SGO assessed but now in fostercare

[Crispy]

Had 2 grandchildren living with myself n husband for 6 years. (Ages 10, 11) the mother was taking drugs has mental health issues.
We were asked to do an SGO so children felt more settled it took 4 years for social to do the assessment. We were promised help but nothing happened.
The children both have ASD, ADHD so need plenty of supervision n support. I couldn’t work as I needed to be there to support them.
The eldest was in his last year for juniors which was stressful, come last August he started panicking about senior school got violent n kept running away. I asked the kinship for help, the schools for help but the only help I received was from junior school who kept emailing social for support. Police advised to keep nagging social they would write up dramatic reports so I could get help.
The eldest was suspended from school as he kept running away.
Ended up I got hurt by the children and social took them into care.
Now I don’t think social will allow them to come back to me.
There is a lot of false accusations going around. We r in pre proceedings now. Not finding any support to help us.
Please can anyone advise us on who can help.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Crispy,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the kinship carers’ forum.

You say that you have 2 grandchildren who are living with you and your husband. Their mother has substance abuse and mental health issues. From what I understand, there is a special guardianship order in place. You say both children have ASD and AHD and require a lot of support, however you do not feel this was offered. Your eldest grandson experienced challenges when moving to secondary school and began to run away – he was then suspended. You do not feel you received any support from children’s services during this time. Since then, you were hurt by the children, and children’s services took them into care. The case is in pre-proceedings, and you do not think children’s services will allow them to return to you. You say that there are a lot of false accusations and that you do not feel you have any help.

Firstly, I am sorry to hear that you are in this situation and this is understandably very distressing.

You are currently in pre-proceedings in respect of your grandchildren. The pre-proceedings process is a chance for you to work with children’s service. The aim is to get to a point where children’s services are satisfied that you can care for the children safely. This should also be an opportunity for children’s services to put in place support for the family, where needed.

If there is a special guardianship order in place, this means that you have parental responsibility for your grandchildren and are entitled to non-means test legal aid. Have you found a solicitor yet? If not, you may find it helpful to look here here for information on how to do this.

I am not sure what stage of the pre-proceedings process you are in – you may or may not have a had an initial PLO meeting. You should attend this meeting with your solicitor, and together with children’s services, a pre-proceedings plan should be developed. This will make clear what the concerns are and what steps can be taken to address these. Children’s services may want you to engage in some assessments. This is also the chance for you to put forward what support you would like in place in order for your grandchildren to return safely. If there are any concerns you do not agree with, your solicitor can advise and advocate for you.

It may be helpful for you to take a look at our top tips on working with a social worker and our top tips on working with a solicitor for information on how to get the most out of these working relationships.

For more information about pre-proceedings, take a look at our webpage here.

You say your grandchildren are in foster care. I am assuming this is under a section 20 agreement. This means that the local authority are accommodating your grandchildren without the objection of anyone who has parental responsibility for them. If you were to withdraw your consent, and children’s services do not think it is safe for your grandchildren to return to you, they would have to consider whether to seek escalate the matter to court.

Children accomodated under section 20 are considered looked after children. This means your grandchildren should have a care plan which outlines how their needs in care are being met. It should also include a plan for their permanence – if there is a plan for them to return to your care, the path towards this should be clear. You should be included in looked after child reviews and you should know who the independent reviewing officer (IRO) is. If you have any concerns about your grandchildren’s care, you can speak to the IRO about this. It is also important that the local authority continues to promote contact between you and your grandchildren, even if they are not living with you at the moment. For more information on children accomodated under section 20, take a look here.

Finally, you may find it helpful to ask your social worker to arrange an advocate for you. An advocate can help you communicate with the local authority and clearly put forward your views and wishes.
I hope you have found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie.