Hi, im new so please bare with me, my grandson is 4 and has loved with me for 18 months, 8 months as a foster placement, now under SGO. He has regilar contact with his birth mother, the court papers state that he is to have a minimum of 2 hours a month to see his BM, he actually sees her twice a week, this works really well and she is great with my grandson, he was removed from her care due to neglect, the house was always a mess and he was often dirty.
The court papers also state that contact is to be at my discretion, usually contact is always supervised but on one occasion i let his BM walk him to the shops and back (20 mins) during this time she was seen by an employee of the nursery my grandson attends, they have informed me they are reporting me as they thought he wasnt allowed unsupervised contact. Basically my question is am i allowed to allow BM to see him unsupervised if i deem it safe to do so, my grandson loves spending time with his BM and often asks to see her.
Any advice would be great please as i am now very worried about this referral, i think its going to one point, id hate to think that one 20 mins could have him removed from my care.
Thank you
Parental contact
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Suzie, FRG Adviser
- Posts: 953
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:25 pm
Re: Parental contact
Dear Twinks2507
Welcome to the kinship carers’ discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear that you are very worried about the recent referral that has been made.
You have been caring for your 4 year old grandson for 18 months and you are now his Special Guardian. You are supporting his contact with his mother which the court left to your discretion. Although this is normally supervised, you allowed unsupervised contact, on one occasion, for 20 mins. This has resulted in your grandson’s nursery making a referral to children’s services. You are worried that this could lead to your grandson being removed from your care.
As your grandson’s Special Guardian (with no court order for contact in place) you are allowed to make decisions about contact although the expectation is that you will always make decisions that are safe for the child and in their best interests and which recognise that the order was made because the child suffered harm in some way e.g. neglect.
When making recommendations about contact, did children’s services recommend that this always be supervised? When they make recommendations about contact this is based on their assessment of the child’s needs and any potential risks identified and the expectation that the Special Guardian can manage contact. It seems that supervised contact was in place apart from the time you describe where you let your grandson’s mum take him for a short walk to the shops and back. I think that you assessed whether this was safe and felt that it was. From what you say, your grandson returned safe and well. You would need to be able to discuss this with children’s services if asked.
The nursery may not fully understand that you have parental responsibility and the right to make decisions including around contact. Contact is always about the child’s needs so the important thing when making decisions is to think about whether your grandson is safeguarded in any situation. However, if the nursery think that this could have put your grandson in a risky situation they are required to let children’s services know.
Children’s services will consider the information received and decide whether or not to assess. They may contact you to clarify what the current arrangements are and to discuss with you whether unsupervised contact is a good idea or not. If they believe this is not in your grandson’s best interests even though you have the legal right to decide on this matter they would need to let you know this. However, they do not have parental responsibility, your grandson does not appear to have come to any harm and you would be able to explain to them how you risk-assessed before you agreed to this.
Children’s services do not have the power to remove a child from their Special Guardian unless the Special Guardian agreed or a court made an order allowing them to do so. Please see this information here which sets this out more clearly.
So, I don’t think you should worry about your grandson being removed, the court has decided that he should live with you and that you are able to make safe decisions for him. If children’s services are concerned that your grandson was alone with his mother or that this may be happening regularly they would need to let you know and discuss with you if their view is that only supervised contact is safe for your grandson at present. They would need to provide you with a copy of any assessment of your grandson's needs, if undertaken, and let you know their recommendations, any next steps.
As you know, Special Guardianship allows for children and their parents/family members to have an ongoing relationship and puts the Special Guardian at the heart of decision making about contact, with the expectation that the child’s safety is prioritised.
If you have any further queries, please post again, call our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366 – the lines are open Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm (except bank holidays) or use our webchat or advice enquiry form.
I hope this helps.
With best wishes
Suzie
Welcome to the kinship carers’ discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear that you are very worried about the recent referral that has been made.
You have been caring for your 4 year old grandson for 18 months and you are now his Special Guardian. You are supporting his contact with his mother which the court left to your discretion. Although this is normally supervised, you allowed unsupervised contact, on one occasion, for 20 mins. This has resulted in your grandson’s nursery making a referral to children’s services. You are worried that this could lead to your grandson being removed from your care.
As your grandson’s Special Guardian (with no court order for contact in place) you are allowed to make decisions about contact although the expectation is that you will always make decisions that are safe for the child and in their best interests and which recognise that the order was made because the child suffered harm in some way e.g. neglect.
When making recommendations about contact, did children’s services recommend that this always be supervised? When they make recommendations about contact this is based on their assessment of the child’s needs and any potential risks identified and the expectation that the Special Guardian can manage contact. It seems that supervised contact was in place apart from the time you describe where you let your grandson’s mum take him for a short walk to the shops and back. I think that you assessed whether this was safe and felt that it was. From what you say, your grandson returned safe and well. You would need to be able to discuss this with children’s services if asked.
The nursery may not fully understand that you have parental responsibility and the right to make decisions including around contact. Contact is always about the child’s needs so the important thing when making decisions is to think about whether your grandson is safeguarded in any situation. However, if the nursery think that this could have put your grandson in a risky situation they are required to let children’s services know.
Children’s services will consider the information received and decide whether or not to assess. They may contact you to clarify what the current arrangements are and to discuss with you whether unsupervised contact is a good idea or not. If they believe this is not in your grandson’s best interests even though you have the legal right to decide on this matter they would need to let you know this. However, they do not have parental responsibility, your grandson does not appear to have come to any harm and you would be able to explain to them how you risk-assessed before you agreed to this.
Children’s services do not have the power to remove a child from their Special Guardian unless the Special Guardian agreed or a court made an order allowing them to do so. Please see this information here which sets this out more clearly.
So, I don’t think you should worry about your grandson being removed, the court has decided that he should live with you and that you are able to make safe decisions for him. If children’s services are concerned that your grandson was alone with his mother or that this may be happening regularly they would need to let you know and discuss with you if their view is that only supervised contact is safe for your grandson at present. They would need to provide you with a copy of any assessment of your grandson's needs, if undertaken, and let you know their recommendations, any next steps.
As you know, Special Guardianship allows for children and their parents/family members to have an ongoing relationship and puts the Special Guardian at the heart of decision making about contact, with the expectation that the child’s safety is prioritised.
If you have any further queries, please post again, call our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366 – the lines are open Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm (except bank holidays) or use our webchat or advice enquiry form.
I hope this helps.
With best wishes
Suzie
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