Hiya right I'm new on here so bare with me. But basically I've had my beautiful boy taken away from me and placed with his dad while social services do a section 47 assessment on myself and this is what's happened from start until now....
Back maybe 2 months ago I was having a really rough time couldn't seem to pic myself up out of the rut that I was stuck in, so I went to the Drs to see my gp who changed meds and arranged counselling, as I have been suffering with anxiety and depression now for the past year or so. Following that appointment I had a phone call off my Dr to see how I was doing and suggested that maybe as I had been struggling that she could put in a referral to social services for a 'child in need' so that I could get some support in place and get myself back on my feet, I agreed as it seemed like the best thing to do at the time. Also she had made it clear that this was totally voluntary and nothing to worry about. On the 4th of Dec I had a knock on the door which was a social worker she came in and done her assessment on myself asked a million questions so I was as honest as I could be with her. The following Monday she called me and said that I wasn't to pick my son up from school that his dad was and that he was being placed there while they carried out further assessments and gathered info from dr etc. Her reasoning behind this was that she was concerned about my alcohol use, which I had told her that I maybe have 2 maybe 3 drinks in the evening (not every single night) maybe while I'm in the bath .... Literally everyone I know enjoys a glass of wine in the bath or maybe whilst watching a film, then she asked about weekends and I said well that depends on what's going on (my son stays with his dad Friday to Sunday most weekends anyway) so I said that on weekends that could go up to maybe 6 or 7 don't really know as I don't count.
So as you could imagine I found this extremely hard to swallow and I was a complete wreck. So since then I've phoned the social worker many times and only twice have they contacted me back, I've had nothing in writing in fact no correspondence whatsoever. And that leads me to where I am at now, I had a phone all today off the social worker who has informed me that my son won't be returning Home he's being moved schools, and now it's because they are concerned about my mental health. Which then leads me on to the fact that my ex is the total nightmare ex, he's a good dad but a shitty person. When we split two years ago he tried to make out like I was crazy, the reason why we split was due to his disgusting behaviour there was violence and he treated me like dirt at first when no one was there but then it didn't matter who was there, so I packed up and Took our son to my friends in the middle of the night cause he'd smashed up my house and me a little too. I never ever took it any further because I thought my son had seen and been through enough. He managed to convince my family that I was a horrible person to the point where they still don't speak to me now. He's always said that I would end up with nothing and now he's done it!! My son a few weeks ago, over a period of about 4 days had been pulling his hair out and when I finally got to the bottom of it I had found that he had brought plasticine home from school and stuck it to his bed, which then when bed time came around he was in bed putting the plasticine in his hair and then pulling it out, I informed the school and also took him to the Drs because although I got the the bottom of it I still wanted to be sure that there was no more to it. Which there wasn't plasticine gone - he stopped pulling out his hair. I think that's pretty self explanatory. But now my wonderful ex has made out like he was doing this because of me, and hen I questioned him about why he didn't tell the social worker the reason behind it like I had his response was that he didn't want to argue and ended the convo. As he had clearly been caught out. He's very clever with what he says although he can't be as clever as he thinks as he's failed his law degree 3 times!
So now my son is living with his dad who works 7am to 7pm so he's being looked after by his girlfriend of no longer than 3 months. Which I think is totally unfair due to the fact he should be home with me any ways not being brought up by a stranger.
Also went to the school today and spoke with the head master who has told me that he hasn't had any concerns for my son he's always dressed well etc. He said the only concern he had was about me a few months ago as he said there was a few days where I looked like I had the weight of the world on mY shoulders which is a fair comment.
I have a solicitors appointment Tuesday, but I don't know how much longer I can dangle from this string I'm hanging on.... No one wants to give me any help or advice (social services) they are totally against me and all for his dad, who they don't even know.
This is where I'm at now I'm heartbroken and struggling to find the strength to keep going because I feel no one wants to help, except for the head teacher he seems to want to help me.
Does anyone know about a section 47 or what the procedures are?? I'm pretty sure they can't just decide this without there being something I writing or even through the courts?
I would be great full of any help or advice, and thanks in advance for taking the time to read this as I know it's rather long.