Emergency court order

[cao]

Hello I want to appoint myself as special Gaurdian for my nephew, who lives in Essex me in Durham as both of his parents are making it very clear they cannot provide stability for him. Mother has had substance issue and mental health issues dad has had same mental health discharge from army, lots of legal debt and has made him self intentionally homeless and has taken the child away from his mum with no court order while she’s engaging with recovery services. He has no money and the hotel has no amentities to wash clothes or cook food and my nephew has gastric health issues where he needs a good healthy diet and medicines.Dad won’t send him to nursery and isn’t giving him any other child interaction and I’m worried for his emotional well-being. There’s been 2 cases of domestic abuse on his side and he has anger issues that can get quite bad. I am fully prepared to collect the child in an emergency and bring him to my home however dad will not agree. Please can I get some advice. Ss involved however are providing 0 support told mum she can collect child as there’s no order and she’s engaging with services but she’s too scared.

Gosh that sounds tough. I don't have any knowledge but bumping for you so you hopefully get some advice x

Well you can't just go and get him as you don't have PR. You need legal advice really. You can apply to court for leave to apply for a child arrangement order but you may not be granted it. If there is a social worker involved I would be asking them whether it meets the threshold for PLO (pre legal proceedings) and putting yourself forward for assessment.

Sorry I have no idea on the legality of it, I am shocked that social services are not looking into it more seriously. Can you demand a welfare check?
Can mum get an emergency court order and ask police to accompany her to pick up child and you can collect from her?
Is the child attending school?

He has no money and the hotel has no amentities to wash clothes or cook food and my nephew has gastric health issues where he needs a good healthy diet and medicines.Dad won’t send him to nursery and isn’t giving him any other child interaction

Actually what OP describes on the face of it is a man living in emergency accommodation with his DS making do with what he's given, living in poverty and making a perfectly valid choice not to send him to nursery. I'm sure there is more to it than that but on the face of it I'm not sure why you are 'shocked' and why you think OP can 'demand' anything. People have the right to live and raise their children as they choose and do actually have to consent to social workers coming into their homes. Living in poverty is a sad fact of life for many people in the uk and doesn't mean on the face of it that they are failing their kids.

Sounds like the mum needs to take the lead on this to get her son back safely. How can you support her in that? Is she your blood relative or is it the husband? Or are they both in-laws via your partner, in which case, can they help their sibling?

The mother is in treatment for substance misuse. It doesn't sound like she's in any position to remove the child from his father at the moment.

Well it's hard to tell as SS are saying that's what should happen and 'engaging with recovery services' could be a long-term/ongoing thing. The reason given for her not taking her DC back is that she's scared of the dad, which could have solutions through court and police. The OP is making a case for her taking over, which may or may not be right or possible, but it's the parents who have PR at this point. It's different if SS have stepped in and are seeking for relatives to take guardianship. OP can raise awareness of her availability for this but otherwise has no leverage, or even day-to-day involvement as she's so far away. So her taking the child to the other side of the country wouldn't be top of the list if there's a chance her DM could take DS home safely and stay in recovery.

Oh, just seen OP's got same thread running in AIBU so no need for this one.