This information is issued by

London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, SGO Support Team

Published November 2016

A brief guide to

Special Guardianship Support Services

If you are considering making an application for Special Guardianship you can

  • Call us for advice and support
  • Request the LBBD guidance booklet on Special Guardianship
  • Attend one of our monthly training sessions on ‘ Introduction to Special Guardianship’

What kind of support is available under Special Guardianship?

  • Advice and support with parenting
  • Support in managing challenging behaviours
  • Consultation with other agencies, for example: schools and health professionals
  • Signposting to therapeutic services for children
  • A wide range of services supporting contact arrangements including mediation
  • Means tested financial assessment
  • Advice and support around financial matters
  • Assessment of support needs for the child, Special Guardians or parents if

a)The child lives in LBBD and was previously a looked after child in the borough

b)The SGO was made over 3 years ago in another local authority and the child now lives in LBBD

c)The child does not live in LBBD, but was a looked after child in LBBD and a SGO was made less than three years ago

d)If the child lives in LBBD, but has never been ‘looked after’ in LBBD. the team will consider undertaking an assessment of support needs when requested, although there is no statutory obligation to do so

Support groups

  • Support groups for Special Guardians run 6 times a year
  • Support groups for parents run 3 times a year

Training

  • 2 day SG training which covers contact, relationships, attachment, understanding and managing the needs and behaviour of children that have experienced abuse or neglect.
  • Life Story Training
  • Domestic Violence Training
  • Parent ‘gathering’ on ‘how to get the most out of contact’

Events

  • Christmas lunch for Special Guardians
  • Annual Summer Picnic for Special Guardianship Families

The LBBD SG support services were developed following consultation with Special Guardians living in our borough. We are passionate and dedicated tomeeting the needs of Special Guardianship families so welcome your comments to help us to continue to improve our service.

If you are not happy with our service, please let us know and we will try to put things right but if this is not to your satisfaction, you can request a copy of our complaints procedure or access via our website –

You can contact us

By email:

By telephone:

Office number 020 8227 5555

Karen Mckevitt 020 8227 5491, Mobile 07812 999643

Hazel Smith 020 8227 3366, Mobile .07773062368