SGO – Special Guardianship Order

• 
• Author:FosterWiki
• Published:December 2021
• Country:

SGO – Special Guardianship Order

A foster carers guide to (SGO) Special Guardianship Order’s

Introduction to (SGO) Special Guardianship Order’s

Many foster carers will be approached about taking their foster children under Special Guardianship Orders. Some carers may want to do an SGO and want to know what it is about and how-to, this introduction and guide are therefore intended to inform as to what an SGO is and the pros and cons of such arrangements for foster carers.

Special Guardianship Orders (SGO’s) was introduced as an amendment to the Children Act 1989 by the Adoption & Children Act 2002, implemented on 30 December 2005 and amended in 2016.

An SGO is a legal order intended to meet the needs of children separated from their birth parents which would offer more security to the children and their carers than provided by long-term fostering, but without severing all legal ties with their birth parents, as is the case with Adoption.

Applying to be a Special Guardian

You must be over 18yrs and not the child’s birth parent, you can make a single or joint application, joint applicants do not need to be married.

If you are a foster carer the child has to have lived with you for at least one year before applying for an SGO.

• You must have the consent of the local authority if the child is looked after. You can apply if you are a relative of the child and the child has resided with you for at least one year immediately pre-dating an application for an SGO.
• You are the guardian of the child (you do not need to be related).
• You have the consent of those who have parental responsibility (PR).
• You have a Child Arrangements Order or a Residence Order and the consent of the person in whose favour the order was made.
• You have the permission of the court to make the application.

There needs to be an application to the court who will then consider the suitability of that person based on the child’s needs, this is done through a report from the local authority.

Special Guardianship is a formal court order and it places the child or young person permanently and gives parental responsibility to someone, this could be a foster carer,
grandparent, close relative or family friend.

Under an SGO the child lives with the carers who have parental responsibility for them until they are 18yrs.

If the child in question was a looked after child before the SGO was granted they will no longer be the responsibility of the local authority.

What are the positives of a Special Guardianship Order?

A Special Guardianship Order has several potentially positive effects:

• It gives a child the security of a long-term placement
• It gives the Special Guardian day to day control in the care and upbringing of the child (jointly, if there are several Special Guardians).
• Although it will not remove parental responsibility (as adoption does) an SGO will give you the responsibility for the day to day decisions as well as all the important decisions about the child or young person, however, you will still need to consult the birth parents at times where key decisions are being made such as changing their name, moving overseas or agreeing to adoption.

Foster carer v Special Guardian pros & cons

What support do Special Guardians receive?

Special Guardians are entitled to a Support Package which should be confirmed in writing as part of the process.
This can include:

• Financial support.
• Access to support groups for special guardians.
• Help with contact arrangements with birth relatives.
• Access to therapy for the child if necessary.
• In some circumstances, respite, training and emotional support.
1. If you have previously been a foster carer for the child, you may be able to receive an allowance. (Generally reviewed after 2 years but in other cases can be for a longer period of time).

   The financial support may differ from the level it was received as a foster carer and it can be withdrawn by the Local Authority completely.

   Financial support will depend on the Local Authority assessment of the child’s needs and your own circumstances, including eligibility for benefits and tax credits. It is sometimes means-tested, and sometimes non-means-tested.

2. Special Guardians are also able to apply for child tax credits and claim child benefits.
3. Children and young people who are subject to an SGO will not usually have a social worker as they are no longer considered to be in care. (Some see this as an advantage).
4. Young people subject to an SGO will not qualify for ‘Staying Put’ once they reach 18.
5. Local authorities may pay a special guardianship allowance in respect to a young person over 18 if they are completing a course of full-time education or training.

   Foster carers should be made aware of this when applying for SGO by the local authority.

6. Can you afford it? You will be on a lower financial package, and this can be subject to review after 2yrs.
7. As an SGO you don’t get support from services.
8. Many SGO carers say they have found it difficult to source extra support for their children and young people.
9. You may have to have contact with the birth family and arrange contact sessions yourself.
Top Tip: This is a top tip from a foster carer who successfully secured a satisfactory SGO: Make sure you get a really good lawyer who fully understands the SGO process.

Social services will try and offer the lowest financial support package they can as at the end of the day, they’re a business. The LA paid for our lawyer and we managed to secure it till our boy is 18 yrs old and for it to not be means-tested.

Top Tip: Financial support packages for SGO’s generally now only last for 2yrs before they are reviewed at which point they can be withdrawn.

Questions to consider before proceeding

• What are the reasons for the SGO and do I feel pressurised into doing it?
• Is it the right option for the child, for me, for my family?
• Can I afford to commit to an SGO and what financial package is available and for how long?
• What contact will I have with birth family and will I be able to manage contact without conflict?
• Have I got the details of the whole support package in writing, including finance so that I can take legal advice on it.
• Will the Local Authority pay my legal fees?
• Do I have all the information I need to be able to make an informed and the right decision?

Next Steps

If you do decide to go ahead with the SGO your local authority will carry out a full assessment and prepare a report for the court, this will detail the support package that you are being offered.

Once a court order is made it is difficult to get the package reviewed so get independent legal advice to make sure it’s the right decision, your local authority should pay for this advice as its to ensure that you and the young persons’ needs are being met.

TOP TIP: It is important to remember that everyone’s situation is so different and it can really hinge on getting a good solicitor/lawyer who is experienced in this field. The local authority should pay for these legal fees.

The local authority and the court will look at the following key information:

• Whether the child has brothers and sisters and details of both parents.
• The relationship a child has with other family members and the arrangements for the child to see or keep in touch with different family members.
• Details of the child’s relationship with his/her parents.
• The parent/s’ and the child’s wishes and feelings.
• The prospective Guardian’s family composition and circumstances.
• Parenting capacity of the Guardian.
• Medical information on the child, prospective special guardian and the birth parent(s).
• An assessment of how a Special Guardianship Order would meet a child’s long term interests as compared with other types of order.
• A recommendation regarding contact and Special Guardianship.
• Implications of the making of the Special Guardianship Order for all those involved.

Each local authority must make arrangements for the provision of special guardianship support
services which may include:

• Financial assistance.
• Assistance with the arrangements for contact between a child, his/her parents and any relatives that the local authority consider being beneficial.
• This assistance can include cash to help with the cost of travel, entertainment, and mediation to help resolve difficulties on contact.
• Respite care.
• Counselling, advice, information and other support services.
• Services to enable children, parents and special guardians to discuss matters, this might include setting up a support group.

Once all this has been taken into consideration, the local authority will carry out an assessment and prepare a Special Guardianship report and support plan, this will then be presented to the court.

What foster carers say

“We made sure that we got a really good lawyer who fully understood the SGO process. Social services tried and will try, to offer the lowest financial support package they can as at the end of the day they’re a business. We managed to secure till our boy is 18 yrs old and for it to not be means-tested and they paid our legal fees.”
“I honestly felt so pressurised into taking out a Special Guardianship Order, even to the point that it was insinuated that if I didn’t the child would be removed. I found out that the children should not be moved for financial reasons and therefore I should not be pressurised into taking out an SGO if I didn’t feel it was right for me. Well it wasn’t right for me, I’m a single carer and I don’t work so I could never have afforded it, and more than that my child and I needed more support, not less”
“So glad we went for an SGO, we are lucky as we are financially secure and I know many are not in that position. Our child also has no living relatives so we are a tight family unit, she loves that there are no more social workers and we love that too, also no meetings and general things that make our children think they are in care, she says it now feels like a ‘normal’ family. It worked really well for us.”
“I have to agree you have to be very careful when taking out an SGO. Don’t forget they end when the child is 18. You need to make sure they are entitled to services. I know carers too that lost support and finance doing this. If it were me I would advise having it looked over by a solicitor. I’m not against this it can work very well but you do need to be very careful and have everything in writing. People come and go, things change”
“Long story, took in young siblings 10yrs ago. They were going back to their parents so they quickly asked me to be their guardian. I had no idea, so said yes of course. Then I got the reality. The children would only get 1/3 of allowance, no fees, a two-year finance review and scrutiny of my bank statements and any personal money I had. I said no thanks. And so ten years later they keep asking and asking me what I would like. I tell them that as it is a money-saving exercise for LA and actually makes no difference to the children’s security, I would like everything they get now including fostering fees, and any extras, plus an annual bonus of £10k for all
the commitment I would be giving and all the contact I had to organise with their family etc and it would be a lifelong commitment until both children in work. Funnily enough, I have not heard back”
“My experience is as a foster carer to a large sibling group who came from a failed SGO. The SGO never had a hope of succeeding as they were placed with a very young couple (relatives) on minimum wage who already had children of their own. The children were placed far away in another council, so when it failed the original council bore none of the financial or parental responsibility and effectively got rid of that responsibility permanently by granting the unsuitable SGO in another county.”
“There is absolutely no upside to an SGO for a foster carer in my view – it gives all the responsibility of adoption without the full parental rights and protection against reversal – and no upside – whatever financial package is offered at the start comes with no guarantee and can be withdrawn at any time – and often is – on a change of personnel or policy or just on a whim. Even birth family members who are talked into an SGO or agree without understanding the implications come to regret it wishing they had either done adoption or stayed as connected carers.”
“SGO’s a few years ago were like products at the hairdressers where every time you saw a social worker they tried to sell the idea to us. They have stopped that now, thank God! Sadly nearly all the carers I know who did SGO’s regret it. They all lost money, rights and support. What is originally written into the ‘deal’ is swiftly ignored. Most SGO’s I know have spent a fortune of legal bills.”

Links

• Become a Special Guardian – Government guidance: https://www.gov.uk/apply-special-guardian
• Special Guardianship government statutory guidance: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/656593/Special_guardianship_statutory_guidance.pdf
• Special Guardianship regulations 2005: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1109/contents/made
• Special Guardianship (amendment) regulations 2016: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/111/made
• Family Justice Council (FJC) report on best practice with respect to SGO’s (2020): https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/PLWG-SGO-Final-Report-1.pdf
• Child Law Advice – Special Guardianship: https://childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/special-guardianship/
• Special Guardianship support – website: https://www.sgosupport.co.uk
• FosterWiki Parental Responsibility: https://fosterwiki.com/wiki/what-is-parental-responsibility-pr/

Information, Help and Support

Help and support created for foster carers, by foster carers, we are the experts by experience. We have the first foster carers knowledge bank.

Please find our help and support page here.

Access both the open pages and members area. Both are free to access and footprint-free. The member’s area gives you privileged confidential access to FosterWiki’s experts by experience for advice and guidance. You will also find short courses and guides from the foster carer’s perspective, top tips, allegation help, templates, and the ability to add to FosterWiki. With more content being uploaded regularly.

Please let us know what information or advice pages you would find useful and we will put them in place. https://fosterwiki.com/register/

Child Arrangements Order Guardian Parental Responsibility Residence Order SGO sgo financial support sgo payments