Elder son in care baby removed need help

[Ke 91]

Hi
I'm a new member my elder son was removed from me last year he's in long term Foster care now he's 7 years old
He had some burns injuries that he said happened with the hair dryer but later on said that dad caused them injuries I was not home so don't know how they happened
I was 6 weeks pregnant when they removed him
My baby was removed in May from hospital when he was 4 days old
I'm in court for my baby they said they will put him with my cousin but now they are saying no to them as well
I don't know what to do I want my boys home with me my barrister keeps saying I won't get my baby back as the judgement was made for me to failed to protect my child from abuse
No one believes me I don't know what to do I have left my ex straight away
I have done freedom project parenting courses respectful relationships
Doing everything still not getting my baby back
I'm so much scared if they put him for adoption
Kindly help me and guide me

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Ke 91,

Welcome to the Parent’s Forum. I am sorry to hear that your little boy suffered a burn and that he is in foster care. I am also sorry that your baby was removed from you when he was only 4 says old. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you.

Now your barrister has told you that you will not get your baby back as the judgement (I assume in respect of your older son) said you had "failed to protect" him from being abused by your partner.

Can your barrister or solicitor explain how this decision was made and what else you could do-even in the future? Get them to put their advice in writing.

Was the judgment of the court transcribed (written)? If so, get a copy as this. It will explain why the court has made this decision.

You say you have completed the freedom programme and other support and left father- so can now protect your baby. Have you done enough or did they want you to do more?
Have you had a re- assessment since you have completed the courses to find out whether you can protect your baby because of all the work you have done?

Here is information from the Child Protection Resource that sets out how courts deal with physical abuse.

It sounds like you are towards the end of the care proceedings about your baby. At the end of the care proceedings, the judge will decide where you baby will live.
First, the court will consider you and the father. If the court says that it is not safe enough for you to care for baby, then the court will want to consider "connected people" such as friends and family and others such as foster carers who could care for your baby.

You say your cousins failed their assessment. Do you have any other friends or family who could be assessed?
They can be local to you but also people from other parts of the UK or the world.
A social worker can travel abroad to do assessments.
CFAB (children and families across borders) could also advise.

If you know anyone, ask them to contact children services or you could give their details to the social worker.

If there is no one, then the court will consider adoption.
Your cousin could speak to an adviser on our advice line or speak to a solicitor to see whether they could challenge the social workers negative assessment.
Here are our FAQ's about care proceedings .


I hope my advice helps. If you need further advice, please post again or call our advice line on 0808 801 0366.
Best wishes,
Suzie

[Ke 91]

Hi
Hope you are fine
Fast forward the case is still on going
Guardian and LA wants a placement order for my my baby and I'm contesting it
He's 9 months old now
Everyone is bringing history of DV relations and that I don't cry and show emotions like they want
I jave done a lot of work parenting, freedom project, freedom forever, respectful relationships, mentoring courses
I'm doing Health and Social care level 3 at college as well
Can I still fight it and get a chance to get baby back home or mother and baby unit could be an option
Kindly reply

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Ke91

Thank you very much for your updating post.

Your baby son’s case is still in court but must be close to concluding. Both the Guardian and the Local Authority are recommending that the court make a placement order for your son which would allow him to be placed for adoption and which you are contesting. You want to know what you can still do now to prevent this from happening and if a mother and baby unit is still an option.

You have done a lot of work during this time to work on some of the challenges you have had in your life. Well done for doing this work during this difficult time. Have you had a re-assessment during the proceedings to take account of the programmes you have done and whether they have helped you to be able to parent safely?

You mention concerns about how you manage emotions – was this identified during a psychological assessment and if so what/if any were the recommendations in relation to therapy?

I know family members have had a negative assessment in the past – did they contest this as suggested in my last response or are there any other family members or friends in your network who might be suitable to be assessed? Make sure they are put forward urgently if so in order that they can be assessed.

If your baby son has been in foster care since birth it is probably unlikely that you and he would be placed in a mother and baby unit at this stage. However you should definitely be asking your solicitor about this and about any other possible options or proposals that you can ask the court to consider. This is the time to be as proactive as you can in liaising with your solicitor who will have specific knowledge of your situation; they are best placed to advise about and prepare you for the court. It is also very important that you keep working with the social worker.

Have you seen part 3 ‘What does it mean for a child to be placed for adoption’ in our advice sheet Adoption: What does it mean for birth parents? which sets out all that is involved before this can happen.

This is the crucial time as once a placement order is made there are only very limited circumstances in which you can later ask a court to end it or argue against adoption.

Here are our FAQs on Adoption .

Because adoption is being considered for your baby you should be offered a support worker who is independent of your child’s social worker and your older child in foster care should also be offered support. You can find information about this at the back of our advice sheet (linked above).

I hope this is helpful.

Please do post again if you have a further query or if you would like to speak to an adviser please ring our freephone helpline on 0808 801 0366 Mon to Fri 9.30 am to 3.00 pm (except on bank holidays).

With best wishes

Suzie

[Ke 91]

Hi
They have found a family for my son to be placed with had my final contact 2 weeks ago
I'm going to contest adoption as the reason for him to be adopted is risk of future emotional harm
I have done some more courses and I'm single for 2 years
I will contest it
If not can I go to high court??
Please guide me or shall I apply to revoke placement order before the adoption application goes in court
Thanks

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Ke 91

Welcome back to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post.

I am sorry to hear that you have had your final contact with your son, as children’s services have found adopters for him.

I think that your son must be subject to a placement order – the last time you posted that was a possibility but the court had not decided; you were still in care proceedings. Have they now come to an end? In my response to your last post we discussed how once a placement order is made there are only very limited circumstances in which you can later ask a court to end it or argue against adoption. We also signposted to support for parents which you are entitled to once adoption is put forward as a possible plan for your child. It could be a good idea to access some adoption support now as your situation has changed.

You could ring our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri 9.30 to 3.00 pm to talk to an adviser and to clarify the current situation. The advice below is general as some of the information is unclear.

If there is a placement order in place, has your son been placed with the proposed adopters yet?

You want to argue against the decision. I think, from the information provided, that you are wanting to argue that adoption is no longer the best plan for your son as you have made changes in the last two years. You spoke about the work you have done last time and you are obviously trying hard to do things differently. Sometimes even when a parent has made a lot of improvements it is not enough because it is a very difficult task to prevent a child being adopted if a court has decided that adoption is best for him.

When the placement order was made you probably discussed with your solicitor if there were grounds to appeal – which should be made within 21 days of the order. Otherwise you would have to apply for permission to appeal out of time.

If you wanted to apply to revoke a placement order you would have to get the court’s permission first – this is dependent on there being a change of circumstances. You also cannot apply if your child has been placed with the proposed adopters which is why I was querying that above.

These are very specialist areas of law and it would be best for you to discuss with a solicitor – the solicitor who represented you in the care proceedings may be the best person to begin with. If you haven’t already got a transcript of the judgement you could request this.
If you were planning to represent yourself as a litigant in person you could contact Advocate to see if they could assist you. You may be able to get advice from the Royal Courts of Justice Advice Service .

I hope this has helped a little.

Best wishes

Suzie