Having completed a 3-year Community Order for indecent image offences - and completed it well, according to what I have been told - I was anticipating some kind of well, I dunno.. 'closure'. I didn't expect a party or a fanfare or a medal, but I did think there'd be some sort of written debrief or report in hand. Bizarrely, I even lost my regular officer who'd been with me for the 3 years, as she was 'called away' 2 months before I was due to finish, so my final appointment never materialized with her. I was seen by a stand-in who didn't even realize my order was ending - I had to tell her this and at the same time expressed my concerns over a lack of closure and something to show for my time with them. She said lots of stuff about understanding how I feel (as they always do)  and said she'd ask her manager to draft a letter which would be ready before Christmas. I have been in twice since, each time to be told by the smiling receptionist relaying pleasant messages from the stand-in, 'yes it's in hand'. The last time (2 weeks go) I was even told (on behalf of the manager) they'd get it done and sent to my home address that very day. It has not happened. Also, a final meeting I have requested with my former (regular) officer has not yet transpired, it appears her return date gets pushed back a month at a time.
Now, this of course could be attributed to simply busyness (or disfunctionalism if we are to be more disparaging), but as we all know anxiety/mental scarring levels are cosmically high after being digested by the criminal justice as a sex offender, so my concern/paranoia is always that something deeper is going on, thus... 
The last time I saw my regular officer (about 3 months before the end) among the things she said to me in reply to me asking do I need to do any more 'work'? was - I quote exactly - "As for as I'm concerned we have made it" and "You don't have those fantasies anymore" and  "Now I understand children are not your thing, but women are" - in other words dynamite, you would think, from a risk assessment point of view and the path to official rehabilitation. However, would she (or perhaps more particularly her management) be prepared to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak, and actually make these statements in writing - for the benefit of the court when the time comes for me to apply to remove my SHPO or for the social services (so I can get to spend time with my children again like a normal Dad).
I'm beginning to think not; the cynical part of me after so many knocks and insane safeguarding interventions over the last 3 years (always through absolutely no offence or breach on my part) makes it difficult to trust them one iota. Despite the pleasantries and supportive words spoken in most of my meetings with them and the CPU - I even bumped into my probation officer in a cafe and she warmly invited me to make an appointment after my order - I actually suspect that back-covering is so all-pervasive they would not 'stick their necks out' to give me anything physically/tangibly that I could present to social services or a court, even though they actually believe my risk is low to zero (it's actually zero, but one is completely wasting breath to say this). 
I am beginning to believe I am being stalled, because it's more than a probation managers job's worth to give an ex-offender a copy in their hand stating an opinion of a sentence well-served and risk to children minimal (I realize that officially there is no such as 'no' risk, which I'll refrain from comment on). Some other posts on this forum concerning reluctance of all the official safeguarding bodies to give out any trust leads me to this belief, although evidently there are success stories. Sorry if I've waffled on, but the anxiety is huge as I hope some of you appreciate. This is in the context of 3 years despair, a lot of suicidal (4 if you count - which you ought to - the precharge bail period) losing contact with my two children to all but once every few weeks for 2 hours supervised, and sustained by the hope of light at the end of the tunnel and getting normal contact again once I'd done my bit - but I can't help feeling "doing our bit" in this draconian culture will simply count for nothing. I know that without the best possible report from probation and police, one does not stand a snowball's chance in hell with Britain's social services, probably not anyway, but at least I want the encouragement of knowing I've done my best, all I can to show I am not a risk to anyone, and would like this recognized with a bit more than hot air.
I'm not sure what advice anyone can give, I guess I'm just venting my bitterness and fears, but I wonder what experiences in the way of debriefs and disclosure of information other offenders have had at the end of their community orders/probation periods? Is it standard practice to have absolutely nothing in writing? I did an AIMS assessment at my very last meeting with PPU and the stand-in officer, but I've never been shown a copy of it since, and frankly I'm too afraid to ask despite all verbal accounts that I've done well and knowing in myself I've absolutely nothing to hide, one just becomes utterly paranoid by the safeguarding culture and the way they reason things. Would it be over the top of me to go to a solicitor and get a freedom of information request put on probation? Am I justified in this if they continue to refuse (or 'not get round to') to play ball? I don't want to tarnish what they verbally say is a good outcome, but it so seriously pisses me off the lack of concern for human (family) rights out there, all that matters it seems is finding 'risk' or imagining it if there is none provable.  
It's coming up to 4 months now since I finished, and in another 12 months I'm told (by a solicitor) that it would be feasible to apply to  have my SHPO removed (it was an indefinite one). I suppose I'll only find out when the time comes, whether rehabilitation does what it says on the label even after we've sincerely done our bit.

Having completed a 3-year Community Order for indecent image offences - and completed it well, according to what I have been told - I was anticipating some kind of well, I dunno.. 'closure'. I didn't expect a party or a fanfare or a medal, but I did think there'd be some sort of written debrief or report in hand. Bizarrely, I even lost my regular officer who'd been with me for the 3 years, as she was 'called away' 2 months before I was due to finish, so my final appointment never materialized with her. I was seen by a stand-in who didn't even realize my order was ending - I had to tell her this and at the same time expressed my concerns over a lack of closure and something to show for my time with them. She said lots of stuff about understanding how I feel (as they always do)  and said she'd ask her manager to draft a letter which would be ready before Christmas. I have been in twice since, each time to be told by the smiling receptionist relaying pleasant messages from the stand-in, 'yes it's in hand'. The last time (2 weeks go) I was even told (on behalf of the manager) they'd get it done and sent to my home address that very day. It has not happened. Also, a final meeting I have requested with my former (regular) officer has not yet transpired, it appears her return date gets pushed back a month at a time.
Now, this of course could be attributed to simply busyness (or disfunctionalism if we are to be more disparaging), but as we all know anxiety/mental scarring levels are cosmically high after being digested by the criminal justice as a sex offender, so my concern/paranoia is always that something deeper is going on, thus... 
The last time I saw my regular officer (about 3 months before the end) among the things she said to me in reply to me asking do I need to do any more 'work'? was - I quote exactly - "As for as I'm concerned we have made it" and "You don't have those fantasies anymore" and  "Now I understand children are not your thing, but women are" - in other words dynamite, you would think, from a risk assessment point of view and the path to official rehabilitation. However, would she (or perhaps more particularly her management) be prepared to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak, and actually make these statements in writing - for the benefit of the court when the time comes for me to apply to remove my SHPO or for the social services (so I can get to spend time with my children again like a normal Dad).
I'm beginning to think not; the cynical part of me after so many knocks and insane safeguarding interventions over the last 3 years (always through absolutely no offence or breach on my part) makes it difficult to trust them one iota. Despite the pleasantries and supportive words spoken in most of my meetings with them and the CPU - I even bumped into my probation officer in a cafe and she warmly invited me to make an appointment after my order - I actually suspect that back-covering is so all-pervasive they would not 'stick their necks out' to give me anything physically/tangibly that I could present to social services or a court, even though they actually believe my risk is low to zero (it's actually zero, but one is completely wasting breath to say this). 
I am beginning to believe I am being stalled, because it's more than a probation managers job's worth to give an ex-offender a copy in their hand stating an opinion of a sentence well-served and risk to children minimal (I realize that officially there is no such as 'no' risk, which I'll refrain from comment on). Some other posts on this forum concerning reluctance of all the official safeguarding bodies to give out any trust leads me to this belief, although evidently there are success stories. Sorry if I've waffled on, but the anxiety is huge as I hope some of you appreciate. This is in the context of 3 years despair, a lot of suicidal (4 if you count - which you ought to - the precharge bail period) losing contact with my two children to all but once every few weeks for 2 hours supervised, and sustained by the hope of light at the end of the tunnel and getting normal contact again once I'd done my bit - but I can't help feeling "doing our bit" in this draconian culture will simply count for nothing. I know that without the best possible report from probation and police, one does not stand a snowball's chance in hell with Britain's social services, probably not anyway, but at least I want the encouragement of knowing I've done my best, all I can to show I am not a risk to anyone, and would like this recognized with a bit more than hot air.
I'm not sure what advice anyone can give, I guess I'm just venting my bitterness and fears, but I wonder what experiences in the way of debriefs and disclosure of information other offenders have had at the end of their community orders/probation periods? Is it standard practice to have absolutely nothing in writing? I did an AIMS assessment at my very last meeting with PPU and the stand-in officer, but I've never been shown a copy of it since, and frankly I'm too afraid to ask despite all verbal accounts that I've done well and knowing in myself I've absolutely nothing to hide, one just becomes utterly paranoid by the safeguarding culture and the way they reason things. Would it be over the top of me to go to a solicitor and get a freedom of information request put on probation? Am I justified in this if they continue to refuse (or 'not get round to') to play ball? I don't want to tarnish what they verbally say is a good outcome, but it so seriously pisses me off the lack of concern for human (family) rights out there, all that matters it seems is finding 'risk' or imagining it if there is none provable.  
It's coming up to 4 months now since I finished, and in another 12 months I'm told (by a solicitor) that it would be feasible to apply to  have my SHPO removed (it was an indefinite one). I suppose I'll only find out when the time comes, whether rehabilitation does what it says on the label even after we've sincerely done our bit.

Hi Saxon I have had a very similar experience to yourself, I hope I can help you regarding your indefinite SHPO.

I was also convicted for making IIOC totalling some ~400 images across all 5 categories. I was on unrestricted police bail for 18 months before my case was heard and on the day of my trial the Crown Court Judge gave the prosecution a scolding for the delay in bringing the case to court, especially as I had given a full and frank interview in the absence of any legal representation. He acknowledged my life had detrimentally been put on hold. I believe this delay in bringing the case to trial combined with it being a first offence and myself being a person of previous good character swung the sentencing in my favor. I was expecting a custodial sentence but instead received a 3 year Community Order with a requirement to undergo ISOTP, I received an indefinite SHPO and was ordered to sign the SOR for 5 years. 

Despite these difficulties my Probation Officer (a specialist in sexual offenders with over 25 years’ experience) was very helpful and accommodating, I had 1 to 1 sessions to fit around my work schedule and similarly PPU have always been encouraging and non-judgmental. My probation officer discussed his final written report on my case shortly before the end of my Community Order, I am considered medium risk but will revert to being considered high risk when I come off the register, needless to say this professional assessment has been a hard pill for me to swallow as it is not how I see myself after 3 years of treatment. Conversely my most recent ARMS assessment by PPU graded me as low risk.

Like you my regular Probation Officer could not be present a my final meeting with the probation service as he was busy with another case involving HMPS and on the day his replacement basically said you are free to go and that was that. The feeling of a lack of closure is huge, although my regular Probation Officer always said that in the future if ever I needed to talk about or was experiencing an urge to re-offend that I would be able to walk into any Probation Center in the country, give my details and I would be seen to.

2 years into my Community Order things were going well for me, I was having regular supervised contact with my child both in the home environment and in public without any involvement from CS, support for supervision from both sides of the family was good and all contact was well supported, all above board etc... Myself and child's mother wanted to know what the possibilities were regarding returning to living as a family unit and so a meeting was arranged via the Probation Service to explore this, representation by the local Police force, PPU and CS was requested and 2 weeks advanced notice was given. On the day everybody turned up except, you guessed it... CS! The main sticking point preventing a return to family life was invariably my indefinite SHPO which among other terms stipulated that "named cannot live in the same household as a person under the age of 16 without express approval of social services for the area". This is a common requirement for such offenders and I assume your terms are similar?

During this meeting PPU raised the concern that the indefinite term of my SHPO essentially required me to also annually register as a SO indefinitely; this conflicted with the order given to me at my point of sentencing to sign the SOR for a term of 5 years only. This clash of requirements was put down to a possible error in the courts sentencing due to a transition from using the older discontinued SOPO's to SHPO's. Additionally as a SHPO is an ancillary order your original offence will not become spent until the order finishes or is discharged. With the encouragement of both PPU and my Probation Officer I wrote to the sentencing Crown Court in 2017 to appeal the duration of my SHPO from indefinite to 5 years - in line with my separate order to sign the SOR for 5 years. A couple of months later and PPU contacted me to say that my appeal had been successful and the duration of my SHPO had been updated to 5 years on the PNC. All it took was a single letter on 1 side of a sheet of A4 paper, I never had to use professional legal representation or appear at the court in person for an appeals hearing, although I believe this has recently changed and that all appeals to SHPO's are now being held in open court.

I still have the letter I sent as my appeal and would be willing to share this with you via PM. I cannot guarantee you any success but I would strongly advise contacting PPU to "test the water" before you make any appeal as they will be contacted by the Court in any case to assess if they support the said appeal.

On a separate note, I would strongly advise against involvement with the Family Court, my own experience of this has now led to my complete loss of all contact with my child.

Do the best you can to co-operate with CS if they are involved, obey any child protection plans / SHPO terms to the letter and continue to focus on being the best father you can for your children given the restrictive circumstances and let time do the rest. Please accept you will always be considered a risk to children going forward and that you may always have to have supervised contact with your own children until they become adults but that does not mean you cannot be an awesome father for them with the help and support of wider family. I know you have probably already given a million apologies but have a quiet sit down with their mother and let her know how grateful you are for her support in continuing to see your children and that you want to progress things with an appeal to your SHPO and that you are doing so not in an underhand way to unshackle all your restrictions but in the hope that it will make a normal family life in the future far easier.

Like yourself and Mr W I have now completed my Community Order, my SHPO runs for another 3 months as does my requirement to register as a SO, my understanding is at this point my offence will become spent which is somewhat a relief. I struggle daily to see a meaningful future for myself, as a man in his 20's I would like to find a partner who can accept my past "baggage" and give me a second chance to be a better man.

I am to this day deeply ashamed of my offending and feel terrible for my own child and the challenges they will face in the future as a result of my offending. I do not seek forgiveness, I only wish that I had sought help years ago but it is all too late for that. 

All the best Eddy

I felt like this at the end of my community service work after 6 months. I think I was fortunate to do it in a good area, great staff and mostly friendly other people on it. It was like a family, a great laugh sometimes (always had good stories to bring home) and I liked going out to different places each week, meeting different people and doing practical work. It reminded me of school or college which is a lot more fun than my previous job of sitting at a desk in an office. The last day was emotional and I sometimes feel a bit depressed wondering what adventure they are on today, knowing I won't be doing it again or seeing the people I met.

At the end there was a questionnaire/report which was more about your attitude towards your offence which was a shame because I thought it was going to be about my experience there and give me a chance to praise the staff.