A WOMAN who looks after her abused grandson has spoken out about the plight of ‘kinship carers’.

The 49-year-old woman, of Dines Green, Worcester, said her decision to take the boy in had financially crippled her.

She now wants the county council to offer greater financial and emotional support to ‘kinship carers’ - people who look after young relatives to prevent them from entering the care system.

The grandmother, who did not want to be named, said: “My grandson was exposed to domestic violence, drugs and starvation. His parents were my youngest son and his girlfriend.

“I got a phone call saying would you take him in and we said yes. He was discharged from hospital and came straight to us.

“He was so underweight we spent six weeks on the sofa trying to get food into him.”

The carer claimed that about a month after she took the boy in, a social worker told her that she would have to sign a special guardianship order (SGO) or lose him.

The grandmother-of-four added: “I think he would have gone straight up for adoption. It’s emotional blackmail. We didn’t really have a choice.”

She took him when he was eight-weeks-old, in October 2015, and secured a SGO in April 2016.

The grandmother said she received a kinship carer allowance of around £800 a month, although this was cut off after two years.

She is now calling on the council to pay kinship carers the same allowance that foster carers receive.

She said: “We are living hand to mouth. I’ve not had a new pair of shoes in three years.

“My husband and I managed to go out to breakfast for the first time in three years today.

“We used to go out to eat three times a week but we can’t afford to now.

“All our effort and money goes on that child.”

Despite this, she insisted that she did not begrudge her grandson, who suffers from speech issues, and said he was a pleasure to look after.

The home care assistant said she and her husband initially took time off work to look after the boy, now aged three, but has had to return to work due to their financial problems.

She added: “I now have to work at the weekend. If we were getting a fostering allowance that would give me time to help my grandson.”

“Two years down the line the funding stops. We don’t get the financial and emotional support.”

Speaking about kinship carers, county councillor Richard Udall said: "It is clearly a good idea, it keeps families together and prevents children having to go into care, but it is not an easy option for the relatives, many have told me that they have been forced into poverty and are struggling to cope.  Too often the county council see kinship carers as not the best option but the cheapest option."

Cllr Udall added that he had heard reports of Worcestershire kinship carers being forced to use food banks, not having enough money to buy children’s clothes.

He said: "I believe we need to establish a scrutiny investigation into the issue, we need to know the facts and learn from other councils how to do the job better and to help relieve the stress and anxiety we are placing on to family members who are helping the council to avoid children from having to go into care, often at their own cost and at their own expense."

County councillor Andy Roberts, cabinet member for families and communities, said: "We're fully committed to doing the right thing for children and young people across the county.

“We recognise that children are best cared for in their own families and communities when it is safe to do so, as this provides them with often much needed stability. Many families are able to do this with the support of universal services.

"A small number of children may need to become looked after and in those situations, the county council will seek to place the child with family members who are approved as foster carers.

"For other children, they may be looked after by family members under a different legal order such as a special guardianship order.

Worcestershire County Council continues to provide assistance and financial support, based on the assessed needs of the child.

“We annually review the support that we provide to children and their guardians, to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of all involved.”

Cllr Udall is appealing for kinship carers to share their experiences with him by emailing rudall2@worcestershire.gov.uk