please advise

[millie]

I have a granddaughter aged 5 that has mostly lived my husband and myself since birth and a grandson 28 months that lives with my daughter. Both children have no contact with their father's. My grandsons father was abusive to my daughter and social services got involved. But may this year they said that they were happy and would no longer be involved. About 8 months ago my daughter started a new relationship and has since announced they were having another baby.
A couple a weeks ago my daughter phoned me to say she thought my grandson had hurt his wrist. I advised her to get it checked out. Two days later which was a Saturday my daughter was taken ill and taken to hospital, so I had our grandson at our house. My husband and I noticed he was not using his arm when crawling but used it to pick things up. He did not seem in any pain. We decided to take him to a and e, but before we had chance my daughter returned from hospital. I again told her to getmy grandsons arm sorted that day which she agreed to do. We had our grandson for two hours. That evening I telephoned her to see what the outcome was and she told me that her partner thought it did not need attention but she d take him to the doctors in the Monday. She could not see the doctor until the Tuesday whom sent him to hospital for an x ray. To our horror he,d fractured it, because my daughter couldn't explain how it was done. The hospital decided to keep my grandson in for further tests. To our horror he had 3 heeled fractures on his legs .
On the Thursday a social worker turned up at my house and said we were to keep my granddaughter in my care and the worst case scenario would we have our grandson. Obviously we agreed. He checked our house to see if we had enough space which we have. He also asked if the next day before school could I take my granddaughter to the hospital for a medical and xray just to rule her out. So the next morning I took her ,after an hour someone came to me and said the doctor could not do it then could I return after school which I did. My granddaughter had her medical and i was told that she did not need any xrays as she was a fit healthy and happy little girl. Just as I was about to leave the hospital social services turned up and said that they would like a word with my daughter and myself. To our horror we were told that both children were being taken into care that evening. When I asked why my granddaughter as well because she lived with me I was told it was because I d had my grandson for the two hours on the Saturday. We d already been told that my grandsons arm had been fractured at least two to three days before we had him on the Saturday and his fractures on his lkegs were over four months old. ( I be not had my grandson for over 8 months on my until this particular Saturday). The hospital agreed that my grandchildren could stay in hospital over the weekend while social services did some more investigation s. Both children were not allowed off the ward, my daughter was allowed to stay with and I was allowed to stay until my granddaughter had gone to sleep and then come back as early as I wanted the next day.
On Monday morning I called social services and was told I d probably be taking both grandchildren home with me. After they d had their meeting my daughter and myself were told they were going into care that night under section 20.when I again asked why my granddaughter when she lives me they said that when they were involved with my daughter previously they were led to believe that my daughter cared for both children. My daughter again refused to let them go into care so we were told we had to go to court in a hour half's time and to get a solicitor which we managed. When arriving at court I was advised to get a solicitor if my own because my granddaughter lived with me. Which I managed to do.
The outcome that evening was that my grandchildren could stay in hospital one more night, I could go and stay with therm but my daughter could not see them at all until we returned to court the next.
The next day at court social services were advised by their legal department to let my granddaughter come home with me but my grandson would have to go to foster carers. My solicitor asked for a permanent residence order but the guardian and social services would only agree to a interim residence order with conditions until next week when we go to crown court.
I am petrified that my granddaughter will be taken into care next week it will destroy her.
Can anyone please give any advice.
Meanwhile my daughters partner has not been anywhere near and my daughter has said that when he walked into the room my grandson used cry.
Totally destroyed

[David Roth]

Hi Millie, and welcome to our family and friends carers' discussion forum.

I am very sorry to read about the position that you find yourself in. It sounds as if the local authority are being ultra-cautious in their approach to dealing with the injuries to your grandson, which have clearly come as a great shock to you. It is really scary to be caught up in the procedures of a child protection investigation, particularly when, as in your case, you didn't cause any injuries, and picked up that something was wriong but did not have the time to act on it.

From the local authority's perspective, they have found themselves dealing with a little boy who has had multiple fractures, and their starting point is that they don't know how these happened. The investigation is how they find out what is most likely to have happened - often with injuries to children it is hard to be certain what happened, or they have to decide between competing accounts.

From what you have said, they have taken their time before coming to a decision that your granddaughter has been mainly living with you over the last five years, and in this time she has been kept safe enough for them to agree that she can come back to you. I would expect that someone has spoken to your granddaughter, and she would have told them if she was ever scared of you or if you ever hit her.

Things may not be so clear with your grandson, and they may need to give some more thought into what they think about him staying with you. The fact he has gone into foster care does not mean they will never decide he can come to you, it might just mean that he needs to be somewhere else while they make the decision.

However, if your grandson cannot go to his parents (and even if the local authority accepts that your daughter's partner is the main risk to the children, she will still have to explain why she did not do anything when the boy had his earlier fractures) then you will have to decide whether you want to bring up him as well as the little girl. And you may also have to consider whether you would be willing to go for the new baby as well, since there is a good chance the local authority will consider that child to be at risk as well.

You do need to think about a legal order to secure the places of these children with you. You have mentioned a residence order, but I would advice you to also consider going for special guardianship. There are advantages to SGO, particularly if either of the parents doesn't agree that the child should be with you, as having the SGO gives you the right to exercise parenttal responsibility to the exclusion of anyone else. This is not the case with RO. Even if the local authority has suggested RO to you, I think it is worth informing yourself about all the options, as this is a choice which can make a big difference for you and the children. If you want your grandson to come to you, you need to make sure the social workers are aware of it, so they can do a proper and full assessment of you.

Since you have been granted an Interim Residence Order, you should be a party to the proceedings, which means you can attend all the hearings and be given a copy of the bundle (all the papers submitted to the court as evidence). Talk to your legal representative about being joined as a party, if you are not one already.

I do hope all goes well for you and these children.

[millie]

Hi many thanks for your reply. We are due at court on thursday.My daughter has been told today by social services that they want our granddaughter because of dishonesty in care, because the little boys father was abusive and both children were put in to the child in need /protection, which finished in may this year.
My daughter attended all the CAF meetings. I attended two at the very beginning where they were discussing about how to protect the children. Apparently my daughter had told ss that my granddaughter lived with her when actually she was living with me.
Ss are saying I should of mentioned this at these meetings , but how could I have done when I did not no my daughter had said this. I also did not attend the rest of the meetings because I did not no anything about them.
How can I get ss to believe me. I ve given them names of other professional s that are willing to say that she lived with us but they don't t seem interested.
Please can you advise as I can t bear the thought if our granddaughter being removed from our care on Thursday

[millie]

Hi yes. Neighbours and family. My grandaughters deaf support worker. The nursery that my granddaughter attended and also the school she attends now, but ss don't seem to want to no about these people. They are just saying that her address was registered with her mum so that's where she lived

[millie]

I have a solicitor who us going to apply for a sgo. I ve given the names of these people willing to support. My daughter claimed child benefit etc. She has also admitted to ss that she lied to them and my granddaughter stayed with us.