Am I stupid to try and help this child, foster care broken down

[locketsprocket]

So basic background is that Dd friend 16 (17 In autumn) has been living in foster care after being removed from her mum a good few years ago.

She has no relationship with her Mum, has Doris relationship with dad but due to his work is unable to live with him so she was living with a friend of family but this has appeared to have fallen through and she has now been staying with her dads girlfriends family in a town 40 miles away she tells me she doesn’t want to do this and that they are horders

Apparently she says she is going going to her meeting with social workers as they want to move her to a random foster family she doesn’t know and will not go

She has been staying her last few nights and I have thought about her staying though really not sure if it’s really doable, I’m a single parent to 4 and already struggling to make ends meet for my 3 teenagers without the expense of another plus we only have a 3 bed

So anyway she’s a bright girl and is expected to do well in her GCSEs yet has no plans at all for September it doesn’t appear that anyone else is looking out for her no one has taken her to collage etc to talk about options

Should I offer to take her to meetings so she can prepare what she’s planning to do in September? Should I continue to let her sleep over here in the holidays?

I really don’t want to get myself or her in trouble with SS etc but she is a nice young girl, a great friend to my Dd, really streetwise as she’s basically brought herself up but she has so much potential that I would hate to see go to waste as presume in just over a year when she hits 18 social with literally just abandon her

I think it would be really kind of you to help if you can, but I'd go through the proper channels to make sure everything is all set up correctly. I have no experience, this is just what I'd do!

If she's 16 then surely she qualifies for supported accomodation rather than foster care?

Could you go to the social workers meeting with her? Just to support her but also to make yourself known to them. Always best to be open and honest when child welfare is paramount. You sound a lovely person OP.

I would continue to support her and ensure she has some stability. If you wish to have her stay with you on a longer term basis then put this forward to the SW at any meetings you go to with her. Be prepared for them to carry out an assessment of your ability to care for her if you do go down that route.

Good on you OP, sounds like you really care about what happens to this young woman. She is very vulnerable and you are doing the right thing to take an interest and actually show her that you care about her. She could so easily go down a bad path at this stage of her life, continuing in education will help enormously as provides stability, routine, and achievement which is great for her self esteem and self worth, not to mention her prospects for a happy successful life. Regularly Talking and listening to her will make a huge difference to her, having a positive personal relationship with a stable, caring adult is crucial to any young person.
I really hope a positive outcome can happen for her xx