Lost As A Father (ICO)

[lovenlaw]

Hi, going through my case and I've been reading and the entire thing seems more like a process than a real court case where social services is expected to present any evidence. The mum took the children in for s20.
My lawyers convinced me to agree with the ICO that I'd get a proper hearing the next time, the next hearing comes around and I'm told it's simply a case management, honestly I'm going through the whole process thinking "Is this legal?" There are a lot of allegations keep popping up against me and everytime I address them it's like they were never there.
Isn't the court at least supposed to state the conditions under which the children are being taken into care, cite a law or something. It all just seems like a process where the court, my lawyers, everyone knows their role. I literally had to force my lawyer that we needed to make OUR best case we could for my kids to come in my care, is that not just common sense. Social services are literally manipulating information, blatantly lying and it's all documented. They've said my kids can't come into my care because of likely emotional harm but at the moment the children are really suffering from feeling abandoned. All social services has done is escalate, escalate, escalate, they try to fix things with the mum even with far worse circumstances and I've been through proceedings where it's been said that I provide support and one thing happened (negligence, no physical harm) and from there it was one escalation to the next and as a parent it's really frustrating when you get treated like the kids are not yours but whenever there's trouble then they pull out the "parental responsibility". Should I simply accept it's just as things are? What recourse do I have? It was hard for me to get lawyers because of some of the allegations that are against me.
I work fulltime, I see my kids weekly and going through the entire process but it's really heartbreaking my kid crying they want to come home. I don't see anything I'm doing now that can't be done with the kids at home. I have their other sibling with me and the kids love being together. I'd understand if something is pointed out specifically but it's all just a mess.
I might be wrong but I would think considering it's humans rights issue to take kids from their parent the court would make it clear in the court order the reason for doing so?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear lovenlaw

Thank you for post and welcome to the board.

I am sorry to read of the difficulties you are having in the care proceedings court process.

I hope that this document from Justice.gov.uk called Practice Direction 12A helps with your understanding of what ‘should’ be happening.

Here too for more information is a link to our webpages about care proceedings, I hope that it covers your other questions.

If you would like to speak in confidence to one of our advisers, do call us on 0808 801 0366. Our lines are open Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays), 9.30am to 3.00pm.

I hope this response is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie

[lovenlaw]

Thank you so much Suzie, that seems to give a lot of information, it is one thing if you understand the process but just another thing when you feel everything is just laid out and from the beginning I just found it strange that rather than best presenting my case my solicitor was focused more of getting me to agree with the ICO which I did regrettably.
The court order simply states that it believes the threshold has been met, nothing about how and no specifics and very little is being expected of LA. They will come to court and present new allegations not even in their statement and majority of the process is me responding to allegations. LA was well aware that the mum was struggling and made no attempt to bring me into the picture, I wasn't even invited when they had the initial conference with the mum and all of that time missed is further being used by them for their case, it was only the day before they took the kids that they called and told me and everything seems to be a mess from my end but from their end everyone knows what is happening and being put in that place with your kids involved is a little unsettling.
Are there any ways I can appeal? I can at least best present my case because the final hearing has been arranged for July and apart from the toll it is taking on the kids, I feel a lot of issues that should've already been addressed are simply going to be repeated at the final hearing making it harder for me.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear lovelaw

Thank you for your further post. I am sorry to hear that you were not contacted at an earlier stage when children’s services became involved with your children. They have a duty to involve you, as a father with parental responsibility, as you can see in our fathers’ pages. You could consider making a complaint about the fact that you were not contacted sooner. However, now that your children’s case is in care proceedings it is more important that you focus on what you can do now as the court will be the decision-maker for the children.

The care proceedings information I provided a link to in my last response should answer your queries about what the law says about care proceedings and how decisions are made. The court may have decided to make an interim care order with or without your agreement. Please see below for an explanation of when a court can make an interim care order:

Making an interim care order

The court only has the power to make an interim care order if it is satisfied that:

 children’s services have made clear why they think the child is suffering harm. Or is likely to suffer harm
 children’s services have provided evidence to the court which shows the child is indeed suffering harm. Or is likely to.

But even then, the Family Court must consider the child’s welfare before deciding whether to make the order. This is because when the Family Court makes any decision relating to a child, the child’s welfare must always be the court’s ‘paramount consideration’. This is known as the welfare principle. Or the paramountcy principle. It means the court needs to think what is in the child’s best interests when it makes decisions. Including when deciding whether to make an interim care order. See section 1 (1) of the Children Act 1989.
To help work out what is in a child’s best interests, the court must use the ‘welfare checklist’. This is set out at section 1 (3) of the Children Act 1989.

The checklist says that the court take into account:
 The child’s wishes and feelings (bearing in mind the child’s age and understanding)
 The child’s needs (physical, emotional and educational)
 The likely effect on the child of any changes in their circumstances
 The child’s age, sex and background (and any other relevant characteristics)
 Any harm the child has suffered (or any risk of harm)
 The parents’ ability to meet the child’s needs.

The interim care order will last until the final hearing unless it is ended sooner. You are wondering if you can appeal. Please see below for an explanation of this – the deadline for appealing an interim order is very short (7 days) so has probably expired. However, it is unusual to appeal an interim care order as there will be further assessments directed before the court makes a final decision. So it is ‘temporary’ and parents can try to demonstrate during the proceedings via assessments etc that they can care for their child/ren safely.

Appealing an interim order

If the decision is an ‘interim’ one, then the process and deadlines are different. An interim decision is one that is made whilst the care proceedings are still ongoing and not at the end.

Examples of interim decisions are:
 Decisions to grant or refuse an assessment
 Decision to make an interim care order to allow a child to removed from their parents care.

The deadline for appealing an interim decision is shorter. It is 7 days. The day on which the decision was made counts as the first day.

It is best to discuss with a solicitor whether an appeal is possible immediately after the interim order has been made. From the information provided, it would seem that your solicitor did not think this was a viable option for you. However, if you are unhappy about this you would need to raise this with your solicitor.

You may find it helpful to read this guide to working with a solicitor.

Some other points for you to consider or ask for :

Are you having a fresh parenting assessment? The court is likely to have directed this.
Has a family group conference been offered to bring together the children’s family network to identify who can help you or the children’s mother care for them or who in the family can care for them if you cannot. Please see our advice materials on family group conferences for more information.

I would recommend that you also look at this information about children in care under court orders as this will help you understand how decisions are made and reviewed under the Looked After Child reviewing processes and how you can take part too.

I hope this has been helpful.

If you have a further query please post again here, ring our freephone advice helpline on 0808 8010366 (open Mon to Fri, except bank holidays from 9.30 a.m. to 3.00 pm) or ask your question via our webchat or advice enquiry form.

Best wishes

Suzie

[lovenlaw]

thank you so much, I have been reading a lot and I feel a little more grounded in what I am doing!