Parental responsibility

[SK64]

Pleasr help my son has been placed in care of father we are in PLO Dad has moved to new nursery no one informed me or his permanent move to different county i rang his new nursery to make an appointment to view Nursery informed me social services had informed them i had no parent responsibility and couldn't look round the nursery i recorded this telephone conversation How can they say. I dont have PR When no court order has been applied for we are in pre proceedings They are constantly lieing how do i get an Advocacy for myself and my 9 year old daughter she is currently living with a friend under sec 20 because she refuses to live with her dad Domestic Abuse and hes physically been violent to her hes threatened to hurt her infont of a social worker and a independent witness. Whzt should i do

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear SK64

Thank you for your post and welcome to the Board.

I am sorry to read that you have been misinformed about the legal status of your son. Parental responsibility is automatically acquired by birth mothers when a child is born, you have not ‘lost’ yours! Our advice sheet about Parental Responsibility will tell you more.

If Children’s Services have issued a letter before proceedings then you should find a solicitor as soon as possible, you can find one that specialises in Family Law from the Law Society.

If you or your children have experienced domestic abuse it may be wise to raise the matter with the social worker who was present during the incident and or her/his manager. May I suggest that you seek some support from Women’s Aid.

Our advice sheet about Care (and related) proceedings may be useful to you. If you would like to speak to our advisers on our confidential helpline, please call us on 0808 801 0366. We are open Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3.00pm.

Best wishes,

Suzie