Fostering a mother and baby miles from home

[Opinionated]

Can anyone help. My friends daughter has had a baby and they’ve gone to court to foster her out to a place 200 miles from home! Her parents have already been assessed to foster and the house has been rearranged to accommodate. She has 2 friends also with babies. She’s 20 and was living in supported college accommodation. Sue got pregnant under their care after ignoring her mum several times to get her contraception. The court hearing us today. She’s still in hospital being held against her will and not lowed home to collect her belongings she will go straight to the placement. How can we stop this. The solicitor won’t speak to her mum only the daughter!!

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Opinionated

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 friend’s family’s current difficult situation. I will reply to your post on this forum today. If you have further queries, please post on our tailored kinship carers’ forum as you may be able to receive advice and support there from other relatives and family friends, as well as from me. I am sorry that I was not able to respond to your query sooner.

Your friend’s daughter has just had a baby and they are both still in hospital. This young mother was previously living in supported accommodation and so may be vulnerable due to having a disability, perhaps a learning disability. As they are worried about her ability to safely care for the baby, children’s services have made a court application for an interim care order and are proposing to place mother and baby in a joint foster placement. Unfortunately, the proposed placement is 200 miles away which would mean mother and baby would be placed far from their support network, including the baby’s maternal grandmother. You explain that the maternal grandparents have been assessed as kinship foster carers for the baby and have made arrangements at home to care for them. Mother and baby have been asked to remain in hospital pending the court decision. Children’s services may have said that the police would be called to take the baby into police protection if the baby was taken out of the hospital without their consent.

The court hearing was on Monday. So, the court may already have made a temporary order or will have agreed a temporary care plan for the baby. The baby’s mother should have been legally represented and the baby’s father involved too. The solicitor is representing the baby’s mother not the baby’s grandmother so has to take instructions from her. Unfortunately, grandparents are not party to the care proceedings (unless the court joins them) and so are not legally aided either. The court will have heard from all the parties including the baby’s Guardian before deciding what if any order to make and what is the best plan for the baby. Wherever possible this will be to keep mother and baby together with support while assessments take place.

As the situation has moved on since your post, I will focus on providing some specific advice and information about care proceedings, especially where the parent has a learning disability. We have a broad range of advice for kinship carers too . You could encourage your friend to contact the advice service for specific advice as a grandmother of a baby subject to care proceedings.

There is practice guidance which sets out how children’s services and the courts should work with parents who have a learning disability. It may be helpful for your friend to know about this and to clarify if this is being followed in her daughter’s case. I would encourage the baby’s mother to seek an advocate to help her and that she discusses with her solicitor whether she should be offered an intermediary at court. Parents with learning difficulties whose parenting is being assessed should be offered a specialist PAMS assessment .

The following guides to working with a social worker, a solicitor and advocate may be useful.

The family can use the following advice materials to help them understand more aobut the legal process, children’s services’ duties and what options there may be for the grandparents as prospective kinship carers:

Care proceedings.

Children in care under a court order

Kinship care: children living with relatives and friends

I hope this has been some help. As the baby’s situation has changed since you posted, you and the family may have different queries now and are welcome to post on the kinship board. In addition, we have a freephone telephone advice line open Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm, on 0808 8010366, an advice enquiry form and a webchat service.

Best wishes

Suzie