17 year old and housing

Savvy_Sue

Another possibility to explore is the HomeShare scheme. He might want complete independence, but that may not be affordable.

julie03

thank you for all your help have passed the info to my sister and they are going to help him find out all his options.

at the time all this happened social services were involved, they told my sister to let him do what he wants and give him more money, let him stay over at his girlfriends on school nights sneak out at 2 in the morning and loads of other stuff so they werent much help to be honest

my sister told social services she would not give permission for this other woman to look after her child as she thought she was unsuitable but they didnt seem to care, the fostering situation has only come to light recently so even my sister isnt sure how it happened but she knows he got a free bus pass due to his fostering status.

gizmo111

julie03 wrote: »

thank you for all your help have passed the info to my sister and they are going to help him find out all his options.

at the time all this happened social services were involved, they told my sister to let him do what he wants and give him more money, let him stay over at his girlfriends on school nights sneak out at 2 in the morning and loads of other stuff so they werent much help to be honest

my sister told social services she would not give permission for this other woman to look after her child as she thought she was unsuitable but they didnt seem to care, the fostering situation has only come to light recently so even my sister isnt sure how it happened but she knows he got a free bus pass due to his fostering status.

Your sister needs to go back to social worker and ask on what basis was he with this woman.
has your sister been claiming CTC and chilkd benefit for him or has the woman he has been living wit hbeen getting this?
I have never heard of a child getting a free bus pass because of his 'fostering status'

julie03

my sister was not allowed to claim anything as social services told her she couldnt and because of the overlap ended up with a hefty overpayment on tax credits because they wouldnt believe when he left and only listened to the woman claiming, some of the stuff that went on with the officials who were meant to be looking out for him was unbelievable.

to be honest she is just glad to have him back and wants to help him the best way possible.

Flyboy152

julie03 wrote: »

my sister was not allowed to claim anything as social services told her she couldnt and because of the overlap ended up with a hefty overpayment on tax credits because they wouldnt believe when he left and only listened to the woman claiming, some of the stuff that went on with the officials who were meant to be looking out for him was unbelievable.

to be honest she is just glad to have him back and wants to help him the best way possible.

So, if SS was involved, how and why did the girlfriend's mother forge your sister's signature on the fostering documents?

puddy

none of this makes any sense, social services dont tend to say to parents 'let him do what he wants' AND then take the young person into care costing them money especially if the domestic disagreements were over things like girlfiends and money

they take teens of that age into care under great reluctance, so if mum was saying she didnt want him in care then i dont see how this 'friend' became a 'foster carer'. foster carers are approved after intensive assessments and go to panel.

a kinship carer would have the parents permission to be assessed

perhaps the money mum is saying the friend got is the child benefit and CTC? but even then, if i was that parent i would have been arguing the toss with DWP to say that the child is not legitmately living with the 'foster carer'

fishy if you ask me

eta - foster carers dont get CTC or child benefit for children they foster anyway

ikkle87

He should be able to get somewhere to live from the local authority, i know i was only 17 when i was awarded a 1 bedroom flat of my own. If he is on a low income because he only works weekends etc then he will be able to get some form of benefit but if he goes privately rented they have changed the way it works so perhaps a visit to CAB would be a good idea.

bigmomma051204

Have to say, although it sounds an unusual situation.... I have heard of stranger things happening!

When i worked for social services a few years ago, My colleague had a case of a 15yr old girl - kept running away from home to stay with her (much older at 23yrs) boyfriend who lived in the next county, drank loads of alcohol, took drugs (which she scored from her boyfriend) and generally was a nightmare. Her Mum kept giving her chances (and there was lots of social care/services involvement) but in the end Mum ended up getting very ill with the whole situation (not helped by the daughter beating her up regularly and smashing the house beyond recognision) and had a nervous breakdown. Due to a severe lack of foster families at the time (ie there being NONE at that point in time who were able to take teens) she ended up being placed with a family in the next county. The family of her boyfriend... yes, the one who was having sex with her and providing her with drugs.... Can't remember the ins and outs (we are going back about 8yrs and as i said, it wasnt my case) BUT boyfs Dad did in fact get "paid" for having her stay there as obviously he would have to pay for food, electricity etc etc... Ridiculous i know but true :cool:

Oh and although social workers dont tend to tell parents to "let" their kids "do what they want", they may well imply to the parents that if they relax their rules somewhat and come to a compromise, they may be able to encourage their teen to stay at home, thus avoiding the above situation where possible and avoiding a complete family breakdown.

Savvy_Sue

ikkle87 wrote: »

He should be able to get somewhere to live from the local authority, i know i was only 17 when i was awarded a 1 bedroom flat of my own. If he is on a low income because he only works weekends etc then he will be able to get some form of benefit but if he goes privately rented they have changed the way it works so perhaps a visit to CAB would be a good idea.

Times have changed, however. Privately rented or social landlord, there's a cap on how much under 25s can claim in Housing Benefit: the assumption is that you'll be in shared accommodation. That's why I've suggested a private flatshare or HomeShare. It's worth talking to the local authority, because there may be youth housing options, and if the lad is regarded as a 'looked after child' then he has more chance of help than if he isn't, but establishing what their duty is may not be straightforward.

gizmo111

julie03 wrote: »

my sister was not allowed to claim anything as social services told her she couldnt and because of the overlap ended up with a hefty overpayment on tax credits because they wouldnt believe when he left and only listened to the woman claiming, some of the stuff that went on with the officials who were meant to be looking out for him was unbelievable.

to be honest she is just glad to have him back and wants to help him the best way possible.

if the child had been placed with foster carers then the parents would not be able to claim anything - it should have been declared as soon as he movedelsewhere that he was no longer living with parents.
This seem a strange situation and if you are to be in a position ot help your sister and nephew then you need to be absolutely clear the legal basi he moved out.

Was he placed with the family under a S20 agreement?
|If so was this woman assessed as a kinship carer?

Did your sister continue to claim benefits for him after he left?