Contact with my 15 year old

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eng65
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 5:03 pm

Contact with my 15 year old

Post by eng65 » Tue Nov 18, 2014 10:51 pm

My daughter is 15; she is in the care of the (LA) and lives with foster mum. At the Courts final hearing, contact with my daughter was set to 2 hours, every two months but I think this can be adjusted by the S/Ws.

Sometime back my daughter wanted to see me more, the S/Ws agreed to her seeing me once a week for three hours. As time has moved on, she wanted more contact with me, but the S/Ws wouldn’t budge. At this stage, she is prepared to go against what they say, but I am asking what is the outcome doing this? She is under a high court order, and I don’t want problems that could have been avoided. This is so new to me so i don't know.

Thank you.

Eng65

ange301126
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:27 pm

Re: Contact with my 15 year old

Post by ange301126 » Wed Nov 19, 2014 6:25 am

Dear eng65,

Suzie will advise you of your options shortly. I don't know for sure, but can advise you from what I have picked up on the forums.

I lost my contact-order application because the judges usually follow the Guardian's recommendations and the Guardians ,of course,do have a habit of helping social workers.Mind you,your case is different because your child can express herself and wants to see more of you.If you apply to Court, they will have to take her views into account.Because of that, you are in a relatively strong position and if you do apply you should also ask for unsupervised contact in the community.

When your daughter is 16, she can do pretty much what she wants and if she wants to go home,you will be in a good position to get the care-order discharged.You won't necessarily have to wait 'til she's 18. If you knew this already, bear with me; just tryng to help.
Last edited by ange301126 on Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

eng65
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 5:03 pm

Re: Contact with my 15 year old

Post by eng65 » Wed Nov 19, 2014 7:23 am

Thanks for this ange
Just need to no what postion this could lead to when S/W are denied their own way and they let go their arsenal of this n that.

Than you

eng65

ange301126
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:27 pm

Re: Contact with my 15 year old

Post by ange301126 » Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:12 am

Dear eng65,

I suppose they could argue that your daughter is mentally incapable because of age or disability of making her own decisions and that she is vulnerable.In anticipation of that,you might obtain an independent assessment of her capabilities first to take to court.Take them by surprise.

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Contact with my 15 year old

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Fri Nov 28, 2014 8:56 am

Dear eng65

I am sorry that we appeared to overlook your post.

It is true that your daughter's ages, wishes and feelings will be taken into account both now and when she reaches 16. The Looked After Review process could also be used for this purpose ie if she attends in person or has an advocate present, it is possible a request for increased contact could be looked on favourably if it is assessed to be in her best interests.

The main issue you have is the timescale from when the order was first made. For instance, if the care order was granted fairly recently, they would have already carefully considered these factors. This means your argument for taking it back to court at this stage may be weaker, and it would not be advisable to ignore the recommendations of the Local Authority as you will just be assessed as uncooperative and possibly obstructive.

However, if it is some time since the court made their decision, and you have evidence of good quality, interaction and ability to meet her physical and emotional needs on a sustained basis then you could consider applying for a child arrangement order on this basis.

If you wish to discuss your situation in more detail, please feel free to speak to an adviser on our advice line on 0808 801 0366 Monday to Friday 09.30 am to 03.00 pm.

I hope this helps.

Best Wishes

Suzie

zeta
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2015 5:09 pm

Re: Contact with my 15 year old

Post by zeta » Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:01 pm

Hi,
I to have a 16 year old in carer,she was a self harming and was into EMO web sites.

I had 3 children taken from me because of that but I fought them in court and I won them back with in 6 months ,but it was 2.5 weeks she then was 16 and decided to be with her carers and move to a beach caravan,80 miles away from us and her twin,I have 5 children 2 been to uni twins at college and 11 in primary school,social services use every dirty trick in their books to put us down,i had good evidence as good parent married for 24 years same dad to all the children,but that dint stop them trying and put you down.
Make sure you have every thing down on paper names, appointments,places because they will try.

good luck and tell her how much she means to you.

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