Thanks for joining us on the forum – glad to have you here. You are welcome to post 24/7 but please note that whilst we have forum moderators we will only be moderating the forum during office hours. If though you need urgent crisis help, please contact Samaritans on 116 123.
Spurgeons and Dad.Info doesnβt investigate reports of abuse or neglect. But below, you can find advice on who to contact if you have concerns about a child or young person.
Reporting a concern
It can be difficult to know what to do if you think a child is at risk. Itβs important to remember that if youβve spotted things that donβt seem right, others will have too. Speaking up can make sure that child gets help as soon as possible.
The sooner you contact your local childrenβs social care duty team, the quicker they can act. Theyβre available 24 hours a day, and can make an anonymous report if that feels safer. If a child is in immediate danger, please call the police straight away by dialling 999.
Report child abuse or neglect to your local council
Use these links to get in touch with your local council:
Hi
I have an 11 year old son and I have split up with his mother, we no longer live together. We were never married. We now live separately and we have joint custody of our son. I work 4 days on, 4 days off, so one week I have him more, the next week she does. She claims all the single parent tax credits and child allowance despite her having a better paid job than me. I am struggling for money and I also have to pay her child maintenance each month. She also has her partner living with her but he supplies another address to the authorities to get round that issue. I live alone with one income and am seriously struggling financially. Please help π
If you are paying according to the CSA calculator, then there isn't a great deal you can do to reduce the payments unless you can come to a family based arrangement, but that effectively means she is voluntarily taking less money.
If she is cheating on benefits, then you have the option to report her to the benefits office (you can do this anonymously) but that won't do anything to reduce your payments.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We donβt like to set βrulesβ, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.