Kinship care

There are seven different types of Kinship Care. Please read descriptions below: 

Informal Care

An informal kinship arrangement is where a close relative such as grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt or step-parent by marriage or civil partnership looks after a child. The child’s parents usually discuss and agree with the Kinship Carer how the arrangement will work. Overall responsibility for the child stays with the parents. This is called ‘Parental Responsibility’. In these arrangements, the local authority may have little or no major involvement, and there is no legal order in place.

Private Foster Care

Private Foster Care is when someone who is not a child’s parent or close relative looks after them for 28 days or more. Arrangements are agreed by carers and the parent, and they must notify the Trust and undergo a short assessment of the suitability of the arrangement. Children in private fostering arrangements will be visited regularly by the Trust, and the carer can access support and training. Private Foster Carers may be asked to make day-to-day decisions, but the parents keep full responsibility for the child, including financial and parental.

Kinship Foster Care

Kinship Foster Care is sometimes called Family and Friends or Connected Persons Foster Care. It is when a family member or person known to the child is assessed by the Trust and becomes a child’s approved Foster Carer.

The child is in the care of the Trust, who share parental responsibility with the child’s parents. For the child to be in care they would need to be subject to S20 or subject to an interim care order or care order made by the Court.

You will be allocated an assessor to work with you to undertake the assessment and to establish any support needs you may have. We recognise that kinship assessments often need to be carried out during a time of readjustment or challenge for families and the teams skilled assessors are there to support you additionally there are social work assistants who can provide tailored support if needed. If there is anything that you are unsure of during your assessment, please just ask your assessor. The assessments usually take a period of 12 weeks and during the assessment you will be supported to attend Skills to Foster training.

If you are approved as a Kinship Foster Carer you will be allocated a Supervising Social Worker who will provide you with support as you start your journey as a Foster Carer. As a Foster Carer you will receive financial support and have access to training.

Kinship Foster Carer progressing to Special Guardianship Order (SGO)

If you are a Kinship Foster Carer and are considering progressing to an SGO for a child in your care, please speak to the social worker for the child and / or your Supervising Social Worker. As a Kinship Foster Carer, you will already be receiving fostering payments for the child. A principle is established that where a permanency plan of SGO has been agreed as being in the child’s best interest, then consideration will be given prior to the Court application for SGO by a Senior Manager to agree payments for that child up until the age of 18. The Trust will also exercise the discretion provided by the regulations to waive the requirement to carry out a calculation for financial support in these circumstances. A letter can be provided that will clearly set out all this information for you; please ask your Supervising Social Worker or the child’s Social Worker.

Special Guardianship

A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) is a legal order given by a family court. When carers become a Special Guardian, the child will live with them until they are 18 years old. Carers share parental responsibility with the child’s parents, but they have an enhanced share and can make nearly all major decisions about the child without the parents’ involvement.

The following people may apply to the Court for an SGO:

• If you are a guardian of the child who was appointed by the parent or Special Guardian to look after the child following their death.
• If the child is in the care of children’s services, and they consent to you making an application.
• If you are a local authority foster carer who has had the child placed with you for at least a year, or the child has been living with you for at least three years out of the last five.
• You already have a residence order or child arrangements order for the child.
• You are the child’s grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother or sister (including by half blood, marriage or civil partnership) or step-parent, and the child has lived with you for at least one year.

If you’re not covered by any of the above circumstances, you can still make an application to the court for permission to apply.

You must be 18 or over to apply for a Special Guardianship Order.

The criteria for financial support as an SGO carer is set out in our Financial Support Policy for Permanent Care Arrangements.

Birmingham Children's Trust is under a duty to carry out an assessment of the need for support for children who are looked after immediately prior to the making of the SGO. This will include a financial assessment. To manage resources the Trust gives priority to supporting children and families where the child has been looked after.

Where the child is not looked after before the making of the order the Trust has a discretion to carry out an assessment for support. The Trust will usually agree to carry out an assessment for support in circumstances where a child is either subject of a court order or a court order is contemplated placing him / her in the care of someone other than his / her parents, and the effect of this order was that the child would not become long term looked after by Birmingham Children's Trust.

The following criteria must be met:

1. The child must have been looked after by Birmingham Children's Trust at some time in the 12 months before the order was made and must be ordinarily resident in Birmingham at the time the order was made or when the financial support is first agreed.
   
   or             
    
2. The permanency order was or is to be made in public court proceedings instigated by Birmingham Children's Trust.
   
   or            
    
3. A senior manager decides that an assessment for support is required to support an order and prevent a child becoming long term looked after by Birmingham Children's Trust.

Child Arrangements Order

A child arrangements order (CAO) is a legal order given by a family court and usually lasts until the child is 18 years old. Carers share parental responsibility with the child’s parents but can make day-to-day decisions without parental involvement. For any major decisions about the child parents must be involved.

For CAO’s with Kinship Carers, the Trust is not under a duty to carry out an assessment of need but will use its discretion to do so where appropriate.

Testamentary Guardian

A testamentary guardian is someone who has been appointed, formally in writing, by a parent or special guardian. If there is no one else with parental responsibility, the testamentary guardian gains parental responsibility upon the parent or special guardian’s death.

If you are a testamentary guardian, you might want to seek legal advice to ensure you understand your rights and options.