fostering assesment

[nannydunn]

we have just been through an fostering assesment with an independent social worker asigned by our local authority she phoned on Friday to say she would not be recomending us as foster carers for our two grandchildren the main reason being that their parents refuse to have any sort of relationship with us and the children 6 and three are happy to have contact with us but want to stay in foster care is there any where w can go from here as we know when it goes to court in May the local authority will get parental rights and the children will then be put up for adoption. is ther any point in trying to fight if the children dont want to live with us how much will a judge take in to considaration a 6 and 3year old view as we know that their parents have been filling their heads with things about us

a desperate nan

[nannydunn]

thank you for your reply we are thinking of applying to be party to the proceedings as at the moment all we know is it is going to court again sometime in may we are not in the positon to instruct a solicitor so would have to represent ourselves has anyone any experience in this we have had three very positive contact sessions where the children are happy and relaxed in our company do you think the best way to go is a SGO rather than fostering we have no idea about these thing we have never had any involvment with cs until October 13 when all this started

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear nannydunn

Thank you for your most recent post.

I am sorry that you have been disappointed by the outcome of the fostering assessment as you have not been approved by the independent social worker.

The reasons that you have given in your post for not approving you seem unusual. The fact that the parents do not wish to have anything to do with or 6 and 3 year olds making decision . I think it might be better for you to wait to receive the report to see what else is being suggested as reasons for you being unsuitable to be a foster carer. These children would not be thought have the understanding or maturity to make decisions about their future.

Once you receive the report I suggest that you go through it very carefully noting any incorrect facts or opinions that you disagree with and responding to them. It would be best to keep things to the point rather than writing pages and pages. If you feel that you have been unfairly treated then you can ask for it to be looked at again. I have included a link here to our frequently asked questions for your information on how to appeal the decision. You could also send the comments you make on the report to the judge. If you son is supporting you having the children then his solicitor may be able to help you put forward your views to the court.

You could ask to be a party to proceedings and it would be for the judge to make a decision as to whether you would be granted party status.

Are there any other family or friends who could be assessed as carers for the children? If so, then Children Services should be given their details although it might be late. However, as the court think that all options for the child remaining in the family should be explored before children are placed outside the family or adopted.

Do you know what the Guardian’s view is about the children being placed with you?

Please visit our website and look at the sections relating to family and friends care where you will find helpful information.

I have included our advice sheets about applying for Child Arrangement or Special Guardianship Orders for your information.

Should you wish to speak to an Adviser you can telephone our free advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open Monday to Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

Best wishes,

Suzie

[nannydunn]

we are waiting for thr report to come through the post the isw told me over the phone that the main reason she did not recomend us was because of the lack of a relationship between the children's parents and us we have offered to go to medation and have a family group conference both of which the parents declined our son blames us for thr whole situation and is convinced that they are going to get the children back and then we will never see them again ( his words in a message to his sister when she tried to make him see reason ) there are no other family members that can be put forward as carers as they all work and have their own families. we have been told we will need to go before the fostering pannel but that they are unlikely to see us as all the reports have not been completed but we have given her everything she asked for and on time so have no idea what that that is about we need to find out the court that the case is being held in so we can ask to be party to the proceedings when we asked c.s. aout this they said it would not be necessary as they were suppoting us having the children and if we went to court it could iflame the situatuin as both mum and dad are voiltil and it could be come all about them. they have also recently had a stillborn daughter i am wondering if this could delay proceedings they would have never been able to keep the child as the social workeer had grave concerns about the state of the living conditions whic don't seem to have improved much from when the children were taken i late 2013. we have spoken to the gaurdian and she has visited us once at home. it seemed to go well and she came to contact once and observed us then.

[nannydunn]

the relationship with the childrens parents is very volitile they blame us for every thing that has happened to the extent that when our grandaughter told her father that she had seen us his reply was dont talk to me about nanny i wish she was dead so you didnt have to see her he has been know to blow up and storm out of meetings at the mention of us the isw said that this relationship could cause problems because of what they could say to the children at contact although i was under the impression that it was supervised so could be stoped if inapropriate things were being said
we are still waiting for a copy of the report although it has already gone to the fostering pannel when that arrives we will see what other reasons there are i suspect that my husbands age will come into it he is 67 although we told the isw that we had already thought about how to work things where my daughter who still lives at home would reduce her hours at work by two days we would get the younger child into pre-school for two whole days and that would only leave one day a week that my husband would have the boy all day and we both work term time only so would be at home through out the school holidays and september 2016 he would be at school. i really think they only did this as the judge would have trown it out of court if they hadn't assessed us. hopefully the post will bring the report tommorow

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear nannydunn

Is it possible the ISW is concerned that you as carers would be put at ongoing risk from the parent's volatile behaviour in the event you were asked to act as contact supervisors.

It may be worth asking if as part of a special guardianship support plan they Local Authority would consider supervising the contact, say over the first two years, which would amount to six sessions in total if I understand your post correctly.

Put simply, if either parent was unable to fully comply with the expectations of the contact plan, you would have the power to reduce or withdraw contact if it was not assessed to be in the childrens' best interests.

Was there any discussion about the special guardianship support plan during the assessment process? The reason I ask is that a robust special guardianship support plan can be an essential tool in the provision of both short and long term placement security and stability.

Best Wishes

Suzie

[nannydunn]

Hi Suzie

we haven't discussed special garduianship with the social worker as we have been told if they dont support fostering they would not support this we would have to take on the judge and childrens services to try and gain SG which seems quite a task as we know nothing about childrens law and the legal system we are so confused as to who to turn to for support and help the cost would be a worry as we have no savings we spent what we had on letters to C.S.that were never answered
and would have to look at taking out a unsecured loan to fund the fight as we don't own our own property we rent. just very low at the moment the children seem to be sliping away and there is nothing we can say or do to stop it we have contact wednesday hope its not our last !!