Do I have a case against the LA?

[Girlintheworld]

Hi,

Very long story. Children's services are not involved with my family anymore.

6 years ago a SW recommended that my 2 boys lived with their father. We had been separated for a few years by this point, I left him due to domestic violence when I was pregnant. SW got involved because I disclosed to a support worker that my eldest son was acting in a concerning way after child contact. I was trying to get my son seen by the GP as I was concerned he had a spectrum disorder, the GP was great. The SW shut this down & basically said that it was my parenting that was the problem, that I had mental health issues (I had PND but I was well by the time she got involved & my medical team were never concerned about my parenting) the SW never pulled any of my medical records she just listened to my ex. She never pulled the police records either. I was sexually assaulted whilst my children were asleep upstairs, I had invited a friend to my house, we were not romantically involved & he assaulted me. My ex & the SW used this against me, she made me do a how to spot sexual predators course & stood up in family court & told the court I was reckless for getting raped.

I lost my children to their father & they moved 150 miles away from me, the judge never issued an arrangement for my contact, he left it up to my abusive ex. I left my life & moved to be closer to my children & fought constantly for years through the court. 2 years ago my ex assaulted my oldest son who was 8 at the time & he was charged. This was my concern the whole time.

I had 40/60 custody by this time but now have 60/40, my ex still retain shared care status because of what children's services said short me previously.

Fast forward to now & my son is on the cusp of getting an ADHD/autism diagnosis so all those years ago I wasn't a bad mother, I was spot on. Due to the negligence of the SW my son has been failed right up until now. I tried for years to get my son help but my ex kept blockading it calling me mad & accusing me of playing games.

I just wanted to know whether I have a case against the local authority for the mistreatment of myself & my kids. I made a complaint many years ago which was partially upheld. However my son is about to get a diagnosis & I just wondered if I could take this further?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Girlintheworld

Thank you for sharing your post and welcome to the Board.

I am not sure if ‘you have a case against children’s services’ now that your son is being diagnosed as having ADHD/autism. To fully satisfy yourself however, you may want to check what information been held about your family, here on our site is how to do this.

If you have not contacted any charities for support and advice, here are two, the National Autistic Society and Contact.

I hope they are helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie