Kinship foster cae

[280965]

Hi I have had my nephew for nearly a year on and off last time he came to me the social worker asked me to pick him up from school and keep him in this time I have had no help financially I keep asking about kinship foster care but they say it’s voluntary I’ve had to take unpaid leave use holidays now I’ve gone part time and claim universal credit but this still doesn’t cover my full time wage now my nephew is on a child protection plan I’ve been to child conference twice and a plo they are paying for my solicitor because the child services want me to have a child arrangement or an sgo this does not sit well with me I’m so confused all I wanted was a kinship my nephew is doing well and over performing at school for his age is it right can I not become a kinship foster carer I don’t think it’s voluntary because he can’t go home to mum please could I have some advice thank you

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear 280965,

Welcome to the Kinship carers’ forum and thank you for your post. I hope that the following advice is helpful.

You say that your nephew is in your care after a social worker asked you to collect him from school and look after him. You say that he is unable to return home to his mother and a Child Protection plan is in place. You also say that a PLO meeting was held. However children’s services are arguing that this is a voluntary arrangement (also known as a private family arrangement) and are not providing you with any financial support.

From the information you have given I believe that children’s services are failing in their duty towards you and in fact you should be being treated as a kinship foster carer and your nephew should be treated as a looked after child.

I would suggest that you download template letter 4 (scroll down to near the bottom of the webpage and you will find the link to download a copy of this letter), fill this in and send to the social worker and their manager (and the director of children’s services if possible) as soon as possible. This letter requests that you are assessed as a kinship foster carer and provided with the appropriate financial and practice support. If children’s services continue to argue that this is a private family arrangement then I would suggest that you use template letter 5 to put in an initial formal complaint.

I would encourage you to pursue the formal complaints process as many people in your situation get positive outcomes as a result of making a formal complaint. We have information and guidance on our website here about making formal complaints. There are 3 stages - Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 - and if you do not get a positive outcome by this point then you are able to take your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman. Although the complaints process is lengthy I would encourage you to pursue it as it sounds that you have a very strong case to argue that you should be considered a kinship foster carer and receive the financial and practical support you are entitled to. Any financial support granted should be backdated to the date that you took your nephew into your care. Please note that any financial support you are offered should be the same as what the local authority pay their foster carers (i.e. they should not pay you any less just because you are related to your nephew).

You say that the local authority have offered to pay for some legal advice as they would like you to apply for a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order however you are unsure about this. I would advise you not to make any applications until the local authority have accepted that you are a kinship foster carer and are supporting you financially. Once this has been achieved then you may wish to consider whether a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order would be beneficial to you and your nephew. You may find it helpful to read some of our advice sheets as they have information and advice regarding these court orders. I would suggest in particular that you read advice sheets 2a, 2d, 2e and 2f.

We also have advice sheets for kinship foster carers and I would suggest that you read these too: 2g, 2h and 2i.

Kinship are the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales and can also offer advice. Their helpline number is 0300 123 7015 and they can be contacted by email on advice@kinship.org.uk.

You don’t say how old your nephew is but it may be helpful for him to contact Coram Voice or Become which are both organisations that provide advocacy support and advice to looked after children. They both have confidential helplines available. As I explained above I believe that your nephew should be recognised by children’s services as a looked after child and he may benefit from advocacy support to make this argument to children’s services. This would also support your request to be recognised as a kinship foster carer.

I hope that this information is helpful to you. You may find it beneficial to call our confidential helpline on 0800 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm) to speak with an adviser to discuss all this in more detail. The advice line can be busy but I would encourage you to keep trying and you will get through. You are also welcome to post back here if you have further questions or if anything is unclear.

Best wishes,
Suzie

[280965]

Thank you for advise my nephew is 7 .Everything you have told me I have been saying for months but it’s nice to have it confirmed I felt like I was going mad and was reading everything wrong. I had an appointment with the solicitor next Friday to talk about my worry’s about cao and sgo.
Thank you