Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: Almost 90 per cent of men guilty of domestic violence remain in close contact with their children without supervision, report finds.
[3 February 2011] - Children are being exposed to extreme danger because social services are failing to prevent or monitor contact with their violent and abusive fathers. Almost 90 per cent of men guilty of multiple instances of domestic violence remain in close contact with their children despite local authorities failing in the majority of cases to conduct sufficient assessment into the risk they represent. Working with Risky Fathers, the first study into children's services involvement with domestically abusive fathers, looked mainly at men living outside the family home. "Really scary, violent fathers are routinely falling through the gaps in children's services, putting children who have already been raised in homes where domestic violence was present, at risk of further physical and emotional harm," said Cathy Ashley, chief executive of the Family Rights Group (FRG). Launched today by the FRG and the Parenting Fund, the report found that 88 per cent of the men surveyed continued to have contact with their children despite often long histories of domestic violence. But the report also found an overwhelming lack of detail in the assessments of the risk these men presented to their children. In 46 per cent of cases, for example, the birth fathers' phone number was not on the files. In over 60 per cent of cases, the survey found that the father's parenting capacity was simply 'not known'. The report surveyed three local authorities' case files of perpetrators of domestic abuse over 11 years. The fathers were frequently guilty of more than six separate reported incidents of domestic violence. Many adult victims had been pregnant during at least one of the attacks. "If you don't assess these men, you don't know which are the seriously dangerous ones who could harm their children if given access," said Ashley. The report also found that of the minority of domestically abusive men who did have their parenting assessed, just 26 per cent were offered a place on a domestic violence perpetrator programme. "There are many reasons why these men are not being properly assessed or treated," said Ashley. "Not only are these scary men but children's social services employ a largely female workforce that hasn't been trained to deal with such intimidating situations. Added to which, there simply aren't enough domestic abuse perpetrator programmes to send them to." Ippo Panteloudakis, a manager at Respect, the membership association for domestic violence perpetrator programmes, say there are around 35 such programmes in the UK. "Men commonly have to travel hundreds of miles to access help," he said. "What happens more often is that local authorities use inappropriate alternatives or, frequently, no alternatives at all." Ashley said the report highlights the fact that the onus of child protection social work continues to be on the mother to protect the child, even when she is a victim of domestic abuse. The report, however, also found that non-resident fathers not guilty of domestic violence can find themselves ignored when they try to warn social services of risks, such as those presented by a mother's neglect or her new partner. "Children's services are failing to engage with fathers who are the protective factor for children at risk," said Ashley. "We found three cases where the birth father had tried to alert children's services about the child – including the Peter Connelly case, where social workers failed to recognise the significance or assess the mother's new partner." Further Information:
Owner: Amelia Hillpdf: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/03/domestic-violence-children...