Special Guardianship Orders

Starzsh
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:43 pm

Special Guardianship Orders

Post by Starzsh » Sat Sep 03, 2011 3:10 am

Just wondering if there are any Birth Parents out there who have children who have a Special Guardianship Order. Just feel very lonely in this and could do with making contact with people in the same situation, that's all just now.

Thanks for listening

xx

a2179
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2011 8:46 pm

Re: Special Guardianship Orders

Post by a2179 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:45 pm

Hi I am a birth parent whose child is on a residence order not an SGO, I know its not the same but it is similar in many respects. I would assume you are a birth parent with a child on an SGO??? Anyway if you are looking for some support I would be very pleased to make contact. I myself have searched high and low looking for support or for people in a similar situation - however I have found it difficult I think because often when as parents we lose our children for whatever reason it creates a stigma that we are terrible people who dont deserve any support ourselves because we are deemed unfit to care for our children.
I have lived with guilt and shame over the reasons my child has had to live away from me and its caused untold pain and misery but I speak for myself here as I cant speak for anyone else - Im now in a position where I have alot of regular contact with my child and I am working very hard to live a life that not only promotes a sense of self respect and well being for me but also offers my child consistency and trust something that is so easy to lose but takes a long time to regain.
I dont know what your circumstances are but maybe knowing there is someone else out there who is in a similar position to you will be beneficial : )
Sometimes its very hard to accept the reasons as to why we failed to be good parents the reasons intervention was necessary and then have to stand back and watch others do all the things with our children that we wish we could be doing Ive had to take a very long hard look at myself to realise that without the help from relatives and the intervention from Childrens Services my child could of ended up in a much worse position - but I'm also human! and some days I feel desperately inadequate and frustrated that its not me at the school gate everyday and I have to be told when I can and cant see my child - unfortunately its a very bitter pill to swallow and Ive had nowhere to go to talk about all these feelings - for the fear of being told - well if you hadnt of done this and behaved like that etc you wouldnt be in this position : (
Anyway I hope my insight into my experience might benefit you in some small way it was a while ago that you posted so hopefully you might of found some other support by now Ive been very fortunate that Ive had other services to assist me with the problems that led me to losing my child but Ive never really had anywhere to go to talk about this so perhaps we can offer each other some support,
Take care for now :)

ange301126
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:27 pm

Re: Special Guardianship Orders

Post by ange301126 » Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:46 am

I do not know much about special guardianship orders but have been threatened with one by a social worker if I say anything out of order at any LAC review. Apparently they are used most often in cases where there is no adoption order in place and a child is in long-term foster care.It gives foster carers more rights to act in the children's interests being a sort of half-way house between fostering and adoption . It also means natural parents have less rights.If Children's services want one of these orders then I believe they have to go to court to have one issued .Obviously ,as with their other applications,99.5% are granted as courts grant them favour. At least,this is how SGO's were explained to me by a barrister

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

Re: Special Guardianship Orders

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:24 pm

Hi,

Thanks to you both for responding to this post. Ange I’m concerned that the social worker has “threatened” you with a Special Guardianship Order as this is not how they are supposed to be used. I’m also concerned that you have not been given the correct information by the barrister as some of what you have written is not technically correct and I do want to clarify these points.

A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) would not be applied for or granted to Children’s Services. SGO’s are applied for by the person who is caring for the child and who wishes to make their home the child’s permanent home and be a long term carer for the child. They last until the child is 18, unless the court brings them to an end sooner. Sometimes the carer has been a foster carer first but it is not necessary for them to be, for example the parents might have placed the child/ren with the carer for a particular reason. If a carer were to obtain a SGO, any Care Orders held by Children’s Services about the child/ren would come to an end. The “control” is essentially passed from Children’s Services to the Special Guardian and Children’s Services involvement with the child usually comes to an end – except for perhaps any allowance they are paying or support services they are providing.

The parents still have parental responsibility after a SGO has been made but the SGO will also give the holder parental responsibility which they can use to override the parent’s parental responsibility – in the same way Children’s Services can with a Care Order. However, if the parents disagree with a decision the Special Guardian has made, they can apply to the court, for the court to decide. Also, there are some decisions that the parents must agree to before the Special Guardian can make them – I won’t list them here but they are in our SGO advice sheet if you want to know more. We also have an advice sheet about what SGO’s mean for birth parents.

Ange, bearing in mind what you have said about the social worker, if you have any questions about what has been said to you or anything you would like to clarify then please get back in touch and I can give you more information.

Best wishes

Suzie

ange301126
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:27 pm

Re: Special Guardianship Orders

Post by ange301126 » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:17 am

SUZIE, I do understand that social workers should not 'threaten' parents but I am sure you understand that in the 'real' world even Social Workers are human and do much they should not do. I understand that if a social worker wants a SGO then he or she can easily persuade a foster carer to apply for one and offer support for any application.Sorry for not replying sooner to your interest.I am aware of complaints procedures etc.and that we can complain about social workers misbehaviour and in fact we have used the procedures. Suffice to say that following that episode which took well over a year, and the response we received ,we no longer have much faith in Social Worker investigations of complaints about themselves.

Starzsh
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:43 pm

Re: Special Guardianship Orders

Post by Starzsh » Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:55 pm

Thank you for the replies.
I have 2 children, who went into care 6 years ago. My eldest is now 19 yrs his Care Order has now ended. My youngest was in Foster Care for 2 years and now lives with relatives.
It has been extremely tough dealing with many things over the last 4 years............ I feel things may be slightly easier as she is getting older and can speak for herself........ It is hard watching things from a distance and always feeling 'judged' by your own family ...................
I am now working, doing 2 part time jobs................. things are different but I still feel the pangs of pain ....................... I feel I have been quite realistic about the whole situation but I have never expressed the pain of losing the children. Although the eldest never settled in the care system and finished his care order living here as an unauthorised placement, another very stressful time for all ................... I know it must be there but it feels tooooo painful to let it come to the surface .................................. very mixed up and confused ...................... but somehow holding it together ........................................ all very strange.............

aisnis
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 19, 2013 7:42 pm

Re: Special Guardianship Orders

Post by aisnis » Tue May 21, 2013 12:32 pm

My 3 children have been in foster care for the past 10 months due to 'risk of physical and emotional abuse from domestic abuse' from their father to myself and the social workers have now decided they are going to support the SGO for my exs brother and wife rather than for my babies to he returned to me.
I've not been given any real reasoning behind this, just fobbed off with 'it will all be in my statement'. They will throw in, oh she is depressed etc..who wouldn't be?! Obviously the psychiayrist and psychologists reports back this up..but its something I've honestly admitted to suffering from....me and thousands of other mothers I'm sure!

Everyday since they have been gone us a living nightmare.
It's only this last week, I have been able to start looking at things properly...I have had 2 job interviews and been offered both! Bit of a confidence boost yes, but not how I wanted my life to be.

My children beg me to take them home with me, on our weekly supervised contacts and 90% of the time they leave crying.

My solicitor has advised me not to contest the SGO, and I agree to a certain extent...but there's this 'what if' in my mind all the time. What if the judge feels they should come home to me, that I am a good mum, that I have never hurt or neglected my children.

I know the childrens aunt and uncle will live them, but they are my babies! I can't live with only seeing them once a year, which is what the social worker said it will probably be!

What contact do others have with their children who are on SGO?

Starzsh
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:43 pm

Re: Special Guardianship Orders

Post by Starzsh » Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:47 am

Hi aisnis,

Wondering why once a year?

I have had very regular contact with my daughter since she has been with my brother. It was fortnightly while I wasn't working, When I started work it went to monthly, now she is 15, she travels to me alomst every weekend, for the last year. After the first 6 months Social Services haven't been involved at all. I am only 30 miles away so distance hasn't affected it. Depending on how your relationship is with your family, things should improve over time. Although I admit there are underlying issues between my brother and I that I just can't seem to get to the bottom of that affects me still.

STOLEN CHILDREN
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2016 10:44 am

Re: Special Guardianship Orders

Post by STOLEN CHILDREN » Mon Oct 10, 2016 3:42 pm

hi
we are new on here,
We had our 3 Sons aged 12yrs, 6yrs, and a 10mth old breast fed baby removed by the SS in Nov 2014 for what they call risk of possible future harm even though we have no previous involvement with them and no police record nothing. court case was scheduled for 6 mths but due to court delays and the Guardian bringing in a hired Gun Psychologist, the case ran for 17 months! absolute disgrace.
its a very long story to tell but we can give a few key points.
the Mash team never offered any kind of help and after only 5 weeks in they went straight for court proceedings.
once the case was handed over to CPS thats when the real problems started. we ended up with a very dishonest veteran social worker who went all out to destroy any chances of the children returning home. they went straight for an adoption order for the two younger boys and pulled every dirty trick against us and wrote lies in case files which was even shown in court yet the judge turned a blind eye.
we were having contact with all 3 children 3 times a week but as soon as the new SW took over our 6yr old son stopped coming to contact in Feb 2015 and we have not seen him since. the excuse is he does not want to see you anymore. we know this is lies but we just cant get anyone to listen to us. in Nov 2015 he became very emotional and upset at his new school (thats another story of dirty tricks ) so they put him on the Place2be help unit. P2b claim they collect data from each child re their worries etc and share this with parents and other professionals.to this day we have been told nothing. the SW claims P2b do not share feedback from the child as its confidential. We even contacted P2b head office but they referred us back to the school but the school referred us back to Head office. its like dealing with the Secret Service or Mi5. we are pretty shure they have deliberately isolated him away from us to get him ready for adoption. strangely once the Foster carer found out their plan she caused a lot of waves during the final hearing which lead the SW and her manager to have an Emergency meeting at the FCs house. when they came back to court the next day the LA had dropped the adoption plan and stated they wanted the f/carer to keep the children long term. she got an SGO with a 12mth supervision order for the LA. Very suspicious. we think the FC was ready to blow the whistle on them as we believe she knows what they have been up to. the judge didnt even question this.
even our Barrister stated outside the court room "its quite clear the Local Authority have been up to all kinds of shenanigans in this case".
the actions of the judge was very suspicious due to her failure to question a number of key points. we have tried to get answers form the court but we have been fobbed off at every step.
We could write a book on what they have been doing to innocent people. but here we are ready to spend our 3rd xmas without our children. its true what John Hemming said "parents do not get justice in the family courts".
especially when you read what this high court judge exposed about S/workers colluding with judges in secret meetings.
"Judges and social workers have been conspiring to remove children unjustly from their parents.
Justice Pauffley condemned family court judges for a ‘clandestine arrangement’ which meant that they simply rubber-stamped the demands of social workers without giving a fair hearing to the pleas of parents.
Rulings by family judges were ‘cut and pasted’ from recommendations emailed to the court by social workers, the High Court found.
read it here. its pretty shocking.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ustly.html

We have not seen our baby since the court ended in April this year and we have not seen the middle son for 20 months. all we get is excuses, Sw is on leave, SW has left and we dont have a new one yet etc etc. NYAS offered to work with our middle son but the SS would not refer him stating he is fine and does not need any kind of theraputic help. more like they are scared of what he might reveal. THE REAL TRUTH about the lies they have told him.

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

Re: Special Guardianship Orders

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:50 pm

Dear Stolen Children,

Welcome to the parents forum. I am sorry to hear about your children being removed from you and children services rushing to a plan for adoption without considering all other options first.
Given your local authority and family court were heavily criticised by an appeal court judge who then made her judgment public, did you consider all your options with your legal team?

It must be very distressing to not know when you will see your children again.
Your children are now placed under Special Guardianship Orders with their old foster carer. But your contact with your children has not taken place for some time.

When the special guardianship order was made, the court, should have considered your contact with your children. Was a contact order made or was there any recommendations about the level of contact?

Did the social worker set out any support she would provide to help contact take place?
Have a look at our research about contact when children are placed with connected people (relatives and friends and people known to your children.)

If there is a contact order, you could consider going to court to enforce it. If there is no order, then contact will be in the discretion of the special guardian.
Do you know her views? If she is opposed to contact, then you could consider an application to court for a contact order. However, there would need to be a mediation appointment first of all. For detailed advice about making a contact application, you could speak to the
child law advice line .

Children services do have the power to provide support around contact when there is a special guardianship order. This might include helping with the costs of mediation or helping with the practical sides of contact.

In writing, you could request an assessment for support from children services to look at what support around contact could be provided.

The process is detailed in our advice sheet about Special Guardianship Orders .

I hope this helps you take steps to see your children again. But if you need further advice, please post back or call our advice line on 0808 801 0366.


Best wishes,

Suzie

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