We are being forced down the SGO route to care for my 2 nieces HELP!

[Calderon]

We arebeing forced down the SGO route to care for my 2 nieces HELP!

Hi everyone,
We really need your expert help here. our 2 nieces have been in foster care for 2 years. We only found out about this late last year and I am devastated. My husband and I have put ourselves forward as kinship foster carers to look after them into adulthood as we love them and feel strongly that they should be with family. We completed the application to be considered as kinship foster carers, and the initial viability assessment has now been completed, and discussed at a legal planning meeting (4 weeks ago) which was positive. We have both requested a copy of the report in order to see the content of information about us and the outcome of that meeting which still has not materialised after 4 weeks (are we entitled to see this report?).
SS have gone very quiet since the one lined email was sent back to us last week saying that we passed the initial viability assessment. In the mean time we have fought for free legal advice through the LA, which we were told in Feb 2018 we were entitled to. This has since been retracted by SS, and apparently only those potential carers going down the SGO route are entitled to this. Our referees have also been sent out written documents requesting information about us, and titled on the top of the letters is "Notification of Application to Court for a Special Guardianship Order". Can SS services apply to court for an SGO without first discussing with us what route we want to go down? Can they enforce an SGO on us? We have said from the outset that we wanted to go down the kinship foster carers route, because of the sheer complexity of the case, and we would like the continued support from the LA and child services to look after these children which is definitely in their best interests. would love to hear anyone's feedback or advice out there. Thanks.

I would request a face to face meeting with children’s services to sort it out rather than them dodging phone calls and emails. Or write formally, send it recorded, ask specific questions and indicate when you expect a response.

SGOs are applied for by the prospective guardian, not the LA. So they can’t do that without your consent. You would need to instruct a solicitor and apply for the sgo yourself.

It could be that they are using the same reference request forms for convenience, I’ve seen that happen before. Or maybe they’re trying to push you in that direction.... though it would still have to be you that applied to court, so they can’t force that.

When completing references and medical forms there are usually 3 boxes to choose from so it could be that they have just ticked the wrong box as the forms are all the same. It doesn't sound like they are pushing you down that route. In terms of legal aid, this is a legal aid matter not a social services one. Social services so decide who can and cant get legal aid. The legal aid board do. Have you completed your application to foster?

Thank you for your feedback, very reassuring.

Thank you for the info.

May be useful contacting This new SGO Support Service at www.family-action.org.uk HELPLINE No 0808 802 111. Think they also work with LA's. Will be able too advise you.

Thank you very much for your information

If you are a kinship carer then you will not hold parental rights and overall responsibility for the children. The LA and the parents will have this control. Until the children are adults

If you apply for a SGO you need not have SS involved (eventually) . You will make all decisions relating to the children and the order will remain in force until the children are adults. You can get SGO allowance too.

You say you want the support of the LA but believe me they are so stretched that support in its true sense is unlikely to be forthcoming.

SGO all the way!

Family action SGO help line is open sat and sun mornings from 10 am
0808 802 1111

Responses and feedback greatly appreciated thank you.

Disagree with Mellie, I would never accept SGO as the allowance is not guaranteed and can be withdrawn by the LA at a later date. You are entitled to a fostering allowance. In my LA this is called family and friends fostering.

Best Wishes

The difficulty with being approved as a family and friends foster carer means that the child is in 'care'. This means that the child will be visited by a social worker every 6 weeks, will have meetings about him/her every 3-6 months, will be treated differently at school, will have health assessments every 6-12 months, will be seen by an independent reviewing officer. It will also mean that the carer will have 'supervision' by a fostering social worker every month as well as the visits from the child's social worker. They will have to complete training, they will have to meet fostering minimum standards, go through rigourous assessment and attend fostering panel every year. They can't consent the certain medical treatment and can't make significant decisions as they don't have PR. Supporting SGO isn't necessarily about money, it's also about proportionality as the above is not necessarily right for all people and can be disproportionate in a lot of situations.

We applied to be foster carers for dp's dgs. We were told it wasn't available for family, although we could have had an SGO as we passed all their interviews and safeguarding tests. The main difference was a financial one - foster carers get an allowance towards the cost of looking after the dgs, whereas an SGO is unpaid. And yes, there are further hoops for fosterors to jump through, but that wasn't the problem The baby was eventually adopted by family friends with contact allowed.

It's incorrect to state that special guardians are unpaid. The local authority have a duty to a financial assessment if the child was in care immediately before the SGO is made and have a duty consider financial assessment if the child was not in care directly before the making of the order. This is set out in the special guardianship regulations. The local authority don't have a duty to pay but donhave a duty to consider/assess taking into account the child's needs and whether the family need the money or not.

Also not, everyone will pass a fostering assessment as the criteria is Very strict.

Thank you all for your responses they have been very informative.
So Blue.......are you saying that the assessment for fostering and SGO are very different, and why is that?

Also how long does an assessment for fostering take compared to an SGO?

What is actually involved in the assessment to become a foster carer????

Yea they are different. A fostering assessment is very intrusive. It is 8 x 2 hour sessions looking at all areas of yours and your partners lives. It will also include medical, references, checks with employer and t is a fostering panel who approve you. There are national minimum standards that have to be met and there are certain things which will rule you out as a foster carer. A sgo assessment is much more flexible and there are no minimum standards that have to be reached or things that you'll automatically rule you out. If I was you I'd go for SGo but I would be requesting a support plan and clarify with what you need to do if you need support with contact, therapeutic support, financial support. The other option is connected persons foster care short term and you applying for a SGO after 1-2 years when you feel more confident. Doing it this way the level of support you are entitled to is higher.

A fostering assessment will generally take longer and be more comprehensive. Foster carers are essentially employees of the local authority and both they and their home have to meet a set of pre-determined standards, for example must have their own room, adequate space and privacy, you may be obliged to facilitate specific levels of contact with other family members, there is training that must be completed, there are restrictions on how many hours the carer can work outside of the home etc. The specifics can vary from LA to LA.

With an SGO the standard is less rigorous because it is considered in a child’s interest to be permanently placed within their family if at all possible. An SGO assessment is basically to evidence that the applicant can provide a safe, stable and loving home for the specific child in question. They will also consider any harm the child has suffered and how well placed the SGO applicants are to help the child deal with the impact of that harm.

Fostering assessment takes 16 weeks but frequently held up. sGO assessment 12 weeks but can be done quicker.

What sort of things will rule us out as foster carers?

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachmentdata/file/192705/NMSSFosteringServices.pdf

Why don't you have a look at the national minimum standards. There will be certain criminal offences and certain health conditions that would rule you out. There would also be difficulty in getting approved if not all checks can be completed ie if you have lived abroad or don't have the correct ID for a dbs check. Things like historical substance use or over crowding would make being approved difficult. The national minimum standards don't apply with SGO.

Thank you so much for all your timely responses, advice, feedback and info.... Very much appreciated. Thanks for the link Blue, I'll have a look now.