Residency order

[Esg]

I have had a residency order for gson since he was 3yr old @ 13 yr old he started acting up requested help from sw. Got no help it then esculated to him.going to assault me then ran away . Sw took decision to let him go stayat mums and for just over a year be bounced between mum and dad ( neither have changed still drug using) gson ended up witb 54 charges assault theft fire raising . Eventualey he settled with mum and her gfriend . At age 15 he is still getting into trouble ( now vehicle theftz) and his gfriend is pregnant as mum lets her stay .
I was told i was entitled to kinship money till residency runs out at 16. I have asked for residency to be removed several times so that i am not legal gardian . Now sw are saying that i have been over paid and want it ALL back ( 18 monthz)
They say i should not have claimed it . Bearing in mind sw told me i would still get it whilst residency order was live and i have requested it was changed . I still get invites to lac reviews and childrens panels . What do i do. I gave up work when i got gson 13 yrs ago now too old to work and disabled .

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Esg,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for your post. I am sorry to hear about everything that you have been through – it sounds like it has been a very difficult time.

You say that you have been told that you must pay back 18 months’ worth of financial support for your grandson as he has not been in your care during this time. However it sounds like you were also told by a social worker that you would be entitled to this money whilst the residence order was still in place (which it still is) and that they were fully aware of where he was living during this time.

I would suggest that you send an email or letter to the social worker’s manager explaining exactly what you were told by the social worker about continuing to be entitled to the money whilst the residence order was in place. You should explain that you were open and honest with children’s services about where your grandson was living and that they knew about the change in circumstances – from the information you have given it sounds as if a social worker was the person who made the decision that he should return to his mother’s care after he ran away from you.

If children’s services continue to ask you to repay this money then I would suggest that you submit a formal complaint explaining why you feel that this is unfair. We have information and advice about how to do this on our website HERE. You will need to submit the complaint via the complaints team (not directly to the manager/social worker) and if you are unhappy with their response then you can escalate your complaint up through Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3. You can also take your complaint beyond children’s services if necessary. See HERE for more information about this. If you need more advice about making a complaint then it may be helpful for you to call our adviceline to speak with an adviser (see details below).

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

[Esg]

Thankz duzie will go to webchat tomm

[Esg]

Have put complaint in been through both stages and answer is even though sw had chance to stop payments and didnt . Its my fault as i should have told them he wasnt with me .
Confusing as it was sw who sent him to his mothers / fathers/mothers ?
They have admited that they should have stopped payments but didnt. I managed to get removed from all paperwork i.e childrens panel and lac only 2 weeks ago .
I am confused as my residency order was never overturned . They are convieniently saying there is no record of me asking to get it overturned.
So now i am waiting for ombudsman to look at it .
Ombudsman are asking me what i am hoping the resolution to be .
I am 63 disabled and now have a huge debt over my head .

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Esg

Thank you for your further post and apologies for the delayed response due to volume of work.

It is good to see that you made a complaint as suggested and you have now taken your complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO). As the LGO is asking what you hope the resolution of your complaint to be, I think it is important for you think of the best way the current worry and distressed might be relieved.
As you mentioned in your post a huge debt over your head this is something you may wish to think about.

I am not able to tell you how you should respond to the LGO, but I do think it is important for you to make it clear what you would like the outcome to be. The LGO can suggest that a person be compensated for distress if their complaint is upheld.

You may find it helpful to look at the LGO’s website reports to see how some complaints have been resolved. There is a link HERE for your use.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Best wishes

Suzie