Tories promise to be nice to grandparents?

Welcome marythechampion20 I'm so sorry that you and the children have been having such a terrible time.

Hope you get sorted Mary, this must be every grans nightmare. x

That is so sad Mary and an illustration of how NOT to treat children and families. You also highlight how inconsistent the allowances are, even within the same local authority, let alone across different local authorities.

I'm a little unsure from your post whether you were receiving fostering allowance, as you say you have been forced to use up all your savings. When you say you were passed for residency, do you mean as part of Care proceedings, or have you applied for a Residence Order?

It is good news that the psychiatrist has been clear that you do not have a personality disorder (although that in itself would not make you an unsuitable carer), and this will be taken into account at the next court hearing.

I do hope you are seeing your grandchildren in the meantime, and that this can all be resolved soon. You will need some good legal support as well. Good luck

When you care for 4grandkids,and your husband is on disability benefits,a fostering allowance is essential.it is not a question of doing it for the money,we used thousands of pounds over the years,of what should have been saved for our retirement,caring for our daughters kids.
She preferred using drugs,and inviting unsuitable violent men into her life.we just heard that a friend who has been INA similar situation,received a cash sum of £600 ,from the same local authority that has let us use up all our savings,as our daughter was keeping all the kids benefits,and we were left with nothing.our friend had used up her£2.500 savings,caring for her 2 grandkids,when her daughter and partner were using drugs,and spending kids benefits on such.we were passed for residency for all 4kids in February.then at the hearing,which our daughter contested,,she asked the judge,via her solicitor,to get psychologist assessment done on me,as she said. I had something wrong with me,judge agreed.then said that our daughter should have one done too.
Both assessments were done.
The crackpot psychologist said he diagnosed a personality disorder in my daughter, and me! So,2weeks after being passed for residency,the kids were removed from our care,in front of our neighbours,and all their friends,it was the worst day of our lives,all of us.horrendous.we were all crying.our 14year old grandson made a formal complaint to the local authority.then,at the next hearing,the judge agreed to a psychiatric assessment of both me and my daughter.the professor came to my house last night.she was with me an hour and a half only.her finding was that i am normal,and that I do not have a personality disorder
On the other hand,she told me she had diagnosed our daughter with two personality disorders.!oppositional defiance disorder,and antisocial personality disorder.our daughter posted it all over the international internet,that I had been diagnosed with a dangerous personality disorder.with various insulting and derogatory swearwords,directed at both me and her sister,who had travelled 150 miles to support me and my husband in court.thae psychologist seemed to believe all the lies our daughter told,saying she had a miserable childhood,etc.that is a lie,as all her sisters have testified in letters to the judge,which she refused to read.another 2 hearings in october,final one is at the end of october.we do not know what willh
Appen now.we are hopeful we may get them back,but do not know. Sorry about the mix up of words at the end of this post,i am new at using a tablet keyboard,and do not know. How to delete on over ride.thank you to anyone who can advise us,or who just understands something of what wevare going through.
ve another hearing in Octand do not know what will happen then.please excuse the mistepober,an could not be

Jess

In truth, all DC needs to do is send his wonks along to any fostering team in any local authority - preferably a 'family and friend carers' specialist team, and they would learn everything they need to know to inform the policies in a very short time. However, as we all know, those at the top have no interest in learning from those on the ground, and hence they keep reinventing the wheel over and over again, but they still can't make a round one.

OY! You! Intern! Pass it on. Nightowl can explain to you the complications of fostering and grandparents before anyone in your office comes up with any ill-considered policies.

Thank you Jess. I'm available to brief the wonks anytime, but I don't expect my phone to ring anytime soon

Nice post nightowl - you should be briefing the wonks in Downing St.

I guess so Ana what with the last round of party conferences coming up next month. They are in a bit of a bind aren't they. Osborne's budget promise to let people manage their own pension pots was imaginative but who knows how it will pan out.
They don't actually have any money to play with, what with our vast national debt. I guess looking after the NHS a bit better would be the biggest vote winner with the over 60s. How about "increase taxes a little to keep our NHS world class?" That would appeal to me.
As grandparents our situations are so diverse that it is tricky to come up with a policy that would have wide appeal. Subsidised international air travel anyone?

I expect we'll have similar 'grey-vote-grabbing' policies from the other parties before too long.

The lack of white heat debate is probably down to general disillusionment with all of them at the moment.

This is such a complex area and I fear OGM is right - he's after the 'grey vote'. Local Authorities are already underfunded and struggling to pay the grandparents who do foster their grandchildren. Grandparents can only be treated as foster carers if the child is a looked after child - either on a Care Order or accommodated at the parents' request. This is not a healthy situation for a child and their family, and local authorities quite rightly encourage progression to Special Guardianship Orders (the allowances are inconsistent and need tightening up, but the principle is sound). If DC is suggesting that all grandparents bringing up their grandchildren should be funded to the same level this will require an enormous injection of cash to local authorities and would be almost impossible to administer fairly. Alternatively, it could be funded centrally, but then the government would no longer be able to scapegoat profligate local authorities for failing the families involved.

Sorry that was not meant to "get at" GN members. But I am finding it interesting that a front page story on the TG has not provoked more interest in its target audience.

I wonder if there is an intern in Downing St sitting on the edge of their office chair watching the white heat of this debate?

but 'fostering' a grandchild/ren is much different from looking after a grandchild so others can work. the grandparents who foster are 'in loco parentis' (sp.?)
would this be means tested, would it be taxable, would it be applicable only to working age GPs?
what about GPs who are unable to help on a regular basis (distance or poor health)?
who would police it?
doesn't get my 'grey vote' as I could see it being open to much abuse.
we look after our grandchildren because we want to help and because we care about them - not for the money

Desperate for the 'grey vote' methinks!

More window dressing.