My autistic sons girlfriend is trying to get pregnant encouraged by her mother

[skipppy1981]

My son is 19 and has what presents at autism but is actually a rare chromosome disorder- duplication of 4q.

His 17 year old girlfriend and her mother have convinced him that if they have a baby they will get a flat and live together and get benefits.

They have had unprotected sex twice and I am trying to keep them apart, my son has a social worker and an EHCP.

I am not sure where this stands legally as the girl in question is 17 therefore not an adult and is being encouraged/ coerced by her mother into pregnancy with my son being used (they have been together only 1 month, he is trying to please everyone, he is a very kind boy but he is vulnerable and this has been identified by his social worker)

Does anyone have any advice, suggestions, guidance or legal knowledge around this?

last night I completed a form for social services to intervene for the girl in question because she is also being used and manipulated by her mother.

Speak to DS’s social worker. If it continues, I would also speak to the police about DS being exploited. Is DS in a school/college? If so, speak to the safeguarding lead there too.

DS is awaiting a placement as per his EHCP -the college we wanted has been rejected.

I have a call with his social worker at 2:15pm and I will ask her advice as to engaging with police.

I would hope my report will mean that the family/ mother is investigated and her children safeguarded.

Are you appealing the EHCP? If so, when is the hearing and have you requested an expedited hearing. If not, when was the EHCP finalised?

Why did the LA refuse to name your preferred placement and is it wholly independent?

Is the LA still providing anything detailed, specified and quantified in F?

it was refused as it was a specialist placement out of the authority and they want to explore options in the local area. It was expensive but highly suitable and he’d had a 3 day suitability assessment.

How do you request an expedited hearing? At the moment his EHCP is not finalised for this year so we are in no mans land and have nothing to take to a tribunal to contest.

We had a call about some options but his preferred place would take circa 1 year to go to tribunal as that’s how long it takes.

I have just arranged for him to go and spend 2 months overseas with this father to give the LA time to get a suitable place for him, and to remove him from the situation of exploitation.

The social worker is compiling a report about the mother & exploitation of vulnerable young people. She has other young children which is also a concern.

If DS is going to be absent from the LA, you need to be very clear DS has not moved and is still resident within the LA.

If you do not have a finalised EHCP, you cannot appeal, so cannot request an expedited hearing. If you did have an ongoing tribunal, you can make the request via a SEND7. An expedited hearing because DS is out of education would not be a year.

If DS was moving from one post 16 placement to another, the EHCP must be finalised 5 months prior to the move. If the LA has not done this, you need to email the Director of Children’s Services reminding them of the law and threatening judicial review if they do not finalise ASAP. If that doesn’t work, you need a pre-action letter. Does the placement named on the current EHCP admit 19 year olds? Unless wholly independent if it is still named DS can still attend.

The placement being outside of the LA does not prevent the placement being named. Unless your preferred placement is wholly independent (is it?) the LA must name your preferred placement unless the LA can prove:
-The setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs (“SEN”) of the child or young person; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources.

And the LA must still provide anything detailed, specified and quantified in F if the existing EHCP.

the LA used inefficient use of resources as it was a residential placement- the panel process was ridiculous half the evidence was missing, his case officer was on holiday so the duty case officer presented and then called me afterwards and was incredibly rude and dismissive.

The problem with the EHCP change of placement came about because initially he wanted to to an apprenticeship but that was deemed unsuitable and the support offered by his college to apply never materialised.

The placement we have asked for was recommended by his social worker last year by email and social care have agreed to fund the residential part - education have rejected saying too expensive and asked for a local offer.

In the meantime my son has nothing to do and is bored, sad and has now been caught up in this exploitation.

The local authority is aware that he will remain here but needs to be taken away from this situation and as I work full time going to stay with his father is the only place I feel he will be safe.

So you need to threaten judicial review to get a finalised EHCP. You also need to threaten judicial review to get anything detailed, specified and quantified in F in place.

And if the college is still named in section I, DS can still attend.

Thank you for all your help and this information - once DS is safe and away from the chaos I’ll start preparing a pre action letter for a judicial review to hopefully get him the placement for when he returns (the college are very flexible with start dates etc due to most parents having to go to Tribunal etc) they funded places last year so I have done an FOI request as to what alternatives were explored for those young people and why they were deemed unsuitable so hopefully that will strengthen my case.

Unless you have experience of writing pre-action letters you should not do it yourself. SOSSEN can help or you could look for a solicitor to take DS on. Because DS is 19 he can be assessed for legal aid in his own right.

How are you this week @skipppy1981? Is DS out of the situation now?

I’ve sent him overseas to be with his father for a couple of months until (hopefully) his education placement is sorted. He seems to be doing ok over there and is realising that what happened isn’t quite right or what he wanted and that he was just trying to please people around him. We are speaking every day and I’m missing having him around.

I bet you are missing having him around!

Is he still in contact with the girl?