UK: 3-Year-Old Girl Put Up for Adoption Due To Age of Grandparents

“Social workers have allegedly put a three-year-old girl up for adoption because her grandparents are too old to care for her.

The 58-year-old grandmother and the 70-year-old grandfather, from Shoebury, Essex, have been caring for the little girl since her mother was taken into hospital with depression six months ago.

They say they were initially told the girl would be put up for fostering but that now – just six months after her mother was taken ill – Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has put the girl up for adoption.

The couple claim they were told they cannot care for the girl because they are too old. But the council denied that age was a deciding factor when assessing prospective carers.

It said social workers had an obligation to provide a ‘caring, stable and permanent home’ for children in its care.

The grandfather, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: ‘We looked after her well and she was quite happy. She knows us well and has spent a lot of time with us.

‘A week later a social worker came round saying she’d come to pick up her clothes because they were taking her into foster care. We didn’t know what was going on, but they’d applied for a court order with a view to adoption.

‘They asked my daughter to sign the form in hospital. It meant they could get a court order to take her. I think she was just resigned to it all and signed it.’

The grandfather added: ‘She’s a beautiful little girl and we’re absolutely gutted. She won’t be adopted until the autumn so we are trying to get the decision reversed. She should be with the family she knows.’

The girl’s grandmother added: ‘I don’t feel old at all. I work two days a week. It’s just awful they could take her away from us.

‘She is being well looked after by her foster parents, but she is always so happy to see us and last time she said “I love you nanny”. That really got to me.’

The grandparents tried to fight in the courts, but were unable to afford legal representation, estimated at about £15,000.

They are now receiving legal support from Karina Chetwynd, from John Copland and Son in Sheerness, Kent, who is waiving her fees for the initial stages of the court proceedings.

She said: ‘The grandparents had absolutely no legal representation and get no money for legal aid. Even when they went along to the hearing, they had no idea how far along the proceedings had gone.

‘These are not people with criminal records – these are just bog standard people whose daughter happens to have become ill. It shows what can happen in these situations and how hard it is to fight the local authority.’

She added: ‘Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon story. The couple are emotionally traumatised and are just simply fighting for a child they will care about and love.’

The couple now want to appeal the decision made by the council’s social workers.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council would not comment on the specifics of the case. But Councillor Anne Jones,who is responsible for children and learning, said: ‘We should highlight that age is not the deciding factor in our assessments of prospective carers.

‘We have a duty to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children in our care and to act decisively in the child’s best interests. This often involves intervening in complex family issues and taking tough decisions on behalf of the child.

‘We work with partner agencies and consider all evidence available to us as to the history and capability of prospective carers and their suitability to raise children.

‘Though placing children in the care of relatives is our preference in all cases, we can only do so when this is consistent with the welfare of a child. In all our work, our ultimate aim is to provide a caring, stable and permanent home for all children in our care.’ ”

Social workers put 3-year-old girl up for adoption ‘because they say her gran, 58, and granddad, 70, are too old to care for her’

[Daily Mail 7/21/15 by Steph Cockroft]

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