Hi,
I'm looking for some advise.
Both my children were taken into foster care in May 22.
My son now 18 is staying where he is as this is what he wanted. To be honest we have a better relationship with him now than we ever had.
My daughter now 13 is in foster care.
The care plan was for me and mum to do some work with the children's trust (X) then after some time to be reassessed. We got told that an assessment cannot be done until 12 months has passed from the care order been made.
So the assessment should of been started around Dec 23.
It was started in Jan 24.
We completed all the work we needed to do and some extra we wanted to do just to improve our parent skills.
This was all finished in Aug 23. Apparently the assessment was finished in may 24, but it couldn't be sent for manager approval because of the police checks haven't come back.
Apparently these were applied for in Dec 23 but they only take around 30 days to come back. Another unnecessary delay.
We have been having unsupervised contact with our daughter since Dec 23 in public and at home.
We have been having overnight stays since May 24 this is every weekend.
We have her every Wed during school holidays.
This is a very quick rundown of a very terrible experience we are having with bradford children's trust.
We have been lied to on numerous occasions.
My daughter has been given false hopes and promises that she will be home by this time and that time all by the SW with none of this happening.
We are now getting fron the SW manager that the assessment needs more work another couple of sessions.
Apparently the SW has left out some really important things. More delay yet again. We was having a cic review 3 weeks ago with the hope of having a rehabilitation plan put into place this got delayed until the 7 Aug. We are now been told that due to missing info its going to be delayed again.
Me and my partner and my daughter are now at a stage where we don't trust the SW all he does is lie to us all.
We just think that the trust don't have anyone's feelings at heart not even our daughter’s.
What I'm wanting to know is can I apply for a discharge of the care order and is this something that will qualify for legal aid.
We are at that point now where we are fed up of all the delays and the unprofessional way our daughter feelings have been handled.
Discharge a care order.
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Swiftey
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2023 9:29 am
Discharge a care order.
Last edited by Suzie, FRG Adviser on Tue Aug 06, 2024 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Moderated to protect confidentiality
Reason: Moderated to protect confidentiality
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Suzie, FRG Adviser
- Posts: 4996
- Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm
Re: Discharge a care order.
Dear Swiftey
Welcome back to the parents’ discussion board. Thank you for your recent post. I am sorry that I was not able to respond sooner.
It is good to hear that your relationship with your son has improved greatly. He is now 18 and has settled accommodation.
It sounds as if you and your partner have been working very hard since your children were placed in care to remain part of their lives and to work towards your daughter’s return home. You are now having regular unsupervised contact with your daughter including overnight stays and every Wednesday during the school holidays. Well done for achieving this.
However, I understand that you are becoming frustrated due to the number of delays during this process. I can see that you are worried that your daughter’s emotional wellbeing is being affected by the postponements to the plan. You are understandably very keen that this be progressed as soon as possible.
Your daughter has a right to an advocate to assist her. Please see this guide for children working with an advocate which includes contact details for advocacy services on the last page.
Your daughter’s Looked After Child review is due to take place. This is the best forum to discuss the progress that has been made but also to highlight the many delays and to seek clarification about when the planned rehabilitation plan will happen. As children’s services say that you need to complete a couple more sessions then I would suggest that you push for these sessions to take place urgently. You can make sure that you keep the Independent Reviewing Officer fully informed as they are responsible for ensuring that your daughter’s care plan is being followed and they can challenge children’s services if they are not doing their part.
You can consider applying to discharge the care order although it is likely that the court would need to know that the assessment has been fully completed and is positive e.g. that all sessions have been finished and police checks completed. You could consider contacting the police directly to enquire about the progress of the checks, explaining their importance for your daughter’s proposed return home to be agreed.
You may qualify for legal aid to apply to discharge the care order, but you would need to check with a solicitor or with Civil Legal Advice to check if you are eligible; this will be based on your means and the merits of your case. Please see details here of how to find a legal aid solicitor and of Civil Legal Advice who can assess your eligibility and provide you with details of solicitors too.
Please see this summary of how to apply to end a care order.
You can make a complaint as you are unhappy about how children’s services have managed the reunification assessment, however, you will still need to work with them if you are in a complaints procedure as the social worker is the main key worker and source of contact for you in relation to your daughter. You can find a link to complaints processes here.
I hope that your situation moves forward more quickly. You have come a long way already and hopefully with your continued persistence and cooperation the reunification will proceed soon.
If you need any further advice, please post back, call our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm, use our advice enquiry form or webchat.
Best wishes
Suzie
Welcome back to the parents’ discussion board. Thank you for your recent post. I am sorry that I was not able to respond sooner.
It is good to hear that your relationship with your son has improved greatly. He is now 18 and has settled accommodation.
It sounds as if you and your partner have been working very hard since your children were placed in care to remain part of their lives and to work towards your daughter’s return home. You are now having regular unsupervised contact with your daughter including overnight stays and every Wednesday during the school holidays. Well done for achieving this.
However, I understand that you are becoming frustrated due to the number of delays during this process. I can see that you are worried that your daughter’s emotional wellbeing is being affected by the postponements to the plan. You are understandably very keen that this be progressed as soon as possible.
Your daughter has a right to an advocate to assist her. Please see this guide for children working with an advocate which includes contact details for advocacy services on the last page.
Your daughter’s Looked After Child review is due to take place. This is the best forum to discuss the progress that has been made but also to highlight the many delays and to seek clarification about when the planned rehabilitation plan will happen. As children’s services say that you need to complete a couple more sessions then I would suggest that you push for these sessions to take place urgently. You can make sure that you keep the Independent Reviewing Officer fully informed as they are responsible for ensuring that your daughter’s care plan is being followed and they can challenge children’s services if they are not doing their part.
You can consider applying to discharge the care order although it is likely that the court would need to know that the assessment has been fully completed and is positive e.g. that all sessions have been finished and police checks completed. You could consider contacting the police directly to enquire about the progress of the checks, explaining their importance for your daughter’s proposed return home to be agreed.
You may qualify for legal aid to apply to discharge the care order, but you would need to check with a solicitor or with Civil Legal Advice to check if you are eligible; this will be based on your means and the merits of your case. Please see details here of how to find a legal aid solicitor and of Civil Legal Advice who can assess your eligibility and provide you with details of solicitors too.
Please see this summary of how to apply to end a care order.
You can make a complaint as you are unhappy about how children’s services have managed the reunification assessment, however, you will still need to work with them if you are in a complaints procedure as the social worker is the main key worker and source of contact for you in relation to your daughter. You can find a link to complaints processes here.
I hope that your situation moves forward more quickly. You have come a long way already and hopefully with your continued persistence and cooperation the reunification will proceed soon.
If you need any further advice, please post back, call our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm, use our advice enquiry form or webchat.
Best wishes
Suzie
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