Sefton Council is facing criticism after it emerged that a social worker assigned to supervise a father’s visits with his children was in an intimate relationship with him and had a baby with him. The woman making the accusation, referred to as ‘Hayley’, was disgusted to find out the social worker, referred to as Ms X, was involved with her abusive ex-partner. She claimed the social worker’s favourable reports of the father helped him to maintain visiting rights with their children. The council confirmed the relationship and said it would take steps to ensure a similar occurrence did not happen again.
Hayley said she held no animosity towards the social worker, but saw her as another victim of her ex-partner’s manipulative behavior. She has since obtained full custody of her children, and the father no longer has contact with them. According to court reports, he was abusive and controlling, and he humiliated Hayley on a regular basis.
After splitting up with the father, Hayley was attacked by him, and he was ultimately convicted of a serious assault and jailed for three months. Despite a restraining order, he continued to harass her after being released, causing her to suffer a mental health crisis. Hayley, who sought support from Sefton Council, was devastated to have her children placed in foster care 100 miles away. A social worker, referred to as Ms X, was assigned to her to supervise visits with her children, while Sefton Council contracted an agency social worker to supervise her ex-partner.
Ms X also wrote reports to the family court regarding the father’s behaviour and his interactions with the children. It was during this period that she allegedly began a relationship with him, despite having knowledge of his history of abusive behavior and violence. Hayley said having placed her trust in the social worker had made her feel sick to think about.
During the 11 months the children were in foster care, Hayley’s family was given fewer visitation days than the father’s family, who supervised his visits with them. Sefton Council confessed the risk assessments for the father’s visits with the children were not “sufficiently safe” and not appropriately evaluated. A spokesperson for the council assured that necessary steps would have been taken so that such an incident is not repeated in the future. The agency that employed Ms X chose not to respond to comments
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