Failed IVA due to my autistic son

[12AB!!@]

I was put forward to become a kinship carer for my niece as out of all family available myself and husband are only ones stable, secure etc.
Anyway, social told me that I was the only option but when they came to my home they said they are going for full removal and adoption but going through formalities as that's what the judge has ordered.
They were in my home questioning my husband and I for nearly 5 hours and a few days later they called to say they would not be putting us forward as potential carers for my niece due to the fact my son is on the autism spectrum.
Therefore I would be unable to provide the baby with the care she needed.
My son is youngest of 4. Old enough to be able to do things for himself, verbal and mobile.
As they have already made their mind up to remove, can they use my son's autism as a reason to fail assessment?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear 12AB!!@

Welcome to the kinship carers’ board. Thank you for your post. My name is Suzie. I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear about the difficulties your family are experiencing.

Children’s services are involved with your baby niece. There are care proceedings taking place to decide on who will care for her permanently and also, I think, who will care for her temporarily. From the information provided, your niece is still living with her parent/s but children’s services intend asking the court to make an interim care order which will allow her to be removed from their care.

You and your husband came forward to be assessed to care for her but unfortunately have been told that this initial viability assessment was negative. The reason given by children’s services was that your son’s needs due to his autism would mean that you would not be able to provide the baby with the care needed. You were also told that they were going through ‘formalities’ but will be seeking removal and adoption.

I am sorry to hear that your assessment was negative. However, you can, of course, challenge this if you would like to. I will provide advice below about how to do so.

However, I just wanted to clarify that children’s services are legally required to assess parents and family members before considering placing a child with unrelated carers; the child has a right to be cared for by a parent or family member as long as it is safe and in their best interests.

You can find a summary of the law on kinship care here.

Adoption must also be considered as a possible plan for a child, especially a baby. But adoption is always a last resort. The court is responsible for deciding what the best long-term plan for a child is.

Your niece’s parents are entitled to legal aid to have solicitors represent them. If the parents also disagree with your negative assessment they can raise this with their solicitors and the court too.

We have specific advice for relatives who have initial viability assessments about what to expect during the process and what to do if the assessment is negative. Please see this detailed guide here.

The most relevant information for you as prospective kinship carers is the information sheet in the Appendix from page 49 onwards. Paragraph 10 explains what to do if your assessment is negative which I will summarise below.

However, the first thing to do is to make sure that you have a written copy of the assessment which you should go through very carefully and highlight any areas of disagreement including the reason given for your assessment being unsuccessful.
The social worker should also provide you with a letter saying why they are not assessing you further and setting out all the possible options. These are:

• Accepting the decision;
• Writing a letter that explains why you disagree, or whether you think things in the report are wrong. That letter can then be attached to the report so that anyone who reads it sees your side;
• Getting independent legal advice. You can ring Family Rights Group’s free independent specialist advice line. You may wish to seek advice from a lawyer on the Law Society Children Panel, although this may not be free, and it will therefore be important for you to find out first what it would cost to get this advice;
• Asking the court to agree to an independent assessment of your ability to care for your niece;
• Going to a court hearing to ask the court to make a legal order that the child come to live with you if the child can’t be with their parents.

It may be that you would want to pursue more than one option, and if you disagree with the outcome of the assessment it is likely that you will want to explain that to the local authority, get independent legal advice, and perhaps also attend court.

We have a template letter that you can adapt and use to assist you to challenge the negative assessment. It is letter 3 which you can find here. This helps you set out your argument and also address the area of concern noted by the social worker in their assessment. In your case, they are concerned about the demands of caring for your own autistic son and meeting the needs of your niece who is a baby who may have suffered harm in some way. You can consider how you would care for both children, what support /services you have in place or would need to be offered to allow you to meet both children’s needs.

If you would like to discuss this with an adviser please call the freephone advice line on 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm. Or just post back on this forum with any queries about this or any other issues to do with children’s services’ involvement.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie