SGO advice

[HT321]

Hello Suzie,

I am looking for some advice regarding contact with my daughter who is currently under an SGO with ####.

A little bit of background...

I had full custody of my daughter from birth until 2021.

I began a new relationship in 2014, which progressed to us moving in together in 2017 as we were expecting a baby.

My daughter took the new arrangement badly, and made allegations about my partner physically abusing her after a few months of us all living together, which I took extremely seriously as I felt at 7 years old, was deeply concerning, although other than the said allegations, I witnessed nothing untoward from my partner. I allowed my daughter to live with my parents for a period, whilst the allegations were investigated and over time social services concluded the allegations were unsubstantiated.

I worked extensively with the school, to explore the issues and it was revealed by my daughter that my mother and brother had been telling my daughter to say things against my partner. I confronted my mother, who denied her part, but confirmed my brother has reported us to social services, denying he had told my daughter to lie.

I became distressed by this and after a row with my mother at my home following the disclosure, I was arrested and I pled guilty to a public order offence section 5 for using words that would cause offence.

I cut contact with my mother and brother following this. My daughter returned home, but clearly the relationship between my daughter and partner was very strained. My daughter continued making further allegations to the school and her friends which led to multiple mash referrals. My partner was suffering from clear depression and unable to cope with all that had been thrown at her and it damaged our relationship beyond repair.

As I decided my daughter would not have a relationship with my mother and brother following all of this, my daughter made a few attempts at running away to my mother's and brother house.

I asked social services for help, and they advised me to let her stay under a private fostering arrangement with #### and her partner. This was only supposed to be for the short term.

My daughter made allegations to #### regarding my ex and myself, which for myself I was able to fully deny and my partner denied her part. I became frustrated that a new investigation was being carried out by social services as there was nothing new being alleged from the previous proceedings.

I refused to cooperate with the social worker which led to my daughter becoming a child in need. The school made me aware that my daughter was being told inappropriate information from the carers and the school also noted their concerns about my daughter's carers smoking drugs around her and drinking. I said I therefore wanted my daughter to return home. The social worker, then had the school removed from the meetings. I challenged this, and was told I was being obstructive and uncooperative and my daughter's case was moved to a child in care.

During the proceedings, there was evidence presented that my partner had pulled my daughter from the car and the school has CCTV footage, but as she was not in the proceedings, I was unable to challenge this or see the footage. I confronted my partner who denied it, but along with everything else, I decided to end the relationship. Which set forth proceedings regarding my son and my ex partner then refusing me access as she did not want my daughter to have a relationship with him.

I was made to undergo a psychological assessment for contact with my daughter and as I refused to accept the social services allegations, it was said that I could not offer my daughter safe contact. I was given supervised contact with her once a month.

I then decided that I would no longer challenge the SGO being made, as my daughter seemed happy in the set up, I accepted my parenting at times had been harsh, and I accepted I was not able to care for my daughter's emotional needs, especially after being accused and angry at the whole situation, my mental health was at an all time low.


I focused on the contact arrangements and this progressed and is currently at twice a month unsupervised, and has been for six months

I focused on the contact arrangements and this progressed and is currently at twice a month unsupervised, and has been for six months.

During this period, #### has split with her partner, lost her job and housing and informed social services she no longer wished to be an SGO passing my daughter to her mum under a private arrangement.

I was only made aware of bits of this three months into the private arrangement, due to the private fostering social worker contacting me for a meeting. After two months, it was decided #### now wanted to resume the SGO.

My opinion, is the SGO was supposed to offer my daughter stability from the upheaval she has suffered, yet, due to #### the decline in #### mental health and upheaval, I would like to have the SGO discharged as I believe I am able to offer a better stability for my daughter and have made significant changes to my life, which has been acknowledged by the social workers.

I do not know where to begin, what it will cost to discharge or if it needs a solicitor to look at. I am unsure if legal aid is possible, as despite everything mentioned whether the criteria meets the threshold

Any advice would be great

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear HT321

Welcome to Family Rights Group parents’ discussion forum and thank. you for sharing the background to your family situation in your post.

I see from your post that you are very concerned about your daughter and whether her needs are being properly met by the special guardian and you are considering an application to discharge the special guardianship order.

Regarding the private fostering arrangement, if the special guardian felt it was best for your daughter to be living with another person for a short period of time, then that is a decision the special guardian can make exercising their parental responsibility. Perhaps at the time the special guardian made the decision it was the best thing for your daughter. It is unfortunate that you were not told of the new arrangements but because the special guardian can exercise their parental responsibility over and above yours it was not felt it had to be shared with you at that time. It was an arrangement between the special guardian and that person only. Children’s services have a statutory duty to ensure the placement is safe.

The position now is that you believe it is disruptive for your daughter to be changing where she lives yet again since the special guardian has decided she should be back in their care. You are concerned about the lack of stability for your daughter and believe that she would have this if she were in your care. Therefore, you wish to make an application to the court to discharge the special guardianship order. You have stated that you've made significant changes in your life, this is one of the things that you would have to show the court with evidence to support it. The court will consider all the circumstances and decide on what best serves your daughter’s welfare.

Legal aid is not automatically available in private law proceedings, and he would need to ask a solicitor who does legal aid work to carry out an assessment of merits and and means to see whether you meet the criteria for legal aid, following this an application can be made to the legal aid agency if appropriate. It is quite common for persons to represent themselves in private law proceedings following the changes to the availability of legal aid for such cases. You may find it helpful to look at the Advicenow website which offers information about representing yourself in court. It is also possible to obtain advice from Child Law Advice on 03003 30 5480 as they advise specifically on private law matters.

There is also a service called Support through Court which offers practical advice and support to persons representing themselves in court proceedings. Here is a link to their website

I think you may also find it helpful to read the information information on our website regarding what special guardianship means for birth parents.

Should you wish to speak to an adviser you can telephone are free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9:30am to 3pm Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays).

Hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie

[HT321]

Thank you very much Suzie, great help