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Home / For professionals / Resources to support special guardians / Key elements of a special guardianship support service / 19. Budget and resources

19. Budget and resources

Why is this needed?

A key issue which cannot be ignored is the level of resources required to implement the types of Special Guardianship Order (SGO) support services outlined in this blueprint. This is extremely difficult to quantify given wide differences in services between local authorities and regional adoption agencies (RAAs) and the fact that support services to special guardians (SGs) are often part of a wider group of services which also support foster carers or adopters. None of the services in this study were able to say exactly how much the services cost. However, some respondents did identify how many staff were employed in their support services and at what level. Even at this level of breakdown, some services were still only able to identify a staff compliment which delivered a wider support service, some of whose users were SGs.


SGO/Carer perspective

The kinship carers have often had to make significant financial and personal sacrifices to take on the child/ren, and whilst the child/ren is doing well in their care, this can be at the expense of kinship carers’ own health, finances and even relationships. However, they feel this is rarely recognised by children services, public agencies or government. (FRG 2019 p9)


Examples of expenditure and staffing

ASPIRE Adoption deliver a support service to both SGs and Adopters. The team consists of:

1 Team Manager
1 Practice Manager
4 FTE Qualified social workers
5 PT Family Support Practitioners
1 Business Support administrator

Brighton and Hove Family and Friends team delivers support to a range of kinship carers, including SGs, and consists of:

1.6 Pod (Team) Managers
8 FTE Qualified Social Workers
1.5 Non-qualified workers
0.8 FTE Admin workers

Kirklees Connected Persons Support team holds case accountability for SGO support cases as well as Looked After Children who reside with Family & Friends foster carers and consists of:

3 FTE Qualified social workers
3 FTE Family Support workers
Shared admin staff with the LAC team
2 FTE Contact Officers

Bromley Connected Persons & Special Guardianship Team undertakes SGO preparation work, oversees 95 cases that are within 3 years of the SGO, 121 cases which are post 3 years of the SGO, with 125 children who were previously looked after. The service has a team of:

9 qualified social workers
1 Social work assistant
1 FTE Admin worker
1 FTE other staff


Additional considerations

Financial and resource benchmarks are very difficult to set in many areas of social care but SGO and kinship placements are an area ready for a wider economic assessment, both in the cost of delivering and of not delivering support services.

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Special Guardians Best Practice Sidebar

Contents

Overview

1. An understanding of the need for services

2. A mechanism for governance, management and service planning

3. Information for, and communication with, carers

4. Engagement and consultation with Special Guardians

5. Communication with children & young people

6. Referral and assessment systems and processes

7. Preplacement support to Special Guardians and children

8. Support with contact arrangements and managing family relationships

9. Financial advice and Support

10. Preventive/Early Intervention support for families and children’s emotional and psychological well-being

11. Specialist support for families and children’s emotional and psychological well-being

12. Services to support the transition of young people to independence

13. Support to access services from other parts of the Local Authority

14. Support to access services from other agencies

15. Commissioning systems and processes

16. Workforce development

17. Monitoring and evaluation

18. Birth parent support

19. Budget and resources

20. A plan for the future development of services

Conclusion

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Kinship is the working name for Grandparents Plus, which is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales under number 4454103 and registered as a charity under number 1093975

Registered office: The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London SE11 5RR.

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