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The scenario where a stepfather behaves viole ntly towards a stepson is well known to social workers. But children in this situation should not automatically be removed. Graham Hopkins discusses one such case handled by Fran Stellitano and Mandy Ford.

The names of all service users mentioned in this article have been changed.

Case notes

Practitioners:

Mandy Ford, social worker, and Fran Stellitano, manager, family service

Field: Children and families

Location: Cambridge

Client: Denise Goddard is now 32 and has a three-year old child, Garry, with her live-in partner Andy Rivers, 24. Goddard has two other children from a previous relationship: Chris, 9, and Sam, 7.

Case History: Rivers came into care when he was 11 having suffered physical abuse while living with his grandparents. He was also sexually abused by a neighbour and remains very bitter about that experience. Numerous unsuccessful foster placements saw him move into residential care. He has a history of aggression - and has assaulted care staff. Goddard was known to social services at the age of eight as she suffered from a condition that made her react badly to sunlight. Goddard’s father was verbally aggressive. Her previous partner was violent and left after the birth of Sam. It was Sam’s behaviour at school that alerted staff: he would say “Andy hurt me”.  

Dilemma: Children’s services believed they could work with the family and permitted the children to remain at home, but other professionals strongly questioned the decision to do so.

Risk factor: By leaving the children with a volatile and aggressive man they were at risk of potential psychological, physical and emotional abuse.

Outcome: The children have been removed from the at-risk register, the family continue to have outreach support and are currently coping well.

Having faith in a decision and holding your nerve can be commendable qualities. However, when others begin to question your actions from a professional point of view, a risk arises that such qualities may be dangerously misplaced.

This was the situation faced 18 months ago by social worker Mandy Ford and family service manager Fran Stellitano when dealing with Denise Goddard and Andy Rivers. The couple had a baby, Garry, but Goddard’s two other children, Chris, then seven years old, and Sam (who has learning difficulties), then five, were from a previous relationship. Rivers held a ferocious resentment towards the older children.

“There was an incident when Sam turned up at school with cigarette burns,” recalls Ford. “As a result he was removed. We had to decide whether to remove the other two children, now on the child protection register, as well. It was clear to see the change with Rivers there. Chris would remove himself from the room straightaway and Sam would become very withdrawn.”

Although the home wasn’t as clean as it should have been, it was Rivers’ temper that dominated concerns. Having been in care himself, he “hated social services with a vengeance”. Ford continues: “Because the learning disability team held case responsibility for Sam, and we held responsibility for the two other boys, we decided that provided we had access to the children and to the house, and that they would agree to a parenting assessment, we felt relatively secure that we could leave the children at home.”

The 12-week parenting programme highlighted many concerns, including Rivers’ relationship with Chris, parental interaction and roles, supervision and boundary-setting, ability to provide a safe and clean environment, and understanding a need to change. It was decided, unusually, to continue and expand the parenting programme. “There was a high level of input,” says Stellitano, “two-to-three hours each session, three times a week: twice in their home for more practical work, and once in the centre away from the children to work on their own issues and needs.”

“In the meantime,” adds Ford, “the court decided that Sam should be placed permanently elsewhere. Goddard was heartbroken. But she felt she really couldn’t care for him.”

It was then that the children’s guardian and the psychologist raised concerns about leaving children with a man with a history of violence.

But Chris was very resilient, Ford says. “He was very attached to his mother. Given his age, he would be placed in long-term fostering which wasn’t appropriate. Chris was also saying very clearly he wanted to stay with his mum. I know it’s not his decision but we do have to listen to what he has to say.” Rivers was also displaying affection for Garry.

But there were continual worries about Rivers’ temper. “Quite often at sessions,” says Ford, “Rivers would lose his temper and tell everyone exactly what to do and make all sorts of threats.” Also, adds Stellitano, “he would let his own issues get in the way. He’d say, ‘if they think they’re having it bad - they should see what I had.’ At one review he lost it and became so abusive and rude that the meeting was stopped. But he would be apologetic. He did self-reflect and he did always come back.”

However, Goddard was doing well. The family moved into a new council house, “freshly decorated and spotless. And it’s still spotless now. Checks were daily, but have become weekly,” says Ford. The team were encouraged and impressed by Chris’s resilience. “He felt guilty that Sam was taken away - and worried about him. But he was interacting better with Rivers, and had developed outside interests (in football and wrestling), and his school was very positive about him,” says Stellitano.

Garry, however, was less resilient. “Although there were no obvious signs that Garry was being affected,” adds Ford, “he has speech delay and is hyperactive. We advised that he could go to playgroup and we offered to pay, but Rivers said, ‘no, he’s my son. I’ll pay for it.’ And, to give him his due, five mornings a week he takes Garry to playgroup.”

Such was the progress made that the children were removed from the register: Rivers and Goddard were “so chuffed”. “But there will always be ups and downs because that’s the way the family works: periods of calm and crises. And we have to manage the crises because that’s when the risk is,” says Ford, who credits Stellitano’s team with the success: “If we hadn’t had the input and support from the family service the children definitely wouldn’t be with Goddard and Rivers now.”

Arguments for risk

- Despite Rivers’ volatile character and violent past, it was considered that with Sam removed from the home, the adults could work on the relationship with the remaining children and develop their parenting skills.

- They were willing for the department to have access to the house and children, and were willing to attend a parenting programme.  

- They were open to ideas from social work and family service staff. They were willing to work and co-operate with staff and stuck with the extended programme.

- Despite aggressive verbal outbursts, Rivers would reflect on his behaviour and apologise and continue to take part in the programme.

- Goddard and Rivers wanted to keep their children. Goddard had come to terms with losing Sam, and had a strong relationship with Chris, who had developed strong resilience. Rivers was clearly very affectionate towards his son, Garry.

Arguments against risk

- Rivers was a volatile, violent and verbally aggressive man. He had already caused emotional, psychological and physical harm to Sam, and Chris was very wary in his presence.

- Outside professional opinion was raising strong concerns about the decision to leave Chris and Garry with Goddard and Rivers. The psychologist in a report concluded that he would “never have them caring for children”. Similarly, the children’s guardian expressed concerns over the decision to keep the children at home. To choose not to take their advice left the workers open to allegations of malpractice should further abuse take place.

- Rivers’ aggressive hatred of social services - originating from his own unpleasant experience of care and being looked after - was a barrier to being able to work with him.

- Both adults had shown their inability to care and protect one child.

Independent comment

Assuming that Sam’s cigarette burns were deliberately inflicted, the decision to recommend that the other children be allowed to remain at home was a remarkably courageous one, writes Patrick Ayre. Risk theory tells us that children at risk expose all those of us working with them to risk as well. There is a danger that our decisions can centre more on what is safe for us than what we feel is best for the children. No one could accuse Mandy Ford and Fran Stellitano of this form of defensive practice.

However, in this situation, the risk of further harm was strong, particularly in the early stages. In the case of a man with a history of violent aggression and a resentment of his stepson, it is hard to see how having access to the children represented much of a guarantee of safety, unless someone was present all day, every day. In circumstances like this, it is vital to remain child-centred and to assess the emotional impact on the children as well as physical risk.

Research tells us that cases involving violent and aggressive parents are among the least well-handled and require particularly skilled supervision if reliable judgements are to be made.

In this case, Ford and Stellitano decided, against some opposition, that the situation was one that they could work with. The children remain at home and off the child protection register. However, we still need to ask ourselves: “Were they right or were they lucky?”

Patrick Ayre is senior lecturer, department of applied social studies, University of Luton.