To think SS killed autistic mother

[YourHazelScroller]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/young-autistic-mum-took-life-32626429

There is clearly much more to this than we can know, and it's right that we don't know as it is private information for the people involved. Why the baby wasn't with the father, or with the extended family (as would generally be social care's first port of call if removed from mum, as it's cheaper than foster care). Why social care wanted mum not to be with dad in order to parent the baby. As well of course why none of the services involved worked together to properly support a vulnerable young woman, even if she wasn't able to raise her child she still needed and deserved care and support.

But it's far too simplistic to blame social care for removing the baby, they have to put the baby first and they have to best estimate the risk, they can't wait until a parent harms a newborn before removing so they have assess on prior events and actions of the adults and it seems this young woman had a long history of struggling. It's a very sad case.

I'm a single parent - I should report myself straight away!

I have no doubt that the way things where handled contributed in some way to her actions - but she had a partner and family as well - plus a solicitor who sent the latter to her about adoption - not just 1 single evil social worker.

Waiting list for advocates vary - I always want the young people I work with to have an advocate but it sometimes takes time to set up.

There would have been concerns about the baby - which led to the removal -not by a SW turning up and snatching it btw but through a legal process.

Its a terrible, tragic, sad case - social workers are human, social services are underfunded, overworked and haemorrhaging good, experienced social workers. Similarly mental health support has been cut to the bone - so, sadly, terrible things happen as a result.

@WeShallHaveFogByTeatime Children shouldn't drift along in foster care if birth parents won't be able to make necessary changes within a timescale that meets the child's needs for a stable long term home

The threshold for removing children is high. Social work would look at placing the child with other parent or wider family before considering adoption

I'm sure there's more to this story than appears in this article

Advocacy support is important, to aid birth family in expressing their views and understanding what's happening, but it's not a magic bullet

Family Courts make the decision after hearing all the facts. The mother would have had a solicitor representing her. The child needed her best interests served.

No one knows the whole situation.

How can any readers draw any conclusions from what has been shared publicly is beyond me!

6 pages of personal opinions based on so many assumptions made.

There is so much we don't know. We don't even know anything about the baby's father. Was he the 'partner'.

Most of what is reported in the press is what the family said to them. Of course it is going to be one sided, focusing on the negatives.

The only thing that seems clear is that this was a complex case and there were failures in the system. Anything else is an account of suppositions.

That’s not what the inquest said. The coroner’s summing up specifically says it’s not assigning blame or attributing negligence.

https://www.georgejulian.co.uk/2024/04/19/fern-foster-inquest-coroners-summing-up/

This is a detailed summary of the coroner’s summing up at the inquest, which has some more detail, including that Fern’s mother was looking after the baby in her own house at one point, that her partner was involved likewise her family, that she struggled to understand proceedings and keep appointments, didn’t attend contact with her baby after it (I don’t know whether the baby was a boy or girl) was taken into care, that she wasn’t keen on the idea of a mother and baby placement because she felt she would be ‘watched and judged’, that she wasn’t a detained patient and that the state had no reason to take responsibility for her care. It says she was a chronic suicide risk, and that she was in new accommodation when she got the news about adoption proceedings, not close to her partner or family. It highlights that an independent advocate made a significant difference, when there was one, but that her remit was limited.

It’s deeply sad, but the coroner’s report isn’t pointing the finger at anyone.

I suppose if her family couldn’t or wouldn’t provide support, the partner/father wasn’t available? And fern didn’t want a mother and baby placement then SS were running out of options, seems a a few things were tried and offered but didn’t work out, very sad for all concerned.

That report a link said something about the partner (Max?) being involved, and the solicitor appears to have communicated with him, but there’s something about his accommodation being an issue, though I’m not sure what this means — maybe he lived in a houseshare so couldn’t have the baby, or a long way from Fern? Him looking after the baby doesn’t ever seem to have been mentioned as a possibility, so it’s possible he was also vulnerable in some way?

Max had a CP Social worker which might mean he was under 18 and not living independently?

The report does show a failure to understand her autism and make adjustments to support her to engage with things like assessments and contact - that is a failure - it probably led to her not attending meetings/contact - so that needs addressing. CP meetings are hard, complex and often confusing - a lot of information needs to be taken in and lots of discussion goes on - I know other autistic young people I work with find these distressing, confusing and overwhelming so I think there is some work needed to address the different needs of people social services work with.

The process is often ridged as it follows a legal process but it needs to be accessible as well if you want people to engage fully.

Such a sad sad case and I am sure the professionals involved have many regrets

Hold on, so why do you think her partner was under 18? She was 22 so unlikely her child's father was 16-18.

@YourHazelScroller I don't 'think' he was under 18 - I simply said he had a child protection SW - his SW (reading the full report) - now it might be written badly and it could mean the child's SW - but if he had a social worker that would only be because he was under 18 - blimey it's an observation not a statement of fact

That’s not what the inquest said. The coroner’s summing up specifically says it’s not assigning blame or attributing negligence
Thank you for sharing this unbiased account of what happened in this complex case.

Much much more to it than what the OP, and -no surprise there- is being reported by the newspapers, are claiming in a black and white way.

Please, let's not use such cases as a mean to blame, criticise, deplore, judge and sensationalise agencies or anyone involve. The Inquest itself makes it clear that is not it's intension.

There were some failings, but also a lot of hard work and involvement to help Fern and upper most her baby.

That makes sense, @ghostyslovesheets — I did notice he had a CP social worker, but didn’t think through why that might be.

Yes, I agree it sounds as though the flashpoint was that she needed an advocate to ensure she was able to follow/engage with proceedings, but that the one she had at one stage only had a very limited remit because of funding. On the other hand, if there’s so much stress on the fact that she didn’t self-harm while pregnant, but the baby was removed within a month of being born for unspecified reasons, and she reverted to serious attempts at suicide when her baby was removed, it sounds like a very deep-seated pattern of behaviour, and as though whatever support her family were able to provide (her mother was looking after the baby before removal, it seems?) it wasn’t considered enough. Sometimes kinship care isn’t suitable.

Hold on, so why do you think her partner was under 18? She was 22 so unlikely her child's father was 16-18
Why? What's so shocking? Would you have found it unlikely to if ages were reversed?

By the way he could be up to 25 and gave a SW supporting him under children services if affected by learning disabilities.

That is true - here young people do tend to move to adult services at 18

I should say I know nothing at all about this person, who is a crowdfunded journalist who reports inquests/coroners’ verdicts on the deaths of people with disabilities, but she seems to have a decent track record and chose to withhold sensitive content on the actual circumstances of Fern’s death, which suggests someone trying to be accurate but aware of sensitivities.

https://www.georgejulian.co.uk/about-me/

No it doesnt.
Both of them should have been helped but SS cant leave a baby in an unsafe or harmful environment just in case the mother might harm herself.
The fact that this poor lady did this actually suggests to me that SS's actions were necessary and appropriate

vile.

It's just that, typically, women date men who are a bit older, that's all. Also, there is nothing to suggest the babys father is a child.

It's really hard to evaluate without knowing all the information. There must be much more that we don't know.

I had severe PND, and was admitted to a mother and baby unit, so I could stay with my baby, but receive constant supervision and support. There was a wait for this though, and in the meantime baby and I went to stay with my parents, as my husband was fantastic and did all he could to support, but after a month he had to return to work to pay our bills. Mental health services visited me daily through this period. There was never any mention of social services, and health professionals could see baby was well cared for by my mum and dad, with me doing bits as much as able.

I work as a paediatric health professional and work with several babies whose mums are in Foster care placements with their babies, again, for constant supervision for safety but to enable mum and baby to stay together, or live with their parents like I did, again for supervision. The baby is sometimes placed under the responsibility of the grandparents but the mum is encouraged to do as much caring as she can, with supervision

I wonder if she was offered either of these, and how much her family supported her. The first choice of social services is nearly always to place baby with an extended family member. The second choice is a mum and baby Foster placement with a professional Foster carer. 3rd, or in cases where severe MH concerns its a mum and baby unit. We don't know if any of these were offered, and if not, why not. And why was baby not placed with Dad?

It's incredibly sad, but to just blame Social services is likely to be an over simplification of a very complex issue

As a pp said, he had a child protection social worker.

Didn't it say she rejected a mother and baby placement for fear of being watched and judged?

Yes. She wasn't eligible for a MH mother and baby bed as she didn't have an acute MH need at the time, and there was exploration of a mother and baby foster placement but she didn't want that. It's very sad.

but could that be to protect the baby from the father, rather than because the father was under 18?