child delivered to me for emergancy care...what happens next??

[qwertysue]

hi, i will try and explain, but without giving out too much background info, for obvious reasons.
DS1 came home from school and asked could "X" move in with us please? he no longer lives with parents and unsuitable where he is staying, i replied yes. two days later a support worker and "X" were at my house when i arrived home from work at 8.30pm, the support worker asked would i be happy to look after "X" for emergancy care and i replied that i was prepared to let him live with us on a permanent basis and i would be prepared to go through all the steps to foster him. (i am not a foster carer at present).

Had contact with another support worker who is quite happy with the sittuation and likes the idea of me looking after "X" on a permanent basis and is going to start the ball rolling for me to be a FC. but i havnt a clue as to what to expect next. "X" is 16, and DS1's best friend, so known well to us. its been 5 days now since he has arrived, but besides a phone call off the support worker to see how the weekend went and the initial arrival when i got in from work, i havnt actually had any other kind of official contact from social services? is this normal? does anybody have any advice? it would all be greatly appreciated.
many thanks in anticipation, and appologies for being vague, but i just thought it best due to its nature

Hi.. didn't want to leave this one unanswered... but to be honest my answer is I don't really know!!

I would have thought as he is 16, there is little point in being approved as FC for him... and that SS will have little if any involvement with him.. sad but true

No help whatsoever, but hopefully some wise words will follow shortly...

Good luck by the way x

He is under 18 and therefore a child in need as much as a 6 year old would be. If your local SSD treat him any differently then they are not discharging their responsibilities.

The question is - are you keeping him out of foster care by looking after him? Does he have no relatives that he could live with? If a child is being looked after by friends/family instead of birth family due to CP issues then they can be assessed as F&F carers and attract fairly generous fostering allowances. However if it's a private arrangement simply endorsed by the LA (as any private arrangements must be under the law relating to private fostering) then you will get nothing, apart from possibly child benefit and child tax credit if applicable.

If you feel he is category one but they have washed their hands due to knowing he's safe with you - then pursue it, tenaciously. You can't just become a de facto foster carer with all that entails, but you can be supported by a social worker and get an allowance. You also need to pursue this for his sake - it may be that he could qualify for a leaving care service if they consider him LAC under section 20 of the children act which could benefit him greatly in the next few years. He needs to be officially LAC for 13 consecutive weeks after his 16th birthday. The LA will not want to consider him formally LAC for this reason, but if his parents are abusive then he really should be. At the very least he should have a social care assessment, which he can have whilst living with you.

This is all moot if he just had a falling out with his mum over leaving smelly socks on the bathroom floor by the way. If his parents aren't abusive or dangerous, but he just doesn't want to live with them, then none of this applies (but you have done the right thing by informing the authorities)

thankyou for taking the time to reply, he has only just turned 16, 5 weeks ago and is still at school. the parents have washed their hands as far as i can see, i havnt kept him out of foster care as i think he was going to be offered a place at the local YMCA, which i just feel really isnt a kind step at such a young age. i am unsure of what help financailly i will get with him as nobody has really told me what is available, and i havnt done it for any extra income, just as a kind thought because we can. there doenst seem to be any other relatives whom he could have approached. I know that living at home was volitile, and when he came to me 90% of his clothes were way too small, he didnt own basics that we take for granted for cleandliness , no coat, no school shoes etc so we have been and bought all that he needed. if i only get his child benefit and tax credit this will be a huge help as im a single mum of two. im just trying to help out a child in need and hope that he can get through his exams in the next months without any extra stress.
many thanks for your replies

My advice - google Southwark judgement and arm yourself with knowledge. They should be carrying out a full social care assessment, not just treating him as homeless and placing in the YMCA. If he has a social care need then they should be providing services to meet that need - whether that is an allocated social worker who supports him to stay with you, or a place in foster care. Google leaving care act to see what he would be entitled to if he is accepted as a looked after child for 13 weeks or more. Ask for a meeting. They may well try to get him home rather than accept him as LAC though, but that is what they should be doing if possible anyway. Then if it is not possible that should trigger a child in need assessment and you would be involved in that as a potential carer.

A lot does depend on his homelife and whether it would be safe for him to return.

Forgot to add - if he is living with you full time and long term than you can apply for the CB and CTC in any case, you should give both agencies a call to ask how.