SGO support plan assessment

[sass]

When I got an SGO for my grandchild over a year ago a special guardianship support plan was put in place.. Most of the plan has been adhered to apart from contact with parents. I found out that alcohol and drugs were being abused by them so the contact part of the plan drastically changed... I have now received a letter from a safeguarding assessor for a review of said plan. I will not supervise visits with the parents as one of them is quite aggressive so can i ask the assessor to put in place supervised visits... I know the answer will be we can't fund that so do i have any rights to ask for it.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear sass

Thank you for your post, I apologise for the long delay in responding.

You can advise the assessor that due to the risk to yourself and the child you are not able to supervise the parent’s contact with the child and as a result the contact element of the court order may need to change, if the parents do not agree to modify their behaviour.

Children’s Services must (should) offer support when SGOs are granted and in your situation it may not be unreasonable for you to request that contact is supervised. If you decide that you have to withhold contact because of your concerns, do say this to the assessor. The parents may say that they want to take the matter back to court: this may not be detrimental to you because you will have the opportunity to voice your concerns and the parents may have to ‘prove’ that they are not misusing illegal substances or alcohol. There is more information about parents’ rights in our advice sheet, Special Guardianship: what does it mean for birth parents?. I hope you find it useful.

Best wishes

Suzie