Lack of help from child services

[agb657]

Our nephew was placed with us 5 weeks ago, He is "looked after " we have told child services that we want to be assessed as foster carers but they make appointments with us and don't turn up or cancel them at the last minute,we have had no financial support and all they seem to be interested in, is us getting a residency order. Can any one give us some advice on how to get this to move forward and how long does our nephew need to live with us before we can apply for a residency order?

[David Roth]

Hi agb657, and welcome to the family and friends carers' discussion forum.

It sounds as if there are several issues that you need to deal with:
- You need to resolve whether or not your nephew is a looked after child
- You are not happy with the behaviour of the social workers
- You are not receiving any financial support
- You need to decide whether to apply for a Residence Order

A lot will depend on whether or not your nephew is a looked after child, and that can depend on how he came to be living with you. If the local authority played a major role in placing him with you, e.g. if they brought him round to you or they phoned you up and asked you to collect him, then he ought to be looked after, UNLESS it was made clear at the time they placed him with you that he wasn't, and you gave informed consent to a different arrangement.

If he is looked after, then the local authority ought to approve you temporarily as foster carers, which can be for up to 16 weeks or 24 weeks in exceptional circumstances. During that time they should pay you the full fostering allowance, and if you are going to continue as his foster carer then they should carry out a full fostering assessment.

Unfortunately, it looks as if your local authority is not going to agree to your nephew being a looked after child. If you think, from what I stated previously, that he ought to be looked after, then your best course of action may be to make a formal complaint, about the fact they are not treating him as looked after, or providing you with financial support, and are also not treating you very respectfully. If you do decide to make a complaint, then there are a couple of case law references that confirm he should be looked after, in the circumstances I outlined. These are: R (SA) v Kent County Council [2011] EWCA Civ 1303; London Borough of Southwark v D [2007] EWCA Civ 182. If you mention these in your complaint, ask the local authority to check them with their legal team before responding to you.

The other issue is whether or not to apply for a Residence Order. However, if you are considering applying for an order so the child can stay with you, then another option would be a Special Guardianship Order, which is in some ways a stronger order than RO, since it states that although both you and the parents would have parental responsibility, you would have exclusive right to exercise it. There is also a statutory framework for supporting special guardians that isn't there for Residence Orders, although local authorities are allowed to pay a RO allowance.

For more details about all these matters, I suggest that you read some of our advice sheets. AS25 tells you how to make a complaint, and 18 and 19 give you information about RO and SGO: http://www.frg.org.uk/need-help-or-advice/advice-sheets

If you want to discuss this, or you want some advice about drafting the complaint letter, you may want to call our advice service: the number is 0808 801 0366, lines are open 9.30am-3pm Mon-Fri.

[agb657]

Thank you David for your response.
social services have stated that we put in a formal written request to be considered for friend and family fostering and the information from family rights group is invaluable, especially a letter template they provided. we would be completely in the dark without FRG.

[agb657]

Well two and a half weeks have past and no response to our formal request to be considered for friend and family fostering. Our nephew has been with us for 8 weeks now and i have to say what a frustrating time we have had with social services.

[David Roth]

If you haven't yet made a formal complaint about the lack of response to your very reasonable requests, then it may be worth starting that process now. The complaints process is supposed to have its own timetable for action, which the complaints officer should ensure is followed. And making a formal complaint can sometimes be the trigger for some sort of action — no guarantees though, unfortunately.