Dear K***y
Welcome to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post.
I am sorry to hear your ex-partner’s children have been placed in foster care, probably under an
interim care order.
You may be the father of one of the children, a one year old boy. This can be confirmed or not by you having a DNA test if you agree to this. You probably don’t have
parental responsibility for the child but this should not prevent you being involved and assessed if you are his father. Please see
care proceedings for fathers who don’t have parental responsibility for more information about this.
I agree with M*y-m*y ‘s strong recommendation that you seek specialist legal advice. It is best to find a solicitor who is experienced in this type of case and who is a member of the Children Law Accreditation Scheme. The Law Society has a
find a solicitor tool.
The court’s timescale in
care proceedings (to decide who the children will live with permanently) is approximately 26 weeks. I don’t know what stage the case is at but it is positive that you are involved now and finding out more about the process and what you can do.
The court needs to consider if the children, including the little boy, can be safely cared for by their mother or father(s), by other family members or if they need to be cared for permanently outside of the family.
Adoption will certainly be considered for a baby and the court could make a
placement order which would give children’s services the right to place a child for adoption even if his parents disagree.
It is a good idea to involve your family and friends network as soon as possible too to see how they could support you to care for your child or how they could be assessed to care for him if need be. A
family group conference (FGC) may be offered to bring together family members to help make safe plans for the children.
M*y-m*y encourages you to do things independently, However, it will also be necessary to work with children’s services as the social worker is the key worker for the child and will be involved in discussing any potential plans and arrangements for the child with you as well as being involved in any assessment of you or any family members you put forward.
We have lots of resources which should help you understand more about the court process and the type of court orders that can be made. You might find the
FAQs for Fathers and and
FAQs for young fathers on care proceedings sections of the website helpful. Also our advice sheets on
care proceedings,
contact with children in care,
powers and duties of local authorities and
adoption.
I can’t say whether your ex-partner will have the children returned to her care, this will be decided by the court. You mention concerns about mother’s drugs misuse and neglect. The court may want her to have drug testing/rehab, parenting and psychological assessments. The court must also consider all the options for the children’s long term care – including all family options and an assessment of you if your paternity of the little boy is established. Permanent separation of a child from their parent should only be "where nothing else will do" so both parents should be properly assessed and proper consideration given to support needed to allow them to care for their child.
You might want to discuss the situation further with an adviser and can do so by ringing the freephone helpline 0808 8010366 Mon-Fri 9.30 – 3.00 or by posting back with specific queries.
I hope this helps
Best wishes
Suzie