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LO says multiple times a day about not wanting to leave and saying his mother is mean and horrible to him and gets upset. I do keep a diary detailing what he's said has happened. Would it be better to write "Tuesday, X said he didn't want to leave, etc. X said he didn't want to leave, etc. X said he didn't want to leave, etc." or document the events he described and put a short paragraph at the end of each stay - "During X's stay here, he said daily/multiple times this" and possibly a "he was extremely hyper active on the afternoon he arrived, his behaviour quickly settled until the day before he was due to go back, when he became tempermental, anxious and clingy"? Obviously the wording to be worked on! There's A LOT more thing he says each day, things that have happened and I'm worried that these may be missed amongst the several "X said he didn't want to leave, etc", but then again writing an end paragraph at the end of each stay would literally be copying and pasting as his behaviour has an identical pattern each time, along with repeatedly saying about not wanting to leave.
Hopefully that made sense!
Hello,
It sounds that you have a genuine concern about what is happening at home. If the child is old enough you could request a CAFCASS/Social Services Child interview to get to the bottom of where this is coming from.
Regards,
Brian
Continue to document everything that's said and your own observations. This is unlikely to be read verbatim in the courts but its your reference and is there if needed. This record will come into its own when you come to write your statements etc. you can pull up the most important incidents and condense the rest into more easily readable form... "For the last few months at Every visit my son states without fail how unhappy he is and displays a variety of symptoms of his anxiety...."
I know how hard this must be for you but I would also keep the agencies involved updated on your sons continuing distress and ask them to log your call and note your ongoing concerns.
The cafcass officer begrudgingly agreed to read it when I email it it to her so I wanted to put it in the simplest way so hopefully she understands that this isn't just an argument about where LO lives.
Brian, I have spent years going down the road of social services and to be quite honest they were a complete waste of space who believed whichever story was easiest for their convenience. I have begged them several times to talk to my son and they've refused. A few weeks ago I reported something extremely concerning, and the headmistress did too when I spoke to her, what did social worker want to do? Ring and speak to the mother, that's it. These court proceedings are what I need to do to keep him safe, everyone seems to see that he's in danger apart from the authorities. I feel like this situation, which has been going on for years, is driving me crazy. My little boy wants me to protect him and it's tearing my apart seeing him in the state he gets in over her.
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