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Local Kinship Offer

Special Guardianship Order (SGO) Support Offer

For the first three years following the making of the SGO, the local authority that placed the child is responsible for assessing and providing special guardianship support services.

This obligation applies regardless of where the child or guardian lives during that period.

Once the three-year period has passed:

  • The responsibility for assessing and providing support transfers to the local authority where the Special Guardian lives.
  • An assessment may be requested by a Special Guardian, a parent or the child who have a right to challenge the outcome.
  • Special Guardians can still request an assessment for support services, but the local authority is only required to consider the request and decide whether to carry out an assessment.
  • There is no automatic entitlement to support after three years; it becomes needs-based and subject to assessment under Regulation 11 of the Special Guardianship Regulations.
  • Each case must be considered on its own facts. The outcome of the decision to assess or not must be notified to a Special Guardian who has a right to challenge it.

SGO Support Social Worker

The SGO support team can allocate an SGO Support Social Worker to offer social work support which may include work alongside Early help, Child in Need, Child Protection Plans and Section 20 accommodated children. They will complete an SGO Needs Assessment to ascertain the therapeutic support needs of the family.

The SGO support team can complement and add to care planning and support. The team can also access ASGSF funding to support the therapeutic needs of SGO caring families. Therapeutic support can be accessed for the SGO carers themselves or for the children they care for.

It is important to ascertain that the children SGO carers are caring for were previously looked after children as this is an eligibility criteria for SGO Support and for ASGSF funding.

SGO support details

Available Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm

SGO Support Duty Line

Warwickshire’s SGO team provide a support line that can be accessed Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, where carers can speak with experienced SGO social workers on any matters relating to SGO support. The support line offers advice, guidance and signposting to other services or a referral into the team to offer specific support around an Adoption Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) Application.

In addition to this Warwickshire offer an out of hours Foster Carer Support line. This is available across all fostering households including Kinship Carers.

SGO support details

Available Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm

Children in Care Support Line

Available: 5:30pm until midnight from Monday to Friday, and from 9am until midnight on Saturdays, Sundays, and Bank Holidays.

Financial support

SGO carers and Kinship Carers receive financial support via allowances where they are caring for a child, these allowances are reviewed annually.

SGO and Kinship payments are made fortnightly, and payments continue to be made up until the young person’s 18th birthday, if the young person is in education, allowances will be paid until the last day of the education term post the young person’s 18th birthday.

The process to access payments –

  • Carers are contacted by the FABA each January and are asked to complete paperwork around their finances with a return of paperwork to FABA by the end of February.
  • Carers will receive one reminder letter in March to return their paperwork if it has not been received at the end of February.
  • Upon assessment of the completed financial paperwork allowances will continue or be adjusted for the next financial year from April.
  • If the financial paperwork is not returned to FABA in the outlined timescales above, this will result in allowances stopping from April, until the completed paperwork is returned and assessed.

Please speak to your allocated social worker for further support regarding financial arrangements.

The SGO Support Team can support and advocate for carers when SGO carers are experiencing financial challenges. Considerations will be made on an individual basis regarding one-off payments to support carers, decisions around additional support payments are made by the Children’s Team the child’s social worker was allocated to.

Further financial support is available through applications to adaptions panel for extensions or alterations of property and/or cars to support the needs of carers and children.

SGO Support Events

There are specific events for SGO carers and their children, these are organised twice a year in April and October 2025, to coincide with Easter and October half-term. SGO carers can also attend relevant fostering events which WCC will advertise through various communication channels.

SGO carers will be updated about dates and themes of these events in the SGO newsletter that is sent quarterly to all the carers we have an email address for.

SGO Support Groups

Warwickshire host monthly coffee mornings for Kinship Carers who hold an SGO. This enables Kinship Carers to meet others and share experiences. They are facilitated by Family Support Workers and are held in the North, South and East of the county.

SGO and Kinship Carers are invited to attend other events hosted for WCC carers bringing further opportunity to widen support networks and share experience and learning.

For detailed information please email fosteringduty@warwickshire.gov.uk

Types of fostering