Can potential Foster carers really be turned down based on members of their extended family who...

[pinkdolly]

they dont even know. The only thing in fact that we do know is their names and that they are family.

Apparently within my extended family their are some unsavoury characters, who have been in various forms of trouble and this could jepordise our f1 application.

But I dont know these people, maybe met them once or twice when I was a child. But I dont know what they look like, where they live, anything.

Our social worker says that a judge looking at the evidence would be reluctant to place the children with us as these people could be a risk factor.

How exactly...?

who has said this the LA an agency

to be honest i bet most of us have some unsavory people in our families and how did they find out these people are in your family if their distant relatives

because when we did our check they ask us for 3 refrances, i had to give my exs name and then do a a support circle and i only put people i had contact with please expand your story if you dont mind

That sounds silly. If you are in regular contact with these people and they are coming round to your house, then of course, that is a risk. But if you don't know where they live, never see them, sounds very over cautious and if your application is rejected on those grounds, you should appeal.

Ok, sorry. They are not distant. They are my cousins. They live geographically close to us. But I have no idea where.

It is an independant social worker assesment for a local authourity foster placement.

They found out about them because we are being assessed to look after my young cousins, and these family members would be their step-brother's(same dad), and their/my uncle. Bit of a dodgey family on my dad's side. Which is why probably my dad has never really had anything to do with them and hence we dont know them.

Sorry for being so vague earlier.
Have to go now but will check back with thread tomorrow.

and its not a judge who decides which child stays with witch foster carer its the placement team along with your social worker, the only time a judge may come into things if you were adopting

I AM CONFUSED

maypole, children usually only go into foster care via care proceedings and a judge is perfectly entitled to refuse to make a care order if he or she doesn't think the LA care plan is up to scratch and and they haven't identified suitable carers. the op is putting herself forward as a family member so her case will be considered at the final hearing.

I imagine there will be a number of placement options; within family and with strangers. Judge has to consider if LA care plan is in children's best interests and I can see the argument they might be better off outside the family if the family poses a risk from 'dodgy' relatives.

Op, if you 'fail' the assessment, you can still ask the court to place the children with you, but obviously it will be difficult if you have to convince the judge the assessment was unfair. Sorry, from your op I thought you were just applying generally to be a foster parent.

But I doubt the LA would let it get to that stage, that is why carers are v carefully vetted.

sorry, forgot to delete the last sentence of my post, please ignore it.

Sorry sperg didn't relies op was a kinship carer

Sounds odd if you have nothing to do with them, but if they are also related to the DC/s and may have an interest in abducting/contacting them then they would need to be very sure that you could protect them from that. Having odgy relatives is not a reason by itself! One of my lads was placed on a full care order with his uncle who was a convicted bank robber (reformed character, and a brilliant person)

Thank you for your messages, dh and I have decided to terminate our assessment.
Our social worker was lovely and said that it was obvious that we are highly competant parents, but due to the factors surrounding our extending family and the fact that we live in such a rural environment, quiet close to them there is a real risk to these children when they are older.

It has upset me somewhat but we have to realise that she is right. And the best thing is for them to be adopted elsewhere.

Pinkdolly, I think you and your DH are very very brave, to have even consider adopting these little ones, and then realising that it may not be in their best interests when they are older must have taken a lot of soul searching.

Wishing you all the best for the future, and hoping that a loving family is found for the little ones

Pinkdolly I'm sorry to hear this as io have seen how much this meant for you. Hope everything goes ok for your cousins & may be worth considering requesting indirect contact so when they grow up they know some of their birth family did care.

Thankyou- Our social worker has written a letter to the girls for when they are olser. Telling them who we are and how hard we tried for them, and also telling them that our door is always open if they need us as they get older.

She wants us to contribute to their life story by writing letters of our own and including photographs. I thought this was a lovely idea.

It is funny I have never even met the girls but feel almost like I am grieving for them. We started this in Fenruary and I have read so much about them that I already feel I had taken them into my heart.

I had to tell my girls when they came home from school today and they started crying. They were really looking forward to them coming to live with us. And even tho we had told them from the start that we might never get to meet them, I know they were hoping we would.