IT IS 1am on Saturday morning. You receive a phone call from a social worker telling you that your daughter has overdosed on heroin and been rushed to hospital. While you are still reeling from this news, in her next sentence, the social worker asks whether you will take on the care of your grandchildren who are aged two and seven. The local authority has to decide whether or not to place the children into foster care. You have to decide whether or not to step in at that point to prevent this from happening. What do you do?
The answer, almost certainly, is that you say you will take the children. But you work full-time, so what do you tell your boss on Monday morning? Where will the children sleep – you only have a one-bedroom flat? Will you lose your job? Will the local authority offer you any financial or practical support? At 1am, will you have the presence of mind to think of any of these questions?
There are 200,000 grandparents bringing up grandchildren because parents are unable to care for their children themselves. This may be because of parental substance or alcohol abuse, domestic violence, imprisonment, illness or bereavement. Unless they are assessed as local authority foster carers, grandparents are likely to find that they do not qualify for any allowances or financial help. If they are retired, the grandparents may be living on a small pension. If they are in work, they will probably have to give up their job or at least reduce their hours in order to care for their grandchildren. Three out of four grandparents or other family and friends carers who are looking after children in this situation experience financial hardship.
Grandparents Plus runs a network for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. We hear first hand about their experiences. They often tell us that social workers do not inform them about the options open to them, but push them towards the option that, they later discover, will cost the local authority as little as possible.
For example, it is not uncommon for grandparents to be encouraged to apply for a residence order for the children to live with them, only to find out afterwards that a residence order brings no financial help with it, whereas a special guardianship order would have done. They also struggle to pay for one-off extras, such as beds or school uniforms. Again, they receive little or no help with the cost of these items.
Social workers’ heavy workloads mean they are under pressure to focus on the hardest cases. They tend to “move on” from a child who has been placed with grandparents or other family members. Yet these children still need help and support. So do the grandparents. But they struggle on, often without complaint and without anyone else really noticing.
It is largely older women who are providing this care. Because they are older women, their contribution is taken for granted. Yet by keeping their grandchildren out of the care system, they are saving the state hundreds of thousands of pounds. These are the forgotten families of family policy. As a priority, we want to see the Government address the poverty they face. The children they care for must also be a priority. And family members and friends who are also carers must be given the recognition and support they need.
Sam Smethers is chief executive of Grandparents Plus
