SGO/Adoption

[user1463594374]

Hi.
Im looking for advice/info.
My younger sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy 6 wks ago. SW has been involved from the start. About 3 wks ago SW rang me to ask if me & my partner would be interested in applying for SG of him. Partner & i spoke about at length & agreed we would apply. Our only concern being finacial(we both work full time & have no children) so if we were granted SG i would have to go pt or stop working in order to look after him. Therefore we would need finacial help. Which we reserched online & we would likely get that help.
Yesterday SW txtd to ask if we would consider adoption of my nephew & asked us to think about adoption before they come up todo the viability(we live in Scotland my sister is still in Wiltshire). So i guess im wanting advice on a few things from people who have been through SG & Adoption first hand

Im wondering why the change from SGO to consider Adoption?
Would we be able to get finacial help if we adopted?
Why would we be asked about adoption before they have even done a viability? Does this mean SW are trying to rush this case? Or that after meeting us & after filling in the questionaire they feel we would be able to give my nephew the kind of home he needs?
My sister has said she is ok with us if SG is given to us however there has been no mention re:adoption & how she feels about this.
Were wanting whats best for my nephew. However if we go for adoption & no finacial help is granted how are we going to be able to support him & give him a good up bringing if we end up struggling finacially.
Reserch ive done on line is not very clear & also because we live in Scotland laws are very different to those down home(wiltshire) so would we/nephew be under LA down South or would it be LA here in Scotland.
Hope some one will be able to give advice. Thank you

There shouldn't be any costs to you if it's a local council authority the sw works for. In most cases it is expected that 1 partner takes 6 months off to allow the child to settle in. In which case you will be entitled to paid adoption leave, similar to maternity pay.
You should also be entitled to an adoption allowance if you have to cut out work to take care of the child. Explain these worries to the sw and they will explain it all to you and tell you if you meet the criteria. You can in some cases get this allowance paid up to the child be 18 years of age as long as in full time education.
They will be trying extremely hard to ensure the child is not put into care, and always hope that family members will step in to avoid foster care.
You will both need to go for medical and be checked for criminal offences especially any that may be linked to harming children.
You house will be checked for any safety issues, I.e you have smoke detectors in place, no blind cords hanging loose, cleaning products are out of reach etc
It can be a lengthy process but worth it if you want to do it.
It's a big step and one you need to be very comfortable with.
Don't do it if you feel you are being pressured into it. Or if you don't feel ready to start a family.
It is highly unlikely that someone else you spoke of would be accepted if there is a history of self harming or other mental health issues. You have to be mentally and emotionally stable to be considered.
I'm in Scotland and am going through the adoption process myself just now.
I hope this helps.

Hi all. Just a quick update. We had the viability check done on Monday & SW thought it was positive. Again they have asked us to adopt which we are thinking about.
We have been trying to find out what benefits we may apply for as by going PT for the 1st year or 2 is going to leave us £650 short a month on wages. Would we be entitled to help with the likes of rent. Or with child care.By me going PT for the first year or so our annual income would be around £21,000 so would this class as low income. Sorry if im sounding stupid im not clued up on benefits as ive never really had to consider using them. As always thank you all for the advice & info you have given x

You may be able to apply for working tax credits to top up your earnings. This is for people who work 30 hours or less. When you get tax credits you should also get help with rent/housing benefit, free prescriptions and dental care.
They will consider your joint income and any outgoings you have before making a decision. I would write all that down and try work it out. Make an appointment to see someone at citizens advice bureau that knows about tax credits. It can take a couple of weeks to get an appointment so I would do it as soon as you can.
Their advice is free and very helpful. Take as much info as you can about your finances and how much worse off you will be by going part time. They will also be able to explain about child credits as well.
At the end of the day if you don't ask you don't get.
Good luck with it all.

Also meant to say that they will ask if you have any savings/ stocks and shares. These questions apply to any benefits form you fill in and there will likely be a few. When any benefits are put into place you will get an annual visit from your local council with another form to fill in to carry the payments on and to check if your circumstances have changed or remain the same. This is usually around April. They will also ask you to declare all bank accounts that you have and bank statements stamped by the bank along with a copy of your tax credit or other benefit form showing you are entitled to whatever else you get.

Thanks carapepi77.
I went to CAB yesterday. We filled in a form for universal credit(in place of WTC etc) the results said that no we wouldnt qualify. I then phoned universal credit when i got in. Was told if you expect to adopt in nxt 2mths or if you have adopted in the last 12mths you can not apply.
The only issue we have RE:SGO or Adoption is money side of things. Ive also filled in one of the calculator apps which you fill in & because most of the benefits are means tested we wont get help due to having both worked full time for the tax year.
Ive also been in touch with severol foster & adoption helplines for advice & none seem to be able to help much as different LAs apply.
So feeling really sad at the mo as it looks like without help we wont be able to do this for my nephew.
I dont know what else we can try

www.nhs.uk/Livewell/adoption-and-fostering/Pages/post-adoption-support.aspx

Check out this link it I think it covers everything.

I would have thought the LA would have discretion over what they can offer you. Have you talked to them? It's got to cost in the region of £1,000 a week or more to keep a child in fc. You're going to be saving them money...

Thanks for the link. Spoke to SW today...the father is now wanting my nephew with his mum sharing the care. So it may not happen now😕 they may be in for chance & as they have a good income etc. It really annoying as they have had no interest & never supported my sister at any time while she was expecting or after his birth. Will keep you posted x

I wouldn't be surprised if he still isn't that interested and more likely his mother is pushing for it to happen. They might still not be accepted if they haven't been a good support network to your sister from the start.
I hope it all works out x

I've I experience but I think it's a wonderful thing your considering for your nephew. I hope it all works out for you

Carapepi77

That's what I'm thinking. It's sad but at the end of the day I guess we have to trust SW to do what's right by my nephew.
I guess also if he does go to his father then at least my sister will be able to see him weekly. The father & his mum have also said they would be happy to let extended family see him as well. Thou I'm not sure this would be the case unless court rules it. I guess it's just a waiting game now x

I'm completely puzzled OP, if they come back to you to take the LO you must get some legal advice (which they must fund). Adoption is considered by the courts as draconian, intrusive and depriving the child of ties to birth parents- the courts will only go down this route if there is absolutely no other option. Courts like SGO for this reason, it gives the child permanency while maintaining their link to their parents, parents retain some role in the child's life.
There is absolutely no way that a court would make an adoption order if an SGO was an option, I've never even heard of it being considered
Bluntly - it sounds like you're being advised badly here by the SW.

Have just been reading this post and although it was a little while ago now was wondering what the final outcome was for your nephew OP?

Hi I wonder if anyone could give any advice!? I am 22 years old, and 27 weeks pregnant with my first child. I have 2 nieces aged 2 and 3 years old- Who I have cared for twice, a week since they were born. My sister who is their mother has been in a domestically abusive relationship, her ex partner has injured her on a number of occasions. Social services decided they needed to take the children into ‘care’ as they they were concerned for the children’s safety, they questioned their mothers decision making re the children/ keeping them safe/ making the right decisions re their father. I am going to apply to care for them under a special guardianship order however, I am worried that my pregnancy will impact negatively on my assessment. Has anyone had any experience of this type of assessment? If so how did they find it? I would appreciate any advice or information.

Rm I would post this question on a desperate topic and it will be answered I would have thought ?

Hi. I have an SGO for my 5 year old grand daughter, who I have cared for since she was 10 months old under a kinship foster carer to start with from the local Authority, we were assessed and went to court in Feb 18 and were given The SGO.
I have 2 questions of which I would appreciate any help with. These are :-

1. Adoption - where do we stand on this?
2. My partner has dual citizenship GB and Australia. We are considering at this time moving our family to Australia, us and my partners parents, who are our support network, they also hold dual citizenship and have only been back in this country for the last 9 years. On our SGO it states that we can’t take the child out of the country for longer than 3 months. Obviously if we moved it isn’t feesable to come back every 3 months due to the expense etc. I have done some research and most pages say that we would need birth parents permission to take out of country, we have no chance of getting this, so therefore we would need to go to court and the judge would take into consideration the best course of action for the child. She is too young to speak on her own behalf in court, and we were granted the SGO hands down. We are currently coming upto our yearly review for Guardian Allowance and we have read that most reviews the LA seem to find a loophole to not pay the allowance, and my partners employment at the moment is unstable with lay offs etc (another reason for relocation). Any advise or information that could help us at this time would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

You will not be allowed to emigrate without the parents permission as you know. If the child has been with you for more than 12 months there is nothing to stop you applying direct to the courts for an adoption order. I don't know whether soc Ser would support that ? Often if it is family they are funny about adoption but the courts would ask for an assessment to be done and make the final decision.
However if you take that route you cannot ask for any financial support so bear that in mind .

Hi thanks for your reply.
That’s definitely worth looking into going straight to court re adoption. We definitely need to get some legal advise regarding both aspects.
With ref to financial help yes we understand that we wouldn’t be entitled to any financial help, at the moment we get Guardians Allowance which we are going through our yearly review at the moment, and as it’s means tested we are expecting this to stop, so that aspect of it will be taken out of the equation and all we will be entitled to is Family Allowance each month. The financial side of her care has been mainly down to us since we took her on with a small allowance from the local
Authority whilst we were classed as kinship Carers, Local authorities seem to get away with saving pennies when family take these children on saving their budgets, we didn’t go into this for financial gain but it’s so frustrating that once you get to where we are now, and we wouldn’t have it any other way may I add, that we are caring, bringing up, providing for, and we are still at the mercy of Biological parents 😡😡

Intention too Adopt will need too write too LA give 3 months notice of intention. Mean time can apply for Adoption papers on line or direct from Adoption Dept . Family court .,will give you an incite how too proceed. , regulation's and process. Can read through/ study prior too submitting application. All being well can submit court will the set a hearing date ( cost around £175).

Hi thanks for info. Why do we need to write to LA? The LA aren’t involved anymore since we were granted SGO last year.

It is a statutory requirement for ALL ADOPTIONS part of the process.