Kinships

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Cymro
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 7:01 pm

Kinships

Post by Cymro » Tue Jul 11, 2017 1:58 pm

Hello. Could anyone advise me on kinship assessments please.
I want to have my nephew stay with us until the court decide what's best for his future, but can't help but feel I stand little chance due to my position at the moment.
I am a single parent with a teenager and a daughter of six, I do not work as I prefer to be at hand until my child settles in school. At the moment she goes from one to the other due to her educational needs.
Our house is very small, have been meaning to look for a bigger place but time hasn't been on my side much this last couple of years.
Our home is just two bedroom, teenager in one and my little one and myself in another. So this is my main concern, although my room is big enough for an extra single bed to be thrown in there, would this likely fail me the assessment?
My nephew is just a toddler.

Thank you

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
Posts: 949
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:25 pm

Re: Kinships

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Mon Jul 17, 2017 4:51 pm

Dear Cymro

Thanks for your post. Sorry to hear that your nephew is experiencing difficulties at the moment.

ied53 has provided some very comprehensive advice. She is right that if your nephew is already safely placed elsewhere children’s services are unlikely to want to move him to another temporary placement especially as he is a toddler. They will want to try to minimise the number of moves he has. However, do check this out directly with the social worker or ask his parents to clarify with their solicitors. We have an advice sheet for family and friends about : being assessed as a foster carer which should be useful to you.

As ied53 says, if you might possibly be a permanent carer for your nephew then children’s services may consider what options there are or what help can be offered in terms of your accommodation. Family members who step in to care for children often have issues with space and children’s services should consider these issues alongside the broader needs of the child.

Has there been a family group conference (FGC)? If not, this might be something that your nephew’s parents can ask for as it can help clarify what support your nephew needs and how he can be cared for safely by his parents or within his family. You can find out more about family group conferences here.

Do have a look at Family Rights Group’s advice sheets on Child Arrangement Orders and Special Guardianship Orders which are the two main legal orders which relatives can seek to allow them to get parental responsibility to care for children.

If you would prefer to talk things through with an adviser then please call the Freephone advice line on 0808 8010366 Mon- Fri 9.30 to 3.00.

With best wishes.

Suzie

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