Reversal on agreed Child Care Plan by SS

[Lily63]

Hi,
My daughter and her fiancee are under social services scrutiny ever since she found out she was pregnant. he does have a bad family history and i am not that suprised that SS have started a case against them, however, since i got involved in December last year, the care plan has been reduced in its severity, with an agreed care plan for Mum and baby to come to me directly from hospital for 2 weeks and then the family unit of 3 to go to their own home (baby is currently overdue!!) .
Due to me disagreeing with SS during a meeting last week, SS have now scrapped the care plan and advised my daughter that they are applying for a court order to remove the baby from our family into foster care as soon after the birth as they can get a court date and that she is not allowed to leave hospital until after the court case under any circumstances. they have also declared to her (but said nothing to me) that i am no longer considered a fit person to take on the responsibility or main care of my unborn grandchild. I have sought legal advice across many avenues, but to my horror am told that i do not have a leg to stand on. we currently have 3 solicitors now assigned to our case (1 for Mum, 1 for Dad, 1 for Me) but we cannot make any plans for bringing baby home until we get a judge ruling at court. this is all so incredibly distressing, has anyone out there ever taken on social services and won? I am not an unfit parent, i have never had any interaction with SS until now I am of reasonable intelligence, i don't have a problem with authority but i do have a big problem with injustice. i have already taken some legal advice and contacted SS to advise I am prepared to do whatever they want- but so far they have fobbed me off. baby's arrival is imminent. any advice considered!!! thanks

[Robin D]

Hi Lily63.

I regret that this is a very common story. Sme of us here have though gained care of our grandchildren in tha face of oppostion from social workers, and yes, daring to diagree with them is unfortunately all too frequently the trigger.

I suggest that you start by ring the advice line if you haven't already done so on 0808 801 0366. Its a free call and totally confidential backed by legally trained advisors. Full details can be found at http://www.frg.org.uk/.

Good luck ...... Robin

[Lily63]

Good news for me, i managed to find an excellent solicitor(cost me a fortune!) and brought my baby grandson and daughter home from hospital. It's still an ongoing battle but I am now in the process of being assessed to be a foster carer for my grandson, I had to give up my job and the father only has access via a contact centre, but at least we managed to bring the baby home to family. I am just sat waiting to give him his final feed of the day and then hoping to get around 6 hours of sleep, before it all starts again. Good luck to anyone else in the same situation!

[Robin D]

That's great news. I wish you all the best ...... you'll need it.

[David Roth]

Lily63, congratulations on achieving this important step. It sounds as if life isn't necessarily going to be easy now, but at least the first step has been in the right direction.

If you want to know what ought to be happening in your fostering assessment, you might want to read our advice sheet 22: http://www.frg.org.uk/need-help-or-advice/advice-sheets

I take it from what you have posted that you are paying your own legal fees. It could be worth asking whether the local authority can help you with these at all.

I also notice that your daughter and her son have both moved in with you - in these circumstances, the local authority would normally expect you to watch her care of the baby closely. You do need to prepare for the possibility that she may not be approved to take care of her baby, and think about whether you would be willing to step in for him if that is the case. Care cases are supposed to be getting decided in a far shorter time than before, so it is important that if you want to be considered as the fallback if things don't work out for your daughter, the local authority knows this as soon as possible.

I wish you and your family good luck in coming to the right arrangement for your new grandson.