Sgo advise

[TYT5Y3]

Hi
I am at the stage of the social workers doing a 12 week sgo on me. Can I ask anyone who has had one of these done. What does this entail. Ie will they want statements from universal credit, payslips, or will they just want bank statements going further into the assesment. What questions will they ask my 14 year old daughter etc...

[Robin D]

Hello TYT5Y3 and welcome to the forum.

Hopefully someone who has recently been through the SGO process will be along shortly. I never have but was involved with developing some aspects of it so will answer to the best of my ability. I have significant experience of adoption assessments that are very similar.

The assessment itself can seem very intrusive, but you have to keep at the back of your mind that the professionals are trying to ascertain if you are able to provide care for the child at the centre of this. The first, and probably most important advice I can give you is to not try to overthink what the social workers are trying to achieve. Relax and be honest. I would imagine they will start with trying to identify why you want to put yourself forward for this, whether you understand the likely difficulties and how you would deal with them. That may or may not take the form of some 'What if ....' questions. They will look at what support you have available to you whether family or friends, they may even want to chat briefly to those that you may need to rely on if say you are unwell.

As far as your daughter is concerned, they do need to check that she is happy with the proposal. The last thing they want is to place one child but at the cost of seriously disrupting another. It's more important that your daughter comes over in a straightforward way and does not appear to have been 'primed', so I suggest you talk to her only in general terms about what she might be asked and stress the need to be honest with them and herself. If, for example, she does not want to share a bedroom and there is no other room, it's important that it is recognised. If the child they are looking to place is older, how will she feel about being displaced as top dog?

I expect they will only look at the financial situation once they are happy that the placement is likely to proceed. Please remember they almost certainly will looking at other placement options otherwise known as 'parallel planning' in case the placement with you does not work out for whatever reason so as to avoid unnecessary delays for the child. As far as the finances are concerned they will probably have a form for you to complete detailing income and expenses. I personally have never been asked for actual evidence of that, but that may have changed since. The fact that you mention Universal Credit may indicate that finances will be tight, and you should therefore make it clear if you cannot accommodate the child without some form of financial support. One thing that is absolutely crucial is that if the social worker says that you will receive a SGO allowance, or financial support for anything, that you GET IT IN WRITING. If they do not give it in writing, you need to write to them saying that at our meeting of {date} you said x, y and z. That forces them to either come back to you to say that you misunderstood etc so you know exactly where you are. Be aware SGO allowances are reviewed on a regular basis and many posters here have had it cut or stopped completely after 1 or 2 years. Again, get thing is writing. The reality is that it is easy for a social worker to casually say they you will get an allowance, but the finance dept are out to cut costs! If the social worker has moved on it becomes your word against a bureaucrat saying there is nothing written down so nothing was agreed.

Hopefully this is of some help to you. I wish you luck. It is something very important you are proposing to do for the child.

Best wishes ..... Robin

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hi
I am at the stage of the social workers doing a 12 week sgo on me. Can I ask anyone who has had one of these done. What does this entail. Ie will they want statements from universal credit, payslips, or will they just want bank statements going further into the assesment. What questions will they ask my 14 year old daughter etc...

Dear TYTGY3

Welcome to the kinship carers’ forum and thank you for posting.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group. I see from your post that you are being assessed by a social worker for a special guardianship order (SGO). Assessment for this role can be very intrusive, and you have had some good advice and suggestions from another poster about what you can expect.

It is very important that you are open and honest with the person doing your assessment as it could result in a negative assessment if you do not disclose something which later comes to light. Depending on how serious it is or even if not serious, could result in you being ruled out as it may be believed that you cannot be trusted to work openly with professionals for the benefit of the child.

Special guardianship allowance is assessed taking account of means and your local authority may require you to provide bank statements. Different authorities have their own assessment policies based on the special guardianship regulations.

Ensuring that any support offered is in writing or written into a court order is most likely way to ensure that, for example, you continue to receive special guardianship allowance/support throughout a child’s minority.

You may find the information in the links from our website below helpful:

In this advice sheet you can read more about the assessment process for a special guardianship order (SGO) from page 7

Here is an introduction to special guardianship

I hope you will find this helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie

[Hof@21]

Hi, we are caring for our 5 month old granddaughter from birth. We would like her to remain in our care as she is thriving. We are considering applying for a SGO for her. We would like to get advice from others that have been in this or similar position before to ensure we are doing the best for her as well as for ourselves.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Hof@21

Welcome to the kinship carers discussion forum and thank you for posting.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group and I will be responding to your post.

You have been caring for your 5-month-old granddaughter since birth and want her to remain in your care. You are considering applying for a special guardianship order (SGO). It is lovely that you can care for your granddaughter.

Your post does not say how your granddaughter came to be in your care or if there is any children’s services (new name for social services) involvement. If children’s services are involved have you discussed your wish to apply for an order with them? If they are not involved with your granddaughter being placed in your care, a first step to applying for a SGO would require you to inform children’s services of your intention to do so. The court would ask them to do a very in depth assessment (this is intrusive) and make a recommendation in respect of your suitability to care long terms for your granddaughter.

It is difficult to advise fully without having more information about the circumstances in which your granddaughter came to live with you. The parents’ views and any concerns about their ability to care for their child either separately or together.

I think it would be helpful for you to read information on our website about special guardianship, and I have included links below for your information.

1. Special guardianship – An introduction

2. DIY application – private law proceedings

3. DIY application in care proceedings

You may find it helpful to speak with one of our experienced advisers, you can telephone our free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

I hope you find this helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie