plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Queen bee
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Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:05 pm

plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Queen bee » Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:17 pm

Hi, i had my baby in April, he’s currently subject to PLO but there are NO court proceedings in place, I moved into a mother and baby foster placement for 4 months then got moved onto a mother and baby unit. I’m caring for my baby on my own and the staff are around if I need them etc, I had a cognitive assessment done which was really positive, we had a pams assessment done and the recommendation was that me and my partner are unable to have joint care of our baby due to his past, currently we’re having a child and family assessment done which the social said will tell them which way forward to go, they have since emailed our solicitors and said there’s more positives in regards fo our relationship than they expected there to be and have asked us to have a joint psychological assessment, this has necessitated an extension to the PLO pre proceedings. We have done everything they have asked of us. There is no major concerns in regards to us being parents it’s just our relationship, we have said we will break it off if it means keeping our baby but the social worker stated they’ve not even discussed this. My baby is nearly 20 weeks now and I’ve had him in my care since birth. Can anyone help ease my mind and tell me if there’s a really good chance of me keeping my baby or will they issue proceedings? I’ve got an amazing bond with him and everything from social and all other professionals is all positive, I don’t want to go through everything and being away from family for 5 months if they’re just gonna take my baby! Can anyone advise me please? Thank you xx

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Re: plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Fri Aug 21, 2020 2:23 pm

Dear Queen bee,
Welcome to the Parents Forum. I am Suzie, Family Rights Group online adviser.
Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy. He sees to be doing very well and he is bonding well with you.

Thank you for outlining everything that has been going on. I can see how well things have been going and how you cooperated so well with all the assessments and different placements over the last 20 weeks. This has all happened away from your family which would have made it more difficult for you. But is was necessary so children services could assess how you and dad as parents cope with looking after your baby.

You are now waiting for a child and family assessment and also a psychological assessment to be completed. The child and family assessment will also look at support you have from friends and family as well as support you can access in the community.

Your question is about whether children services will issue care proceedings.

I am not able to answer that question. You could speak to your solicitor who might have an idea of the way forward. But I think as you have said yourself, a lot will depend on the child and family assessment. When will this be completed? Then there is likely to be another PLO meeting to discuss the way forward.
Even if children services do go to court, this may not mean that your son will be removed from you. Care proceedings can take 6 months or more and the judge might say that he is to stay living with you.
When there are care proceedings, your son will get a court “guardian” and his own solicitor (called the child’s solicitor). The guardian will do their own assessment and will decide what is in the best interests of your son. They might take a different view from children services.

If the court was to decide that he could not live with you, then they would consider dad and then any friends or family who have been assessed to care for him such as grandparents. In these circumstances you would see your son regularly.
Here is information about care proceedings.

At this stage, do not worry. Remember how well you have done up to now, speak to your solicitor and just wait for the assessments.
If you have any questions, please post again.
Best wishes,
Suzie

Queen bee
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Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:05 pm

Re: plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Queen bee » Sat Aug 22, 2020 9:59 am

Thank you for your reply. The Child and Family assessment has now been completed and they have requested the psychological assessment as a lot of positives came through in the CAF assessment which they were not expecting since the pams assessment concluded negatively. We have the next plo review on the 25th August. Do you have any idea how long the PLO process is able to be extended for? Also there is nobody that has been assessed as viable for my baby as his paternal grandparents failed the assessment due to his mum not wanting to relive her past, my parents can’t be assessed as they’re disabled. I’m really hoping I don’t lose him, he’s 5 and a half months now and he’s doing so well.

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Re: plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Fri Aug 28, 2020 3:39 pm

Dear Queen bee,

It sounds like things are going quite well due to their being a lot of positives coming out of the child and family assessment. You will now have had the PLO review on the 25 th of August so should have a better idea about timescales and can discuss these with your solicitor.

Your other question is about family or friends who could be assessed to care for your son if he was not able to stay with you.

Have you had a family group conference (FGC)? This is when friends and family or anyone in your extended network are invited to a meeting with your consent to discuss what support they can offer to help you care for your baby. This meeting can also be used to “family find,” so look for “connected persons” who could care if the court was to decide that he cannot stay with you or dad.

This could be people near where you live to anywhere in the UK or abroad. Are there any aunts or uncles or cousins who could be contacted? Any friends who might be suitable? Here is some information about FGC’s which also links off to a film.

I hope this helps. Please post back if you need further advice.
Best wishes,
Suzie

Queen bee
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:05 pm

Re: plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Queen bee » Sat Aug 29, 2020 8:07 pm

Hi thank you for replying. We had the PLO review on 25th August which said the psychological assessment won’t be completed until December which has meant they had to extend the plo process to longer than 26 weeks. It’s only a basic psychological assessment we have to have so it’s nothing to worry about they said, they also said this is only so they know what sort of plan to put in place so we are able to be a family. Do you have any sort of idea how long PLO extensions are usually for and is there less of a chance of proceedings being issued the longer I’m in the mother and baby unit? Thank you for you help.

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Re: plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Wed Sep 02, 2020 5:04 pm

Queen bee wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 8:07 pm Hi thank you for replying. We had the PLO review on 25th August which said the psychological assessment won’t be completed until December which has meant they had to extend the plo process to longer than 26 weeks. It’s only a basic psychological assessment we have to have so it’s nothing to worry about they said, they also said this is only so they know what sort of plan to put in place so we are able to be a family. Do you have any sort of idea how long PLO extensions are usually for and is there less of a chance of proceedings being issued the longer I’m in the mother and baby unit? Thank you for you help.
Dear Queen bee

Thank you for your question.

It may be a good idea for you to ask your solicitor this question because they will have more information about your situation and will be in a better position to give you a succinct answer about what will happen at the end of your assessment. If you are doing well in the mother and baby unit and demonstrating good parenting as you say the local authority may decide not to go to court.

Best wishes

Suzie

Queen bee
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:05 pm

Re: plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Queen bee » Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:07 am

Hi thanks for your reply. I have just spoken with our IRO and our baby has come down from the RAG rating of red to the RAG rating of amber. I haven’t managed to find out anything about any assessments as of yet but is his coming down on the RAG scale a good thing? Thank you.

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Re: plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Mon Sep 28, 2020 3:57 pm

Dear Queen bee

Yes, moving from red to amber is a good sign and shows that you are going in the right direction but obviously you would be aiming to move down further to green shortly too. Have you been told on what basis this has happened? It is important to get feedback so you can see what is making the difference and what areas still need to be worked on.

With best wishes

Suzie

Queen bee
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:05 pm

Re: plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Queen bee » Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:10 pm

Hi, it’s because the has been a slight reduction in the safeguarding concerns and I’m sticking to my schedule of expectations. Being on green would be amazing but I personally don’t think it would happen while he’s on PLO, we are having our psychological assessment on the 24th December which means my stay in the mother and baby unit has been extended to mid January. We have a review conference coming up and in core group yesterday my social workers stated my baby would remain on a CP plan just because he’s open to PLO while they do assessments. The meeting was just full of positives. Everything is looking up and it’s a great feeling! We have a long road ahead but we’re getting there now 6 months in.

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Re: plo/pams assessment/ mother and baby unit/ psychological assessment

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Fri Oct 09, 2020 3:40 pm

Dear Queen bee

Thank you for your further post.

It is, I think, helpful for posters to see that there can be positives in working with children’s services.

The social worker will make recommendations to the Review Conference but it will be the conference that decides whether he remains on the child protection plan. Do keep working with the plan that is in place so that children’s services will be satisfied in the PLO process that they no longer need to consider going to court.

Do have a look at this information about review conferences s

Once again, thank you for sharing your experience.

Best wishes

Suzie

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