Viability assessment for caring for sisters baby

[helenc80]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and looking for some advice please.

My sister is pregnant and basically decided she didn't want the baby, long story short I said I will look after the child. It has been a few months and she hasn't changed her mind at all so I have been preparing, buying stuff etc. We had a visit from a social worker who scared the life out of my sister saying I might not get to care for the baby and as she has no emotional attachment to the child it will be hard for her to keep it. She visited me and is coming out again either to do or discuss a viability assessment at the start of January.

The only contact I have had with social services is through my ex partner when his children were taken from their mother and placed in care, obviously we applied to care for them. However at that time we had only been together 3 months and after a while he decided to stop fighting and allow the children to be adopted. I do not know all of the details of these circumstances as was never allowed at any hearings etc. He visits to see my children but will take them out and will not have much, if any, contact with the baby. He is the main problem I can foresee in my application to care for my niece. But I also read that they want to know your financial situation and I am in debt but we manage fine and don't struggle. We are not at risk of becoming homeless etc. I am currently single mum of 4, and a university student. I am planning on leaving university and becoming a childminder so I can be at home for the baby but earning.

My family do not trust social workers in general, so I have my mum saying don't trust them at all and several people have stated that they have designs on the baby for an outside adoption. Needless to say this all hasn't helped my sister and me at all.

I suppose my questions are:
What does a viability assessment consist of? Will they need to question my children? What about the debt issues?

Thank you so much for any advice you can offer.

[NanaNina]

I think you need to wait until this baby is born - your sister may feel very differently then - and may well decide to keep the child.

The other thing is I can't really understand why social workers are involved as in theory families can make whatever arrangements they like for their children. Is there more to this - how do they know your sister s pregnant and not wanting to keep the baby. Also I wonder as a single mum of 4 how you are going to manage a baby as well, and there will be a limit to how many children you could child mind with 5 children of your own! It sounds a bit unrealistic to me.

I am a retired social worker and can tell you about a viability a/ment but I can't understand why they are involved. Maybe you can give more info?

[helenc80]

Of course NanaNina, thank you for your reply.

My sister has been telling her health visitor/midwife etc about 'our plans' and asking if they had any insight on the legal bit then suddenly had a visit from a social worker on the assessment team. She did have contact from a social worker about a 2 years ago as she was assaulted by an ex partner and the case went to court. But she hadn't seen a social worker for many months up until a few weeks ago. So we don't know if it is a result of someone ringing and talking to them or just a random visit as the social worker just popped round. The social worker arranged to come and have a chat with me and came round at the start of this month.

It was my understanding that after the baby had been living with me for a while we would need to notify the local social services that I was caring for the child and planned on getting an SGO so they could start assessments. This has all been thrust upon us earlier than necessary.

My own children are 15, 13, 10 and 7 so I can look after 4 children for childminding purposes. The social worker said to my sister that as a full time student I was unlikely to be considered suitable due to not being able to prioritise the baby's needs. But I had already decided that being at university was not conducive to raising a child so had been waiting for further info on being a childminder so I am at home.

I know my sister could change her mind at any point, I have even suggested a leeway period after the birth in case of hormones etc. My sister has depression and anxiety and suffered post natal depression after her first child was born. I suppose I am anxious now that we have social workers involved and I am thinking of questions really.

[NanaNina]

Hello there - I think the HV and/or the midwife alerted children's services given your sister's wish to relinquish the care of her baby to you.

I am still unclear about the social worker's intentions here. The only way that they can apply to the court to have the baby removed from the mother is if they can evidence that the baby is suffering significant harm or is likely to suffer significant harm. They may have some reason to believe that could be the case - I don't know.

IF the LA children's services get a court order then they can remove the baby and if after all the assessments etc they are going to recommend to the court that the baby is not returned to the mother, then they have a duty to find out if there is a member of the extended family who would consider caring for the child. Obviously that would be you, and they would then have to assess you as to your suitability (or otherwise) to offer the child a permanent home and yes, the most appropriate Order for you to apply for would be an SGO.

I'm slightly concerned that if the baby is moved straight to you, then he/she won't have been in the "Looked After System" of the LA and this can have implications for the future. When it comes to financial help then the SGO Regs state that where a child has previously been "Looked After" by the LA, they must pay the equivalent of fostering allowances for 2 years. I have been retired since 2009 and I think things might have changed regarding finance, with LAs having to commit to funding the child for a longer period though I can't be certain about that.

It's only if the child is accommodated by the LA and they place the child with you, that the child will have the status of being previously looked after. Sorry if I'm confusing you but Children's Services will find all sorts of ways of getting out of funding issues, as they have very depleted budgets.

A viability assessment is a short assessment on applicants for an SGO, to assess whether it is the right course of action to continue to carry out the comprehensive assessment that needs to be done for the SGO application. When is the baby due and what about the father?

I think you need to ask the social worker if they intend to apply to the court to remove the baby into their care (or Looked After) as it's now called and if so, are they proposing to place the baby with you so long as the viability assessment is positive. Ask on what grounds they would make this application to court if that is their intention.

The other thing is I think you need to get some legal advice from a lawyer with an expertise in family law.

Happy to help further if I can.

[helenc80]

Thanks again NanaNina.

Baby is due in February 2015. My sister got pregnant after a one night stand and only had the fathers first name and phone number. She told him she was pregnant and he said he wasn't interested and not to contact him again so she deleted his number.

When the social worker visited I said my main concern would be having the power to authorise medical treatment etc if necessary. The social worker said that they could give me those powers using a section 20 arrangement, the idea of voluntarily signing the baby into care freaked us out but I rang the FRG helpline and they were great and explained a lot.

There's pretty much no way we can afford a solicitor even between us but I have the number for the Coram Children's Legal Centre so I will be ringing them after the New Year and before the next visit on the 6th of January.

If the viability assessment is positive, what happens then?

Also my sister had planned on asking to be sterilised (due to depression, anxiety and not caring for this child) but then she got a new boyfriend and has decided she may want children in the future. How would children's services be likely to respond to that if it happened seeing as she is planning on relinquishing care of this baby?

[NanaNina]

Do you know if they are going to do the viability assessment before the baby is born, so that if it looks likely that you would be granted an SGO by the court, they could place the baby directly with you. This would make more sense, but if they baby is being Looked After under S.20 of the Children Act (used to be called voluntary care) they would really need to approve you as a temporary foster carer while the assessment for the SGO is carried out, but I doubt they would want to do that - they might just place the baby with you and get on with the SGO assessment.

IF they aren't planning to do the viability assessment until after the baby's born, then they would need to place the baby with short term foster carers. SO I think you need to ask them about this - don't be afraid to ask these questions - you need to know what their thinking is and what the options are. It looks to me like they are hoping that the viability assessment will be positive and you can proceed to apply for an SGO on the baby, which will secure the future of the child.

Glad you are in contact with FRG and yes I'm sure Coram Legal will be able to offer advice. The other places who might be able to help are "British Agencies for Fostering and Adoption" (BAAF) Adoption UK and Fostering Networks. They all have websites so might be worth a look.

I don't think your sister can think of whether she wants another child or not while she is still pregnant with this one, and may end up keeping the child in an event. As I understand it social workers have become involved because of your sister's wish to relinquish this child and unless there was good reason to apply to the courts to remove any further children she might have, then there shouldn't be any problems. However I would urge your sister to take one step at a time and not make any rash decisions. Can I ask the age of your sister, and is she given to impulsive actions do you think. Also do you have a good relationship with her, as this is really important in considering an SGO because you will need to ensure that if you go ahead and get the SGO, then you will be the child's substitute mother, ok aunt really, but you would hold Parental Responsibility (PR) and that can be difficult in cases like this. If you have a good r/ship then that's all for the better but you may well be in a position when you have to go against your sister at some point in the future in relation to the child. She will need to understand that even though she is the biological mother than if you are awarded an SGO, then her PR will be very limited - there are only 3 things that you cannot do without her consent:

1. Change the child's surname
2. Take the child out of the country for more than 3 months
3. Apply for an Adoption Order.

It's good your getting information together but I honestly think you need a straight talk with the social workers about their intention, and whether they intend to carry out this viability a/ment before the baby is born so that they can place him/her directly with you. This is very important and you need to know. There is the issue of finance too and all the baby equipment that you will need - have you given any thought to all of this and whether social workers are going to assist with this expenditure.

[helenc80]

The social worker said to me that she would talk to the legal department as she wasn't sure how things would work with the baby's father. She is due round on the 6th of January, I think to do the viability assessment. I did email to find out whether monitoring via a child in need plan would be preferable as we are not keen on the section 20 (as suggested by FRG (a couple of weeks ago)) but haven't received a reply to date.

I have everything I need for the baby, thanks to friends and buying second hand. I just need to get some milk, bottles and a steriliser before the baby is born, everything else is in place. I couldn't leave it until February I like to know things are ready and to date my sister has bought nothing because as far as she is concerned the baby will be living here.

My sister is 23 in 2015, her children are 4 and 1. As far as she is concerned this baby is her niece and I am her mum, she has even told me to choose names for the baby. She isn't prone to making rash decisions unless it's with boyfriends. And we do have a good relationship but I had thought about the possibility of a disagreement when the child gets older.

[NanaNina]

Hmm not surprised the sw has to consult the legal dept as this is a bit of a tricky one. I'm still not entirely convinced of the sw's legal right for intervention in this matter. However S20 is as you know a voluntary agreement between a parent and the LA. The parent retains full parental responsibility. The sws will have to make some attempt to contact the birthfather, though it sounds like this might not be possible as your sister has very little information about him.

The other thing you need to bear in mind is that the LA can apply to the court for an Emergency Protection Order (EPO) and institute care proceedings at any point IF they can evidence that the baby is suffering (or likely to suffer) significant harm. I don't want to alarm you as it sounds like this is highly unlikely to be the case, but you do need to be aware of that, though they have this duty regardless of whether the child is accommodated under S20 or not.

Hopefully when you see the sw on 6th Jan she should know more about the plans for this baby to be moved to your care. Ask as many questions as you need to and make sure you understand what is going on and the intentions of Children's Services.

[helenc80]

Thanks so much for all your help NanaNina. There has never been any concern as far as I know about the care of the children, my sisters or mine. I will think of any questions over the next week or so and write them all down.

Thank you again.

[Stinkylinky]

My sister (was only 15 at the time) was adamant she wanted to give her DD up for adoption when she was pregnant but instantly changed her mind once she was born.

We had a strong feeling this would happen so bought all the stuff she would need and stored it at other family members houses as she would've flipped it she had caught on.

I have no advice to offer, but I hope you and your family get the outcome that you want