Please Advise or give your thoughts

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heartbroken80
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:24 pm

Please Advise or give your thoughts

Post by heartbroken80 » Fri Sep 08, 2017 7:17 pm

Hello all,

I really need some views on my case.

My son of 2 1/2 was removed from my care in June *** this year.
I had accidently taken too many tablets which were not prescribed for me. I became very unwell and my next memory was waking up in intensive care.
My Mum was at my home and was keeping an eye on my son.
my boyfriend (he isn't the father) came home after 2am as he works in security. He ended up calling 999 as my breathing started to get really bad.
i have no recollection of what happened from 6pm onwards.
When I woke up in intensive care I was told that childrens service wanted to speak to me.
i ended up seeing them and they said that if I didn't sign a paper for my son to go into voluntary care that they would get the police to remove him.
I was extremely distressed.
i called the legal aid department and they were busy trying to find me a lawyer.
i ended up signing the paper and my sister took my son to her home.
I was informed that they were concerned by the state of my home. I did not understand what they were talking about.
i found out that medication was all over my living room.
My Mum who had stayed that night didn't realise how ill I was.
As I slipped in and out of conciousness she was pouring water over my head to keep me awake, this caused my carpets in my hallway to be soaked.
When my boyfriend called 999 the paramedics arrived and reported me to social services.
I do understand why they intervened then.
Anyway, the social worker I was allocated has caused so much hassle.
She has literally fabricated lots of things. She even said my son had tried to insert his fingers into his 6 year old cousins vagina.
This is a lie, all he did was prodded her near her crotch when she was fully clothed.
The social worker tried to say that he had maybe been subjected to sexual abuse.
My sister was horrified by this and wrote a statement saying it wasn't true.
The social worker got information about the father of my son from facebook. She blurted out during a meeting that he had a daughter six weeks younger than my son.
This is false, she went on a profile on facebook and just assumed that a man with the same name and who is black (my son is mixed race) was the father. This piece of information has gone down as fact.
She has made up so many things that even my sister has told me that she does not trust her.
My son now is still with my sister but is moving next week to a foster home. A lot of this is due to the rubbish that the social worker came out with and also the fact that my sister did not get enough support.
I admit that they are being really positive about me but this whole ordeal has made me so ill.
I have a dependance on codeine and they have said i don't need to be medication free but just on a safe amount.
We are due the last court case at the end of february but the social worker has said that it doesn't mean that my son can't come home until then.
They have increased my contact by half an hour and seem to be singing my praises.
However, none of this changes the fact that so many lies and false information about my son has been given.
The social worker said 'I shouldn't say this as I am a social worker, but my job is to find evidence of why your son can't come home, but you are not giving me anything' my lawyer said she should not have said this. My sister gave evidence proving this was said as she was present.
She did say in 8 years of being a social worker that she has never seen someone work so hard to get their child back.
My question is what do I do about this? She has lied a lot and has lied to the judge too.
Surely something can be done? It isn't right that someone in such an important job about having a child returned to a family can get so much wrong.
Please advise me as I can't take much more.
thanks
***edited to maintain confidentiality

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
Posts: 4207
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Please Advise or give your thoughts

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Wed Sep 13, 2017 4:29 pm

Dear heartbroken80

Thanks for your further post.

I see that you are still feeling very frustrated by the whole process with children’s services and thee social worker in particular.

You are now in care proceedings see our advice sheet about care proceedings . You should engage and work with your solicitor who has all the information about your case. If there are inaccuracies in the account the social worker gives in her statement or minutes of meetings then you should inform your solicitor so that he or she can bring these to the attention of the legal department at the local authority. In the court proceedings you will be given an opportunity to do a statement in response to what is put before the court to support children’s services case. This will give you the space to address inaccuracies.

It is positive that you are having more time with your son in contact although I understand that what you want is to have him home. The court is going to be making the final decision about where you son will live at the final hearing. What you need to do now is continue to engage with children’s services and do as best you can all that is required of you. Your legal team will, I think, be preparing our case to show that it is best for your son to be in your care.

In your post you say that positive things are being said about you and you should try to take strength from all the positive things you are doing now and continue to do that. I understand that it is hard and frustrating when you think that you are in the right and others do not agree but you must focus on showing that your son will be safe with you.

Discuss with your solicitor the things that concern you and try not to get ill now. Children’s services' role is to work with families to keep children safe in their homes not to find reasons why a child cannot remain with the family. Despite what the social worker is saying she recognises that you are doing all you can to have your son home. Focus on the fact that she does not make that decision and she will be challenged by your legal representative at the final hearing when they have the opportunity to question her on what she has written in her statement.

You can of course make a formal complaint about how your case has been handled and if you want to go down this route, discuss this with your solicitor before doing so. A copy of our advice sheet relating to complaints is here for your information.

Was your sister assessed as a foster carer for your son when he was placed with her? See our advice sheet about the support that should be offered to family and friends caring for someone else's child.

If you would like to speak to an adviser at Family Rights Group, you can telephone our free, confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie

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