New - Kinship Care

[Bekastuffystuff]

Hi. My name is Beka, I'm 26 and I live with my husband, his son J (4) and M (11) who we are kinship carers for. She has lived with us for 18 months now and we are looking into getting a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) soon. She is the half sister to J- same mum - my husband's ex-girlfriend. My husband was with Maria's mum from when she was about 4-8, so they knew each other well.
Her mum voluntarily gave her up after some concerns were raised by her school, but it was decided that she couldn't go back. We were her last option, there was no other family members that would have her. We didn't want her and J to be apart.
I don't have any children, but we plan to have our own. I try to be a good mum to J and M, sometimes I doubt myself. I just wanted to say hello, and maybe try to meet some other people here that are in the same boat as me.
Thanks
Beka x

[NeverBeenToMe]

Hi Beka - and welcome to MN. I have my grandson under an sgo - I think you'll find there are a few of us on MN whho are/have been kinship carers. Hope you've got some good support/advice going on - Family Rights Group are an excellent source of information, and a solicitors called Ridley and Hall do some fantastic work too.

[Bekastuffystuff]

Hi. We've got such great families, which is a great help. M is under Hertfordshire SS, but we live in Kent, so we don't get great support from them, and thats includes training and support groups. It's quite a way to travel, I do do it when I can, but it's hard.

[ElectricSheep]

OP Can I just caution you about the amount of identifying information you are giving.

You can report your thread and ask for it to be removed and maybe re-post without the name and location of your children?

[tropical1]

Hi Beka- We are kinship carers for our two grandsons, age 3 & 4. We have been approved for fostering & been in court very recently to get an SGO.
Its not easy, there are times when you wonder what you are taking on! I'm going to have to reduce my working hours, we've had a huge fight with LA about money but hopefully sorted now.
We have a DS of our own & had to make sure his feelings have been taken into consideration.
Good luck with what you are doing, it's hard but rewarding !

[NanaNina]

Can I just endorse what ElectricSheep has said. This is an open forum and confidentiality is very important.