Sgo help?

[P306940]

Hi
I became my grandsons special guardian 3 months ago after looking after him since birth 9 months ago. When the sgo was awarded a financial package and a weekly sum was agreed upon however 3 months on ive not received a penny.
Ontop of this ive received no paperwork to say the court order went through, no finance paperwork to inform me of when sgo allowance will start and what the frequency of payments will be.
When the financial assessment was carried out the councils finance department advised me to claim tax credits once sgo was awarded but again without the above paperwork I can’t do this.
Is this normal to be left in financial limbo after an sgo is awarded?
I feel that social services no longer want to know 😫

[Incywincybitofa]

I'm sorry to hear you are finding it difficult what have social services said?
Did your grandson have a guardian ad litem during proceedings to represent him it may be worth contacting them
With your SGO have you been able to at least access Child Benefit?
I would speak to social services and the council to explain you will be taking legal advice you can either go back to the court and ask them to clarify when payments should begin or seek legal advice which may generate a letter to nudge the council into paying

[fasparent]

Suggest you contact these will advise with help and support //www.frg.org.uk

[Singlenotsingle]

Hmmm. When I was considering an SGO for a family member, SS specifically told me that it was not subject to any financial support. That was why they wanted SGO rather than fostering. It was cheaper for them.

[Incywincybitofa]

SS have an obligation to keep birth families together when it serves the best interests of the child They may try to wriggle out of the financial aspect but the decision isn't about cost it's about the child's needs
Your grandson Local Authority will have their SGO policy available read it abd extract the bits relevant to you.
Then contact the link provided above

[fasparent]

Quite a few LA's use this service has support advice for SGO's.
//www.family-action.org.uk just type in search Special Guardianship Support Service.
Kindest Regards

[Boredgiraffes]

The child should have an IRO, could you contact this person. You becoming SGO benefits the child but also the council. You are saving them vast sums of money. Anything which hasn’t been paid so far should and will be backdated. It’s still unfair they’ve left this so long. I would email the head of the council and the local paper (asking to remain anonymous for the former). Tell your complaints and I would bet you’d get a response within the week