Viability Meeting

[Wannabestepfordwife]

I have a viability meeting on Friday for possible kinship care of my friends dd.

My friends dd is 3 weeks and my friend has taken to being a mother fantastically well and can't currently see her losing custody but there are previous issues such as previous drug addiction, MH issues and a history of dv relationships (friend is currently in a refuge).

Can anyone tell me what to expect/what they will ask at the meeting

Bump

Hi it was a long time ago now when I had my meeting and different circumstances in that my dd was there and she just grabbed me and didn't let go, her views carried a lot of weight in the circumstances. (She was originally my goddaughter, and has been in my care now for many years by SGO with other legal factors)
But I'll try to answer as best I can hopefully someone better placed to help will come along
I was asked primarily why I wanted custody, home setup, financial situation, job, etc. all the basics really.
Contact I know is a huge issue with SGO s in general, (not in my case so I can't comment on specifics) but any bp contact will have to be discussed, agreed and monitored, your feelings on this will probably be asked.
Likewise Your role will also be discussed, but that depends a lot on the precise circumstances, and bps position.
Your relationship with bp is also a discussion that they will want to have.
I then had a home visit, and the assessment after pretty much followed standard adoption guidelines which are easily googleable (Not sure if this is typical other legal factors in play means she can never be removed from my care so it was akin to a adoption order)
If you are related I will say that ss are legally obliged to place within the family if they can, so they would have to have strong grounds for refusing to grant a kinship care order.
Not sure if any of that is of any use, but if you think I can help feel free to ask any questions.
I wish you all the best.

Thank you so much for the advice I'm really nervous as you can imagine!

The maternal and paternal are either not allowed contact or only supervised contact but me and my friend have been friends since we were 3 (25 years) and we have had Christmas's and holidays so we are family.

I don't think it will come to it I just want CS to see that the baby has a safe and stable home with me if ever needed