Grandparent carers living in fear of social services’ knock

The report from family charity Grandparents Plus says local authority panels give greater weight to the “permanency” of adoption than they do the love, stability and family links that grandparents and other family carers can provide.

The report, entitled Too Old To Care?, says many older grandparents are so fearful of their grandchildren being taken away that they fail to seek the support they need in their roles as carers.

There are currently about 25,000 grandparents over 65 raising 30,000 grandchildren in the UK.

The report says the arrangements frequently arise because of traumatic circumstances such as parental alcohol and drug misuse, abuse or neglect, imprisonment, bereavement, disability or illness.

If those children were being fostered instead, it would cost some £1.4 billion in care costs alone each year, it adds.

The report shows how older grandparents face prolonged legal battles, lack of support and financial hardship as they fight to care for their grandchildren.

And it also says that adoption is not necessarily a permanent alternative for children – with rates of placement breakdown of between 10 and 50 per cent.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of Grandparents Plus, said: “This research reveals the hidden contribution made by older grandparent carers.

“But it is worrying to discover that many who need support are too scared to ask for it – and of those who do, most don’t get the help they need. There is a fundamental lack of trust in the system which needs to be addressed.

“We found a range of problems, from ageist assumptions that they’re ‘too old to care’, through to poor quality assessments and care plans.”

The study outlines how one great-grandmother, looking after three great-granddaughters, was told by social workers that she was not entitled to any respite because she was a grandparent.

She said: “I didn’t have anyone who could say to me, sit down, I’ll take the girls for an hour.”

Another grandparent carer, a former district nurse, said: “I didn’t want (social services) to be involved, because I worked with them for 30 years and they often make the wrong decision.”

A grandfather spoke of the agony of his year-long, £18,000 court battle to prevent his three grandchildren from being adopted.

One grandmother who has been raising her eight-year-old grandson since he was born said of the local authority: “When they come near us from time to time it’s very scary, because obviously we don’t want him to be taken away.”

Mr Smethers said it was time society placed a greater value on the contribution grandparents offer.

“We know older people do make good parents for children,” he said.

“They have a wealth of experience and can provide children with love, a sense of identity and belonging and – crucially – maintain relationships with the wider family.”

His sentiments were supported by children’s Minister Tim Loughton, who insisted legislation and guidelines are already in place to prevent discrimination.

He said: “It is unacceptable for grandparents wanting to take on the care of their grandchildren to be excluded simply because of their age. The law is clear on this.

“If grandparents are fit and healthy then the local authority should consider them alongside other suitable relatives before thinking about adoption.

“Children should, wherever possible, be brought up in their families.”