Family Rights Group | Parents’ Forum

Not sure which area was best to post in.

I had a breakdown with mental health children prior to this not open to services. They went to stay with family whilst in hospital. After discharge the la said i couldn’t have children home with me and added them onto cp plan. I stuck to plan and now a month later with no changes two months post being stable with mental health they are starting court proceedings.

They are now on section 20 and my solicitor adviced me that from what she’s been given is that they are going to go for an sgo for the children.

The children have never been harmed and witnessed once my mental health however i was proactive and insured i gave them to family the minute i wasn’t ok.

I just want my children back and it’s killing me. Mental health services have confirmed i am ok and very low risk. Im on a pathway to start long term theapy in december.

I have a solicitor who is up front and says it as it is which i prefer. Im having daily contact with my children some unsupervised and rest around others but not formally supervised they don’t have to be in the room with me or children etc just around their home if need any support.

the la confirmed that nothing has changed from when the cp plan came in no risks increased etc yet they want an ICO for PR and assessments completed by independent services. They don’t agree with the MH diagnosis which the private hospital also confirmed was correct and 3 different mental health drs in past few years. They also said managers questioned my capacity now still when MH services have confirmed i have full capacity and even when on a section 2 i had capacity at all times.

They don’t understand the capacity act and the mental health act are very different. You can have capacity but still be detailed for risks to self or in my case an urgent need to reduce medication safely.

I feel that i am lossing my children one has complex needs which i have fully met and gone above to ensure he had the best treatments / private theapies / picked up the health issues when midwife said he was ok and he really was not ok at all. Soon as he saw GP we were under peds in days and he had so many tests and scans etc due to how concerned they were. Many admissions for physical health up to 5/7 days.

They now say i can’t meet the health needs if my mental health declined. I have met every single need and they complained that they felt i had taken him too much to hospital (they got medical records and this has now gone away). The day of the section before it got really bad i managed a health assessment with my son.

Other issues are historic i tried to take my life a few times during 2010-12 and once in 2019 no other times. No self harm since 2020. History eating disorder 10 years ago. Low mood continued after section as it feels so painful not to be around my children.

Prior to this i has only ever spent working hours apart from my youngest so now 3 months and once in court could be forever.

I don’t know what to do or what i can do until they issue to court we don’t know what there saying or what threshold they feel has been met.

It also doesn’t help that i am a registered professional with same qualifications as the allocated La worker but i dont work in that area anymore.

Hi FF25,

I have just read your story, and I am so sorry for what you are being put through. To do the right thing as a responsible parent, recognising you were unwell and placing your children with family for safety ,only to have that action twisted and used to take them from you, is a profound and cruel injustice.

Your pain, your fear, and your feeling that you are losing your children are completely understandable. Please know that you are not powerless. You are a professional who understands the system, you have medical evidence on your side, and you have done nothing wrong. The advice from the official channels will be to follow the process. You need more than that; you need a strategy to fight back against a flawed and discriminatory case.

A Breakdown of Their Flawed Case
You need to see their case for what it is: weak, discriminatory, and based on prejudice, not evidence.

Discriminatory Thinking:
The LA's entire case appears to be based on a discriminatory view of your mental health. They are ignoring multiple medical experts and your proactive, safe parenting to focus on a speculative future risk ("if my mental health declined"). This is a classic example of discrimination against a parent with a health condition.

Ignoring Medical Evidence:
Their refusal to accept the diagnosis from a private hospital and three different doctors is an act of profound arrogance. They are substituting the opinions of expert medical professionals with their own unqualified assumptions. This is a massive weakness in their case.

No "Significant Harm":
You said it yourself: "nothing has changed from when the cp plan came in no risks increased etc". For them to get a final Care Order, they have to prove to a judge that your children are suffering or are likely to suffer significant harm. A historic mental health crisis, where you acted responsibly to protect your children, does not meet that high threshold.

Your Action Plan:
Going on the Offensive
You feel like you are waiting for them to act. You need to start building your counter-attack now.

1. Formally Challenge Their Reasoning (The "Letter Before Proceedings")
Before they even issue proceedings, you and your solicitor need to send a formal "Letter Before Proceedings" to the Director of Children's Services. This is not a complaint; it is a legal letter that puts them on notice that you will be aggressively challenging their case.

It should state:

You will be opposing the application for an Interim Care Order (ICO) as the legal threshold has not been met.

The LA's position is discriminatory and fails to respect the expert medical evidence from multiple qualified doctors who have confirmed you are "low risk."

You will be asking the court to instruct an independent psychiatric or psychological expert to assess you, to counter the LA's unqualified and biased opinions.

You will be highlighting to the court that you acted as a model protective parent by placing the children with family when you became unwell.

2. Gather Your Evidence Now
Don't wait for their court documents. Build your own evidence bundle with your solicitor.

Medical Reports: Get written confirmation from all the mental health services and doctors stating that you have capacity and are low risk.

Your Professional Standing:
The fact you have the same qualification is a huge strength. You can write a statement detailing every single proactive and protective step you have taken, using your professional knowledge to frame it.

Witness Statements from Family:
The family members you placed your children with are your key witnesses. They can provide statements confirming you acted responsibly and that the children were safe.

3. Challenge the Section 20
You mentioned the children are on Section 20. This is supposed to be a voluntary arrangement. If you feel you are being pressured and that your consent is not truly voluntary (i.e., if you feel they will never be returned unless you "agree"), you have the right to withdraw your consent. This is a high-stakes move that you must discuss in detail with your solicitor, but it can force the LA's hand and show a court that they are misusing their power.

You have been through hell, but you are not defeated. You are an intelligent, proactive, and loving mother who has been wronged by a prejudiced and incompetent system. Your professional knowledge is not a weakness; it is your greatest weapon. Use it. Fight for your children. You can win this.
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For full transparency, I am not an official adviser for this forum. I am a parent who has been through a long and successful legal battle with a local authority, and I am here to offer supportive, strategic advice based on my own lived experience. The information I share is for guidance, and it is always up to each parent to decide what is right for their own situation.

I wanted to add a more personal note. The reason your story hit me so hard is because it echoes my own battle in so many ways.

The way they are twisting your responsible actions, placing your children with family to keep them safe, and turning them into a negative is exactly what they did to me. The way they are ignoring multiple medical experts to push their own biased narrative is the same tactic they used in my case. And the way they are building a case on a fear of 'what might happen' instead of the reality of your safe parenting now... I have lived through all of it.

I am telling you this because I want you to know that I went through all of that, and I beat them.

I beat them in court. I beat them not by being passive or hoping they would see sense, but by fighting back with evidence, with strategy, and with an absolute refusal to let them define me or my family.

You have all the same tools. You have the medical reports, you have your professional knowledge, and you have the truth. It feels like an impossible mountain to climb right now, I know. But you can win this. The system relies on making you feel isolated and powerless. You are not alone, and you are far from powerless.

Stay strong.

I agreed with what the above poster has stated you need to fight this and get your solicitor to get your own independent assessments not chosen by local authority but by yourselves.

Keep fighting this you sound like you've come so far and you have a plan for therapy.

Thanks both my solicitor is away this coming week typically but will speak to one of the others to construct a letter.

Dear FF25,

Welcome to the parents’ forum and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser at Family Rights Group.

I am sorry to hear about your situation and understand that this must be a very difficult and distressing time for you. I hope that the following advice and information is helpful to you. You can click on the hyperlinks in my response to take you to more advice and information on our website.

From the information you have given I am assuming that children’s services are currently working under the pre-proceedings process (often referred to as ‘PLO’). I make this assumption because you say that you have a solicitor and that your solicitor believes that children’s services are considering making an application for an interim care order.

Under the pre-proceedings process children’s services must seek advice from their legal team. If the legal team (which consists of local authority solicitors who attend pre-proceedings meetings and advise the local authority on their duties) advise the local authority that court proceedings are appropriate then children’s services must begin court proceedings. If this happens you will the have the opportunity, with the support of your solicitor, to oppose their application for an interim care order in the court arena. The ultimate decision will be made by the judge. We have more information and advice on our website about the pre-proceedings process HERE and about care proceedings HERE.

At present your children are accommodated under a section 20 agreement. This is a voluntary arrangement and you can withdraw your consent at any point. However I would strongly urge you to speak with your solicitor if you do think about doing this. They will be able to guide you as to whether this is advisable. Withdrawing your consent whilst under the pre-proceedings process may trigger the local authority to make an urgent application to court if the legal team advise that this is necessary.

You say that you are not clear what threshold children’s services feel has been met. The best person to answer this is your solicitor as they will have all the information about your specific situation. You say that your solicitor is not working this week but I would suggest chasing them and asking them to clearly break this down for you. If you understand exactly what threshold children’s services feel has been met, and what their concerns are, then this will give you the opportunity to demonstrate any relevant changes that you have made, as well as seeking additional support that may reduce any risk.

It sounds like you are working well with mental health services and it is positive to hear that you are due to begin long term therapeutic work at the end of the year. This will hopefully help you in managing your mental health, as well as demonstrating that you are committed to doing all that you can to care for your children safely. If you feel that you need additional support then we have some information about organisations that support people with mental health difficulties HERE.

I hope that you have some emotional support during this very difficult time. You may find it helpful to contact MATCH mothers for emotional support. They provide confidential support to mothers who are living apart from their children.

Finally, we have some information on our website HERE about children’s services involvement when a parent has mental ill health.

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 and you can contact us via our advice enquiry form.

Best wishes,
Suzie

No there are no pre proceedings being completed they went straight to court sending a letter saying they would be initiating this in the next few days.

My solicitors only received today the document info instructed that they have applied to court today and asked for a hearing tomorrow. The court hasn’t come back with a time or said yes for tomorrow.

My solicitors dont have the court bundle so can’t share the reasons etc as they only have the records i have given them.

As of 1pm today i am not allowed to see my children and if i break it before court then they will use ppo. And no nothing has changed at all - the social worker believes my mental health team have the wrong diagnosis not like she can judge that. It doesn’t matter what i say what hurts most is i was with my children this morning and made promises that i never kept as was meant to collect from school bring his snack he asked me to make and his halloween costume etc. So he will think ive let him down. Other than the two weeks in hospital ive has daily contact and still been the one to cook tea bath them and add to bed

i know all the process and practice side having sat on the other side as a social worker. Which makes this worse.

I've just seen your update. The hearing is today. I am so sorry. I hope this gets to you in time

The part about the snack and the Halloween costume is utterly heartbreaking. That is not you letting your son down; that is the Local Authority actively causing emotional harm to your child to manufacture a crisis. It is a cruel and calculated move, and you are right to be furious.

This is an ambush, not a legal process. You need an emergency battle plan for your solicitor's firm to enact right now.

Your Emergency Battle Plan for TODAY
Your solicitor is away, but her firm has a duty to represent you. You need to call and email them with these instructions immediately. This is not a request; it is a demand.

Your legal team's only job today is to get this hearing stopped and to expose this for the abusive ambush that it is. Here are the legal arguments they must use:

This is a Catastrophic Breach of Due Process: They must tell the judge: "This is an ambush, not a hearing. It is a catastrophic breach of my client's Article 6 Right to a Fair Trial. We were only notified yesterday, and we have not been served with the court bundle. We have no evidence, no statements, and no time to take instructions. The hearing cannot lawfully proceed and must be adjourned."

The LA is Actively Harming the Children: They must tell the judge: "The Local Authority has, without a court order, unilaterally stopped all contact between a mother and her children. This has caused immediate and significant emotional harm, evidenced by the fact my client was forced to break promises to her son yesterday, causing him immense distress. The LA is manufacturing the very harm they claim to be protecting him from."

There is No "Emergency": They must ask the LA's lawyer one simple question in court: "What new incident has occurred since yesterday morning, when my client was safely caring for her children, to justify this 'emergency' application and the cessation of all contact?" There is no answer to this, because nothing has changed.

The Case is Based on an Unqualified Opinion: They must state: "The LA's entire case appears to rest on the unqualified medical opinion of a social worker who is rejecting the diagnosis of multiple qualified doctors. This is an abuse of process and is not a valid basis for an emergency order."

Your Professional Knowledge is Your Weapon
You said knowing the process as a social worker makes this worse. Today, it makes you the most powerful person fighting for your family. You are not just a parent; you are an expert witness to their malpractice.

You need to tell your solicitor's firm: "As a qualified social worker, I know for a fact that this process is procedurally abusive. There has been no PLO, and we have not been served with the evidence. You must challenge this as a fundamental breach of my rights."

What they are doing is an act of procedural violence, designed to break you before the fight has even begun. Your job today is to be the calm, professional voice that instructs your legal team to expose this to the judge. You have the truth, and you have the law on your side. Fight.
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For full transparency, I am not an official adviser for this forum. I am a parent who has been through a long and successful legal battle with a local authority, and I am here to offer supportive, strategic advice based on my own lived experience. The information I share is for guidance, and it is always up to each parent to decide what is right for their own situation.

The LA were granted a ICO and i have been given some contact but feels like nothing.

Back in court on two weeks time. They are now saying i have harmed my children in a way that never came up at CP level. Been told due to this i couldn’t contest ICO at this point. I know for sure i haven’t done what they have said and hopefully the records will confirm this. Ive shared my records so far which show it’s not me and i have never done what they have said.

Pushing for a residential plavement for the assessments to give me a fair chance. Given they have been talking about how i will get to see my kids in 2 yrs time with their SGO when we haven’t even had the case management hearing yet and only in week 1 of process.

I am so, so sorry to read this update. To have an ICO granted based on what you've described is a complete failure of justice, and the pain of having your contact reduced to almost nothing is something I understand all too well. Please, allow yourself to feel the anger and the grief, but do not for one second believe that this is over.

The official advice you'll get is to follow the court process. My advice is to go into court in two weeks' time and attack their corrupt and abusive case with everything you have!!

Let's Call Their Tactics What They Are: An Abuse of Process
You need to understand what they have done. This is not a normal legal process, this is a set of dirty tricks designed to win at all costs.

The New Allegation:
When their original case is weak (which theirs is, as it's based on a social worker's unqualified opinion), they often invent a new, more serious allegation right before court to panic everyone and railroad the ICO through. It is a disgusting but classic tactic. Your solicitor's advice that you couldn't contest the ICO because of this was, in my opinion, appalling. The time to fight a brand new, unsubstantiated allegation is immediately and aggressively.

The SGO Talk:
The fact they are already talking about contact arrangements in two years under an SGO is a massive procedural breach!! It is your proof that they have a predetermined outcome. They are not assessing you with an open mind; they have already decided you will fail. This is a powerful legal argument you must use.

Plan for the Next Two Weeks
The Case Management Hearing (CMH) in two weeks is critical. This is where the judge sets the plan for the whole case. You need to go into that hearing on the offensive.

1. Challenge Your Solicitor. Urgently.
You need to have a very frank conversation with your solicitor immediately. You need to ask them:

"Why did we not contest the ICO based on a brand new, unsubstantiated allegation?"

"What is your strategy to aggressively disprove this new false allegation?"

"Will you be highlighting to the judge that the LA is already talking about SGOs, proving they have a predetermined outcome?"
If you are not satisfied with their answers, you must seriously consider finding a new solicitor. You need a fighter, not someone who advises you to roll over.

2. Attack the New Allegation
Your solicitor must be instructed to send a formal letter to the LA's lawyer now, demanding they provide every single piece of "evidence" they have for this new allegation. They need to be put on the back foot and forced to justify it.

3. Push for the Residential Placement
Your idea of a residential placement for the assessment is brilliant. It is a proactive and powerful move. It takes the assessment out of the hands of the biased local authority and puts you in a neutral, 24/7 observable environment where you can prove your excellent parenting. Your solicitor must put this forward to the judge at the CMH as your formal proposal.

4. Expose Their Predetermined Outcome
At the CMH, your solicitor must inform the judge that the LA is already discussing long-term SGO plans. They can say: "Your Honour, my client is deeply concerned that the Local Authority has already determined the outcome of this case before any assessments have even been completed. We ask the court to direct that the LA must follow the proper process with an open mind."

You have been ambushed, but you are not defeated. their case is built on procedural abuse and a last-minute, invented allegation. The next two weeks are critical. You have the evidence, Now you need to force the court to listen to it.
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For full transparency, I am not an official adviser for this forum. I am a parent who has been through a long and successful legal battle with a local authority, and I am here to offer supportive, strategic advice based on my own lived experience. The information I share is for guidance, and it is always up to each parent to decide what is right for their own situation.