though they are on CP already….they won’t even consider removal unless it gos to a strategy meeting or the kids are in such danger that their lives are at imminent risk

Yes they can be removed for this.

But you should say what nation it's in as the law is very different between the 4 nations.

Northern Ireland?

Yes she is putting her children at risk. As well as them witnessing DV. If there is a care order in place and she is not complying with that care order the next step will be an interim care order if she doesn't hand them over willingly.

Categorically yes.

Esp if it has already got as far as a CP
SS will be looking for a protective factor, and if that isn't mum, they'll be looking for other family members. If they can't find these, then yes.
But they'll try REALLY HARD to find a protective factor first

Hopefully the SW’s in their area are proactive. The children don’t deserve their parents. They deserve so much better