Special guardianship
Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2017 3:52 pm
I am looking for some general advice. My children are currently in a special guardianship with the their mothers aunty. The children originally lived with the mother however she was unsuited to look after them due to late parties drink drugs etc. They were about to be taken off her and into a foster parents home whilst court proceedings were sorted when I stepped in and said I would take them on full time. I did this and moved jobs so I was nearer for nursery purposes and set up a house 25 miles from family support. I was 20 at the the time and really struggled with this for a number of reasons. The social services said I was doing a good job and had no complaints but I was on the edge of a breakdown also because I was having a lot of trouble from the mother knocking on the door all hours and making life hell aswell as having no local family support. I agreed with the aunty that we would have them half a week each to help me out however social services said this was no good due to unsettled life and I had to conceed regrettably at that age and being on the edge of a breakdown that I could not cope alone and the kids were taken to a foster home whilst court proceedings took place. The mother never turned her life a round and last miniute the aunty went in for a special guardianship and that is where they are now. I must point out that I never had any concerns from social services in terms of care or safety of the kids and have always had open access to the kids with no supervision etc unlike there mother. I see them every week and they stay at my house too and I have a great relationship with them they are now 4 & 5. The way they are being brought up concerns me as my little boy keeps having accidents in his pants and when I question this The aunty says he has been told it is likely to be down to not agreeing with dairy. When I said we should either get him checked to get a definite diagnosis or stop giving him dairy products she just says oh dairy is in everything so we can't stop him having it I know this is not true as lactose intolerance means no dairy and products are available to buy or on prescription. I am also never informed about parents evenings or see school reports and when I asked about going to school she says she has told them not to let me or the mother in. Again I must stress that I have full access to the children with no restrictions and never have via social services but the reason she has done this is down to control she gets panicked that either me or the birth mum will go back in for the kids. I was not thinking about doing this until the last straw with my son and this dairy issue. I now want to know what my rights would be in terms of can I get any kind of court order to be more involved than I am in terms of doctors schools etc. I also would like to kno the chances of getting custody of my children again under the circumstances and the realistic chances of this happening. I work full time and have done since school I have a stable life in a stable relationship I do not go out drinking or taking drugs and now drive so am able to easily get to family support. I am also in a much better mental state than I was back then and am now 4 years older and much more settled in life with no concerns of ex girl friend (mother) finding where I live as I am not on any kind of social media or any mutual friends or live near where she is. Any advice would be welcome thank you.