'The children's mother
consented after being
threatened that if she did not agree they would simply obtain a court order'
THREE
young sisters
are to be put up for adoption despite their mother having numerous
complaints upheld against the county's social services department.
The girls arc now aged
seven, five and three and their mother, who cannot be named for legal
reasons, contacted social services in June 2003 because she could not cope
with the oldest one's behaviour.
The case was to be
referred to Children's and Adults' Menial Health Services but nothing
happened and the mother called social services again in January 2004 after
the girl assaulted one of her younger sisters.
But rather than receiving
help, council officers turned up at her home and took the children away.
Their mother consented
after being threatened that if she did not agree they would simply obtain a
court order.
In May she withdrew her
consent but the children were not returned and the case has been going
through the courts since then with a final ruling last September that the
girls should be handed over for adoption.
However, in the meantime
their mother complained that it look loo long to organise contact after
their removal, they were moved around several times without appropriate car
seat restraints and one of the children was feverish mid lethargic during a
contact visit.
She also said social
services failed to keep her informed about a hospital visit, failed to
inform her of changes to contact details and failed to arrange appropriate
contact.
Of 12 complaints the
mother registered, five were fully upheld and two partially upheld following
an investigation. There was no finding on one issue.
Since the investigation
the mother has encountered further problems including a claim that one of
the girls received bruising to her genital area which was unexplained.
She also claims she was
told the oldest girl did not want to see her but this was incorrect and was
disputed in court.
She said: "The judge has
ruled that my children are to be taken away and I have been told there is
little point in appealing but I don't see how social services can get away
with this.
"Yes I had problems with
my oldest girl but I was asking for help, I never wanted her to be taken
away.
"Since the children were
taken into care it has just been one problem after another.
"I don't see how they can
justify taking my children away when they don't seem to be able to do their
own jobs properly.
"They've ruined my life
when all I needed was some help and there should be an investigation into
how social services conducts such cases."
Cllr David Reedman.
Cabinet member with responsibility for children’s services. said: "The
county council sincerely regrets the problems that this woman experienced in
her dealings with social services during 2004.
"We have apologised to
her and explained how we have changed our procedures to prevent similar
situations occurring again.
"The council's social
services department has made significant progress in recent months and is
now out of special measures and has been awarded a star rating.
"The department has a
robust procedure for dealing with complaints that makes sure that the
council always learns from its mistakes."
