Foster carer had no support for six years following dispute with LB Tower Hamlets

A family and friends foster carer who took on three vulnerable children after their mother was unable to care for them, failed to get council support for the arrangement for six years.

Now, following an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), LB Tower Hamlets has been asked to provide the support it should have given from the outset.

The children’s mother, who had drug and alcohol dependency problems, had frequently been in and out of hospital. At those times the children had been sent to live with relatives.

However, following a family crisis, a family friend was asked to take the children to live with her and her own three children in a small three-bedroom council property. The children’s relatives had been unable to take them in.

The single mother, who was only loosely connected to the family, was then left with no support from LB Tower Hamlets and had to buy clothes, beds and other items, as the children had been left with nothing. The oldest two children only stayed for a month, but the youngest – a girl – continues to live with her.

When a council is involved in some way in a foster placement, but wishes to say it is a private arrangement, officers must make it clear to the person taking on the children that it is a private arrangement. The birth parent will be responsible for financial support.  The council should record these discussions.  None of this happened in this case.

The council allowed the single mother to take on the children without having conducted any kind of assessment or background check. A later assessment found she was an excellent carer and records show she has made a significant difference to the girl, who is now thriving under her care.

Throughout the past six years the foster carer has tried to get the proper support from Tower Hamlets council, but has been repeatedly refused, with the council claiming that it was a private arrangement.  At related court proceedings, a judge said there was no evidence it was a private arrangement and added the foster carer’s requests for support from the council had been ‘woefully overlooked’.

The woman finally complained to the LGO about the lack of support from the council and it has found in her favour.

Michael King, Local Government Ombudsman, said: “The courts set out what should happen in these cases involving family and friends carers in 2007, and we issued a focus report on it in 2013. Despite this we are still seeing a disappointing number of cases where councils try to pass on responsibility to somebody else when records clearly show they should be responsible for supporting the children.

“In this case the council was so involved in what happened it is hard to see how this could have been considered a private arrangement. The mother was not in any condition to consent to the woman taking on the children in the first place, and the final arrangement was made without the mother being present.

“I am pleased that the council has now agreed to our recommendations; however this is a case which could so easily have been resolved sooner. The child was fortunate to have been placed with someone, by accident rather than design, who could provide her with a loving home. We have asked the council to report back to us on what happened to the child’s two older siblings. ”

To remedy the situation, LB Tower Hamlets has agreed to apologise to the woman and pay her as if she had been a family and friends foster carer for the past six years.

It should also pay her other costs associated with initially taking on the three children and the legal advice she obtained. In future it will ensure that if it believes an arrangement is a private family one, all parties are aware of the nature of the arrangement and from where financial support may come.

A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: “We fully accept the Ombudsman’s findings and we are grateful to the carer for the care she has provided, and continues to provide, to the children involved in this case. We have now reviewed our processes to make sure this does not reoccur in similar circumstances. We will shortly be compensating her for the time she cared for the children”.