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Children and Care
Care Proceedings Living with the threat of the state taking your child into care can be one of the most traumatic and lonely experiences for a parent. When you have the power of a local authority and Social Services ranged against you, it is easy to feel that you are powerless to defend yourself and your child. At Family Direct, we have specialist lawyers who have dealt with childcare cases for many years, who can provide sympathetic and professional advice and assistance and representation in court if necessary. We hope that the following guide helps you if you are involved in proceedings against your child and of course, we are happy to help you further by calling us on the free phone number or simply filling out the free legal advice form above. If you are assigned a social worker to assist with family problems or difficulties, the social worker’s aim is to help and assist rather than working towards removal of a child/children from the home. This is a last resort. Our advice is to try and work along side the social worker but if you encounter real problems then please inform us without delay and we will try to assist by negotiating with them Where there are concerns, the local authority will carry out an investigation under S47 of the Children Act, meaning that sufficient enquiries must be made to enable the local authority to decide if any action should be taken to safeguard or promote a child’s welfare. Any local authority can, as a result of such enquiries, register a child’s name on the ‘at risk’ register. The result of this is that a core group of people (such as health visitor, key social worker or representative of the police if necessary) are established and they will have an opportunity to voice any concerns at a “professionals meeting” which will make decisions about your case. A child’s name remains on the register for an initial period of 3 months, extending to a total of 6 months and a further meeting is held to see if the child’s circumstances remain the same or whether the situation has improved. If so the child will be ‘de-registered’ and the case closed. If there are sufficient concerns, the local authority may take Care proceedings in respect of the child. By the time this happens, a social worker will have prepared a statement and initial care plan and a ‘threshold criteria’ document prepared which sets out the evidence which the local authority will rely on to support removal of a child from the home. Even then, the local authority will look for ways to place the child back in the home if at all possible. Care proceedings involve attending Court and you are able to challenge the making of an interim care order if the evidence supports doing so. If not and an interim care order is made, it will expire and then be renewed every 28 days for the duration of the proceedings which will probably last for approximately 9 months and sometimes longer if necessary. The making of an interim care order gives the local authority the legal basis to make decisions regarding your child. The final outcome depends on the concerns and whether they have been able to be resolved. The options for a final order may be a care order which will last indefinitely, a supervision order which enables the local authority to be involved with your family for a further 12 months, or a Residence order made in favour of someone else (a family member perhaps), or no order which is self explanatory. One other outcome may be that the child remains the subject of a care order and possible adopters are sought to adopt the child. A parent will not usually be told who the adopters are but that parent will be offered ‘letter box contact’ on a yearly basis. The letters will be given to the child as he or she requests to see them. Guardians The child will have a guardian appointed by the Court (and independent of the local authority) to look out for the child’s best interests. The guardian will make their own enquiries of all relevant parties and prepare at least one report towards the end of the proceedings. He or she will liaise with the social worker and will meet with the parents often to take their views. As with the social worker you should co-operate with the guardian as much as possible as their recommendations are very persuasive to the court. Experts The case may require the instruction of an expert to assist the Court in coming to a decision regarding your family. An expert may be a paediatrician or a psychiatrist or a psychologist, giving their opinion on the health of a child or an injury. I ask that you attend all meetings promptly to assist the expert. The local authority may be able to assist in relation to you attending meetings and again, any further difficulties should be reported to me as soon as possible. The expert reports have to be disclosed even if the opinion is unfavourable to your case, but it should remain confidential. Contact Whilst the proceedings are ongoing, you should be allowed to see your child and the arrangements for this contact will be made early on by the local authority in accordance with their duty. Where and when contact occurs depends on the child’s age and needs. It is vital that you inform us and the guardian if possible, of any difficulties in this regard as we may be able to approach the local authority and invite them to improve on any arrangements made, or apply to the court for a contact order. The amount of contact will obviously be affected by present arrangements and will not be as large as if care proceedings were not ongoing. Child’s own solicitor Children sometimes have their own solicitor who will have to make a careful decision as to the child's age and understanding and ability to give instructions to them. At all times it is the child who is the solicitor's client, not the guardian. Maidments generally do not act for Children in such cases but it may be the child has another firm acting for them. Children Matters We deal with all aspects concerning children including residence (custody), contact (access) and financial child support. The paramount consideration of the court in proceedings relating to children is the interest of the child. There is a presumption that contact with both parties is in the interests of a child. If contact breaks down then we can apply to the court for a contact order to enable contact to be reinstated. The usual philosophy adopted by the court is not to make any order unless it is necessary. In most divorces no orders are made as the parties usually agree matters. There are other orders that can be made under the Children Act such as a residence order which determines where the child lives, a prohibited steps order which is a type of injunction, a specific issue order which will determine a matter that is in dispute for example the child's schooling or a change of name and a parental responsibility order which requires that parents have to consult each other regarding major changes, for example a child leaving the country or concerning the childs medical treatment. If you require help with any of these orders, please don't hesitate to call on the free phone number above and speak with one of our Family Solicitors who will be happy to help.
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