SGO Assessment help please

[KRB74]

Hi, I am in the process of being assessed for my step sisters baby. She has mental health issues and has been told that she cannot have custody of the baby. We are new to this and havent a clue as to what happens, we have passed the suitability assessment so now we are at the next stage. Could someone please let me know what happens etc. Also I am worried about what questions they ask the people giving the references incase I ask the wrong people ie, can they be family, do they have to be work etc also what will they ask as people at work know me but not my husband if that makes sense. Sorry about the rambling on just feel like a fish out of water as dont know what to expect. We were told we have passed the viability assessment and got 88/130 and I feel the report was negative with a lot of inaccuracies that I had to point out to the SW who had done it where she had miss quoted what we said and even got factual details wrong like names of people we had a mix of 6/7/8 in our scoring but the SW is still putting us forwarded for a full assessment as she has a few concerns I just wondered is this classed as a good positive score? I really don't want to get my hopes up to be upset if they fail the SGO assessment. The SW has advised that if the assessor is happy it wont have to go to court as the Judge wants the baby to stay in the family before he would consider adoption, I line in our summary report says they have to ensure they have covered every avenue before they can proceed with an adoption outside of the family so this has made me suspicious in fact I am now really paranoid about the whole thing. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[fasparent]

All could be different think best too seek advice from, www.first4adoption.
will also have information on After care support , child would be entitled too
after adoption support fund caped at £5000 pa, also Pupil premium + nursery at around £300 p.a rising too £1900 at school age for educational support, This apply's too adoption too.
You may also may be able too apply for additional allowances dependant on your circumstances.
As for your personal circumstance's and application feel shure they will be best placed too advise you as professionals.
Wish you all the best, good luck

[jaxxm86]

Hi, myself and my partner have recently undertaken SGO assessments for my nephew (in similar circumstances) and were successful. SGO was granted to us and he came to live with us at 26 weeks old. He's been with us for 4.5 months now.
After our viability assessments were complete we then went on to the next stage of assessments which weren't too dissimilar to the viability assessments, slightly more in depth. In regards to referees myself and my partner put several different people down, friends, family and colleagues. It doesn't matter if they know you more than your husband or vice versa as long as they can get accurate and genuine references for both of you, you'll be fine.
I can't comment on the score that you were given as I can't recall we were ever given a 'score' after the viability assessments were complete.
Good luck and always here to chat if you need

[jaxxm86]

Sorry also just wanted to add, if you're successful the chances are you will still need to go to court even if the recommendation from the assessor/SW is that the child comes to live with you because it still needs to be passed and the SGO made by a judge.

[KRB74]

Thanks Jaxm86 you have made me at ease, they are coming next week for three days as we're live far away from the baby and are talking about us going to see him for a weekend. Fingers crossed we will know pretty soon .

[Jaxxm86]

No worries, I hope it all goes well for you.

We also lived 300 miles away from my sister and the baby when our SGO assessments were ongoing, so SS made the journey several times to visit us for assessments (as me and my partner were both working full time) and then they arranged for us to visit the baby at his foster home several times over the summer before we brought him home after the court date.

You'll have to let me know how you get on.

Do you have children of your own already?

Also have SS undertaken a financial assessment of you and your husband as part of the SGO?

[KRB74]

Jaxxm86 yes we have a daughter, will the assessor cant see any reason why we dont get the SG so playing the waiting game. This weekend we are going down to see the baby. We were both financial assessed but we have found out that I wont be entitled to any paid leave under a SGO which is a bit gutting as I will loose my salary for as long as it takes for him to settle in. I am hoping though that my boss will be kind about it :) Court date for the Judge is April so not long now.

[Jaxxm86]

Hello, I'm so sorry I've only just seen your reply.
That is exactly what I found with my employers aswell, I couldn't take any paid leave from work.
I took 6 months unpaid in the end which was not ideal.
How did you get on?
Have you got the little one now?
Xx