NSPCC has asked me to seek advice from FRG, pls

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broken-heart
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Joined: Fri May 21, 2021 7:04 pm

NSPCC has asked me to seek advice from FRG, pls

Post by broken-heart » Fri May 21, 2021 11:49 pm

Dear FRG
I am a mother, whose child was taken away from me 2.5 years ago in private proceedings based on a very negative sec 37 report by local council's CS citing emotional harm and undermining relationship with father , the LA asked court to transfer child over to father immediately and for me to have only supervised contact.
I have been having supervised contact a few times /month as per court order for 2.5 yrs now.
I have undergone therapy voluntarily, towards my attempts to get my child back. Contact reports are extremely positive too, and reveal the deep love between my child and myself.

Unfortunately there are on-going concerns about my child's care by father .
My child has also been expressed during every contact in writing asking to come back to me.

My local council's CS are extremely unprofessional and partisan towards father, and I am unable to trust them from present and past experiences.
I have tried getting back to court direct- however the courts keep mentioning they will not intervene as no new welfare/safe-guarding concerns have been raised by LA, and keep dismissing my applications.

I contacted NSPCC with my query as to whether I can approach another neighbouring LA's CS with my concerns? Or if there is a independent organization to help ?
NSPCC emailed me to asking me to contact FRG for further advice and directions.

Many thanks

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: NSPCC has asked me to seek advice from FRG, pls

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:20 pm

Dear Broken-heart,

Welcome to the parents’ board and thank you for your post.

You say in your post that during private law proceedings 2.5 years ago, the court ordered that your child should live with their father, and that you should have supervised contact. This was following a S. 37 report which cited emotional harm and undermining your child’s relationship with their father. You have been having supervised contact multiple times a month, with contact reports being positive. You are also accessing therapy.

You say you continue to be concerned about your child’s care by his father, and that your child has expressed wanting to come back to you. You do not feel you can trust children’s services and you feel that they are biased. You have tried to apply to the courts to vary the child arrangements order, but as no new safeguarding concerns have been raised, your applications have been dismissed.
You approached the NSPCC regarding this matter and have been signposted to FRG.

In your response to your question, any safeguarding concerns you have about your child, should be communicated to the allocated social worker at your local children’s services department. Children’s services are the statutory agency tasked with safeguarding children. I am assuming you have spoken to the social worker about your concerns, and they do not agree with you, or with your assessment of how serious the concerns are.

If you have genuine concerns for your child, you should follow this up with the social worker, and request that their next steps be communicated to you in writing. This may include speaking to your child to find out more information. If you are not satisfied with the social worker’s response, you may want to consider speaking to the team manager, or making a formal complaint.

You mention that your child has expressed a wish to return to your care. It may also be useful to speak to the social worker about organising an advocate for them, if they do not already have one, so that their views and wishes can be represented.

I hope you have found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie.

broken-heart
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri May 21, 2021 7:04 pm

Re: NSPCC has asked me to seek advice from FRG, pls

Post by broken-heart » Wed Jun 09, 2021 8:14 pm

Many thanks Suzie for the helpful guidance.

I am going to do a self-referral to social services regarding my concerns , and can only hope and pray that I am allocated get a neutral and honest social worker.

You have mentioned asking for an advocate for my child. How do I go about that? Would that be a solicitor , apart from the allocated social worker?

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
Posts: 4210
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: NSPCC has asked me to seek advice from FRG, pls

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Wed Jun 23, 2021 1:11 pm

Dear broken-heart

Thank you for your further post.

There are some children’s charities that can provide advocacy to children in certain circumstances – usually if they are in care, involved with children’s services in some way or are the subject to a court case.

You can find more information about children’s advocacy here.

Also the Children’s Commissioner’s Help at Hand advice service can advise children and young people in some situations.

Does your child have Childline’s details in case they need to talk to someone?

Best wishes

Suzie

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