My son is care, what can i do?

[Daddyjohnson93]

Hi,

Im not going to bore you with the whole story, but basically my (nearly) 4 months old son is in foster care, where he has been since birth.

He was made subject to a child protection plan (neglect) in January this year, along with my ex's other 2 year old son, because of the concerns they had with her parenting skills. She had expressed her wish not to care for her son, and unborn baby, among other things

Anyway, after various core group meetings, plans and everything else, it was decided that he was going to be placed in foster care under a section 20 (which my ex did withdraw consent from in around May), while the local authorities did an assessment on both me and my ex to figure out where he was going to live in the long term. I am happy to say that the assessment was positive from my side and the recommendation was made that he comes and lives in my care, which is great!! However, that was made around 7/8 weeks ago!!

I also dont understand why i wasn't thought of before foster care? They have NO concerns over me as a parent, only that im a new Dad, but isn't all men who have kids to start with? Im a 21 year old guy, who has had an amazing upbringing, very close with both parents (been married nearly 30 years), i work full time in IT, and my 20 year old sister is a trainee accountant! Neither of us have ever been in trouble with the police, nor social services!! So my parents must have done something right somewhere along the line?

I was then under the impression that the local authorities were then going to issue a court order, and we were waiting for a court date. But, 6/7 weeks later, still nothing! We then found out that social services hadn't actually sent the application to the court, and were still deciding which route to resolve this, either court, or a PLO meeting.

The other day, i was told a PLO meeting was going to take place to avoid going to court, and to try and come to some sort of arrangement between is, which is never going to happen, which also will prolong the process even more!!!

I have thought about my issuing my own court order, but was thrown off because i honestly couldn't afford the £2,000 bill from solicitors etc.. However, one thing i did think of was reneging on the section 20 myself, but wasn't sure if this would mess anything up! Would anyone be able to shed some light and possibly give me some advice? I just want my son to be safely at home with me!!

If there is any more information you need i will gladly give you it!!

Thank you in advance

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Daddyjohnson93

Welcome to the parent's discussion board. My name is Suzie, one of the Family Rights Group's online advisers.

Congratulations on the positive assessment of your parenting capacity which was concluded almost two months ago.

I recommend you would write to the social worker to find out what is being planned. That it is your understanding that the care plan is for your baby to be placed with you but what is the timescale for the placement to take place.

If mother agrees to the baby coming to live with you (on the basis she has been ruled out as a safe carer at this time), this could happen under a child protection plan. Both of you could sign your consent through a written agreement in the presence of Children's Services and this would appear to be the least complicated option for all concerned.

However, as you suggest should mother not give her agreement it may be worth attending a MIAM (or mediation, information and assessment meeting) to see if you can resolve your differences by drawing up a parenting plan. This is a means for separated parents to put future arrangements about how they will communicate in future, the child's living arranagments, finance, religious, education, health care and how if any emotional suppport needs will be met .

You can obtain more information about appointing a mediator in our child arrangement order advice sheet. However, firstly it would be advisable to check if mediation is required as there is currently a child protection plan in place, which means under these circumstances it is not always necessary under the new laws that came into effect in April of this year.

On the other hand, the child protection plan could mean that you would be entitled to public funding. The community legal advice centre or a solicitor that accepts legal aid will be able to advise you further about your eligibility to public funding. You can find further information here..

If you have any queries about the child protection issues you can contact our advice line on 080 801 0366 Monday to Friday 09.30 am to 03.00 pm. Alternatively, in relation to the private law issues you raise you may wish to contact the Children's Legal Centre to discuss your situation in more detail.

I hope this helps.

Best Wishes

Suzie