Family Rights Group | Kinship carers’ Forum

New user looking for advice please.
I have my 3yr old nephew living with us since March 2019. He is living with us under a private family arrangement. He was previously living with another family member on his mums side (her cousin) & his wife, they applied for an sgo which was granted. Unfortunately the week they were due to close the case on the social services side their marriage broke down & neither were able to care for him. I’ve been part of his life since the day he was born so we as a family agreed he was better placed with us, his paternal aunt on his fathers side. His parent have 12times a year contact & we have been managing contact. Social services have just finished doing assessments and are supporting our application for a child arrangement order. I have the forms ready to send but now my solicitor is questioning the best way forward as it’s quite a unique case with the sgo breaking down the week the case was due to be closed on social services side. She is suggesting we apply to have the sgo discharged first. Added to that the social services have called this morning to tell me, they are now closing the case as they have no concerns regarding my nephew & are aware we are applying for the child arrangement order. I feel a bit abandoned really and I don’t really know where to go from here. Originally the social services funded my solicitors appointment & have given me £215 for the child arrangement application fee but now they are closing the case I’m assuming they won’t now be funding any solicitors advice. It’s all a bit of a mess really so looking for any advice.

Dear LittleEcho

Thank you for your post and welcome to the Board.

You are right in suggesting that the case is unique in relation to Children’s Services involvement and the breakdown of the SGO soon after it was granted. Given this situation and the private arrangement your family agreed to Children’s Services have considered the matter closed (for them). However because they have supported the family decision in some way, perhaps you should contact them again and explore the idea that their assessment of the situation and your family was not as thorough as it could have been and you want them to revisit the decision to close the case. It may be useful for you to have a look at your local authority’s family and friends care policy, you will find it here on our website.

I imagine that your solicitor has advised that because everyone with parental responsibility agrees that the child should live with you and the current special guardians and the parents also agree with your application for a CAO, the court would likely agree too. Our advice about DIY Child Arrangements Orders: information for family and friends carers may be useful to you.

Best wishes

Suzie