Help with Niece's SGO application

[P23]

Hi all,
I hope I don't ramble and someone can help.
We were contacted 2 months ago with regards to a 4 month old child in foster care who could potentially be my relation.
I had to have a DNA test to prove this which came back positive and i had a Niece.
Fast forward to now where we have passed our initial viability assessment and the SW is applying for a 'regulation 24' order.
We assumed this would mean immediate placement with us while the assessment is taking place.
But a spanner has been thrown in the works through no fault of our own We have been unable to meet our now 6 month old niece.
Her foster carers are now saying they cannot facilitate ANY contact/ transition throughout the whole of June delaying the whole process by yet another month.
The SW is adamant my Nieces bond is too strong with her carer for her to come with us straight away, and doesn't want us to be seen as the 'bad guys' to the baby by taking her away from her carers.
My concern is another month is only going to make the transition worse for her in the long term as she will then be 7.5 months of age.
What is the possibility the judge could over ride this due to her being young enough?
We are so desperate for her to be with us and continue what will be her 'forever'
Thank you for reading and I hope someone can help us relax a little.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear P23,

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

Firstly, it is positive to hear that you have passed your initial viability assessment and that children’s services appear to be planning to place your niece with you. It is important that any transition of your niece’s care is carried out with careful planning and should be a gradual process so that she can adjust to her new carers and living environment. However it is understandable that you are concerned that you have not yet met her and feel that the delay will negatively impact on her transition process. I would suggest that you ask the social worker (and their manager) for more details about why the foster carer cannot facilitate any contact throughout the whole of June. Part of the foster carer’s role is to ensure that they are available to facilitate contact when asked to by children’s services. However if there is a good reason why they are unable to facilitate contact during June then children’s services should take responsibility to organise and facilitate contact themselves. (For example they could arrange to pick your niece up from the foster carer’s house and drive her to your house or to a contact centre). Section 34 of the Children Act 1989 says that children’s services have a duty towards the child to allow ‘reasonable contact’ whilst they are in care. You can find out more about this on our website HERE. It may also be helpful to contact your niece’s Independent Reviewing Officer and raise your concerns with them. They are responsible for overseeing your niece’s care plan.

You can find more information about Regulation 24 placements HERE. A regulation 24 placement is not an ‘order’ but is a legal regulation which allows children’s services to place a child with a relative for up to 24 weeks before a full fostering assessment has been completed.

I hope that this is of some help. Please post again if you have any further queries or you can call our free, confidential adviceline on 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm). We also have a webchat which is currently open on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.

Best wishes,
Suzie