Grandparent contact

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear NannaK76,

Welcome to the kinship carers’ forum and thank you for your post.

You do not need to get permission to move to Scotland (you can move anywhere in the UK) however I would advise that you contact the local authority who were involved in the making of the SGO to inform them of your plans.

Please see our ‘advice sheet 2e) Practical and financial support for special guardians’ for more information about what happens if you move to a different area. Please use the link HERE and scroll down. Page 8 of this advice sheet (Section 13) has information about this.

I hope that the above is of some help. Please post again if you have any further queries or you can call our free confidential helpline on 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm) to speak with one of our advisers.

Best wishes,
Suzie

[GrannyJ]

Hello,
This concerns my viability assessment seeking the care, as Maternal grandmother, of 3 of my grandchildren.
There are sadly many non-factual statements contained within this. After talking to yourselves and taking advice from a solicitor , I returned a challenge to the Assessment based on the template you provide on your website.
However there has been no attempt to rectify these and the only response I have had is to seek legal advice.
I have asked repeatedly for contact with the children but am being denied this also.
I think my next step is to apply for contact through the courts?
Also my viability assessment states that a Risk Assessment was made because of me allowing contact between my grandson and his mother. This is just not true and I can support this with evidence but also I had no knowledge of this Risk Assessment at all. The solicitor and Barrister I spoke to advised me to ask for a copy of this Risk Assessment which I have done, this is also being ignored. Do I have a right to see this? I have looked at the criteria related to Risk assessments and cannot see how this was completed without my knowledge and involving my grandson to query this contact? He is aged 9 so would have been able to answer any question on this alleged risk?
Ultimately I want my Viability Assessment to be completed fairly based in the childrens interests and remaining in their home location to continue school and their friendships and remain in contact with their wider family, everyone in the family including the parents would like this but Social Services seem intent on moving them out of area.
The non-factual statements include things such as I struggle to walk, I walked approx 5 miles yesterday? I have a Blue badge, I do not. I co-habit, I do not co habit and it then goes on to mention that I have a good relationship functioning well as couples with my ex husband and his partner. She has never met the gentleman mentioned? It is a fabrication with no evidence to support it.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

GrannyJ
Welcome to the kinship carers’ discussion forum thank you for posting.

My name is Suzie online adviser at Family Rights Group and I will be responding to your post stop.

I see from your post that you have had a negative viability assessment which you challenged with children services but they have not made any changes to the assessment stop. In your post you mentions that there are a lot of in accuracies in relation to what the social worker has stated in the report about your circumstances, so if there are factual inaccuracies is in the report then children services should ensure that these are corrected and that the right information is preferred for quote the right information is before the court.

It may be that if you wish to be reassessed that you can make an application to the court to be joined as a party to the ongoing care proceedings and for a further assessment to be done by an independent social worker. To make an application to be joined as a party you would need to complete a C2 application form and pay the appropriate court fees. Alternatively, you could write a letter to the court addressing your letter to the judge (you will need to quote the case reference number) explaining that you do not consider the assessment that children services have carried out to be fair and state that despite your request, for factual inaccuracies to be amended this has not been done. You can also mention the fact that a risk assessment was supposedly carried out, but you were given no indication that this was being done or what risk children’s services were assessing. The date of the final hearing will be an important factor, as delaying the case may not be the best thing for the children. Perhaps you could speak with daughter’s solicitor, if possible, about doing this.
,
Please see information relating to care proceedings

Children services have a duty to promote contact between a child who is been looked after with their parents and offer significant members of the extended family where it is in the child’s best interests. I suggest you put your request for contact in writing to the social worker and for a written response explaining the reasons should your request be refused. Here is information about contact

During the court proceedings children’s services will say what they consider is the best long-term plan for the children if they are unable to return to their parents either one or both and no family member has a positive assessment to care for them. The final decision is for the court to make and will take account of what the children’s guardian and the other parties have to say. The court will consider the welfare of the children and what is best for them long term.

If children’s services is granted a care order then they will be able to make decisions about where the children live as they will have parental responsibility. The important thing now is for the parents to work with children’s services to address the concerns that led to the children being removed.

I hope you find this helpful, but should you wish to speak to an adviser you can telephone the advice line again.

Best wishes

Suzie

[GrannyJ]

Thank you Suzie helpful advice