Tricky situation, any advice please?

[twirlymum]

My aunt has fostered a little boy for a few years, and is in the process of adopting him.
He has a lot of emotional problems (and foetal alcohol syndrome) and has been placed in a residential school since the new year.
He comes home at weekends, and is very unhappy at school. He is the youngest there, and has twice been injured by other pupils.
This weekend he returned home with another injury. My aunt did not take him back to the school on today, as he is desperately unhappy there.
SW says he can be forcibly removed from my aunt and taken back to the school. My aunt has tried to contact the SW's supervisor to no avail, and the headteacher has said he will only communicate by letter. Any advice?

Has she got the child's Guardian involved? They have a LOT of weight and SW is bound to be more communicative then.

Would that be the legal guardian?

The case is a bit more complicated by the fact that the little boy was bought over here from an orphanage in Russia (nobody is sure of it was a legal adoption, he has no passport etc).
The woman who bought him here decided it wasn't working out and left him at social services
This is why the adoption is proving to be such a long drawn out process.

the Guardian ad Litem - assigned to represent the child's interests at court. If the case is going through the british courts there will be a GAL.

Try the Family Rights Group too, www.frg.org.uk

They've a free helpline and are a charity who support families of children in care. They're probably your best bet.

Just spoken to my aunt, his guardian is out of the country on holiday, but usually she is fantastic, so hopefully will be able to help when she returns next week.
I don't know what will happen in the meantime

Strictly speaking the child is still in the care of the LA and if they have a Care Order they are the corporate parents. However it should not come to a fight like you describe. It seems to me the most sensible solution is for your aunt, the social worker, guardian, fostering sw and school should meet together to discuss the issues.

Your aunt is clearly trying to protect the child and that should be acknowledged by the social workers. How old is the child and did he go to school before the res school. Res schools are by defintion filled with children with all kinds of behavioural and emotional problems, so not surprising this child is find it hard at the school.

I would advise you to get your aunt to put the proposal for a meeting (as outlined above) to see if there is a reasonable solution to the problem, and there may have to be compromises made. I was a sw and tm mgr for a total of 30 years, recently retired.

Hope this matter can be amicably resolved, but the best interests of the child are paramount of course.

Thank you for your advice.
He is 8, it's a complicated backstory.
He was bought to the UK when he was about 3 and a half (no-one knows exactly).
He was with the woman who bought him to this country for 3 years before she abandoned him (she described him as a failed project ).
My aunt and uncle have been his carers since then. He calls them mum and dad, and they refer to him as their son.
He was at a local school but was very disruptive, and was seen as a danger to others.
He can be a very caring and gentle boy, but is prone to violent outbursts.
The worry is that as he is the youngest at the res school, he will learn 'bad' behaviour from older pupils. He is easily led.