Assessment questions

[nannyto1]

Hi i have my grandson living with me as he was removed from his mother a week and half ago.

I am going down the route of foster assessment then s.g.o.

Can someone give me an idea of what questions will be asked and any other assessment information.

Thank you

[David Roth]

Hi nannyto1. It is good news if the local authority accepts that you can be approved as a foster carer before your special guardianship application. This means that you should be getting a regular fostering allowance, even during the assessment, and social work support. Many local authorities try to avoid having to provide this financial and practical support by stating that the child isn't looked after, even when legally they are in the wrong.

There is certain information that all fostering assessments are required to find out. They have to carry out certain references and checks, such as a criminal record check (and where care of children is involved, the Rehabilititation of Offenders Act doesn't apply and all offences will come up, even if they are old and petty), medical examination by your GP, and personal references by people you know well personally.

The assessment will comprise a series of visits, each of which will probably deal with different aspects of your life and background. How were you brought up, and what did this teach you? How did you raise your own children? How would you manage difficult behaviour? How would you handle it if the relationship with the parents becomes difficult? What would be your long-term plans for the child? And so on.

Each local authority and each social worker can have very different ways of collecting this information from you. Some might give you tasks to do between visits, some might ask you to write some things about yourself, some might do it all through discussion with you while they take notes. It is important to be as open and honest as possible. They are not looking for perfect people, but rather for people who have reflected on any difficulties they have experienced, and thought about how they might do things differently. Having a minor police record might not rule you out, but not admitting it until they find out about it would not look good.

I would suggest asking whether you can see a copy of the form the social worker will be working to as they complete the report, so you can see in advance the topics they are going to cover. You could also ask whether you will be able to se the report after it has been written, but before it goes to the Fostering Panel. This would allow you to correct any factual errors the social worker may have made, and inform them of any differences of opinion that you had with the views they express in the report.

The special guardianship report will cover very similar ground, so it will probably just require an update of the fostering report, if it is not too long afterwards.

[nannyto1]

Thank you for replies.

I have been asked to write down my employment history and all schools also get the contact details for my references.

Awaiting the foster allowance to start.

So things getting started.

Think the thing i find hardest is the amount of contact sessions feel like Im running around like a headless chicken, cause either i am dropping off at contact sessions or at sw meetings

[nannyto1]

Also Im currently living in a 3 bed council house with my 18yr old son and 10yr old daughter, so my grandson is currently sleeping in my room on a ready bed.

Im happy to try and exchange/transfer to a 4 bed property , but i can't do that until i know i have passed the assessment, because otherwise if i don't get to raise him i would have to move back into a 3 bed.
Could i fail the assessment because of this?

Also is there anything else i shoud be doing to house/providing?

[bevjane]

im in a 3 bedwith my 19yr daughter, and 2 boys of 13 &15 and they are happy for my 12 week old grand daughter to share with me until my oldest goes to uni next september if she comes here.

[nannyto1]

Thats ok then.
Will rearrange room to make it better lay out and get a proper single bed for him.