CAN WE TELL THE PAPERS ABOUT BRADFORD SOCIAL SERVICES.

[sbrown1450]

Our grandsons are in care because their drunken father beat up their older brother. The courts said we should have the children live with us and their older brother and sister. This never happened, social worker kept saying we were in ill health even though we had all the crb and health checks twice to be Family and Friends foster carers.
Now the social worker admits the father is still drinking and the social services are giving him the children back, they are ignoring our worries for the boys safety and saying we are just trying to cause trouble.
The father is getting joint care with his mother, yet both his parents are older than my husband and I and are in really ill health, ie 2 heart attacks, 1 stroke, prostate cancer, breast cancer twice against Type 1 diabetes and osteoarthritis.
We cannot believe what the council are doing.
Can we go to the papers and name them and the social services, we did sign a confidentiality form when we first applied to be carers.
Thanks for any help, we are at our wits end.

[oldmaggie]

The only help I can give you is expensive. A family court solicitor could instigate court proceedings on your behalf asking for and independant assessment by private social worker or psychologist of you and your husband you could ask that the father and his mother be assessed as to whether they are suitable carers.. If the children are old enough they could give their opinion as to where they want to live. Did you have a CAFCAAS report? If not ask for one. You should not approach the papers it would only go against you.
If the father hits the boys again get photos of injuries and call the police.I am a family court magistrate and really worry about the social services and their recommendations at times. Good luck.

[Richard1966]

I agree that the best way to deal with this is through a specialist solicitor.

With the scrutiny that social services are under at the moment they will have ensured that their paperwork is in order and all the risk assessments will have been carried out and filed.

Certainly going to the press will not help your case and will be seen as a vindictive attempt to subvert a statutory agency for your own ends. Ultimately social services are only interested in whats best for the children and not whats best for you.

In order to be listened to seriously you need to act in a manner that does not create further risk to the children. Spreading their names all over the press will cause more problems.