Any advice on the process of being approved to care for a family member please?

[Rjt1982]

This week I have been in contact with a social worker regarding having care of, hoping to eventually gaining special guardianship, of a baby of a cousin. The social worker has sent me out consent forms today so they can make the relevant checks they require. How long does the process normally take? I am new to all of this. Thanks!

I am assuming the baby has been removed from your cousin and is in foster care. Did you not know that this had happened at the time, or the baby could have been placed directly with you. It's probably the case that the LA have initiated care proceedings and will be carrying out assessment on the birthparents, as they have to be very certain that they are asking the court to secure the baby's future by way of placement with relatives (if they are considered suitable) rather than returning the child to the parents.

All of this can take several weeks (if not months) - best thing to do is ask the social worker about the process, as all cases are different.

Hi I think I should have explained a bit more thoroughly! The baby hasn't been born yet. She is due this week. The mother is in prison and has been since just after she discovered she was pregnant. She is currently on remand but she will definitely be jailed. Regardless of that she would not be allowed to keep the baby due to previous history. I enquires about the baby coming to me a few months back but a family member told me there were adoptive parents lined up so I didn't make any further enquiries as I disn't want to upset anyone who may have been looking forward to adopting the baby. However after speaking to my auntie (the grandparent of the baby) last week, she told me that wasn't the case and the baby would be placed in foster care first. After some discussion with her I decided to i ahead with asking if the baby could come to me. The mother of the baby has agreed with the social worker that she would be happy with this. The baby will spend some time in special care at first as the mother has been perscribed methadone whilst pregnant. The social worker seems quite positive on the phone and I don't have anything that could go against me. I understand their checks are very thorough.

SS will always favour placing children within the family dependant on their suitability checks and investigations. Would ask about support if any available also support from Community nursing service, and ask for results of any postnatal anti viral check's. As if these are positive baby may need a short course of treatment usual off midwife. (this should be standard so not too worry). Ask if adoption support fund would be extended too you.
This starts in May see www.first4adoption.org.uk

If a child is removed from the birthparents and the Court have agreed that this is the only option to keep the child safe, they will grant an Interim Care Order which gives the LA parental responsibility for the child. They also have to formulate a care plan for the child. IF they are going to ask the court to grant an Order to secure the child's future in the sense of not being returned to the mother, then they have a duty to find out if there is anyone in the extended family who is suitable to care for the baby, and carry out an assessment of that person, before they consider adoption with people awaiting adoptive placements.

Given that the baby is going to be in special care, this should give the social worker time to carry out statutory checks on you so that they can place the baby directly with you. They are allowed to do this after checks and an initial assessment, and it will mean that the baby will be with you right from the start which is the best thing that could happen. You would then need to make an application for an SGO and the social workers have to carry out a comprehensive assessment. All of this has to be done before the final hearing and if the Judge agrees that the child can't be returned to the care of the mother, and the social worker has given you a positive recommendation for the SGO then that Order will almost certainly be made in your favour.

Are you certain that the birthmother would not be allowed to keep her baby whilst she is in prison, as some prisons have mother & baby units, where babies can remain with their birthmother for the first months of their life.

Hi NanaNina. Thanks for your reply. I am 100% certain that the baby will not be allowed to stay with its mother. She has already had one child removed from her care and her next one was placed into foster care from birth.

The babies dad will also not be allowed contact as far as I'm aware

OK. I think you need to talk to the social worker about the possibility of the baby being placed directly with you, rather than placed with foster carers. I'm assuming you are in a position to care for the baby and are financially stable. Do you have other children? If so how old are they? I'm assuming you are single - is that right?

I am single. I do have three children aged 12, 7 and 2. Right now I am a childminder and I have a little savings. Of course having a new baby would mean minimising my hours at first as I look after a ten month old baby, so I hope to speak to the social worker about getting some financial help at first.

I recieved the forms this morning for a viability assessment. They have been signed and sent back. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime?

I thought they were sending you consent forms to sign for them to carry out the statutory checks, police, health etc. They are usually the first things to be done. You don't usually have to sign for a viability assessment. No I don't think there is anything more you can do in relation to the baby, but you aren't going to be able to care for a 2 yr old, a 10 month baby and a newborn are you. Presumably you will have to stop caring for the 10 month baby if this baby is placed with you.

If the LA place the baby with you they should provide some financial support, and if you apply for an SGO the Regs say the LA should fund the equivalent of fostering allowances for the first 2 years after placement. However I think that might have changed now, and you might need to look into whether or not they will continue funding after 2 years. The thing is though these allowances are discretionary so can be reduced or stopped. You do need to check don't you that actually have the financial resources to care for this baby throughout his/her lifetime.

Whoop's Glad your not our SW Nana Nina have 16 kids and two baby's.
Thinks maybe Rtj1982 may be of a strong caring disposition, Best too be Non Judgmental, let's hope for a positive outcome.
Good luck Rtj sure your heart is in the right place.

16 kids and 2 babies - really fasparent - are you that family on the TV "16 kids and counting?" - I wasn't being judgemental just realistic. You're not usually "snippy" - ha ha!

Hi, thanks for all your advice so far. I have successfully completed the initial viability assessment and now the application has been passed to a different department for a more indepth assesment. Can anyone tell me what I can expect please? So far they've checked my medical records, police records and local social services records. They have also done the same for my own children's father and two friends who visit my home regularly. I have also been visited at home by the social worker dealing with this case and she has met my children and looked around.