This should have been paid with either the June or the December payment. Registered office: The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London SE11 5RR. It is an expectation that Legal Aid eligibility will be explored before any payments are made by Angus Council. If you can help us in any way, we would be most grateful. Accessibility   Terms & Conditions   Contact  Complaints Policy  Privacy Policy, 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. Research shows that outcomes are positive for most children living in kinship families and considerably better than for children in unrelated foster care (Hunt et al., 2012 and Selwyn et al., 2013). COVID-19: service information, updates and news, Angus Adoption Agency and Fostering Panel Annual Report 2018-2019 (PDF 80KB), previously taken into the care of the local authority, placed with the carer by the local authority, at risk of being taken into the care of the local authority. If you live outwith Angus contact your local authority about kinship care allowance - even if the child you care for was looked after or placed by Angus Council. This advice can be obtained from a variety of sources, including Children, Families & Justice Service, Citizens Advice, Mentor and Children 1st. The rates paid to kinship carers have been published on Angus Council’s website, at angus.gov.uk. Initial Checks to be Undertaken by the Social Worker 6. Key elements of a special guardianship support service. the family were struggling to live off her husband’s income. Kinship care is when a relative or friend takes on the care of a child or young person whose parents cannot look after them. Read the full conditions under who can get it. Answer Save. Centrelink, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and financial institutions don’t count this allowance as income. In most cases this assistance will involve support in making decisions about whether or not legal orders are required and whether on-going financial support and social work support is available and how it can be accessed. Some children who are Looked After prior to a SGO being granted may be eligible for Leaving Care … Payments made under Section 50 impact on other state benefits, whereas payments made under Section 22 do not (as long as this is not for accommodation and maintenance). a birth parent may be untraceable, or incapable of giving agreement to the child being cared for by family or friends. Kinship engagement workers. where the child is subject to a compulsory supervision order requirement with a measure of residence. Following this success, Heather wrote to say: “I would just like to say a huge thank you to Grandparents Plus for all the advice I was given and for putting me in touch with the Grandparents Legal Centre! Carer’s Allowance can affect the other benefits that you and the person you care for get.You have to pay tax on it if your income is over the Personal Allowance. Partner agencies such as Health, Education and Housing have a key role to play in identifying and supporting children who are living with kinship carers. Kinship care may be provided where a relative or friend takes on the care of a child. In all cases, the carers will be expected to access universal benefits in the first instance as Angus Council cannot duplicate state benefits. We signposted Heather for some independent legal advice from the Grandparents Legal Centre, who confirmed our advice. Kinship Care Allowances There is an agreement between the Scottish Government and local authorities that certain kinship carers should get financial support at the same level as the local authority’s fostering allowance rate … Eligibility to receive kinship care allowances has now also been extended to include carers of non-looked after children who are entitled to the weekly child’s allowance equivalent to those paid to foster carer in specified circumstances. For those residing outwith Scotland, Angus Council may, under certain circumstances, continue to pay an allowance to kinship carers. Our Advice Service helps kinship carers in crisis to make difficult decisions. Only the person caring for a child is entitled to claim Child Benefit. as his parents were no longer able to look after him. The agreement will set out how the kinship carer will work with the local authority and about the support that will be provided. This will include how finances have been or will be calculated and how long this support will last. Following a complaint through the local authority’s complaints procedure, Heather received a backdated payment of fostering allowance, which amounted to £22,000. ‘where not to do so would impose serious financial hardship on the kinship carer and the child. Time-limited payments may assist carers at any stage of the child’s life. There is currently no specific benefit or allowance for kinship carers but, dependant on any legal order you may have (i.e. Not knowing what to do, Heather got in touch with us, and said: “We never know where to turn, so I am asking you if you know of anything that can help us through this difficult financial time. Carer Allowance is an income supplement for parents or carers providing extra daily care for either: an adult or dependent child with disability or a medical condition; someone who is frail aged. Training 9. is applying for, or considering applying for, a kinship care order in relation to an eligible child below the age of 16 years; is a child below the age of 16 years who is the subject of a kinship care order, and deemed to be an eligible child by the authority; is a person with a kinship care order in relation to an eligible child  below the age of 16 years; is an eligible child who has reached the age of 16 , who was subject to a kinship care order immediately prior to their 16. This can include a person related to the child by half blood. Arrangements can be made for the carer to claim Child Benefit for children, payable by contacting the Child Benefit Centre. If a kinship carer or a guardian presents to a local authority with a kinship care order that the local authority were not aware of, then eligibility to allowances should be from the point that the local authority is satisfied of eligibility, and not backdated. where the child is the subject of a Permanence Order and is placed with kinship carers. Carer’s allowance If the child gets DLA care component at the middle or highest rate the kinship carer may be able to claim carer’s allowance (CA) in respect of her/him. These councils based the kinship allowance on the foster allowance, minus any child-related state benefits received. Angus Council will pay kinship carers of looked after children under Section 50 of the Children Act 1975, once they have been approved by the Kinship Panel as kinship carers. promised financial support by the local authority.