Nephew in care....what are my rights?

puddy

no you dont get to know why the other kids are in care, that is seen as irrelevant (although you may get a picture of whats been going on), that is confidential

what you do need to know and should be able to know is why your nephew was seen as being at significant risk of harm to the extent that he is now in foster care. you need to know this because in order to provide support to him (during contact, and as an auntie) you need to know what his needs are. if the child was removed at birth, then its unlikely he came to harm but there must have been a risk

i thought this scenario rang a bell. you dont have to have the child in your care to play a key role in this child's life. your parents presumably want contact with their grandson too, as do your children with their cousin

puddy

AimeesMum wrote: »

Thank you so much Puddy for your response.

Your right, I have no idea of the correct terminology - I believe that her name is on some kind of register that highlighted to the social work that her unborn baby was at risk. This is despite her changing her name by deed poll to something else.

I have made contact with the social worker involved and hopefully she will return my call today.

Is there any organisations out there than can provide advice?

I unfortunately can't provide him with a home as I don't have the room and have two children of my own (3yrs and 6 months) and am not in a position to look after him. My own kids already spend 45 hours a week in childcare due to my work

Thanks again x

sorry, i didnt see this

you need to know firstly what team is dealing with the case, it could be that the team will change shortly to the LAC (looked after child) team, or it may already be held by that team.
get names and numbers of the particular teams you need to deal with, ask for managers names and reception numbers, write everything down

ask how the case is being dealt with, is the child held under Section 20 or have the authority applied for a care order, if so has that been granted?

have the authority considered anyone in the birth family to provide alternative care (they have a duty to do this), its possible your parents may want to consider this. in any case, they have a duty to consider birth family (both hers and his) before relying on foster care long term.

if the plan is for the child to remain in care (although under the law assessments will take place to see if mum and dad could make changes to protect the child and rehabilitate the child back home), then the local authority will be 'parallel planning' that is they will be planning to ensure services are in place to enable the child to be cared for safely at home but at the same time planning for adoption in case that doesnt happen. they are required to do this at the same time, so that time is not wasted if the child needs adoptive parents.

if the case is in care proceedings, the child should have a guardian, although cafcass have been slow at times to allocate guardians to care cases.
the child should have had a LAC review within 28 days of the first placement, thereafter it will be 6 monthly. the IRO chairs this meeting and it is normally held at the child's placement. get yourself invited to this, explain to all that you speak to that you are trying to get your head round the processes and situation and that you are anxious that this child grows up to understand his birth family and that your want a relationship with him (if you do)

puddy

AimeesMum wrote: »

Yeah I don't want to adopt the baby but would like to at least perhaps be able to make it known that as he gets older that me, his other aunt and his gran didn't just let him go into care. That we wanted to help and that we wanted to see him.

All I have seen is a picture and I just feel so awful for my Mum who is really in bits about this.

My brother is unemployed, has learning difficulties and doesn't seem to have any understanding of the realities of life. Just lets his life pass him by claiming benefits and not doing anything.

They have been together on and off for about 2 years.

please dont think that when a child goes into care, they should or will grow up with no knowledge of their birth family. lots of work goes on now to ensure that children know who their family are and have contact with them

even if adoption is on the cards, courts can now make adoption orders in them specifying that links with birth family are kept or they can make placement orders which do not remove the PR from the family. this is unusual and doesnt sound like it would happen in this case but its so important for children in the care system and in adoption to know and connect with their family. dont be paralysed by the systems involved, learn to understand them and work with them and you and your family can develop a relationship with your nephew/grandson

AimeesMum_2

Well social work are just off the phone and after calling the Mum of the baby has clarified that Myself, my Mum and my father are not allowed to know anything about the baby. This is ridiculous!

Puddy, I tried to talk to her about understanding some of the processes but all she would say is that she can't talk to me about anything if they don't want me to know. So back to square one....

puddy

and the father, what has he said to social services, he has PR i assume

yes, i think the problem here is that social services get information from the parents about who they consider as extended family. i suppose if they are not giving social services your names, then you dont exist

do you know the child's name and date of birth? are you able to speak to your brother again, try and bring him round

i would write to the department, head it as a complaint. write that you are concerned that the mother's rights are being considered over the child's rights and by definition the child is more vulnerable. i dont know how far you would get to be honest but its worth a try. you may need some proper advice. i have only been on the other side, ie the worker trying to get details of family from parents, ive never had extended family ring me and say they want to be involved

rozmister

It sounds like your brother is vulnerable have you pointed this out to SS? If he truly can't grasp the reality of the situation he deserves to have a responsible adult involved in the process to kind of watch over things, even if he says he doesn't want one if he doesn't understand properly how could he truly make that judgement call? I'm not saying he is more vulnerable than the child but that if he is also vulnerable SS should respect his rights too.

As already mentioned it is extremely unlikely her babies will be taken away at birth purely because of a violent ex. It could be because of a history of child neglect, child abuse or drug or alcohol abuse. Is the child being placed in foster care with a view to adoption or just long term foster care? With adoption there is less access for extended family than foster care.

puddy

thats not always the case, the orders can be managed to provide birth family with access (although ive never experienced that with any of my own cases)

OP let us know how things go

peachyprice

rozmister wrote: »

As already mentioned it is extremely unlikely her babies will be taken away at birth purely because of a violent ex. It could be because of a history of child neglect, child abuse or drug or alcohol abuse. Is the child being placed in foster care with a view to adoption or just long term foster care? With adoption there is less access for extended family than foster care.

According to OP's previous posts the mother is an alcoholic who has attempted suicide several times. I don't know why OP hasn't mentioned this in this thread though, strange.

Pepzofio

Is this the nephew with the unusual name? (The whole scenario seems very familiar, but I can't find the previous thread - was it deleted?)

delain

I think it was deleted, yes. Something to do with a nigerian name when the mum was nigerian and apparently it was disgraceful (according to some) that she wanted to give him a name from her own culture.

I don't know if that was the OP though or not.