[Solved] Being kept informed of childs welfare

To be honest if you are taking the children back and she is so blatantly drunk, you should not be returning the children. You know she is so drunk, you are putting the children a risk.

There is a chance the children could be taken into care and the fact that the Health Visitor is now involved I am betting she has already informed Social Services, they have to. All authorities, school, GP, police are supposed to report anything neglect/serious problem involving children to social service.

I am assuming that your partner has Parental Responsibility and yes Social Services will tell him, although it may not be immediately. The ex may not give his informaion etc etc.

If she is so drunk and erratic, when you collect or return the children I would not hand them over, taken them home and apply for an Emergency Order, it is your partner's job to protect the children and keep them out of danger.

Thank you. That was what he was hoping to do but he has been so worried about them being taken into care that he has ended up staying there instead to make sure things are ok. At the moment the court orders for both children are so heavily biassed against himthat he really doesn't feel he has a leg to stand on without getting those overturned. She is also very clever when dealing with the authorities. For the last 2 years the court and any other authorities have had a picture painted of a poor woman, abandoned by her partner bringing up two children alone as her ex had given them up for another woman and she has played up his mental health problems throughout. At the time when all this was going on my partner wasn't really well enough to fight back and throughout the whole period he has done everything to facilitate being in his childrens lives
With the current order for the youngest child being that contact should be supervised would that mean if he did take the children next time that he would be in breach of that contact or would allowances be made for the fact that she was unable to care for them? What would be the repercussions?
The last time he took his son (the day they split up before the youngest was born) was because she was drunk and aggressive and the attending police officer said that she was incapable of caring for him and that he should go with his dad. 24 hours later the police turned up with an emergency residency order stating that my partner was suffering mental health issues (at that time he wasnt) and that he had taken their son without her knowledge and witholding him from her (not true). The police removed him from his care without question and he has been fighting an uphill battle eversince.

Also, in terms of the childrens welfare, my partner spoke to the school and their response was that he was clean and fed. The health visitor reported that the youngest is progressing fine, which he is physically so there is no physical neglect or abuse. It's muc harder to prove that she isn't caring for them properly when it comes to their emotional and mental welfare. Particularly when it is his word against hers and the only supporting evidence is the word of a three year old!

Not where SS are concerned always being drunk, it being on record that she is drunk is still abuse.Of course if the kids are clean and fed that's if fine, but if the teachers haven't got near her, the don't know if she is drunk. The Health Visitor has seen her passed out drunk. That puts the children in danger.

Insofar as the supervision order is concerned, you would be in breach of that order, depending on the terms of that Order, but if you contacted the relevant authorities, about her condition, that you are removing the children because they are unsafe, the danger they are in and its not the first time, and applied for an emergency residence order at the Court, however I think you would have no choice, and the court would take that into consideration.

The fact that the Police and Health Visitor have seen her will be of support to your partner.

That's great. I think I wasn't clear in my earlier post. The health visitor didn't see her drunk. She just saw her being her usually flakey self and saw how great a parent my partner is, going so far as to suggest that his ex should follow his lead in terms of parenting which is encouraging. But the police have witnessed it and we have the police records from previous incidents so what you've told me is very encouraging thank you very much.

you're welcome and good luck. 🙂

Hi there las 🙂

Sorry to hear about this, it's so distressing for you both and most of all the children...they're still babies!

In my opinion the next time you turn up to pick up or drop off the children and she is drunk just phone the Police. Do not, as has been said, leave them with her....the Police will report to SS and as you have regular and sustained contact with the oldest one, they aren't going to put them in care! You need to clarify the situation with regards to what was said a year ago about the children being taken into care instead of into the care of their Dad.

I think the first step here is to speak to the SS and share your concerns, discuss with them what was said about the children possibly being put into care because of the mothers accusations. Bring them up to date with the access you now have and the anomaly concerning the different contact allowed for each child, and the fact that you are In the process of preparing to return to court to address this. Tell them about the Health Visitor and what she had said, and also that the next time you find the mother in an unfit state to care for the children you will be calling the Police and taking them into your care, ask for their support in this.

Thank you once again Nannyjane for the moxt welxome advice!

A few years ago, I took my children away from my ex (with the assistance of the police) because she was drunk. The police report to the SS the following week was the first that the SS knew about the case, and they were happy that I was taking the legal route to get residence. They did say, however, that if it failed and the children were returned to their mother, the SS would step in and remove them and place them with me - in other words, they weren't going to go into care when there was a parent around who wanted them and who could provide for their wellbeing.

That's brilliant thank you. It's great to have an opinion from someone who has first hand experience of this.