Adoption instead of SGO

[boymum]

Hello, I have children already and my father is about to have a child, he and his partner are addicts and have not tried to get clean, we have passed our viability check and are hoping baby will live with us. If parents cannot keep him, which they are trying to do.
So my question is adoption. Has anyone pushed for adoption at the second hearing? The parents have violent pasts and are still using. If the are having him removed and have not improved their situation by the second hearing then I’m not sure it would be safe for unsupervised visits, if this decision is being made anyway what would stop adoption? the baby will be newborn and growing around my children who call us mum and dad, we have the same surname and I would want to adopt, the baby would be part of our family and I would want the baby to feel as though they belong.
My main concerns are facilitating the best start we can for baby, if we adopt we get adoption leave to help settle baby into our lives, we get support for our children and the child, if we lose our jobs we could claim help for the whole family not just biological children. SGO almost feels as though they close the door on support there.
So my question is, has anyone fought for adoption? I think it’s in the child’s best interest and our family. I would be sister and mum, but I’m going to be that anyway even with an SGO.

Thanks if you have reached this far. We only recently found out and it’s been a whirlwind so far

[DB182]

Hi we have just got our sgo...we was told at the start we couldn't adopt because my son is the father of our grandson. It wouldn't be right..have you spoken to the local authority about adoption. If so what is their view?....as far as support if you lose your jobs you would still get support for a child of a sgo...because if my partner was on a low paid income we could claim the child tax. Working tax etc. But we can't because of his wage...so I'm assuming you would still be OK....sorry I couldn't help more...suzie should be able to help more

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear boymum

Welcome and thank you for posting on the kinship care forum.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group. I see that although you received a response from another poster, it appears that Suzie inadvertently missed providing a more substantive response.

It is good that you have had a positive viability assessment and children’s services will now go on to do a more in-depth assessment of you and your partner before any decision about the permanent placement of your baby sibling. The parents are still being assessed so it will of course depend on how well the manage to address their present difficulties.

You want to know whether you can push for adoption at a second hearing. It is possible for you to give an indication of your wish to adopt but no decisions will be made at a second hearing in care proceedings. No assessments have been completed and parents have not had time to do any work to address their issues.

During care proceedings children’s services will usually do what is called parallel planning. This means that they consider the possible outcomes for the long-term care of children, and this includes the possibility of adoption. Before a final decision is made all the circumstances of the case must be considered and the court decides taking account of the evidence what is the best long-term plan for the child.
If a child is adopted then, this ends the legal relationship of the child with the birth family.

Please the information from our website relating to care proceedings, special guardianship orders and adoption

https://frg.org.uk/get-help-and-advice/ ... oceedings/

https://frg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2 ... uction.pdf

https://frg.org.uk/get-help-and-advice/what/adoption/

Hopefully, the information on these pages will give you a clearer picture of the court procedures and what happens in each situation.
There is support for special guardians as you will see and as the poster has pointed out their response, it is always possible to make a claim for child who is under a special guardianship order.

You can discuss your preference in respect of adoption with the person who will be carrying the assessment. However, it is possible to have a negative assessment even if the viability was positive. It could be that special guardianship is what is considered best for your sibling long term.

I hope you find this helpful and should you wish to speak to an adviser, please telephone our free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday.

Best wishes

Suzie