"Missing support"

I am in my 70's and have of three grand-children who have been placed in my full-time care since 2023 by South Lanarkshire Social Work Resources in East Kilbride, and subsequently in 2024 by the Children’s Hearing via a Compulsory Supervision Order.

The circumstances necessitating this arrangement were a direct result of substance misuse issues and direct negative impact these issues from a family member.

From 2023 until 2025, I had ongoing struggles to sort out the financial arrangements and housing arrangements for my grandchildren and I.

My Kinship Allowances finally started to be paid in August 2025. However, there has been a series of events which have meant that since 2023, I am still not in receipt of child benefit, child poverty payment, free school meals payments or uniform allowance for the children.

When HMRC have been contacted, it seems that the lack of communication between them and SLC East Kilbride Social Work is the main reason this has not been resolved. Meanwhile I continue to struggle financially.

In July 2025, I was introduced to ARCH South Lanarkshire through my involvement with a volunteer kinship care coordinator. This was due to one of my grandchildren being placed on the Neurodevelopmental Team’s diagnostic waiting list.

As a result of intervention by ARCH, and the Kinship volunteer, I was allocated more suitable housing which we were able to move into. This has been a very positive development and only occurred because of direct advocacy offered by ARCH and the Kinship volunteer.

My benefit situation remains unresolved due to particular barriers directly caused by the lack of direct and timely dialogue between HMRC and SLC Social Work, East Kilbride personnel.

During my involvement with ARCH, I have become more familiar with GIRFEC and cannot reconcile the experiences me and my grandchildren have had to endure, with the principles of Getting it Right for every Child.

I did not and have not had any emotional support in addressing the needs of my grandchildren from any statutory agencies in Social Work Education or Health, other than ARCH South Lanarkshire. Rather I feel I have been just ‘left to get on with it’ in a manner which has equally ignored the profoundly adverse effects previous events and behaviours from a family member has had on my grandchildren’s developmental, emotional and psychological needs.

On the contrary, I feel that there has been a threat of children going into care if I couldn’t look after the children.  I am dismayed that this was the ‘support’ I was offered.