Hi everyone, my name is Andy I use to work in the mental health industry and had done for roughly 30 years, my passion in life is photography and this is partly what has led to my problem. I have a small studio space in my home and I am an active member of photographic meet up groups and a website that I use to meet like minded models, photographers and make up artists, it is professionally run and people leave references for people they have worked with, I have over 50 positive references on there and zero negatives. One day I was approached by a woman that I had worked with on numerous occasions saying her friend wanted a portfolio, she was 19 yo. Long story short I produced portfolio images for her and worked with her alongside make up artists and quite often a friend who was learning. More often than not my wife was downstairs, One day she asked what I did for a living so I told her and she disclosed to me that her best friend was in the hospital that I work in as a patient, this was someone that I knew. I asked her at this stage how she knew her and if she had ever been in hospital, she said no and that they had been to school together, as they were about the same age I thought no more about that A few weeks later this person committed suicide in the hospital I worked in, I had been on 2 nights off and received loads of msgs from this girl I was producing images for asking if all the information on Facebook was true, she sent msgs from Facebook to me showing me the conversations which looked quite factual, I went to work that night and found out that sadly this had happened,I was given no personal guidance and support or debrief re this, I asked a colleague how I stood as I knew her best friend who was asking questions and was told that there was no confidentiality as the manager had told all the patients the facts, the policy also says in these circumstances they have to be open and honest. I therefore confirmed to her the sad news, the next day I was asked if I would meet up with her for a coffee, so I did where she was accompanied by another woman possibly in her 30s who use to teach the deceased woman, she asked if I could collect some personal effects from the hospital also saying that she use to visit on a weekly basis, I suggested she spoke to the ward manager and gave her his details, she also said it would be nice if I attended the funeral which the girl I had been working with said she wanted me too as I would be a great support. As the weeks went on she was relying on me for support, saying she was finding it hard to cope, her boyfriend was also msging me as he was worried re some of her behaviours, she was making threats to kill herself and superficially cutting herself, this was worrying me and quite draining, I suggested she asked about bereavement counselling etc, it was hard but I was hoping the the funeral would be closure and then I could back off. At the funeral she spent the whole time crying on my shoulder which was difficult, her boyfriend incidentally couldn’t attend because of work commitments, after the funeral we attended the wake, I noticed at this point that the teacher was looking daggers at me, when I enquired about this later to the girl I was supporting she said oh she thinks there is something going on between us and that it is weird that you are taking pictures of me, incidentally she still has her portfolio on a well known model site and has left my glowing reference on there as well. Her boyfriend met up with us a little later and we had a drink and they went off . The next day I received a letter saying I was suspended on allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with a vulnerable adult which soon after was rephrased as a service user, something I had no idea about, as I had never had any contact with her in my professional life, I was also devastated by tha allegations, she did contact me on a few occasions saying that it was the teacher and that the teacher was causing all sorts of problems, and that the teacher for some reason felt threatened by me, my suspension went on and on and after roughly 6 months 2 plain clothed police came to my house saying there had been an allegation and would I attend an informal police interview in a few days time at the police station, I agreed , they didn’t tell me what the allegations were but advised me to get a solicitor and then they could give disclosure, I found a solicitor through my union who told me the allegations which were 3 counts of sexual assault and one of penetration, I nearly fell on the floor, I was totally in shock, anyway I attended the police interview, the investigating officer was very good, he said he was going to talk with people and investigate, roughly 2 weeks later I was told that it wasn’t going anywhere and that they were closing it, my solicitor said that she felt the allegations were not true but didn’t want to say this to give me false hope, obviously I was relieved about this and soon after I was invited to a meeting at work, this meeting was not nice, it was the teacher that had sent a letter to my work and she had put a safeguarding out against me which the police closed down after their investigation. Work were acting as if they knew nothing re the police outcome and were hinting at a breach of confidentiality, after 9 months of suspension and no communication since the meeting I decided to resign in an attempt to get on with my life, I started to train as a bus driver, money was hard and my wife was also in bits through this, we were also foster Carers and had the same 2 learning disability guys living with us for 11 years, they were removed from our care during all this. The bus job didn’t work out as I decided it wasn’t for me so applied and got a job working for a company supporting people with mental health issues in the community, my enhance dbs check came back clear and we are also in the process of hopefully being approved again to foster, I was just beginning to think our lives were beginning to recover, I am in the forth week of my new job and really liking it, then last week I received a letter from my old employer basically saying that the have to refer my case to the dbs barring service so as they can decide if I’m to go onto a register, this is one and a half years later, and now I’m beside myself with worry yet again and not knowing what to do, I’m no longer a member of my union as I quit my last job, if I go on a barring list then obviously my life will be in a bad way, my wife and I have been through hell over this and I can honestly say I’m not guilty of any of this, I had no idea she was a service user, apparently she was offered a steps program something I have little knowledge of and have never been envied with, as far as the allegations were concerned I was not guilty and they were pretty much rubbished, I would like to hear people’s thoughts and ideas on this. Thanks in advance James

The first thing you should do is look at Unlock's information about this, and also their overview. If a previous employer refers this to the DBS, they will investigate. However, they will take information from all parties involved, including the police, and they will invite you to make your own representations, which you should do. Given that the police decided not to disclose the allegations on an enhanced DBS check, that should carry some weight, and once they confirm they closed their investigation, it might not even get as far as them inviting you to make representations. Even if it goes further, decent representations should put it beyond doubt. Of course, that in turn should help with the adoption clearance, hopefully. So, don't give up - you stand your corner!

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)