Can Anyone Tell Me About Kinship Fostering?

[Evenstar]

My cousin's 4 month old grandson has been taken into foster care, for various reasons it seems I may be the only willing and appropriate person to bid to foster and keep him within the family. I have brought up 3 children of my own, and I currently work with small children and have relevant qualifications.

Can anyone talk me through the process of applying and explain to me what allowances/benefits I might be entitled to, as I would have to give up work to do this. I have a 15 year old son of my own still living at home and currently receive Child Tax Credits and also Widowed Parents Alowance as my husband died nearly 4 years ago.

This is obviously a huge decision for all sorts of reasons, but really I need to work out if it is at all feasible before offering to do it, the whole family are shellshocked and I don't want to raise false hope. I also have a boyfriend who doesn't live with me, how would this affect any application and would it cause a problem if he did move in at a later date?

They would want to checkout bf as well. Probably now rather than later as he would be in the home.

Re money initially there are allowances for the child but not always fir the carer but longer term you could adopt ( and be entitled to 'normal' benefits or go for an SGO rather than long term fostering ( less SS support/ involvement but less allowances).

Beware of Special Guardianship Orders (SGO) where you have full parental responsibility - they were designed exactly for this kind of situation - BUT there is no statutory obligation in law for them to pay you ANY allowances at all. I've been following discussions about this on another list and the advice there was to simply not accept any guarantees that you would get allowances (as the SS staff simply don't have the authority to do that), but to make sure that both you and the child have solicitors (should be paid for by the LA) and that a legally valid agreement about continued allowances is in place.

SS like SGOs as it takes the child "off the books" and reduces their admin load, but in these days of cuts they might also seek to drop the allowances as well.

Thanks both of you, does anyone know how the situation would be if I was fostering in a local authority a long way away from where the baby is currently living? One reason that other family members may not be able to step in is the need for him to be removed from the area, would I need to contact both local authorities and which one would be responsible for paying any fostering allowance? I am assuming that my own local authority would need to approve me, how long does the process take in these sort of "emergency" situations? I am going to talk to my boyfriend tonight, we have talked about moving in together at some stage and I feel we both have to agree to this before I approach anyone.

I think it would be the placing one. You need to speak to the baby's SW.

Hi I have a sgo order to care for my goddaughter. Timescale wise it was very quick and I dealt with the placing authority. Her situation was considered emergent but she also was 11 and able to voice her opinion. The sorting out/ paperwork took forever I had to be assessed in every way. They will definitely want to look at your boyfriend as he will in and out of the home and look at the stability if he's only just moving in. Not necessarily from the view of it bejng a bad thing but they will ask questions. A sgo gives almost total parental responsibility and so is looked at as a permanent long term measure. If you would like any more info or to talk I'd be happy to.

Oh and in my situation I'm afraid I get next to no financial help cb only. A sgo means that is usually the case I believe. But a good lawyer is essential.

Hi,

The Local Authority who has taken your grandson into care is the responsible authority and would have to do any assessments/pay any allowances.

Under Care Planning Regulations a "Connected Person" (family/friend) can have Temporary Approval following an emergency assessment/police checks etc. This would cover the placement for 16 weeks (24 if extension is applied for) but during this time a full fostering assessment (or SGO) might be carried out if the plan becomes for your grandson to stay with you on a more permanent basis.

If you were approved on a Temporary basis, you should get fostering allowances straight away.

HTH

Hi. first step would be to contact the child's SW.

Unless you want to foster other children from your local authority you would only need to be approved by the local authority who are responsible for your niece.

If you receive a fostering allowance (these rates are entirely up to local authoritiesl authorities to set so there can be huge differences between authorities) you will not be able to claim any benefits in respect of the child.

I am on my phone tithe mo and typing is dead annoying I promise to come back tonight when baby in bed, willbuse the laptop so I can reply properly.

Just to add I think you're great for considering this, your niece is lucky to have such caring relatives

Thank you everyone, I know I will have lots more questions if I decide that I can go ahead and try for this. My cousin's father is very ill after a stroke and doesn't yet know that his great grandson is in care, if I could at least offer and give them some hope that he won't be lost to them, then it would be something, but obviously it has to be right for me and my family too. I will see what BF thinks tonight, we have been together for about 2.5 years and he has children too, and knows that I have considered fostering in the past, just that the time has never been quite right. Will let you know how things go.

No problem as I said any questions id be happy to help. It is a huge decision and you have to be sure I know how hard it is when faced with a screaming child but it is important to separate the emotions from the practicalities, this is where the assessments etc help even though they can seem invasive sometimes. I have never regretted my decision for a second but it hasn't been easy and like you I had another child to consider, my ds was less than a year at the time. Best of luck.

Evenstar - so sorry for refering to your cousins grandson as your niece I really must stop MNing on my phone!

I also see that I crossposted with VeniVidiVisa - they have covered pretty much everything I would have added.

Good luck I hope everything works out for all of your family

Update this evening is that the mum has been allowed to see LO at a contact centre, would this seem a hopeful sign that he might be returned to her? She was allowed to give him a BF.

Contact will happen until a decision is made to permanently remove him - usually via adoption - or it is not believed to be in his best interests (serious abuse etc) it can, and does, go on for years - so it doesn't mean much at this point.