Formalising Care Status and Finances

[No1Familyman]

Hello,

My and my wife and I have been caring full time for our 14 year old granddaughter since 28 Oct 2018. She came into our care following a 5 week informal stay at a CAMHS Centre 30 miles away, wherein she displayed a number of mental/physical health and personal issues. In particular there were concerns about her difficult relationship with immediate family members and her use of threatening behaviour towards her mum and younger siblings.

After numerous discussions between her Mum, mums partner, the LA Adviser, CAMHS personnel and ourselves, we were asked by the LA representative if we would be willing to take our granddaughter into our care again; we had previously cared for her voluntarily from Nov 2017 to May 2018 after she developed a debilitating illness from which she subsequently recovered. Faced with the alternative of her being placed into foster care, we agreed to take her in on the basis that it must be a formal arrangement on this occasion. She was subsequently released into our care under what we believe was a S17 ( Child in Need) order on 28 Oct 2018. She is undergoing continued treatment for her mental and physical health issues through CAMHS and the NHS, and the LA are providing key worker support.

Since she came to live with us we have only had one formal “how goes it” visit from the LA Team Leader who placed her with us. That was in Nov 2018, prior to her handover to our granddaughter’s current LA key worker in Dec 2018. Moreover, we are now 34 weeks into this arrangement and have had no formal written agreement from the LA as to the status of our care arrangement and no formal assessment a foster/kinship carers.

During a recent progress meeting with the LA key worker we were advised that, given granddaughter’s ongoing mental and physical health issues, and the fact that relationships in the family home are unlikely to be resolved in the short term, we should expect to have her remain our care long term, possibly until she is at least 18 year old. As such we were encouraged by the LA Key Worker to seek legal advice to formalise our care status going forward.

We are totally committed to our granddaughter and her continued good health and welfare, and want to support her in the best way possible. However, the reality is, we are can only do so much with my Service pension, our disability benefits and our limited savings; which are being steadily eroded to supplement granddaughter's welfare, health and personal needs. Although we have claimed Family Allowance and her estranged father pays his £31 per week CSA payment directly to us, we have been advised that we are above the income threshold for Child Tax Credits and Legal Aid. We are both 2 and 3 years shy of our state pension.

Accordingly, we are seeking advice as to what we should now do to formally transfer granddaughter into our care, in a manner that will clarify our legal responsibilities and allow us to apply to the LA for additional financial support, thus allowing us to provide the very best long term "Parental" support we can throughout granddaughter's key period of transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Your sincerely

No1Familyman

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear No1Familyman

Thank you for your post and welcome to our Board.

You write that your granddaughter was placed with you by a local authority (LA) team leader under a child in need arrangement (Section 17) last October and that since then you have not been assessed as a foster carer.

I suggest this because your granddaughter’s mother agreed that she should be in your care from late 2017 to May 2018. From what you say she then returned to her mother’s care or was in hospital/a residential environment from May 2018 to October 2018 thereafter was released to your home. It seems that no arrangement could have been made without the her mother’s consent and since you do not mention Section 20 Accommodation in your description is seems that the placement you describe is a private family one for a child who is in need. From what you write the LA representative may not consider the ‘arrangement’ that you have to be anything other than a private family arrangement between you and the child’s parents.

However, if social workers had a ‘direct hand’ in the placement of your granddaughter or indicated that this was to be the case, you could challenge them for support. Our advice sheet Children looked after by Children’s Services under a voluntary arrangement will tell you more as will our one about Support for relatives and friends who are looking after someone else’s child.

If, as suggested by the key worker, you want to make an application to court for an order that will give you parental responsibility then our advice sheet DIY Child Arrangements Orders: information for family and friends carers will tell you more. Further useful information can be found at Grandparents Plus and from Advice Now.

I hope this information is useful.

Best wishes

Suzie