Can anyone help please,my husband and I are greatgrand parents to our little granddaughter who is just over 5 weeks old.
We were told we were the only ones to be assessed and have really bonded with her. We have now been told that her Uncle and his wife are now been assessed also, they already have her brother who is just over 1 we tried for him and also said we would have enough room for the little girl when she arrived. They said that they didn't have the room but now they have been offered to try the xxx council for them to have an extension for another bedroom and they live in xxx. We just feel used we love her to bits and all they seem to want is an extension payed for, is there anything we could do to keep the baby if her parents don't get her back.
Kinship care
Kinship care
Last edited by Suzie, FRG Adviser on Fri Mar 04, 2022 11:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Moderated to protect confidentiality
Reason: Moderated to protect confidentiality
Re: Kinship care
Sorry I forgot to mention that she is living with us until all assessments etc are carried out.
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Suzie, FRG Adviser
- Posts: 953
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:25 pm
Re: Kinship care
Dear Sweetpie
Welcome to the kinship carers’ forum and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am FRG’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear about the difficulties your family is experiencing.
You are currently caring for your 5 week old great- granddaughter with whom you have formed a close relationship and you are being assessed as potential long-term carers for her. Her aunt and uncle who care for her brother are also being assessed to care for the baby. You would like to continue to care for your great granddaughter if her parents are unsuccessful in having her returned to their care and are wondering what else you can do.
It is difficult to provide specific advice without knowing a little more about the situation.
You don’t say if children’s services have already taken your great-granddaughter’s case to court and whether they have an interim care order for her or if the current arrangement was voluntarily agreed by the baby’s parents and therefore is a section 20 arrangement. In either case, you should have been assessed and temporarily approved as kinship foster carers for her. Is that right?
In this situation you will then proceed to have a full fostering assessment and a Special Guardianship assessment. These assessments will clarify if you would be suitable to care for the baby permanently if her parents cannot and if this will be in her best interests. We have advice sheets about each of these processes which you can find here: 2 a) c) d) and e) relate to Special Guardianship and 2 g) explains about being assessed as a kinship foster carer.
When a child is looked after children’s services are required to do parallel planning and this includes exploring wider family members. Therefore they are required to assess the child’s aunt and uncle too. If the baby were placed with her aunt and uncle she would then also grow up with her brother which could be a great advantage for her.
Has there been a family group conference to assist the family to come together to identify and prioritise family members?
There are a lot of assessments to be completed and court hearings to happen before the court will decide what will be the best permanent plan for your great-granddaughter. We cannot predict the outcome of these assessments.
This advice information on care proceedings may be helpful.
If the baby’s aunt and uncle would need to extend their home in order to have enough space to care for her and her brother then they could be helped with this, if it were decided that it was best for the baby to be cared for by them. All decisions should be based on the baby’s future welfare and lack of space could be addressed if it was the only difficulty. They are right to let children’s services know if they would need these type support so that it can be considered. However, their motivations for being willing to be assessed to care for the baby will be explored as will any potential carer's motivations.
In your great granddaughter’s situation it is fortunate that there are several family members willing and able to be assessed to care for her.
If the baby is already looked after you should have had or be due to have a Looked After child review which provides a good opportunity to clarify the different options and discuss the care plans for the baby.
It is possible for a relative to apply for parental responsibility for a child via a Child Arrangements Order or Special Guardianship application (court’s permission is needed) but if the case were already in care proceedings this would need to be joined to the existing court case. I would suggest that you get specific legal advice from a solicitor or post back on this forum clarifying the baby’s current legal status and court situation. Advice sheet 2 h) and 2 g) respectively explain more about this.
I hope this is helpful. Perhaps you would like to call our freephone helpline to talk through the situation with an adviser. The number is 0808 8010366 and the opening times are Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm.
Best wishes
Suzie
Welcome to the kinship carers’ forum and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am FRG’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear about the difficulties your family is experiencing.
You are currently caring for your 5 week old great- granddaughter with whom you have formed a close relationship and you are being assessed as potential long-term carers for her. Her aunt and uncle who care for her brother are also being assessed to care for the baby. You would like to continue to care for your great granddaughter if her parents are unsuccessful in having her returned to their care and are wondering what else you can do.
It is difficult to provide specific advice without knowing a little more about the situation.
You don’t say if children’s services have already taken your great-granddaughter’s case to court and whether they have an interim care order for her or if the current arrangement was voluntarily agreed by the baby’s parents and therefore is a section 20 arrangement. In either case, you should have been assessed and temporarily approved as kinship foster carers for her. Is that right?
In this situation you will then proceed to have a full fostering assessment and a Special Guardianship assessment. These assessments will clarify if you would be suitable to care for the baby permanently if her parents cannot and if this will be in her best interests. We have advice sheets about each of these processes which you can find here: 2 a) c) d) and e) relate to Special Guardianship and 2 g) explains about being assessed as a kinship foster carer.
When a child is looked after children’s services are required to do parallel planning and this includes exploring wider family members. Therefore they are required to assess the child’s aunt and uncle too. If the baby were placed with her aunt and uncle she would then also grow up with her brother which could be a great advantage for her.
Has there been a family group conference to assist the family to come together to identify and prioritise family members?
There are a lot of assessments to be completed and court hearings to happen before the court will decide what will be the best permanent plan for your great-granddaughter. We cannot predict the outcome of these assessments.
This advice information on care proceedings may be helpful.
If the baby’s aunt and uncle would need to extend their home in order to have enough space to care for her and her brother then they could be helped with this, if it were decided that it was best for the baby to be cared for by them. All decisions should be based on the baby’s future welfare and lack of space could be addressed if it was the only difficulty. They are right to let children’s services know if they would need these type support so that it can be considered. However, their motivations for being willing to be assessed to care for the baby will be explored as will any potential carer's motivations.
In your great granddaughter’s situation it is fortunate that there are several family members willing and able to be assessed to care for her.
If the baby is already looked after you should have had or be due to have a Looked After child review which provides a good opportunity to clarify the different options and discuss the care plans for the baby.
It is possible for a relative to apply for parental responsibility for a child via a Child Arrangements Order or Special Guardianship application (court’s permission is needed) but if the case were already in care proceedings this would need to be joined to the existing court case. I would suggest that you get specific legal advice from a solicitor or post back on this forum clarifying the baby’s current legal status and court situation. Advice sheet 2 h) and 2 g) respectively explain more about this.
I hope this is helpful. Perhaps you would like to call our freephone helpline to talk through the situation with an adviser. The number is 0808 8010366 and the opening times are Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm.
Best wishes
Suzie
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