What does everyone say?
16.Social services are worried that X and Y might suffer if I was to let them go home to N and that they need better and safer care than she is able to give them. That’s why they have asked me to decide what should happen to X and Y.17.The social workers say that N can be very angry at times and loses her temper. The police have been involved. N also finds it hard to keep her house clean and tidy. This could be harmful to the children and this will not be safe for X and Y. They also say that mum doesn’t really understand the worries that the social workers have about her. They think it will be too hard for her to care for X and Y.18.They say that the children have suffered from different sorts of harm, including some injuries as they were not being looked after properly and also some emotional harm as they were seeing people who were not good for them. They also say that mum does not work honestly with the social workers all the time and does not listen to good advice.19.They say that there is no more support that can be given to N that would make things safe and better. They say they have tried everything that they could.20.N doesn’t agree with everything that social services say about her care of X and Y but everybody agrees that when the court case was started in May 2020 more information was needed about N and M. They then both wanted to look after X and Y, now it’s just mum.21.Mr McCall has written down what the social workers say went wrong in the past in a ‘threshold document’. It also says what they are worried about now. I am told that the threshold document is agreed and I too agree with everything in that document. I put a copy of it at the end of the judgment which I gave to the parties but it it not attached here for the sake of privacy. I agree that those things are serious enough for the court to think about making a care or placement order. I have to decide whether or not that is the right thing for X and Y, or whether I can do what is right for them without taking them away from their mum.22.The social worker from the Council, Jeanette, did an assessment of N when the case started and then another social worker, Alison Lee did another assessment of N. She was not on anyone’s side and she wrote reports to help me decide what might work for X and Y. 23.Rachel Dando is an intermediary. She wrote a report about N and said she would need support with the court hearing. She has been at court on occasions helping N to understand things but could not be there when N gave evidence. 24.I have read reports by Alison Lee who is the social worker that the court ordered to do more work with N.25.I have read the report of N’s GP.26.I have also read N’s recent statement which sets out what she wanted to say to the court. I have also read the statements from the social worker, a report from the Guardian and some other things.27.X and Y have been in foster care since 7 May 2020. N would prefer them to come home with her when the court case ends. She says that X and Y would be safe and happy in her care.28.The social worker Jeanette says that things haven’t really changed since proceedings started. She has tried to do a lot of work with N but sadly N has not been available or willing to do the work regularly. She is worried that N won’t be able to maintain her home conditions and her distance from dangerous people for long enough for the children to grow safely. All the assessments say things haven’t really changed enough and the other social worker Alison agrees with the Local Authority. 29.The Guardian says the same. 30.Sadly, all the professionals involved in the case tell me that X and Y would not be safe at home, even though her mum loves them very much. 31.This is the last hearing in this case. This was the second time that N has had help from an intermediary. With help from her lawyer, advocate and intermediary, N decided that she only wanted to ask the Social Worker Jeanette and the Guardian questions. She didn’t want her lawyer to ask the other social worker Alison or anyone else any questions. She also wanted to talk to me. N has written a statement. She told me about X and Y and her wish to have them home. 32.N told me in her statement thati)She accepts that she has problems working with Social Workers because of what happened when she was a girl, but says that Jeanette has not tried hard enough to work with her.ii)She does not think that the decision is fair and she has not been given a proper chance.iii)Things have changed. She agreed that the house conditions were not okay before – but they are better now. She would like a different house if the girls came home.iv)She wasn’t able to do the work with Alison due to her mum and auntie dying and as her grandmother was ill and she was worried and had to look after the horses. v)She says she can care for X and Y properly with support.33.N told me that she would now be happy to go to a Mother and Baby Unit with the girls. N’s case is that she does not feel that she had enough support to have a chance of caring for her girls. She told me that she loves them dearly and that she would do anything to look after them. I believe her and I am sad that she has had such a difficult childhood and has recently lost both her mum and auntie.34.Everyone agreed they didn’t need to ask N any questions.35.I also heard from Mr Hornby, the Guardian. He agreed with A Council that sadly N could not look after the girls safely. He said that he thought there was enough information to make the decision now and that further assessment of the mother was not necessary.