Help with grants please - just taken on a child

[Jo.t]

A few days ago we we asked to take on my partners 16y old daughter due to her mums illness.
If we did not do this Mum was giving her up to foster care

I have never met her & she has not wanted anything to do with her Dad for a number of years, The poor girl has been forced into this.

Anyway - we have come allmost 400 miles to collect her & she has come to us with 3 CARRIER BAGS full of stuff !!!
She has nothing apart from a very small amount of clothing, which is too small for her - no winter coat / shoes or anything !!!

My partner works & we claim Working tax credits & get a top up of housing Benifit & council tax benifit - so we are not rolling in cash !!

There are 6 other children living at home, one is 17 & one is 21. The 17 year old is out of work & we are supporting him (too old to be included in our tax credits claim - too young to get JSA) The 21 year old has just moved back in due to finishing Uni - she is expecting a baby & also is dependant on us for money.

I am also expecting a baby & am due in 8 weeks.

We can find room in our house for partners daughter (Just) & her comming to live with us is not the problem - but we cant claim anything for her due to her age & we are not in a possition to buy her a bed / bedding / clothing / christmas prezzies or anything else (we could over time but she needs it all NOW !!

All grants I can see by googleing you have to be on income suport or JSA to apply for.

I just dont know what to do - my sister is having one of my children short term so she has a bed when we get home (Monday) but am really stuck on where to go from here.

Any help & advice out there ??

Thankyou

 

[usone123]

Are you in the US/UK/AUS? I'm in the US and we have been in this position before and we collected donations from friends of clothing and coats. We also have used craigslist.org to get free or discounted items like bedding and furniture and things like that.

Also you may be able to contact local churches or charities for advice and help with clothes/shoes/coats. If they can't help, they may know where to refer you.

i've never heard of a grant for this type of situatin, so unsure on that.

Good luck!

 

[MrsRH]

speak to the CAB if you are in the UK
you may not get any child related benefits as the girl is over 16
they'll help you!

x

 

[My_First]

Are you in the uk? Have you tries putting an ad on freecycle you may get the bare easentials from there for free? Like bed etc. what about charity shops for a winter coat?

 

[Lubbird]

No advice but I just wanted to let you know that I really respect you. My mother was passed around foster care and suffered all kinds of abuse because no-one in the family would take her in. It has ruined her life and she has no social skills and has regular therapy for her issues. Some of the stories she has told me made me cry so hard. I know the care system is different now but I think it's amazing that with 6 + 2 on the way you are still doing what you can for family