Financial support with siblings?

[luckylucky24]

We have a birth child and DD was placed with us age 1, 8 months ago. DD's birth mum is pregnant again and DH and I have been discussing whether or not we would consider taking the baby if asked by SS (we know BM is currently being assessed but nothing else).
We are pretty certain we would say no predominantly because this bout of leave has left us struggling to cover bills as my leave comes to an end. I will be returning to work part time in a few weeks and we should be fine then.
DH has said he would consider taking on the sibling if the LA would give us a monthly amount to support us. I was under the impression that they would only do this for children with significant issues.
Does anyone have knowledge of this?

They may consider a payment to top up Stat Adoption Pay to your usual wage during your adoption leave, I'm not sure how common this is though.

It's by no means unheard of for an LA to pay an adoption allowance to keep a pair of siblings together. Unfortunately there is less money around for this sort of thing, these days.

Start by speaking to your SW to get the lay of the land. If you decide you want to go for it, you can make some very strong arguments here:

• You can take this kid ASAP. We were in the same position and were placed in 4 months. This is a huge saving to the LA in FC fees. They will save at least thousands.
• Bang on about the benefits to the child of being with their biological sibling. Turn every discussion round to the needs of the child.
• They have a statutory duty to do what's best for the child, no matter what it costs.

Work out exactly how much you'd need and for how long. You will get adoption leave with at least SAP again.

Say how much you want to provide a home for the child (which is why you need to be clear in your own mind first). If, in the end, they baulk at paying the allowance- contact the IRO and ask for a second opinion. The IRO should have strong views if money stopped a sibling placement. Be really positive and fluffy, but play hard ball.

Thanks mancha, that's very helpful. I am not fully on board yet. It has been very hard the last few months as we still haven't legally adopted DD. The SW have been less than useless and it really puts me off. Plus we had previously said, with great conviction that we were done.
Some serious thinking to be done. I may wait and see if they even ask.

Most welcome, glad to be of use. Two little ones is definitely hard work. We did two adoptions in a row and it's exhausting. If you go ahead, then it will be a tough few months adjusting. They absolutely should ask you, if adoption is going to be the route. If not you can express interest- sibling placements are generally first choice.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It been fab watching our two grow up together, they've both been really good for each other and they dote on each other. If we'd planned, we'd have waited, but its been much better for the kids this way in the long run.

I'll add the caveat that my two don't have many additional needs and we have a good support network. First and foremost do what is right for your (current) family.

I expect you have thought about these, but just in case:

• were you always intending to adopt again, if not, why not, and why consider it now
• your BC will be 'outnumbered' by adoptive siblings who will have a genetic link with each other
• what if BM has a 3rd (or 4th or 5th) child

We took a further sibling after adopting a pair of siblings. We do receive a small adoption allowance in recognition of the added financial burden of a third child, so it can happen without additional needs. I would urge you to think about how many children you truely want, as our children have since gained two siblings who we were unable to take and we expect more to arrive. It's not uncommon for birth parents to keep having children. Our social worker said it's actually pretty common for them to keep going.