Family Rights Group | Parents’ Forum

Hi there

my daughter is in care on a interim order she is 5 months old she has been in care since she was 8wk old, me and my mrs have a long addiction with heroin she was with us for 8 wk and there were no concern due to the way we can care for her when ever the social worker came to the house when she was with us they allways said how well she is looked after my mother in law was placed as a safeguarder for the child as my partner moved home after she was born to get over the c section and for xtra help but that broke down after 6 wk so we asked the social worker if we could move home and she agreed at the time but soon after she canged her mind and took us to court and took our daughter of us we are currently in care proceedings waiting for a IRH hearing we are not ur normal drug user we have our own property on mortgage and own a off licence business and we have both always worked very hard we have always kept our life in very much order and the drug use has never been eratic.
Knw were at the stage were they keep moving the goal post we have been clean for a number of months knw, at the start they said we cud have her bck once we are 6 mnths clean but knw they have said that is not enough we are very capable of looking afetr our child and willing to do absolout anything and i mean anything but they will not say to us what we need to do to get her bck have we got any chance in securing her bck hme or is it a battle that we cnt win. they keep saying the judge mkes the final decision i understand he dse do that but hve worked in law for a number of yrs and understand that if the guardian and local authority are in agreement the judge will more than likely side with them. any advice plz help

by the way the reason they keep saying is the risk, if we have a relapse im sure if they really wanted to they could put some sort of a plan in place and monitor us in sme way bcse we are working with drug services and if we do, they could take some sort of action then. Our final care plan has not been drawn up yet is there anything we could suggest to our social workers in us being able to secure our daughter home. the contact workers all say how well we look after our self and how much of a unusual case we are as we are not like ur normal drug users at all even when we were using drugs you could not really tell by the way we look cse we are very well presented and they have never been any issues in contact ever and any to the way my baby was looked after cse she always came first. our parenting assesments were quite possitive allthough the out come is not positive as they say they can not send our child home at the momment due to us not having enough time to prove we can remain of drugs as its not in the timescale the courts have provided of 26 weeks they must be something we can do or they must be something that the law says for us to be able to bring our baby bck home, our solicitors are like they are their just ther to make sure everything is done on time and just to collect the legal aid these sorts of cases provide and it feels like social services do not really like rehabillatating children bck home aT ALL IT feels like the social worker is holding some sort of grudge against one of us two, and does not want the child coming bck tooo us.


thanks plz ask if theres any other info u would like to knw

Hi helpplz

Welcome to the parent’s discussion board.

My name is Suzie, one of the Family Rights Group’s on line advisers.

Sorry to hear that you are going through such a difficult with regards the current court process and your 5 month old baby, currently placed in foster care.

You share that the Local Authority issued care proceedings when she was eight weeks old, but you understood there were no concerns about your parenting capacity. At the time, you have said your partner was staying with her extended family for additional support when she came out of hospital following a caesarean birth.

It is good that you have been open about you and your partner’s long term drug dependency issues, but I am unsure if there was one incident or a build up of concerns (you have not shared here), that led Children’s Services to issue court action? In order to grant an Interim Care Order, the court will need to be satisfied that your child was at immediate or likely to be at risk of significant danger.

So for instance, if you had evidence to support that your child was being safely cared for with responsible relatives and not in the home when you used heroin. Or that you were fully engaged with support agencies to try to address any drug issues or family support needs, the court may be more lenient and would need convincing that to make an ‘Order’ (rather than ‘No Order’) was in your child’s best interests.

Were there any supporting police or other agency reports that suggest your child was not being cared for safely, at the time they were taken into care? Or evidence that you as parents were not cooperating with professionals as part of an ongoing child in need or child protection plan? As these could be some reasons that the court decided to support the Local Authority.

You are right to think that both Children’s Services and the court would want to see evidence of your ability to make and continue any long term changes to your life. Then the court may be satisfied that your home would be a safe place for your baby to return to. I recommend you speak to your solicitor in more detail, so they can give you independent legal advice about your options for a way forward at this time.

If you wish to speak to an adviser, please feel free to contact our advice line on 0800 801 0366 Monday to Friday 09.30 to 03.00 pm.

Best Wishes


Suzie

there are no problems at all with our parenting capacity at all my partner missed 1 antenatel appointment when she was pregnant and a few neurolgy appointments as she is an epileptic, there is absoloutely no evidence or suggestion that our child was not being cared for properly or safely as she always came first, and always will do, shes our whole world and dnt no what we are going to do if she is not placed back home with us. we admit that before she was born we failed to attend some appointments with drug services but this all changed when she was born. we have a beautiful home and our own business which i have ran knw, on my own for a couple of yrs its a succesfull business, but they keep coming bck to the reason what if and its a big if they say if we relapse when she is placed bsk home also my partner did not tell them a time when she relpased in the past as she felt embarrssed and did not feel comfortablee discussing her drug use with SW but discussed it openly with her drug worker but they knw say they cnt trust us cse we lied to them when asked about her drug usage also currently they have 2 issues

1. our history of 10 yrs

2. lies they say cse she did not feel comfortable in talkin to them

we should not be punished for that for the rest of our lives as they all say how well we are capable of looking after her and they can see it a mile off how much we also love her we spoil her like mad and allthough she is in care we provide 90% of all her equipment needed clothes etc
from day one i never claimed any benifits for my child due to the reason i didnt want them thinkin she a meal ticket
at the time my partner wanted to move bck home it was the christmas period when we asked the social worker she wasnt happy regards to her coming home but finally agreed but later had a change of heart but knw she totally denies she gave us any sort of permission if she said if u dnt go bck to ur mums then we will tcke ur baby then we wud hve gne bck hme but sshe never she just issued proceedings if u wud like to knw anything plz ask


thanks

Hiya I don’t know how to work this so I have twins my children we’re born in may 2024 and placed in foster care so I’ve had 26 weeks to prove to them that we will work them which we have done a parent assessment and a hair strand test for cocaine which came back negative I had alcohol too blood and hair bloods come back negative and one hair positive and one negative which I haven’t used now there saying adoption what will happen

They are saying it’s not enough time to evidence change even though we have and can see the change due to be at court next month but won’t be the final hearing as I’m appealing

They are saying it’s not enough time to evidence change even though we have and can see the change due to be at court next month but won’t be the final hearing as I’m appealing

Dear Hiyathere101

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board. Thank you for your post. My name is Suzie. I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser.

I am sorry to hear about your family’s difficult situation. Your baby twins are in foster care. You are in care proceedings, and the final hearing is coming up shortly. You explain that you have cooperated with a parenting assessment, and drug and alcohol tests, with mixed results. You are concerned that despite your best efforts, professionals are concerned that you have not been able to evidence a sustained change in the timescale. Adoption is being considered for your babies. You intend appealing the final order if you need to.

Firstly, it is good to hear that you are cooperating and that you are addressing your difficulties. It is important that you keep doing so and that you look after your own wellbeing and recovery. I hope that you have support to assist you. Please see the services listed in our useful links pages who offer drug and alcohol, parenting and families support.

You don’t say if your twins’ care proceedings are being heard in a specialist, problem-solving Family Drugs and Alcohol Court(FDAC). There isn’t an FDAC in every area so it may be that you are in a traditional family court.

As the final hearing for your twins is approaching then it is important that you:

• Make an appointment with your solicitor to discuss the outcome of the parenting assessment and the results of the drug and alcohol tests. And to seek their legal advice about how to respond to the social work view that there has not been enough time to evidence sustained change. The social worker may refer to the need for the changes you are making to align with the children’s timescale.
• Confirm with your solicitor how you can make your arguments to demonstrate that you can care for your children in the current court proceedings, rather than relying on an appeal.
• Make sure that you know the Guardian’s recommendation and final analysis as well as the local authority’s final recommendations and get advice from your solicitor about how to respond.
• Make sure that any family member or friend who is willing and may be able to care for the twins, if you cannot, has been assessed as a potential kinship carer, to keep the babies safe and cared for within your family, instead of potentially being placed with unrelated adoptive parents. If there is someone who may be suitable but has not yet come forward for assessment, then let your solicitor and the children’s social worker know urgently.
• Read this information about what the family court looks at when making a decision about children
• Read this advice about how to prepare for a final hearing.
Read this information about appealing orders made at the end of care proceedings. There must be legal grounds to appeal, disagreeing with decision isn’t enough. You should clarify with your solicitor or barrister at the final hearing if you need to, if there are grounds to appeal. There is a short timeframe of 21 days to make an appeal.
• You can find out more about placement orders here, this is the order that the court can make at the end of care proceedings if they agree a plan for adoption. But a child cannot be adopted until an adoption order is made, at a later stage.
•You are entitled to adoption support once adoption is being considered as a plan for your children. Please see this birth families map which will link you into relevant services including when adoption is being considered/planned for in court proceedings.

I know there is a lot of information here to take in. If you would find it helpful to talk through your situation with an adviser, then please call the freephone helpline on 0808 8010366. The opening hours are from 9.30 am to 3.00 pm, Mon to Fri. If you prefer, you can post back on this forum, use our advice enquiry form or webchat.

Best wishes

Suzie