I am a little confused to say the least.  I have been allocated a special guardianship assessment which the court has directed that Nan to the children (who are at present with LA foster carers) be assessed for.  The case manager for the children and the childrens guardian does not believe that she is the best person to bring up the children and is also requesting an assessment on another family couple.  Can two seperate people be assessed for the guardianship of these children? and if so is it for the court to decide who they feel would be best suited to care for the children or should only the most viable of these two be assessed for special guardianship?  Confused !!!!!  This is the first special guardianship assessment for this LA (well behind the times!!) so would appreciate some advice from someone with experience in this field.

Work Momma, no wonder you looked stressed! That sounds very confusing. I think a lot of people are very unclear about the rules in terms of special guardianship. I know someone who may be able to help. Let me contact her and see if she's ok with me passing on her details. Fingers crossed.

Hi Sally,

Will keep everything crossed, any help to make things clearer would be a great help!!!!

Quick answer is yes, two or more people can be assessed at the same time and it is up to the court to decide which person will be given the guardianship.

I'm not sure which LA you work for so let me direct you to this;

http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/Resources/MS%20Word/ChildrensServicesPoliciesAndProcedures/ChildProtection/SGO1.doc

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much, all help gratefully recieved.

Work Momma

Hi Work Momma, Norma Barnes at Islington Council knows a lot about special guardianship. I've checked and she's happy for you to contact her at norma.barnes@islington.gov.uk. Just out of interest, do you think a lot of social workers are unclear about special guardianship orders?

Hi Sally,

Thanks for your help.  And yes I think there are a lot of social workers unclear about Special Guardianship, more about the correct process and who should be doing what and also the guardian support side and what they are entitled to, especially if it is new to the Local Authority and surrounding authorities have only just started to use it.  Thanks for your help, will contact Norma for some advice and clarification.

Work Momma

No worries. Hope she can help!

Hi

If your team/ LA does not have a framework in place to do SGO's and you do not have any experience in doing SGO assessmetns then it is always a good idea to make sure you consult with the legal team for your LA to advise you.

 When I have completed a SGO assessment we have first done a core assessment and then included the addittional elements to make a SGO. You will find all the sub chapters that you are required to cover for teh SGO assessment in the SGO regulations 2005 SCHEDULE Regulation 21 MATTERS TO BE DEALT WITH IN REPORT FOR THE COURT on this link: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051109.htm

For further reading BAAF is the best place and the link is  http://www.baaf.org.uk/info/lpp/special/index.shtml it shou;d answer any questions.

Is the other family also undergoing an SGO assessment?

Also as part of the assessment if the child is looked after and on a order the LA are required to provide support services to the family (this varys from LA to LA) so you need to consider the needs of the family and check if the LA will support them.

 qouted from BAAF:
The Adoption and Children Act 2002, and the regulations made under it, require the local authority to make arrangements for the provision of special guardianship support services. These include financial and other support for the Special Guardian, but also services for children and birth families, for example, mediation services to assist contact between the child and their birth family. (See relevant regulations for a full list of these services). These services should be integrated and developed alongside adoption support services and other more general provision for children and families.

hope that helps, feel free to ask more questions if you need to