Long-term security for foster children

Foster parents who want to offer children a legally secure long-term placement can do so without having to adopt.

After a year of caring for a child, foster parents can, if they wish, apply for a Special Guardianship Order (SGO). Foster carers are not always aware of this possibility when they go into fostering, but it is a great option for a child in long-term care who is unlikely to be adopted.

A SGO gives the carers parental responsibility over and above the birth parents but it is not an adoption, which would end the legal relationship between the child and the birth parents. SGOs are not for everyone and you usually find they suit foster parents who are already receiving an income from fostering other children at the same time, or they no longer need to rely on fostering as their wage. People who take on a SGO for a child receive a means-tested allowance.

Often, children in foster care still have regular contact with one or both birth parents and adopters are less likely to want to take on a child with this type of family arrangement in place. SGOs offer that child security without necessarily losing their birth family.

It is great for the child because they have the knowledge that they will not have to move, which gives them more security, something every child needs and wants. It is a way that foster carers can show long-term commitment to a child in their care.