Pressured into SGO

[Babyat70?]

After passing our viability assessment for a reg 24 interim care order, we now starting week 5 and have our daughter and grandson staying with us under our supervision following a hurriedly drafted safety plan ordered by the judge at the first hearing. The 12 week old grandson is deemed at risk from his father following serious sexual allegations from his now adult daughter from a previous relationship. At the case management hearing the judge called me, the Grandfather, into the court and gave my wife and I seven days to accept an SGO the inference being from the social worker the previous day that he would be put up for adoption if we said no, so I had to accept. I had previously asked if there were any other options such as foster care or a residence order but was told no and they don’t do residence orders anymore. They omitted to tell us that it is now called a child arrangements order which we now think would be much more appropriate given the trial next May could well eliminate the only risk they are concerned about especially as two of her friends were independently told by her that she had made the whole thing up. We are both 70 this year and need our daughter with us in the secure environment we have provided until then. The father has agreed to and complied with the no contact with his son requirement. We had our first session for SGO assessment three days ago. Should we be open about our preference for a CAO with supervision at the start or wait until the assessment finishes by which time our daughter might know if she has passed her sole parenting assessment, the concern for which was her ability to prioritise her son over her partner? Surely a permanent SGO at this stage is premature.

[Robin D]

Hello @Babyat70? and welcome here.

As it's a weekend and clearly you are in a stressful situation, I hope the following reply gives you some understanding and reassurance.

While I agree that a SGO may well be a little premature, the authority by law have to plan for permanence for the child at the earliest opportunity. A SGO would not remove PR from your daughter, but it would allow you to exercise it to the exclusion of both the mum and the dad. I am not sure a CAO would provide the required level security for the child as it would mean either parent could effectively remove the child at any point. It may be this that the SW is worried about?

However I have no legal training and am somewhat out of touch now. Suzie the FRG on-line advisor, will come in when she is next available and hopefully be able to give you more current advice.

Best wishes .... Robin

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Babyat70?

Thank you for your post, and welcome to the discussion board. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser and will be replying to you today. I hope the information provided is helpful to you.

Your daughter and grandchild are living with you under an interim care order (ICO)
due to concerns about the child’s father. They are staying with you under
Regulation 24 as kinship foster carers. You were asked by the Judge to make an application for a
Special Guardianship Order. You agreed to this but felt pressured to so do following an inference by the social worker that if you did not, the local authority’s plan is adoption. Following your discussion with the Judge you did some research around orders and are seeking advice as to whether a child arrangements order (CAO) might be the better option for your grandchild considering your daughters’ parenting assessment is yet to be completed and the outcome of the court case against the father is not known. Further, you are seeking advice on whether to be open around your preference for a chid arrangements order with supervision at that start or to wait until the assessment is completed. You feel consideration for an SGO is premature.

The local authority cannot force you to take an SGO order, it must be your decision to do so. However, the courts and children’s services will always plan for the most permanent order for a child during care proceedings. This does not translate to the order being made but they will parallel plan whilst your daughter and the father complete relevant assessments. It will then be for the Judge to consider all the information before them, and to decide which order to grant, based on the best interest of the child.

Whilst a child arrangements order (lives with) alongside a supervision order for, say one year, will offer some stability for your grandchild, it will not give permanency to them in respect of overall decision making.

If your preference is for a CAO, the local authority are likely to parallel plan for a care and placement order (when a placement order is granted this the courts agreeing to a pathway to adoption). Please click in the highlighted blue link for further information.

If your daughter’s assessment demonstrates she is able to safeguard her child and keep them safe and well, her legal representation will be able to argue for her child to remain in her care within the court arena. This may or may not include a supervision order. However, if it does not go well, and it is decided that one or both parents cannot care for their child, your SGO assessment (if positive) will be available for consideration. The point of parallel planning is to avoid undue delays in securing permanency for a child.

Please do take a look at the link HERE. This sets out the process of a special guardianship order, what it does and doesn’t confer to the person holding one. If further provides information regarding financial support when children are looked after by the local authority prior to an SGO order being granted. Please note, if for reasons decided within the court arena that a CAO is granted, it is not likely that you will receive longer term financial support for your grandchild.

We would advise you to work open and transparent with children’s services. If you do no believe you can commit to a SGO for your grandchild, you should discuss this with them. Whilst an SGO can be discharged, when it is made the expectation is that it will remain in place until the child reaches the age of 18.

From the information provided it appears that plans were put in place in a rush (as often happens in a crisis situation). If, on reflection, there are another family member or close friends who may be willing to put themselves forward for an assessment to care for your grandchild it is important that they do so as soon as possible. The should contact the allocate social worker in writing (email) and also inform your daughter solicitor, alongside your grandchild's Guardian . Please click on the link for information regarding the role of a Guardian within care proceedings.

A Family Group Conference can be a helpful way of supporting a family to consider what type and level of support they may be able to offer to the child (and their parents). A family group conference is a family-led decision-making meeting. A child’s wider family and support network come together to develop a plan to support a child and keep them safe. This network may include grandparents, aunts and uncles and sometimes close family friends. The meeting is supported and facilitated by a trained and skilled independent coordinator. They help the family prepare for the meeting and attend to support.

A family group conference can be used in any situation where a child and family need additional support. For example, when a child cannot live at home or is at risk of going into care or adoption. A family group conference is voluntary. A social worker might suggest it is a good idea. But a family cannot be forced to have a family group conference. Please click on the link
HERE for further information and guidance.

I hope the information provided is of help to you. Please post again if you have any further queries or you can call our free, confidential adviceline on 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm). We also have a webchat which is currently open on Monday and Thursday afternoons.

Best wishes, Suzie

[Babyat70?]

Thank you for your replies. Whilst we haven’t had an official Family Group Conference, both families know the situation and what’s at stake. And although they would willingly support an arrangement none are in a position to permanently care for our grandson, they also work full time. All agree the best person to care for him is his mother who has done no wrong and continues to do this under our supervision successfully.
Because the Regulation 24 will expire before May, could we ask the court to transition this arrangement into a Section 38 (6) Parent and Child Assessment Order or an Interim Care Order with Placement at Home? This would allow the mother to be the primary carer under our supervision during her assessment until the trial concludes and any risk is determined.
To our mind a just decision overrides any financial concerns.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Babyat70?,

Thank you for your further post.

Currently care proceedings are in place for your grandson. Care proceedings in England and Wales have a statutory target to conclude within 26 weeks (about 6 months) from the date the local authority files the application. This is made clear in the Children and Families Act 2014. The time limit aims to prevent harmful delays in a child's life and secure permanent plans quickly.

This means that the court would be expected to have concluded the proceedings much earlier than May next year. It is possible for the court to extend the 26-week limit, but only if they feel it is strictly necessary. Therefore it is most likely that the court will aim to conclude and make a final decision about whether your grandson is safe to stay in his mother’s care, or whether an alternative plan needs to be made for him within 26 weeks, or as close to this time scale as possible (and very possibly prior to the father’s criminal trial in May).

It is not possible for you to simply ask the court to make certain orders – they will make a decision in best interests of your grandson based on all the evidence provided to them. Your position as the grandparents is to decide whether you wish to be assessed as long-term carers for your grandson in the event that he cannot be cared for by either of his parents. You can express preferences, and as I said in my previous response you should be open and honest with children’s services if you feel that you cannot commit to caring for your grandson long-term under an SGO, but ultimately the court will make the final decision about what (if any) orders should be made.

Your grandson’s mother can discuss with her solicitor whether they could put to the court any alternative proposals (such as your grandson remaining in her care under a care order – this is legally possible, but is unusual). As far as I understand a Section 38(6) Parent and Child Assessment Order would not be suitable in this situation as there is already an interim care order in place, but again your grandson’s mother should discuss this with her solicitor if she wishes to explore it further.

I also want to highlight that if an SGO is made it is possible for the mother to continue to live with you and care jointly for her son with you. She would share parental responsibility with you and be involved in decisions about her son’s life. If, after a period of time, she can demonstrate to the court that she has made significant changes and that it would be in her son’s best interests for the court to discharge (end) the order then this can be done before he turns 18.

I hope that this is of some help. Please post again if you have any further queries or you can call our free, confidential adviceline on 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm). We also have a webchat which is currently open on Monday and Thursday afternoons.

Best wishes,
Suzie