At the end of my tether

[amicipat]

Firstly, apologies if this is not in the correct part of the forum I do not use many forums in general.

Rather than give a monologue of our problem I thought I could start with one part of the problem at a time.

My daughter has had learning difficulties all her life, and so do most of her children. She has been a very good mother to them all and no problems until now.

Her youngest daughter who is 16 told her teacher at her 'special school' that something 'inappropriate' had happened to her in relation to 2 of her elder brothers. I am not sure of the exact meaning and wording, but the police and Social Services became involved. Police interviewed them all and no case was ever proved or taken further. However, Social Services arrived at my daughters' home one day, unannounced and they had papers which they told my daughter she had to sign or else she would be taken to Court. My daughter had had altercations with the female social worker on a previous visit and refused to let her into the house, but said the male worker could enter. She signed the papers. She cannot read or communicate well, and often raises her voice, a family trait as I too raise my voice when challenged - a coping mechanism. With out any knowledge, Her daughter was then taken into care the next day direct from school!!, which she now continues to be at, along with one of her brothers who was the alleged abuser!

I became involved at that stage and informed social services that I would be willing to take her daughter into my home on a permanent basis.

OK, so many problems have arisen over the past 3 weeks, resulting in Social Services refusing to answer, e mails, telephone calls etc. with either myself or my daughter.

Yesterday, we visited her school together to see if we could find out any information as we had heard nothing. We were ushered quickly into a room and Social Services were contacted over the telephone. Without us being able to utter one single word, we were accused of trying to take my granddaughter out of school and disappear with her!! My daughter was told to take the 'phone and talk with Social Services. She was told she had signed a Section 20 Agreement and none of us would ever be able to have contact with my granddaughter again!

Can this be so! I have today, telephoned every Solicitors' firm within a 60 miles radius and because I am a pensioner and my daughter is on disability benefits, none of these firms is will to assist us so we are on our own. We have no Police Records, or history with Social Services save when one of my daughters' died leaving me to bring up her 22 month old daughter, who I had to place with Social Services whilst undergoing Cancer treatment. At the time 30 years' ago, the same social services department told me I should have been able to cope, even as a single grandparent!.

Before giving more insight to our dealing through this time with the authorities I thought we would ask for advise on the above. Many thanks in advance.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear amicipat

Welcome to the Family Rights Group Parents’ Discussion Forum and thank you for your post.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group. I can see that your family has had a difficult time recently due to disclosures made by your granddaughter at school.

Just to explain, if Children Services (new name for social services), receive a safeguarding referral relating to a child/children, they have a duty to investigate. The disclosures made by your granddaughter appears to have been a serious one as the police considered it necessary to carry out an investigation. Although the police decided not to pursue the matter, this does not affect the duty the children services has to safeguard a child. The police and children services are looking a very different issues. Children services want to ensure a child is in a safe environment and the police are trying to find evidence which could lead to a prosecution. A copy our advice sheet explaining the action children services take when a referral is received is here for your information.

If your daughter was asked to sign a s.20 agreement, this should have been properly explained to her so she would be aware of her legal rights and what signing a s.20 agreement means. Signing a s.20 agreement means that the child or children are being placed voluntarily in the care of the local authority and are ‘looked after’ although not formally in care. Please read our advice sheet about the duties that children service have when a child is in the care system.

Has your daughter been told by the social worker what concerns they have about her care of your granddaughter and why they believe she should be in foster care at the moment. You say your granddaughter is 16, was it her wish to be away from home? A child of 16 can ask children services to provide accommodation in some circumstances.

It would be very wrong for the social worker to simply threaten your daughter with court to get her to sign documents. I am sorry that your daughter has not been able to identify a solicitor who can assist her in respect of the current situation. I suggest that she go to her local Citizen’s Advice Bureau or Law Centre as they might be able to advise her about the situation. Also, you could use the Law Society website (Find a Solicitor) to find a solicitor who is accredited to the Children Panel. Your daughter should explain that she does not read very well and was threatened into signing the document. Hopefully, she will find a solicitor who can help.

The social worker should explain whether an assessment is being carried out and what plans they have for your granddaughter’s future care. Your daughter can withdraw her consent to the s.20 but I would not advise her to do so without getting legal advice first.

As your daughter has a learning disability it might help if she had an advocate to help her in meetings with children services and to get her voice heard. She might want to contact this organisation Advocacy for All on 020 8300 9666. Your daughter can also ask the social worker to arrange for her to have an advocate because of her learning disability.

The social worker should have provided your daughter with a placement plan when your granddaughter was moved to foster carers. It is wrong for the social worker to say that you daughter would not be able to have contact. Your daughter should ask for details of the independent reviewing officer (IRO) who has been allocated as your granddaughter is a looked after child. Your daughter will be able to discuss contact and any other concerns about her daughter’s placement with the IRO.

You do not say whether or not you are going to be assessed as a possible carer for your granddaughter. If you had involvement with children services in the past then this might have a bearing on whether you are able to care for your granddaughter but they should look at your current situation and base any assessment on now.

As your granddaughter is 16, her wishes and feelings has to be considered by the social worker when plans are being made about her.

Please do telephone our free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366 should you wish to speak to an adviser. The advice line is open Monday to Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

I hope you find this helpful/

Best wishes

Suzie