A Huddersfield based lawyer working with the Grandparents Legal Centre which supports children and carers where parental care is not possible, has recovered over £100,000 in back payments in 2014!

Helen Jarvis, 26, who works for Ridley & Hall’s Grandparents Legal Centre says the money has helped to lift vulnerable children in Kirklees and elsewhere out of situations of poverty.

“That money has been secured for extended family members who wouldn’t have known that they could claim things like residence allowances and fostering allowances” Ms. Jarvis explained. “For extended family members who take over the care of children within their family, the priority is making those children feel secure and getting them settled. Very often, children are coming out of traumatic situations, their worlds have been turned upside down and the family members who take over their care aren’t thinking about money at all.

“As a result, we’ve seen people struggle to feed the extra mouths and struggle to heat their homes and as a result of all that pressure it often has a detrimental effect on the physical and mental health of the carer.”

Ms. Jarvis, a passionate advocate for kinship carers, says that because of the lack of awareness around financial issues in particular carers and children have been losing out.

“Children in kinship care are twice as likely to live in poverty. Some carers don’t have carpets on the floor and there are situations where carers are sleeping on sofas just to be able to accommodate the children who need them.

When things settle down after a child has moved in with relatives, that’s usually the point when carers come to us and thanks to our expertise, we’ve been able to support and fight on behalf all of the people who’ve come through our doors.

£100,000 is a big achievement for me. The team at Grandparents Legal Centre is delighted to have made such a positive impact on the lives of kinship carers and their children but it’s important to stress that the work we do is ongoing. Kinship carers are doing fantastic jobs in situations which are extremely challenging.

It is critical that kinship carers get expert legal advice. They need to know their rights having taken on such a significant responsibility.

Ridley & Hall has now recovered over £1m for kinship carers since they started challenging local authorities about their responsibilities.

For more information about Kinship Care please call Ridley & Hall on 01484 538421 and ask so speak to a member of the Kinship Care team.