Judge granted placement order child still with foster carer how long do I have before she's adopted

[TheMissingLink]

I had my first child in November 2021 and she was placed in foster care 9 days after being born. This has been going on for the past two years nearly as my child turns 2 years old in November 2023. Back at the time of birth I voluntarily came forward to social services requesting help from them for my issues as i was honest and forthcoming about all the things I felt was an issue at that point in my life. Despite the fact I chose to come forward and focus on what was in the best interests of my child, I was immediately treated poorly and was not prepared for the unpleasant and unprofessional manner in which I would be treated. It soon became apparent my desire to get help and support to be the best mother possible was not a part of the plan that had unknowingly been created by local authorities. After living through the past two years of grueling horrendous heart breaking hell on earth, it sadly was decided in June to follow the local authorities plan to place my child for adoption. Since then I have gone from seeing my child 4 times a week, as well as my family (my mother and father, her grandparents) and once a week contact with the rest of family members i.e brother,sister,nan (my child's auntie, uncle and great grandmother) to now being told only myself and my mother will have contact with my child for one hour monthly!! This obviously killed me but I still have some slight hope that there's something I could possibly do to prevent my child being adopted. I have since made many positive changes including being accepted for residential treatment for addiction. My whole family is willing to fight and do what it takes, but it's hard to know what kind of action we can take. Is it possible to appeal or revoke the order? Is there any way we can stop this or is this inevitably going to happen. Please feel free to give me whatever advice you may have, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I feel time is running out. Thank you.

[Pepsiking1490]

I'm sure suzie will he here soon enough.

But typically once a placement order has been granted you can't really stop it. They are only granted when there is no realistic chance of you satisfying social services.

You need to apply to the courts and ask for permission to stop the placement order. If they give you permission you can apply to have it over turned but this basically never happens.

I'm sorry you're going through this. You need to speak to a proper solicitor and get advice.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

I had my first child in November 2021 and she was placed in foster care 9 days after being born. This has been going on for the past two years nearly as my child turns 2 years old in November 2023. Back at the time of birth I voluntarily came forward to social services requesting help from them for my issues as i was honest and forthcoming about all the things I felt was an issue at that point in my life. Despite the fact I chose to come forward and focus on what was in the best interests of my child, I was immediately treated poorly and was not prepared for the unpleasant and unprofessional manner in which I would be treated. It soon became apparent my desire to get help and support to be the best mother possible was not a part of the plan that had unknowingly been created by local authorities. After living through the past two years of grueling horrendous heart breaking hell on earth, it sadly was decided in June to follow the local authorities plan to place my child for adoption. Since then I have gone from seeing my child 4 times a week, as well as my family (my mother and father, her grandparents) and once a week contact with the rest of family members i.e brother,sister,nan (my child's auntie, uncle and great grandmother) to now being told only myself and my mother will have contact with my child for one hour monthly!! This obviously killed me but I still have some slight hope that there's something I could possibly do to prevent my child being adopted. I have since made many positive changes including being accepted for residential treatment for addiction. My whole family is willing to fight and do what it takes, but it's hard to know what kind of action we can take. Is it possible to appeal or revoke the order? Is there any way we can stop this or is this inevitably going to happen. Please feel free to give me whatever advice you may have, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I feel time is running out. Thank you.

Dear The MissingLink

Welcome to the parents’ discussion forum and thank you for posting.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group. I am sorry that you are having such a distressing time following the decision for your young daughter to be adopted.

You have stated in your post that your baby was removed from your care at 9 days old. It is not clear to me why children’s services decided this was the best way to help you and keep your baby safe. Was there any pre-birth involvement with children’s services?

Although you mention that you have now decided to go into residential care for addiction help, it is also unclear if this is something you were asked to do at the beginning of the process.

Additionally, you appear to have a supportive family network. Were any members of the family assessed positively or at all as possible long-term carers for your daughter. If you had legal representation during the court proceedings this is something that your legal representative would have asked about your family or friends who could be assessed. For the court to decide for adoption the judge will consider if there is any possibility of a child remaining within the birth family network. If not, then the decision would be that nothing, but adoption would meet the child’s welfare in the long term.

You describe the process as taking 2 years. A care case would normally take 26 weeks, so this suggests that the court gave extended time for assessments and other work to be carried out to help the judge in reaching a decision. A children’s guardian would have been involved as your daughter’s voice in the proceedings and, as such, would make recommendations to the court about what would best serve her need for stability and care in the long term.

As another poster has suggested, it is possible with permission from the court to challenge a placement order but to do this, it is necessary to show that significant changes have been made since the order was made. In your post you state that the order was made in June and you have since entered a residential setting. I am not sure the court would consider that there has been a long and sustained abstinence or changes.

I think your legal representative, if you had one, would have advised you whether you had any grounds for an appeal following the decision at the final hearing. The time for an appeal is normally 21 days from the date the order was made.

Regarding contact with your daughter, during the court proceedings no final decision has been made and there is often the possibility a child may be returned to the parent(s) or within the family. This for a baby there is a high level on contact with mother to ensure the attachment is established. The level of contact is always reduced once a final order is made.

As a parent with parental responsibility, it is possible to oppose an application for an adoption order and legal aid is available, but the same considerations exist for the court being the long-term needs and welfare for the child. You may find it helpful to contact MATCH on 0800 689 4104 they offer support for mothers apart from their children and PAC-UK on 020 7284 5879 for more advice and support relating to adoption. The local authority should also offer you some support in your current circumstances.

I hope this is helpful, but should you wish to speak to one of our experienced advisers you can telephone our free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)

Best wishes

Suzie