Challenging a negative assessment

[butterfly030705]

Hi all.
I need advice.
My niece & nephew were placed on an ICO in november.
I have completed the full kinship assessment but it has come back negative as I am a single parent with 2 children with additional needs and my nephew has additional needs and possibly my young niece.
I have informed the LA I wish to challenge.
The children are currently in separate FC placements, my nephew on his 5th placement miles away & my niece on her 2nd placement.
I have a hearing on Tuesday as I sought to be added to proceedings weeks ago but was adjourned until my assessment was completed and LA & Guardian are opposing this but parents are not.
LA have told me if I wish to challenge it will be heard at a lrh hearing in June.
I have had no contact with my niece and nephew since November even though I have continually emailed the SW but am being ignored & my nephew has expressed his wish to come to me and see me & his cousins. I was not even granted contact for the assessment.
Can I get legal aid to fight this as at present I am a litigant in person.
What happens on Tuesday if the judge won't grant me party to proceedings. Will this mean I can't challenge the assessment?
The LA are not doing what is in the children's best interests and I fear their plan is for lfc or adoption.
The LA have failed in so many things
Please help me and advise me.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Butterfly030705

Welcome to the kinship carers’ discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am FRG’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear of the difficulties your family are experiencing.

You mention that there was a court hearing on Tuesday to decide if you can become a party to the proceedings. You were representing yourself at the hearing. The children’s parents support your involvement but children’s services and the Children’s Guardian do not. You could post an update to let us know if your application was successful or not.

You have had a full ‘kinship’ assessment which unfortunately was negative and which you understandably want to challenge as you are hoping to care for the children to prevent them being placed in long term foster care or being adopted.

I am not sure if the assessment was for kinship fostering or whether it was a special guardianship assessment. There are different possible options to challenge if it is a fostering assessment
rather than a special guardianship assessment. If it was a fostering assessment then please see this advice sheet – page 12 sets out the options for challenge i.e. Making a written representation to children’s services, or Applying for a review by an independent review panel.

If you have had a negative assessment for special guardianship then you will find information here about what you can do on page 9.

Either way, you have already informed children’s services that you are challenging which is the right thing to do.
Here are some points to consider:


• What were the specific reasons given for the negative assessment? Think about and prepare a response to every point or concern that has been raised – show how you would address each point, what you would do differently, demonstrate if information is unfair or factually incorrect.
• As the parents support you as the possible carer for your niece and nephew, they can seek advice from their solicitor about your negative assessment.
• Submit a report to the court addressing all the points as above
• Ask the court to make an order to allow further assessment or an independent social work assessment to be carried out.
• Check if you are able to get legal aid (for a solicitor to represent you in challenging the negative assessment) by contacting a solicitor who has Children Law accreditation – you can find a solicitor via this website or Civil Legal Advice.

The ssues resolution hearing will consider any filed assessments and unresolved issues but you can take steps as above before then as the time scale for care proceedings is short.

Your requests for contact with the children have not been progressed despite your best efforts. Children’s services should be promoting contact with relatives unless it is not in the children’s best interests – if they don’t think contact is in the best interests of your niece and nephew they should be able to give you their reasons why. This is explained more here. If you haven’t done so already, you could contact the Independent Reviewing Officer to let them know that you have not been able to keep in touch with the children and that you think it would benefit them.

I hope this helps as little but if you are able to explain more about the specific assessment you had and whether you were joined to the proceedings we may be able to give you more specific advice.

If you would like to speak to an adviser then please call our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm.

With best wishes

Suzie

[butterfly030705]

Hi Suzie
Thank you for your reply.
I was denied party to proceedings.
I think it was special guardianship assessment.
The reasons they gave for negative assessment were due to me already having 2 children with additional needs and the impact it would have on them and the level of care I could give.
The judge said my sisters solicitor can represent me at the final hearing in June. Does that mean he can challenge my assessment?
I am trying to find out who the IRO is so I can request contact with the children as my nephew has said he wants to live with me and see me, which seem to be ignored.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear butterfly 030705

Thank you for your updating post regarding your position in the care proceedings relating to your niece and nephew.

It appears that because you had a negative assessment, the judge may have denied you party status in the case. The reasons given for the failed assessment relates to the fact that you are already caring for two children additional needs and to place two more children with you is considered too much for you to be able to meet all the children’s need and provide a good level of care. The level of needs that 4 children have would be very challenging especially as you are on your own.

However, children’s services would have been aware that you were looking after two children with additional needs but went ahead with the assessment to see whether it would be possible for you to look after your niece and nephew as well. Have you considered whether you could have one child, I understand that you would not want to separate them? Has any other family member or friend of the parents asked to be assessed as long-term carers?

Do you have a support network that could help you if the children were in your care? If you believe that the reason for the negative assessment is not right or the assessment was not done fairly, then you could ask the court for an independent social work assessment. It would be for the court to decide if this would be necessary in all the circumstances. You could write to the judge to explain why you think the outcome is wrong and ask again to be a party and for a further assessment.

I suggest you look again at the links in the earlier response to help you decide how you wish to go forward.

Regarding the independent reviewing officer (IRO), the social worker can give you that information or perhaps your sister as this is usually the same person who chairs the looked after child meetings. As previously advised, children’s services should promote contact with family members if it is child’s interest to do so. If they think it is not, in this case, they should provide written reasons to explain.

Please read these links from our website for more information about contact and the duties that children’s services have when child are in the care system:

https://frg.org.uk/get-help-and-advice/ ... s/contact/

https://frg.org.uk/get-help-and-advice/ ... are-system

The judge’s suggestion that your sister’s solicitor can represent you at the hearing is not an indication that he will change the result of the assessment. The judge will consider all the evidence both written and what is said in evidence and decide what is best for the children. I think it is more that as your sister is supportive of you having the children, her solicitor will be able to put forward your views about caring for the children.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie