A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) is a legal court order which appoints one or more individuals, to be a child’s Special Guardian. It gives the guardian legal parental responsibility while maintaining the child’s connection to their birth family. It helps provide a more secure and permanent home for a child who cannot live with their birth parents.
What it does
Once granted by the court, the following things will happen:
- Special Guardian obtains Parental Responsibility for the child, which then grants the carer clear responsibility for all aspects of care duty for the child, and for taking decisions to do with the day-to-day decisions relating to a child’s care and upbringing;
- The Care Order is discharged, and the child is no longer Looked After by the Local Authority.
Why Apply?
By becoming a Special Guardian, you will be offering stability and permanence for a child. They won’t need to worry about where they will be living for the rest of their childhood or have ongoing involvement from Children’s Social Care. It also means that the Special Guardian and the child will be able to:
- Be legally secure;
- Preserve the basic link between the children and their birth family;
- Be supported by access to a full range of support services including financial support where appropriate.
Who can apply
Applications can be submitted by individual or joint applicants. Joint applicants do not need to be married. Special Guardians must be 18 or over.
You can apply to be a Special Guardian if you are one of the following:
- Any guardian of the child;
- Where the child is subject of a Care Order or an Interim Care Order, any person who has the consent of the Local Authority;
- A Local Authority foster carer who is a relative of the child or with whom the child has lived for one year immediately preceding the application;
- Anyone who is named in a Child Arrangement Order as a person with whom the child is to live;
- Anyone with whom the child has lived for three out of the last five years providing that the child has not ceased to live with the proposed applicant for more than 3 months before the making of the application;
- Anyone who has the consent of all those with Parental Responsibility for the child;
- Any other person (including the child and other than a parent) may apply for a Special Guardianship Order if he has obtained the leave of the court to make the application.
*The parents of a child may not apply to become their own child's Special Guardians.
Support
Once an SGO is granted, you will receive the following support:
- One of the following financial offers:
- No-detriment Offer: where the Special Guardian was previously the child’s foster carer, the Special Guardian will continue to receive an allowance set at the equivalent of the National Minimum Fostering Allowance for a child of that age;
- Means-tested Offer: Where the Special Guardian has not previously fostered the child, a means-tested assessment will be completed to determine eligibility for the allowance;
- Access to therapeutic support though the Adoption Support Fund;
- Support Groups and Training
- Advice, support and signposting through the dedicated SGO duty email and fostering helpline
- Tailored Support Plan
- Increased Oversight from the Virtual School
- Care leaver support
Contact
If you are interested to apply or simply wants to know more about a Special Guardianship Order, we would love to hear from you.
- Phone: 0161 770 6600
- Email: sgo.duty@oldham.gov.uk