Growing Support For Previously Looked After Children
Has your child been adopted from Care?
Is your child currently living with you under a Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangement Order, but has been looked after in the past under the Care of a Local Authority?
Does your child attend a School in Cheshire West and Chester?
If you have questions about your child’s education and would like to talk to someone confidentially, please contact the Virtual School Team.
The Virtual School has a dedicated Education Adviser who can offer advice and guidance, and support you in meetings with your child’s school.
You can learn about funding your child’s school could be entitled to as well as other local services that may be able to help you and your child.
The Virtual School Team can only discuss a previously looked after child with the consent of the person
with parental responsibility. They will not discuss any child with other professionals without this permission.
To make direct contact with any queries around the education of their previously looked after child/ young person, parents can email Alison.Ismail@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Adoption Support Fund
Adoptive families can receive support from their social worker, but many do not have contact with social care after their children are adopted and permanently placed. Every adoptive and special guardianship family has the right to request an assessment of their adoption support needs from the local authority’s adoption service. In the first three years after the adoption order is granted, this responsibility lies with the local authority which placed the child; this may not be local to the family. After this, it becomes the responsibility of the local authority in which the adoptive family resides.
The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) is available to fund therapeutic services for adopted children and their families and is accessible from the moment a child is placed with their new family prior to the issuing of the adoption order. The Fund is for children adopted from care and children adopted from overseas. The Fund is also available to special guardianship families once the special guardianship order is issued. Applications to the ASF can only be made by the local authority adoption service, and will be informed by an assessment of the family’s needs. Families can request an assessment at any time.
Useful contacts
If you require any information or guidance about adoption services in Cheshire West and Chester please contact the Together For Adoption Service on 01942 487272 or via their website www.togetherforadoption.co.uk
www.first4adoption.org.uk/ – Dedicated adoption information service for people interested in adoption. This site has useful information about adoption and the whole process.
www.adoptionuk.org – National charity run by and for adopters. It provides information, guidance and training.
https://www.pac-uk.org/ – PAC – UK is the country’s largest independent Adoption support agency. It provides support for adoptive families , SGOS and other forms of permanent care by providing advice, guidance and training for families, and schools.
Specific Support for Special Guardianship Orders
Cheshire West and Chester Special Guardianship Support Team - 01513374577 or email SGOSupportteam@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Family Action – www.specialguardiansupport.org.uk
Grandparents Plus – www.grandparentsplus.org.uk
