Hi, I was hoping one of you might have a bit of knowledge that can help.
My cousins aged 12 (boy) and 13 (girl) have recently been made homeless as my aunt was made redundant and couldn't keep up the rent, they were illegally evicted without notice and the council temporarily provided a b&b for a few weeks but wont help with housing (I'm not sure on the exact reasons why). My aunt is now staying on a friends sofa.
My Mum has been taking care of the kids since January as she lives close to their school. Initially they were staying weekends at the b&b with their mum but since she has been at her friends there have been far less overnight visits. Their parents are separated and their dad takes them out on a Sunday daytime and drops them back at my mums. Their Dad contributes nothing to help and my aunt gives a small sum to upkeep them but fundamentally most of it is coming out of my mums pocket.
Having spoken to my mum yesterday its clear that its starting to get on top of her. She is struggling financially as she has post concussion for a couple of months so hasn't been able to work as much. She has recently started back in earnest but she works a lot of nights and the children aren't particularly thoughtful about letting her sleep so shes been less inclined to take these better paying shifts.
She is sleeping on a sofa in the front room and has let my 13 yo cousin take her room and 12 yo take the spare room. I live too far away to help out as do my siblings and my aunt seems to have become extremely disengaged and doesn't seem to be making many moves to get a new job / house etc.
To compound it all she is living with my stepfather at the moment, they have been talking about divorce but she doesn't feel she can move on whilst she has both the kids to think about.
Social services are aware that the children are in her care and due to her profession as a nursery nurse seemed to accept that with no checks. They haven't visited and there's been no mention of any agreements or support. Is there anything that anybody can suggest that might take off the financial strain a bit at least?
Would she be able to formally foster them for the time being? Is there anybody she could talk to about getting some support?