Case Conference
A Child Protection Case Conference is held following an investigation under section 47 of the Children’s Act 1989 (a child protection investigation), where there are concerns that the child has suffered or is likely to suffer neglect or sexual, emotional or physical abuse.
A Child Protection Case Conference is held following an investigation under section 47 of the Children’s Act 1989 (a child protection investigation), where there are concerns that the child has suffered or is likely to suffer neglect or sexual, emotional or physical abuse.
Initial Assessment
When social services receive an allegation of child abuse, they have 24 hours to decide what to do next. If social services decide that there is a need to look at the allegation in more detail, they will make an ‘initial assessment’ within 7 working days.
Core Assessment
A Core Assessment provides a structured, in-depth assessment of a child or young person’s needs where their circumstances are complex. The Core Assessment provides a structured framework for social workers to record information gathered from a variety of sources to provide evidence for their professional judgments, facilitate analysis, decision making and planning.
A Core Assessment should be completed within 35 working days of its commencement.
A completed Core Assessment Record is then used to develop the plan for the child or young person.
Its overall purpose is to support social workers in recording and analyzing information gathered during an assessment. This should enhance the quality of decision making and plans for children in need.
Care Plans
The Care Plan is the plan for children looked after. It sets out clearly the objectives for the care of the child or young person, and the steps by which the objectives will be reached.
Wherever possible, the Care Plan should is completed before a child or young person is looked after. If this is not possible, the Care Plan should is completed as soon as possible after the child is placed.
Care Plans can only be changed following a statutory child care review.
Pathway Plan
The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 requires a Pathway Plan for all eligible and relevant young people.
The Act defines an eligible young person as one who is aged 16 or 17, who has been looked after by the local authority for a total of 13 weeks since the age of 14, and remains looked after. A relevant young person is defined in the Act as a young person who was previously an eligible young person but who is no longer looked after and is under the age of 18.
The Pathway Plan differs from the Care Plan as it is regularly reviewed and updated.
The Pathway Plan is a detailed assessment of;
Nature and level of contact and personal support to be provided and by whom to the young person.
Details of the accommodation for them.
Plan for education or training.
How the responsible local authority will assist in relation to employment. Support to be provided to enable the young person to develop and sustain appropriate family and social relationships.
A programme to develop practical and other skills necessary for living independently.
Financial support to be provided, in particular with respect to accommodation and maintenance needs.
Health needs, including (mental health) needs of the young person and how they are to be met.
Contingency plans for action by responsible local authority if the Pathway Plan for any reason cease to be effective
Referral and Assessment
The Referral and Assessment team is the main point of contact for members of the public and professionals from other agencies.
The referral and assessment teams provide brief intervention and support to children in need and their families. These teams are involved in and responsible for the initial work, which includes child protection, legal proceedings and children that are looked after by the local authority.
The referral and assessment teams work in conjunction with other agencies, such as Health and Education in order to provide the best services for children and families.
Children In Need
The Children in Need service is provided to children and families in need and to Children on the Child Protection Register.
The children in need teams take cases from the referral and assessment teams and develop plans to support children and families and progress assessments in order to further understand the needs of children and their families. In doing so the children in need teams are able to provide specific support for individual families. While the referral and assessment teams provide brief intervention, the children in need teams provide more in-depth work for children and their families.
The children in need teams are also involved in legal work, child protection and in-depth assessments. Additionally, these teams work in partnership with other agencies, such as Health, Education and other agencies such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
See Pathway Plan for further details
Looked After Children (LAC)
The term ‘looked after’ is a general term introduced by the 1989 Act. This covers all children who are accommodated, detained or in care to a local authority. The children may be in a variety of placements including foster care, residential care or residential schools.
Leaving Care / Care Leavers
The Care Leavers Team provides services for young people leaving care to make sure that they are supported, both practically and emotionally. The team work with young people aged over 16, living in and leaving care, and continue to support them until they are 21, or 24
The team support and advise young adults, according to their individual needs, in preparation and planning for becoming successfully independent and responsible citizens. They continue to encourage care leavers to develop their independent living skills to enable them to maintain their tenancy when they move into their own accommodation at 18 years.
Further services include supporting young people to help achieve their potential in education, employment or training, and provide appropriate financial support to encourage this. Social workers will also promote a healthy lifestyle by encouraging Care Leavers to take increasing responsibility for their own health and support attendance at local sports and leisure centres
Disabled Children’s Team
This Team delivers services to children in need and their families, looked after children and children in need of protection and those children with a disability or a substantial health or medical condition.
The Disabled Children’s Team work in a multi-disciplinary way, which includes social workers working closely with carers, statutory and voluntary agencies and Health and Education.
Section 8
Under the Act all possible efforts are made to resolve problems by voluntary means. Court orders are only sought if they will be of positive benefit to the child.
Residence Orders - settling where a child lives Contact Orders - the child’s right to contact Prohibited Steps Orders - restricting parental responsibility. Specific Issue Orders - deciding a dispute.
Local authorities cannot apply for or be awarded a Section 8 Order; they are a private law Order which would normally be used in family disputes and so forth.
Section 17
Requires the local authority to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need.
A child shall be taken to be in need if: -
he/she is unlikely to maintain, or have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him of services by a local authority
his/her health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision to him of such services
he/she is disabled.
Section 20
Section 20 states that a local authority shall provide accommodation for any ‘child in need within their area’ who appears to require accommodation as a result of: -
there being no person who has parental responsibility for him/her
the child being lost or abandoned; or
the person who has been caring for the child is being prevented (whether or not permanently, and for whatever reason) from providing him/her with suitable accommodation and care.
Section 37 – Court Reports
A Section 37 Report considers that when any family is going through proceedings in which a question arises with regards to the child’s welfare this information is presented to the court. The court will then decide as to whether an investigation of the child’s circumstances should go ahead or not. They will also decide as to whether a care or supervision order should be put in place.
Section 47-CP Investigation
Section 47 Enquiry means that social services must carry out an investigation when they have reasonable cause to believe that a child living in their area has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm.
The purpose of this investigation is to decide what should be done to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare.
Schedule 1 Reports
Financial Provision for Children – Orders for financial relief against parents
Schedule 2 Reports
Local Authority Support for Children and Families
What are Care Proceedings?
‘Care proceedings’ is the phrase used to describe the legal process by which social services ask the court whether or not a young person should go into care.
To begin with, social services will ask the court to make temporary orders (called ‘interim care orders’) while matters are investigated further and plans are made. In the end, if social services still think a care order is necessary, they will ask for a full care order to be made.
Interim Care Orders – (ICO’s)
An Interim Care Order is made by the court when a social worker has applied for a Care Order but everyone concerned is not ready for the full case to be heard. If an interim Care Order is made the child will remain in care.
Emergency Protection Orders (EPO’s) – Section 44 Children Act 1989
These orders are obtained from the court by the local authority or other authorized body, where there is an immediate danger to the child and steps need to be taken urgently to protect the child.
The court will only make an order if it considers that doing so would be better for the child than not making an order.
An emergency protection order is only a short order granted for up to a maximum of 8 days. The order grants the applicant parental responsibility but only permits him to take such action as is reasonably required to safeguard the welfare of the child
Supervision Orders – Section 31 Children Act 1989
What is a supervision order?
If the judge makes a supervision order it means that the social services department will have to help and advise whoever is looking after the child and make sure the child is well looked after. The child may live with their mother or father, or both, or another person. A social services department does not acquire parental responsibility under a supervision order. A supervision order lasts for twelve months but can be extended up to a maximum of three years.
Supervision Order Specifics
These orders are made on the same basis as Care Orders i.e. that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm.
When there is a supervision order in force it is the duty of the supervisor to:
Advise, assist and befriend the supervised child
Take steps that are reasonably necessary to give effect to the order and
Where the order is not complied with or the supervisor considers that the order is no longer necessary and therefore consider whether or not to apply to the court to vary or discharge the order.
In contrast to a care order during the life of the supervision order the child is usually living at home with the parents who retain parental responsibility.
Secure Accommodation Orders – section 25 Children Act 1989
These orders enable a local authority to place a child in a secure setting for their own or other people’s safety.
The court can make a secure accommodation order where:
A young person has a history of running away and is likely to run away from any other kind of accommodation; or
If the young person is not kept in secure accommodation he is likely to injure himself or other people.
Only children aged up to 18 years, who are in local authority care or accommodated by the local authority can be placed in secure accommodation.
Care Orders – Section 31 Children Act 1989
A care order is a court order that places a child under the care of a local council. The local council then shares parental responsibility for the child, with the parents.
These orders are usually sought by a local authority in respect of children who they believe are suffering or are likely to suffer significant harm and:
The harm is attributable to the care being given to the child not being what it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give him or
That the child is beyond parental control.
Care orders continue until the child is 18 years, unless discharged earlier. Orders can only be obtained on children under 17 years (or 16 if they are married).
Adoption and Fostering
The New Adoption and Children Act 2002
The new Act, which came into force on 30th December 2005. This Act has been the first major overhaul of adoption legalisation since The Adoption Act 1976.
The new Act relates to adoption and the provision of adoption services.
The key principles of the Act are:
It makes the child’s welfare the paramount consideration in all decisions relating to their adoption by adoption agencies and courts.
Emphasises the need to prevent delay in planning for permanence and adoption when children cannot be cared for by their own birth family.
Introduces a new permanence option called a Special Guardianship Order. This is covered by an amendment to the Children Act 1989.
Widens the range of people who can be considered as prospective adopters by allowing unmarried couples to adopt jointly.
It acknowledges the lifelong impact of adoption on all parties.
What is an Adoption Panel?
An adoption panel is a body of people who are empowered to consider whether:
A child in the care of a local authority should be made available for adoption
Prospective adopters should be approved to adopt
Particular adopters are suitable for a particular child or children
The panel’s written recommendation is passed to the agency’s decision maker for a final decision to be made.
In order for an Adoption Panel to commence the following reports must be produced;
Child’s Permanence Report (CPR)
Prospective Adopter’s Report (PAR)
Adoption Placement Report (APR)
Adoption Support Plan
Child Permanence Report (CPR’s) – Form E’s
The purpose of this Form is to enable the adoption panel and the agency decision-maker to discharge their functions under the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005. In other words the form ultimately recommends whether or not a child should be placed for adoption
Prospective Adopters Report (PAR’s) – Form F’s
Prospective Adopters Reports are a standard way of collecting, analyzing and presenting information about prospective adopters. It aims to address all the areas to be considered during the preparation and assessment process and to facilitate the provision of information.
Adoption Placement Report – (Form APR)
This is a report that the adoption agency must take when it is considering placing a child with particular prospective adopters.
Adoption Support Plan
The child’s social worker creates an adoption support plan for the child and their new family. This support plan takes into account the ongoing needs of the child following adoption. It includes arrangements for post adoption and counselling as well as adoption financial support
Adoption Order
This removes the parental responsibility of the child’s parents and passes it to the adopter
Placement Order
An order made by the court under section 21 of the Act that confirms that a child has been placed
The Local Authority will usually apply for an Interim Care Order at the first hearing. Both you, the Guardian and the children’s solicitors can make representations about this. If you do not consent to the Interim Care Order, there may have to be a contested hearing in order for the Court to decide whether or not there should be an Interim Care Order. The advice given as to whether or not to consent to an Interim Care Order varies in every case depending on the individual circumstances.
The average duration of a care case is approximately 9 months, but this depends on the individual circumstances of each case and in some cases can be less or in excess of this. There will be a succession of hearings between the first hearing and the final hearing, known as interim hearings. At the outset of proceedings, the Court will lay down a procedural timetable setting out when parties should file statements and when and what reports are needed. The purpose of the interim hearings is to ensure that work that is required to be done before the final hearing is completed, and to deal with any other issues as they arise.
The Threshold Criteria
- Before the Court can make a final Care or Supervision Order, it must be satisfied that
- The Children are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm and
- That the harm or likelihood of harm is attributable to:
- The care given to the child is not what it would be reasonable to expect the parent to give him or
- The children are beyond parental control.
This test for making the Care Order or Supervision Order is called the Threshold Criteria. The time at which the Court should be considering the Threshold Criteria is either at the date of the final hearing of the Application for the Care and Supervision Order, or the moment at which the Applicants initiated the procedure for the protection of the child i.e. started the Court case.
Harm Means Ill Treatment or Impairment of Health and Developments Development means physical, intellectual, emotional and behavioural development.
Health means physical or mental health, and ill treatment includes sexual abuse and ill treatments which are not physical.
The Local Authority has to prove that the Threshold Criteria are met i.e. that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm because of the care they are receiving or because they are beyond parental control. The standard of proof is the ordinary standard i.e. on the balance of probabilities.
Unless all parties agree on a final Order, the final hearing is likely to last two or three days although can be more. You will be expected to attend Court and give evidence at the hearing. You will only have to give evidence at interim hearings if they are specifically listed for a contested hearing i.e. there is a particular issue in this dispute. At the end of a contested final hearing, the Court decide what order to make and will give its reasons why.
Care Orders If the Court decides to make a Care Order at the Final Hearing, then a Care Order remains in force until a child is 18.
During the course of the proceedings, the Local Authority have to consider if any members of the child’s extended family are able to care for child, (known as kinship carers), should the Court make a Care Order at the final hearing. If a relative thinks that the child should live with them then they can apply for a Residence Order from the Court, but this will need to be done before the final hearing. They will need to seek independent legal advice in respect of this.
Sometimes the Local Authority wish to place the children with long term alternative carers. The Local Authority intentions must be set out in a Care Plan before the final hearing.
Once the Care Order is made, parents with parental responsibility for the children continue to have responsibility for them. The effect of a Care Order is that the Local Authority also obtains parental responsibility in respect of the child, and they can make day to day decisions about the care of the children, whether they are in foster care or in a children’s home. The Local Authority should consult and inform parents of decisions regarding the children’s education, religious upbringing and medical treatment.
The Court can also make Orders about how often you see the children, both during proceedings and once a final Court Order has been made. This is referred to as contact.
Supervision Orders Depending on the facts of the case, the Local Authority may wish to apply for a Supervision Order rather than a Care Order. A Supervision Order places the children under the supervision of a designated Local Authority. This means that the children can reside at home but only under certain conditions, an Agreement will be drawn up between the parents nd the Local Authority. Supervision Orders normally last for one year but can be extended to a total of three years. A Social Worker supervises the family under the Order and should advise, assist and befriend the supervised child.
Adoption If the Local Authority finally decide that the best option is for the child to be adopted, then they would have to return to Court for a further Order to allow them to do this. The Care Order does not give them the right to consent to the child’s adoption. If an adoption order is made, the birth parents lose their parental responsibility and the child becomes the legal child of the adopters.
Parties involved There may be several parties involved in Public Law proceedings.
The first of these will be the Local Authority (or, in some limited circumstances, the police or other authorised agency). They are called the Applicant and will have decided to take proceedings in relation to a child (or children) about whom they have concerns.
The Social Worker involved in the case will normally attend Court on behalf of the Local Authority together with a legal representative.
The Respondents in the case will be the mother of the child/children involved and provided he is married to the mother or has Parental Responsibility, the father of the child/children. It is possible for there to be several Respondents if there is more than one child involved and they do not share the same father, although in those circumstances the proceedings may be separated to avoid them becoming too complex.
If the father is not married to the mother of his child/children, or does not have Parental Responsibility then he will not automatically be a party to the proceedings, nor have the right to see the documents filed in the case, unless the father was named on the birth certificate after January 2004, in which case he will have parental responsibility automatically. Care proceedings are extremely confidential and only those who are a party to the proceedings are allowed to see the documents and case papers. He can, however apply to be joined. For this reason it is important that he is made aware of the proceedings.
If any other person wishes to be joined as a party e.g. a grandparent, step-parent or carer of the child then they will need to apply to the Court and consideration will have to be given as to whether it is in the child/children’s interests for them to be made a party.
The child/children will also be a party to the proceedings and they will be legally represented. A Solicitor will be appointed (often by the Court directly) to act for the child/children. He/she will be completely independent.
The children’s Solicitor will work closely with another representative appointed by the Court to represent the children’s interests, called the Children’s Guardian.
Role of the Children’s Guardian The Children’s Guardian is an independent person who will visit the child/children and assess their needs. The Guardian is responsible for filing a report with the Court setting out what they feel to be in the child/children’s best interests e.g. whether they think the child/children should return to live with their parents or be placed with other carers on a permanent basis.
In the course of preparing his/her Report it is likely that the Guardian will want to visit all the parties involved and ascertain their views, meet the parents, the Social workers, read through the Local Authority file, and meet with the children, foster parents and any other professionals involved with the children. It is very important that the parents co-operate with the Guardian as the Court often attaches a lot of weight to any recommendation made by the Guardian as to the outcome of the case. This is because they are independent. Ultimately however, the Guardian will give his/her own opinion as to what is in the child’s best interests. Sometimes this can be different to what the child wants itself.
Procedure The proceedings will commence in the Family Proceedings Court, unless they have arisen out of existing private law proceedings ongoing in the County Court. In some circumstances the case may be transferred to a higher level such as a County Court or even the High Court. In East London if cases are transferred up from a local Family Proceedings Court they invariably go to the Principal Registry of the Family Division which is in Chancery Lane, Holborn.
The type of case that might be transferred is one that seems complex e.g. it might require more than 4 days of Court time to be resolved, involve numerous parties or involve serious allegations of physical abuse.
The procedure for care cases is governed by the Protocol for Judicial Case Management in Public Children Act Cases. One of the main principles in Children law is that delay in deciding where a child will live etc is prejudicial, and consequently, the Protocol dictates that apart from in exceptional circumstances, care cases must take no longer than 40 weeks from start to finish. It sets out a timetable for how cases proceed.
Day 1 of the case is when the Applicant issues their application, and the Court fixes it for a first hearing, which must be within 6 days. They have to serve all parties with a copy of their application and a statement setting out their reasons for applying for an order in statement, to be served by day 3. The purpose of the first hearing is to decide what immediate steps are necessary to progress the case.
If the Respondent(s) do not agree with the Local Authority’s application e.g. for a care order, a contested hearing will need to take place in which the Court will hear evidence and make a decision as to whether or not to grant an interim order. The Court only makes a final order at the end of the case. The Court will also decide whether the case needs to be transferred to a higher Court, and will make directions for the filing of evidence. It will timetable the case, which means it will fix all necessary hearings including the final hearing, to be heard by no more than two different judges throughout the case. Consideration will also be given to whether or not experts need to be instructed to prepare reports for the Court to help them reach a final decision, and a time table set for completing any assessments deemed necessary.
If the case is transferred to the County Court there will be an allocation hearing in that Court by day 11, and if it then needs to be transferred again to the High Court, there will need to be a further allocation hearing by day 15. The reality is that it is not always possible to have these hearings within the time limit set, although the Courts must make every effort to comply with the Protocol.
The next hearing will be the Case Management Conference, which must be between Day 15 and 60 (week 8), at which the Court and parties will consider what directions are necessary to ensure that the case is progressing and that any work necessary is done within the Court timetable. The legal representatives will have an Advocates Meeting before the Case Management Conference to try and agree the directions.
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