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Scenario 2 – Young person living with sponsors with parent living elsewhere in England
Scenario 2 - Young person living with sponsors with parent living elsewhere in UK
A mother and her 17 year old daughter are living with sponsors under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The mother decides to the leave sponsor’s home and live at a property nearby. Her daughter wishes to remain living with the sponsors.
Immigration:
The mother and daughter may wish to obtain legal advice on their visa statuses, given the arrangement that was in place at the time the visa under the Homes for Ukraine scheme was granted is no longer in place.
Legal responsibilities and status:
The local authority should complete a private fostering assessment including a DBS and accommodation check, to assess the suitability of the arrangement. As the young woman is over 16, they are not statutorily required to continue with private fostering procedures. However, they can continue to do so if their assessment suggests it will be supportive.
Children’s services will need to consider how to support the young woman and sponsors. They will need to consider the Family and Friends Care Statutory Guidance, particularly what their local Family and Friends Care policy says about what support might be available to them.
The daughter may not wish to be involved with social workers given the role of her mother in her daily life. As she is over 16, her wishes and feelings will be important in decisions about whether the local authority remains involves.
The local authority may consider supporting the arrangement under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (child in need), if the young woman is consenting to social work support. Parental responsibility remains with the mother (and the father if he has it).
Support:
The sponsor will be eligible for the £350 monthly payment.
The sponsor or mother can apply for child benefit and may also be eligible for other benefits such as universal credit. The sponsor and mother should agree who is to receive the child benefit, according to who will be paying for food and clothing.
The local authority can signpost the hosts to Family Rights Group Help and Advice.
The local authority can signpost the young woman to potential therapeutic support from Barnardo’s Ukrainian Support Helpline and share the resources regarding the impact of war, loss and trauma.
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