Advice needed on children protection plan

[Angelfrake]

My ex partner has one of our sons living with him, social services have done 5 assessments on him and our son is only 5 years old. They have stuck him on a children protection plan for neglect, I've had concerns and social services have known that but can I get my child back living with me and his brother and sister because he is on the children protection plan or will I need to take it to court. Not sure what I can do as social services ain't really being helpful in that situation. Thanks in advance.

[ange301126]

Dear angelfrake,

Is your ex- talking to you?
If he is amenable to it, he may agree to let the child live with you for a while rather than risk the social workers getting increasingly hostile.
A five-year old needs his mother.Try as your ex might, a man cannot replace a Mum because they are not natural child-carers particularly for younger children.Little things they do such as not washing a child regularly as a mother would do can easily be depicted as significant neglect by a social worker looking for a medal! The child might go in to school one day and complain Dad overllaid and didn't make breakfast.That can be misconstrued and described as starving a child! not natural
Whether he agrees or not, tell him in no uncrtain terms never to sign an S20 ( a voluntary-care agreement)

[Angelfrake]

Hi ange301126,

Thanks for the reply, we do talk and I have said to him on a couple of occasions that social services won't stop and if he wants what's best for our son to hand him back to me but he is fall blank refusing saying our son is not a any risk and that they are picking on him because he is a single dad but they have huge concerns with our son being exposed to some sort of sexual indecency, him being late for school everyday and not taking him out and about, they even said he not getting the stimulation that a 5 year old needs. I've seemed legal advice and they just said that all I can do is say to social services I want our son with me and leave it with them.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi angelfrake,

Welcome to the parents forum.

I can see that you are, like children services, worried about your son’s welfare. You have listed the risk of abuse but also the neglect that he is suffering. He is on a child protection plan so children services suspect that he is suffering significant harm and that this risk is on going.

It is important that you make your worries about your son’s welfare known to the social worker. Let her know that you are prepared to go to court for an order. Make sure that you are involved in the child protection process.
Go to the core group meetings and the next review conference.
Make sure that you understand and follow the child protection plan.

Going to court for a child arrangements order

You as Mum will have parental responsibility to make decisions about your son. You do not say whether dad has parental responsibility or whether he has a child arrangements order from the court saying that your son is to live with him.

I suggest that you let the social worker know your concerns and that you wish your son to live with you. Find out what her views are. If you were to seek a court order, she may be asked by the court to prepare a welfare report.

If dad has parental responsibility (see pages 2 and 3 of our advice sheet) and as dad does not agree to your son living with you, the way forward may be to ask the court for a child arrangements order.

I cannot give detailed advice about the court process as this is not in our remit.
You could contact Rights of Women for advice. Or go back to your solicitor. As your son is subject to a child protection plan, this may mean that you could have legal aid to make an application to court if you are also on a low income or welfare benefits.

I hope this helps but please post back if you need further advice.

Best wishes,

Suzie

[Angelfrake]

Hi Suzie,

Thanks for the advice, I've been going to all the meetings and they are well aware of my concerns, they have even come out to mine and done an assessment on myself my other kids my partner and where we are living and only got the report back and they have no concerns here so bot sure if they did that to see If its suitable for my son to come back here and live.
There another core meeting next week and have written down everything I want to say and what id like to happen, my ex partner said he not extending that meeting because he doesn't want to go but that's up to him I guess.
I'm hoping that they will listen to me when I say I'd like our son to live with me and I want their dad to have supervised assess for the time been.

Thanks again for your message and advice.
Regards
Angelfrake