Advice needed please

[Clare0439]

Hi
We, as grandparents were asked by social services to do a viability assessment for an sgo
a year ago for our twin grandchildren who are 18 months old now.
Our daughter signed a section 20 a year ago and our grandchildren have been in care with a foster carer since.
Our daughter has made it clear that she does not want her children back in her care due to not being able to cope and has made her feeling clear to LA that she like us to care for the children full time under an sgo.
We have had 4 assessments done altogether, the first assessment which was done by the children’s social worker came back to us being negative and we challenged due to the inaccuracies, we then had another assessment done by the same LA but a different social worker and only spoke to myself and not my partner, we then challenged this as being unfair.
The court then put forward that we have an independent social worker to do a more in-depth assessment which came back as fair but could be interpreted as either negative or positive, the children’s guardian interpreted the assessment as positive and so did the LA who was previously opposing us before this.
With everybody seeing it as positive it was then put forward that the independent social worker must come back to us to ask us more questions which was not asked in the first assessment done by the iws, the LA wrote out the extra questions to be asked as from the first assessment which was done by the isw our circumstances changed dramatically due to our work commitments, we employed a manager for our business so we could both be there together to take care of our grandchildren.
The further questions was asked and the assessment came back positive.
After this we had a schedule in place done by the LA where we was seeing our grandchildren at contact centres and then they was just about to come to our home for visits then the covid 19 lockdown came in!
There was a irh hearing which was booked in court for end of April and by then we would of completed the schedule.
A court hearing took place by video link but we was not able to be in the link and was updated by telephone afterwards.
The update is: the final hearing has been moved to October 20, an irh hearing will be in September and another schedule is being put in place but with the our grandchildren coming straight to our home with no more contact centres.
May I add we have had to fight this for a year without being party to court, with no legal advice as our previous income was so up and down from our cleaning business that we could not get legal aid.
The children’s guardian is also on our side.
Just before the lockdown (covid 19)
we had a meeting with the LA and the children’s social worker manager which involved the foster carer too, they agreed they are happy for the children to come to us, a schedule was put in place and we carried on seeing the children.
Recently I had a phone call off the children’s social worker saying that we now have to do a regulation 24 assessment, with a full medical check, dbs and a financial statement, the checks are fine with us but we do not understand why we would need another assessment which is so in-depth just like the ones we had done with the isw.
We also had character references checked by the isw, but she is asking us to get more references ready and we will need 3 each!
The children’s social worker also stated it does not matter if we fail the long term foster assessment, this is what concerned us if we failed, as she can go for a child arrangement order along side an sgo she stared if we fail.
So we are wondering why? Why? If it doesn’t matter anyway.
We have been through so much and have been questioned over and over again with hours and hours of questioning one by one and both of us together.
Is there another option?
Do we have to do this?
We feel like she wants more questions answered as they didn’t do their job properly form the beginning.
The LA have been a pain from the start and wanted the children to be adopted.
Please can anyone help?
Also it was not said in any meeting or in court that we would have to do a long term fostering (regulation 24) assessment.

I'm so sorry that you and the twins are caught up in the mess that Covid-19 has caused
You will have to keep working with the children's services team.
Copy and paste previous information to help cut the time frame down
Being as positive as possible with them in any and all contact
Are you having teams video call family time with the twins?

Thank you for replying.
We are having video calls every 2 days at the moment until a schedule is put in place from next Thursday.
An interim order is in place now.
The isw recommended on the last report that she recommends us going through the foster route as the children are not living with us yet and apply for an sgo later on.
I don't understand as they was letting the children come to us anyway before the lockdown without a regulation 24 and now they want us to answer more questions in depth, which we have already done.
They also said over the phone we need 3 references each but we have already had that done too with the iws. We have a very small circle of friends and that would be difficult doing that again if different people are needed.
The social worker said it does not matter if we fail the foster assessment and will look at a child arrangement order instead along side an sgo, we feel like they are setting us up to fail and if it does not matter if we pass then could we refuse?

Sorry you're having such a frustrating time.
Can you ask the SW the questions about the same referee's etc. Most of it shouldn't feel as intrusive as it will be repeated information.

In my experience if you take the children under a family arrangements order there will be less security than under a fostering arrangement which will keep the CLA involved so able to move you forward into the sgo. There will also be financial implications for which route you take, if you foster you will get the fostering allowance and allowances may continue after an sgo.

LA not CLA

Thank you for replying.
I see.
Our grandchildren will be coming next week with a transition schedule in place until Oct this year until the final hearing.
I will as the SW about the referees and also to what extent of the questions being asked.
Thank you for your advice.

Hi I am looking for some advice. My daughter started on drink and drugs after the break up of a relationship.she has four children by two father's one father kept his two children and two children were put in our care. We passed the police checks and local authorities tests I was surprised as my partner was on drugs 20 years ago. Anyway children are with us as of Sunday gone .we had our first phone consultation which included me the grandfather the mother both father's the social worker for the children someone from the school a heath visitor . During the call the main chair lady said to the social worker that we have to do a kinship order before 16 weeks. I am now fully confused as I thought we had passed all tests and the children would be with us until the mother is better. They also said they will pay me 170.00 per week between the two children I'm not really bothered about the money I would just like them to stay in my care where they seem very happy . What is the process of a kinship order do I need to go to court will they look at our backgrounds again do they look at financial records will they contact my work place I am very worried again now as I thought when children were placed with me it was the end. Any advice would we greatly appreciated especially from anyone who has worked as a social worker or anyone who has been through the process thank you

Hi. Am a foster carer not a social worker.

I think you need to be asking the social worker for some clarification.

You need to know the legal status of the child, do the local authority (LA) have a care order, full or interim or are they in voluntary care, are legal proceedings in process or finished?

If the local authority have a full or interim care order they will share parental responsibility (PR)with the parents.

I've not heard of a kinship order and assume she meant either kinship fostering or an Special guardianship order (SGO) which is usually given to family members /connected persons

If you take the children on a kinship fostering placement LA and parents will retain PR

If you obtain an SGO it would be through the courts and would give you shared PR with the parents but with the greater responsibility going to you. This is usually considered to be a permanent arrangement.

Either route will probably mean more investigation from the LA and lots of paperwork however the children are with you and from what you said it sounds as though they support you as carers for the children so it should all be straightforward. Things that happened twenty years ago may be discussed but only so you can show that they are in the past. Try not to worry and good luck.

Just to try and clarify further, you may have had a viability assessment to check it was safe for the children to live with you while the full assessment was done. You may have already done the full assessment. You don't say how long it took for the children to come to you or where they were before so not obvious from what you've written. Again something you can ask the social worker.

Sorry if I'm not very clear this is all new to me.
At the moment children are with me on a section 20.
Social worker is applying to the courts for a strand test for drugs.

I have had the basic police and local authorities check which we passed with a few extra questions from the social workers manager.

After the initial first getting to know you conference the head lady forgot where she was from requested a kinship order I think this is just to allow me to have for longer if my daughter doesn't sort herself out.

Questions I have are

Will I be assigned a social worker of my own or will they use the children's one.?

Why do I have to have background checks again if I already passed them ?

What things will they look for in the medical I do have a weight problem not so great as to leave me unable to walk or work or play I have high blood pressure but since the children have been with me I have been dieting.

I don't think it's fostering the lady wants me to do but sort of long term guardian under the name of kinship carer.

I'm just really confused as to if I passed all the tests and children are with me why do I have to do it all over again?

Are they expecting me to have thousands in the bank as I don't but I am able to feed and clothe the children.

Thanks for any advice it's much appreciated.
Sorry the post is so long I have a million and one questions.

Hi no they won't expect you to have thousands in the bank. I think they would probably just be checking that you have no debts that aren't manageable. You are being given an allowance to go towards feeding and clothing. They will want to check that you won't need to spend that else where. Remember they are not looking to catch you out. They will offer support/advice where necessary as they want what's best for the child.

If the checks you did were just basic, police checks etc they might want to do more in depth checks as they have a responsibility to keep the children safe but also to find out what extra support you might need. If it is and SGO they will need to submit a report to the court.

In our LA kinship carers have a supervising social worker. If it's the same for you they will be there to support you with the placement, help to sort out/advise on any issues that might arise. They should work closely with you and the child's social worker.

Re the medical, being over weight won't "fail" you. They will want to know if your high blood pressure is managed. They might discuss things you could do to improve your health, but if you can manage on a day to day basis there is unlikely to be any issue.

It can be very confusing working with social services if you are not used to it. Although they try hard (in my experience) to talk in a way that can be understood they are so used to their terminology that they often don't realise they've used it and people might not understand. The process to them is obvious so they don't realise how much it needs explaining. So again I would say ask them. If you come away from a meeting and realise you didn't understand give them a ring.

Thank you for your help it's most helpful

I have had two children aged 6 and 7 in my care I do not receive payment as we both work full time but I think I am entitled to 85.00 shared between two children but as they have only been with me since Sunday last week I havnt done anything about claiming for them as I think we earn too much between me and my partner.
Thank you for your help