Needing help!

[Xgemazx]

Hello!

I am looking for some advice, this is all very new to me.
A month ago my 14 year old nephew came to stay with us, his dad had kicked him out and refused to let him back in. He had been with dad for 5 months.
He is unable to live with mum as he had become extremely abusive to her and the situation had become dangerous.
I may add he is also autistic.
Out of hours called to ask if he could stay with us for the night as dad said he could no longer cope, we said yes, he has now been with us for 4 weeks and I've called children services every single day looking for help and answers.
Now, we are happy for him to stay with us, however, we simply can not afford to add another human into our lives (we already have a 16 and 17 year old)
We are self employed and receive no benefits etc, life is hard in regards to money, are we able to get any help financially?
I cant afford to pay for more water, electricity, food and his travel as well as new clothes etc?
His mother has no money so is unable to help and dad is uninterested. Children's services have said they can not do anything to help but he wont be able to stay in this case.

Thanks!

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Xgemazx,

Welcome to the kinship carers’ forum and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am the online adviser for Family Rights Group. I hope that the following advice and information is of some help to you.

From the information given you have said that your 14 year old nephew came into your care after you received a call from the children’s services out of hours team. You initially agreed to care for him for 1 night but it is now 4 weeks later and he is still in your care. Children’s services have not given you any financial support and although you are willing to care for your nephew you cannot do this without financial support.

From what you have said I believe that children’s services should be providing you with a fostering allowance which would help you financially. This is because I believe that you are a kinship foster carer under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989. Children’s services seem to be telling you that this case is a private family arrangement. However I would argue that this is clearly NOT a private family arrangement because children’s services were involved in placing your nephew in your care (ie they rang you up and asked you to take him in).

I would suggest that you put in a formal complaint against children’s services and argue that they should be supporting you financially with a fostering allowance. You can do this by completing our template letter 5 which you can find via this link HERE. You need to fill out this letter and then send it to the complaints team. (Please do not send it directly to a social worker or manager - it must go to the complaints team specifically otherwise it will not be classed as a ‘formal complaint’). You should receive a response within 10 working days.

You may find that the initial response you receive is to dismiss your complaint and to state again that this is a private family arrangement. I would then suggest that you go back to the complaints team and ask for your complaint to be escalated to Stage 2 of the complaints process. This is the formal investigation stage and should take between 25 and 65 working days. Again if you are unhappy with the response you can then escalate to Stage 3. This is a review panel and should take up to 30 working days.

Finally after Stage 3 if you are still unhappy you can then take your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). A high proportion of people in similar circumstances to you get positive outcomes from the LGO so it is well worth pursuing your complaint to this point. The LGO can direct children’s services to provide you with financial support (if they uphold your complaint) and to backdate payments that should have been made previously.

We have detailed information HEREabout the complaints process, including how to escalate it if necessary.

You could also considering getting support from your local MP or councillors – see HERE for advice on doing so.

Your nephew may also be able to get some support and advice from Coram Voice. If the situation is not a private family arrangement then he should be getting support from children’s services as a looked after child. Coram Voice can help him understand his rights and help him make a complaint if he wishes to.

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 Thursday afternoons and an advice enquiry form.

Best wishes,
Suzie