Published on 12, July, 2020
My grandson has ADHD/AUTISM he is now 7 years old his father would slap him across the face and head for making a mess on the table,he would be made to clean up his vomit,clean the floor if he had urinated on it whilst going to the toilet or punished for behaviour the father viewed as defiant such as being stupid in his fathers words .
My grandson has been now living with me under a child protection plan he sees his father once ever two weeks which are moderately okay but on videocalls he tells his father he hates him ,he doesn’t want to see him because he was always slapping him.l don’t know what to do as the father is accusing me of coaching my grandson to say these things.My grandson can me fine on the start of the videocalls then suddenly starts shouting liar l hate you and becomes extremely overwhelmed.
would appreciate any advice
good response - I respect your care and professionalism :-)
all the best
I am not a legal professional, however, I have read what you said and below I have brought together the extent of my understanding as an ordinary person (it is not professional advice). My notes are informed by reflecting upon (many years ago) having worked for a year in support of a Family Law Solicitor in England.
My apology in advance: this is the full extent of my knowledge and thoughts (so unfortunately, I will not be able to answer your further questions).
I wish you well, and really hope that, before long, you will be well supported by the professionals to whom you reach out for assistance. Good luck with everything.
You describe a stressful situation for everyone involved. It is good that you are looking around for support. From how you have described the situation; I wonder if you might need to talk to the Social Worker about a review of the contact arrangements.
On a Child Protection Plan it would be usual for the following information to be included:
a) what help Children’s Services can offer (the team of people in social services who work with children and families),
b) the contact details of all people involved in the case (the core group, including someone who may be described as the independent reviewing officer known as the IRO - who is assigned to ensure that children’s services are meeting the child’s needs),
c) an overview the key dates involved, and
d) the date of the next regular child protection review conference (there would usually be a schedule of regular review meetings, the first conference would usually take place about three months after the plan is made and then afterwards about every six months after the first one took place).
Any organisation, or legal team, or social services professional you approach to ask for support would be.quite likely to ask about such details and arrangements.
Depending on your circumstances; you may also be eligible for free legal advice - this is now known as via the Legal Help scheme (non-legal people often still talk about it as Legal Aid).
If you were to approach a potential lawyer; a question you should ask would be: is the lawyer a member of something called the Children Panel.
If you contact a legal firm: they should be able to tell you whether you can get free legal advice.
Even if you were to find out that you are not eligible for free legal advice (through the Legal Help scheme), you may find that a reputable Family Solicitor may be able to make themselves available for one limited (maximum half an hour) free conversation with you (as an Officer of the Court, and with consideration to the fact it is a conversation in support of child protection, if available time in their diary permits; they often would be keen to ensure you were at least correctly onward signposted / given directions and suggestions as to other appropriate professionals who might be able to help / access to information resources).
I suspect that a social worker may be involved in the child protection plan. I wonder what they say?