Help getting my children home from long term foster care.

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Smarie87
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2020 8:00 pm

Help getting my children home from long term foster care.

Post by Smarie87 » Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:46 am

Hi, I've previously posted in regards to my children been placed into long term foster care my partner and I have made lots of changes and addressed drug and alcohol misuse and although my partner is still under the service for support and medication, drugs and alcohol are no longer a problem as we are both clean of these. Also we have moved home. I myself have also completed CBT and ABT
and was put on antidepressants im now off the antidepressants and been discharged from this service. My partner on the other hand as just recently been prescribed antidepressants as is doing a course of CBT. We have addressed our relationship as they was plenty of domestics that arisen in the past and we had police called almost daily this is also no longer a factor as we've addressed this as a couple and not had any form of involvement with police since June 2020. We've also taken a parenting course called take 3 which was set up by the social worker.
When there as been a CLA review for the children we've attended and also filled out the consultation booklet and asked if there's more courses they'd recommend and if we could be reassessed for the children to return home but these questions have gone unanswered for over 12months now. We also attend every contact with children and this is going great!
I was reaching out to you to see if you could recommend the next steps I could take please.

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

Re: Help getting my children home from long term foster care.

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:00 am

Dear Smarie87,

Thank you for your post.

You say in your post that your children are in long term foster care. You and your partner have made a lot of changes since the making of the care order, including for drug and alcohol misuse. You have moved house and completed CBT and ABT. You partner is currently engaging with a course of CBT. You say you have addressed the issues in your relationship and that you have also taken a parenting course organised by the social worker. You say contact is consistent and is going well. You have asked whether there is anything more you can do and have also asked to be reassessed for the children to be returned to your care, however you have not received an answer to this in over 12 months. You would like to know what you can do next.

Firstly, congratulations on all the positive progress you and your partner have made - this is really positive and encouraging.

In order to discharge a care order, you would need to show the court that there has been a significant change in circumstances since the care order was made and that to do so would be in your children's best interests. The court will look at the welfare checklist when deciding this. It appears that you have a good understanding of the reasons the care order was made and have taken specific steps to address these concerns. In order to make sure, I advise that you revisit the final judgement from when the care order was made, so that you are clear on what changes need to be seen. You say you are involved in attending LAC reviews and that contact is going well, which are all important parts of working towards a return home.

When considering discharging a care order, the first step is often to speak to the social worker and the independent reviewing officer about this. It sounds like you may have already done this - but I would follow this up in writing to be clear. I would then advise you request an assessment for reunification - which you say you have done. I would advise that you write to both the social worker and the independent reviewing officer to follow up on this and to raise concerns that you have not received a response. If the next LAC review is soon, this would be a good opportunity to raise this. If you do not receive a response, I would advise that you make a formal complaint - take a look here for how to do this.

If children's services agree to assess you, and the assessment is positive, they may apply to discharge the care order themselves. If children's services do not agree to assess you, then you can make an application to discharge the care order yourself. It would be helpful for you to receive some legal advise if you want to do this.

If you want to speak to one of our advisers, you can call our free and confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366 from Monday - Friday, between 09:30 and 15:00.

Best wishes,

Suzie.

Smarie87
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2020 8:00 pm

Re: Help getting my children home from long term foster care.

Post by Smarie87 » Fri Feb 11, 2022 7:03 pm

Hi Suzie
First of all I would like to thank you for the reply.
I obtained the independent reviewing officers email address and sent the same email to bother her and the social worker asking if my partner and I can be re-assesed for the children to be returned home and figured that this was the perfect opportunity to ask them this.
Only had a reply from the independent reviewing officer stating that yes if was the perfect opportunity to ask and that we can discuss this in the next meeting.

Thank you for the help in pointing me in the direction i needed to go it is very much appreciated

Mashonуka
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu May 19, 2022 4:47 pm

Re: Help getting my children home from long term foster care.

Post by Mashonуka » Tue May 31, 2022 2:38 pm

Congratulations on getting you and your partner back on track and clearing yourself of drugs and alcohol. I am glad to know that you want to take the children back into your care, especially since you are already healthy and want a happy family. It would be best to go directly to the local fostering agencies who can help you with accurate documents or guidance. I am sure that you also need medical compliance that confirms that you are physically and psychologically healthy.

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