Pre court proceedings

Post Reply
Goatlady
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 08, 2022 7:40 am

Pre court proceedings

Post by Goatlady » Tue May 10, 2022 3:44 am

Can somebody please advise me? I have had mental health problems on and off for many years and children's services have always said it doesn't impact my children directly, only when I am hospitalised so I have worked really hard not to end up in hospital and haven't done for over a year. My eldest daughter (16) went living with her nan by her choice but took a massive overdose there in February which I had to deal with as she didn't want nan knowing. I tried to get help for her without success which impacted my own mental health for a 6-8 week period. Although perfectly fine now, children's services are going for pre court proceedings for my youngest daughter on the basis that my mental health relapse must have impacted her emotionally despite my childminder and eldest daughter saying she was unaware. The school have reported historic things such as my daughter crying not wanting to go home a couple of weekends (when I was in hospital and she didn't want to go to her nans) but this is not recent, this is 8 months ago. I am really worried as my mental health has actually been very stable for a long time for the most part and despite mental health services and my childminder saying this, they are just not listening or taking it on board. I am so worried and frightened right now. Does anybody have any advise at all please?

benion
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2021 7:07 pm

Re: Pre court proceedings

Post by benion » Tue May 10, 2022 2:29 pm

Pre-court proceedings is not as far as court. They will give you very clear guidelines of what they are looking for to avoid court action.
What happened on the 6 to 8 week "relapse"? Were you admitted into a psychiatric ward?
It could help if you could ask family members to assist with care.
Is there any counselling or psychotherapy that would help? Could you afford to go private if the NHS cannot pay?

Goatlady
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 08, 2022 7:40 am

Re: Pre court proceedings

Post by Goatlady » Wed May 11, 2022 7:42 pm

I was extremely sleep deprived and was hallucinating although my daughter wasn't aware of this and the social worker has confirmed my daughter hadn't expressed any worries or concerns about me. I wasn't admitted to hospital or anything. I contact the crisis team who assessed me and said I did warrant being under their care but I could use them for telephone support if I wanted. I have been paying for private counselling for 12 months which as helped massively but wasn't enough for me avoid a relapse when my daughter nearly died. I don't have much family support nearby but my sister is trying to move to be nearer to me or even move in with me to provide support but we are reliant on her being able to get an transfer with work.
We had a pre court proceedings meeting today and I was told I need to have a psychiatric assessment and parenting assessment but the parenting assessment won't happen until August, after they have done the psychiatric assessment. I am so anxious. My daughter's father hasnt had any contact with her for two years....his decision not mine, and I am so worried he is now going to apply for her because of all this and I know it would totally break my daughter's heart. He had a separate meeting with social services to me due to a history of domestic abuse against me by him but obviously I have no idea what has been said in that meeting. My stress levels are through the roof at the moment 😔

Goatlady
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 08, 2022 7:40 am

Re: Pre court proceedings

Post by Goatlady » Wed May 11, 2022 7:45 pm

Sorry, a couple of typos in there. The crisis team said I didn't warrant being under their care, not did

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

Re: Pre court proceedings

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Wed May 18, 2022 3:30 pm

Dear Goatlady

Thank you for your post. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser and will be responding to your post today.

I am sorry to hear of your distress and your 16-year-old daughter’s situation. It must have been a very difficult time for you both. I hope your daughter is feeling better and getting the help and support she needs. I have added a link here to MIND for young people. This link provides details of places young people can go if they are looking for support or information regarding their mental health.

From what you say you are working hard to stabilise your mental health needs and to support and protect your children alongside this. The plan for your sister to offer extra support and possibly move in with you, sounds positive. I hope this works out for you all.

In respect of the pre-proceedings, as pointed out by benion, pre-proceedings is both a period of time and formal process. It is where children’s services consider whether they need to apply to the Family Court to start care proceedings. The aim of a pre-proceedings meeting is to agree a plan. The plan should aim to address the concerns children’s services have. And it should aim to avoid the need to start care proceedings. I have added a link HERE which you may find helpful. On this page you will find:

• What the law says about pre-proceedings
• How the pre-proceedings process begins and letters before proceedings
• Pre-proceedings meetings
• Reviewing progress during pre-proceedings

Children’s services should have advised you to seek legal advice. I have added a link HERE to support you with this. The Law Society. They have a facility to ‘find a solicitor’ in the top left-hand side of their home page, if you click on this, you can enter your postcode and area of law and the search will find solicitors in or closest to your area. You will need to instruct a child law solicitor, preferably one with child law accreditation .

In respect of your mental health. You say you have been assessed by the crisis team who said you do not warrant being under their care but advised you can contact their telephone line for support. I would encourage you to use this offer of support if your anxieties become overwhelming for you. Of course you can also seek support from your GP or MIND who provide advice and support to anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They may also be a good place to start when thinking about ways to get your voice ‘heard’ by children’s services as they can sometimes provide advocates in certain situations. You may also find this link HERE helpful. It is our working with social workers guidance and offers ‘top tips’ and guidance when working with social workers and, what to do if you are not satisfied with the service they are providing.

In respect of the children’s father, I am assuming he has parental responsibility for his daughter, therefore children’s services have a duty to contact him to ascertain what (if any) role he may have regarding current and future plans for your daughter. If care proceedings are started and the court decides that she can no longer remain in your care, the local authority has as duty to look first within the family when considering living arrangements for her. I have added a link HERE about care proceedings which you may find helpful.

You say that domestic abuse was a factor in your relationship with your ex-partner. Hopefully you received some support regarding this. I have added a link HERE to the National Abuse help line and this is their contact number - -0808 2000 247 should you wish to call them for support. They offer a freephone, 24-hour Helpline.

Regarding the psychiatric assessment and parenting assessment. It is natural to feel some level of anxiety regarding the assessments and, as I said before, if your feelings become overwhelming, please do seek support. The professionals carrying out both assessments should discuss the process with you before they start and answer any questions you may have regarding the process i.e., how the assessment is going to be conducted, what themes they will be covering, timescales and how you will receive the report and recommendations. Some people feel less anxious if they prepare before the meetings. For example, to write down questions they wish to ask and or to ask the professionals to provide some written information before the assessment starts.

I hope you find this information useful.  Should you wish to speak to an adviser please call our free advice line: 0808 801 0366 (Mon to Fri 9.30a.m. – 3.00p.m excluding bank holidays). or, you can of course, post again on here.

Best wishes, Suzie.

benion
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2021 7:07 pm

Re: Pre court proceedings

Post by benion » Sat May 28, 2022 4:24 pm

I am so sorry that you are being treated this way. I was detained under Section 2 twice last year and as a result there was a CPP. This has now closed. It does not make sense how you are being targeted like this when it sounds like your mental health is not as bad as mine.

Post Reply

Who is online

In total there is 1 user online :: 1 registered, 0 hidden and 0 guests (based on users active over the past 5 minutes)
Most users ever online was 318 on Fri May 28, 2021 9:04 pm