Back Again..Still Here!

I have changed roles since the last time I wrote. Now I am a social worker in Private Fostering. This is a system which came about following the death of Victoria Climbie. It seems the Government does not think it is good that a family makes its own decisions about children, who for whatever reason cannot be with their  own parents or very close relatives as defined by legislation. It isn't enough to do an assessment and make a decision about whether monitoring is needed or not. Monitoring must be done, regardless.

So today I visited a 15 year old boy from Afghanistan. He is living with his married cousin who has serious financial difficulties and asked for help to provide for the boy. I explain that there is no provision to make payments to families. They should provide for the boy from the family's resources. Or else.....
Ah now, there is the rub. What if the family decide that they can't make ends meet and request that the Borough find accommodation for him?

Well, then we can place him with foster carers. They might be of the same religous background, if there are any Muslim foster carers available.They will be professional carers, assessed, vetted, checked, trained, monitored and paid....to do the job of providing care in their home for a young person.

But wait a minute....What about listening to the wishes of the young person? "I want to stay with my cousin, but I want pocket money and I need clothes. I would miss my little cousins..." And it is my professional view that apart from the financial problems, this young person is well cared for at his current abode.

So we would really accommodate him, pay an allowance of £xxx per week, make a clothing grant and set in motion a whole Leaving Care process which will result in him having support until he is 18 and in acquiring a Council tenancy. Total cost....including social work time..£thousands.

We would rather do this than make any financial contribution to help a family to manage. Because....???they are family. They might harm the boy. We prefer to have him accommodated. No wonder the Borough is overspent...and just how would I explain this to the boy?