I have today put myself forward as ...

[SixWeeks]

an interested party for Special Guardianship to a little boy I look after two days a week

Six months ago I had never even heard of him, today I have decided to explore the SGO option for him.

what have I let myself in for with regard to my assessment?

anyone

I adopted my DS2 because there was no SGOs 6 years ago. I can tell you what our assesment was like if that would help. Do you know about the Family Rights Group? They have a forum and offer excellent advice.

please do chegirl, what should I expect and what are they expecting of me?

Off to find Family Rights Group now

thanks for the good start

Hi,

Did you get info from FRG? They are the experts and they are the ones that campaigned for the SGOs.

We were assessed as adopters and had to go through the same as 'stranger' adopters. It was a bit silly really, not that we were assessed, but that they acted as if we had never met our DS (he had been with us for two years by then!).

We fostered him first and so were party to all the ins and outs of what was going on with his birth mothers assessments. It was a long and very stressful process but very very worthwhile.

I am happy to chat but I think you are more likely to get a good picture of SGOs from the FRG website.

Brace yourself though, and keep your wits about you. Dont want to sound cynical but the whole process made me that way

Good luck.

good luck six weeks

I knwo someone who was in the same situation as chegirl and had to go through a full " adoption" assessment for a child they had already parented for six years. They didnt change it in any way to take account of their situation, so asked them stupid questions like

" how would you meet Xs educational needs?"

"well the same way we have been for the last 6 years"

"how will you tell her him he is adopted?"

"well since he's 10 he already knows"

" yes but what if you have to tell him difficult information about his past?"

" well he's 10 so he already knows very difficult things about his past"

" but of course he wont really understand it yet" ( from SW who has never had more than polite conversation with child concerned)

" really??" [ parents bite tongue]

etc etc etc