Child protection
If a local authority considers that a child needs protection from significant harm it can start care proceedings in a family court and apply for orders to safeguard the child. The court can only make order where this will make a positive contribution to the child's welfare.
Care proceedings
The local authority makes its application to the court and sends the application to the parents. The local authority may ask the court to consider making an interim care order or an interim supervision order at the first hearing. The court appoints a children's guardian from CAFCASS to represent the child. The children's guardian appoints a solicitor for the child. The parents should find a family law solicitor who is a specialist in child care law as soon as possible so that they can be represented at the first hearing. Legal representation is available under the Legal aid scheme without charge for parents.
Care proceedings generally last at least 9 months. There is a substantial guidance document for the courts, lawyers, expert witnesses and other professionals involved in the proceedings explaining the steps they must take to ensure that cases are completed without delay. View the Public law Protocol document. Under the protocol cases should normally be completed within 40 weeks.
The key stages in care proceedings are the First Hearing, Pre Hearing Review and the Final Hearing.
At the First Hearing (also known as the First Directions Appointment) the court considers any applications for interim orders (that is temporary orders) and makes directions for the handling of the case, for example:
- Direct that the case should be transferred from the Family Proceedings Court to the County Court
- Direct that the local authority should undertake assessments and file evidence
- Appoint experts to provide assessments or other evidence
- Set the timetable for the case and fix future hearings.
At the Pre Hearing Review the court clarifies what issues are in dispute and makes sure that the case can be decided at the Final Hearing. In many cases the parents accept that their child has been harmed or is at risk.
At the Final Hearing the court considers the matters still in dispute. Where the parents do not accept that the child has been harmed the local authority has to prove this before the court can consider what orders should be made for the child's future care. In complex, disputed cases, this may involve a separate hearing about what has happened to the child. Once the court is satisfied that the child has been harmed or is at risk of harm, it considers evidence about the child's needs and about how these can be met. In particular, it considers proposals from the child's family about arrangements for his or her care, the local authority's plan for the child and the report of the children's guardian. At this stage the child's welfare determines the orders (if any) the court makes.
Orders
A court can only make these orders if it finds that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm.
An Emergency Protection Order allows the local authority to remove the child from where it is living or to prevent removal, for example from a hospital or a foster home. These orders can be made without notice to the parents or carers. The order can only last for 8 days but it can be extended for up to 7 days. Children can only be removed or detained using an EPO where this is necessary for their welfare. In most cases an emergency protection order will be followed by care proceedings.
A Care Order gives the local authority parental responsibility but does not remove parental responsibility from the parents. The local authority can then make decisions which are necessary to safeguard and promote the child's welfare.
A Contact Order the court can decide if a person (a parent, relative, or friend) can have contact with a child in care. If the local authority wants to end or restrict contact it must apply to the court (in the care proceedings or afterwards) and prove that this is in the child's best interests. If a parent, a relative, a friend or the child wants more contact than is allowed, he or she can apply to the court. Before applying to court, contact should be discussed with the child's social worker. If there is a Residence Order, Section 8 Contact Orders can be made.
A Supervision Order imposes upon the supervisor (usually a local authority social worker) a duty to advise and assist the supervised child. The supervisor can direct a person with parental responsibility or the child's carer to do specific things, for example to attend sessions at a family centre or take the child to nursery.
A Residence order sets out the arrangements for where the child lives and who looks after him or her. Residence Orders are often made in care proceedings instead of Care Orders where a child goes to live with a relative. Alternatively, relatives may prefer to be approved as foster carers and look after the child while he or she is in care.
A Residence Order gives the people with the order parental responsibility so that they can make decisions about the child. It normally lasts until the child reaches the age of 16 but the court can extend it until the child is 18, or revoke it. A person with a Residence Order cannot change the child's name, nor take them abroad (even for a holiday) for more than 1 month, without getting permission from everyone with parental responsibility or from the court. Making a Residence Order in favour of carers does not remove the parents' parental responsibility. Parents remain responsible for maintaining their child.
Orders in care proceedings
- If the court makes a Care Order it must also consider the arrangements for contact between the child, the parents and other family members.
- Instead of a Care Order, the court may make a Residence Order, for example if care by a relative is in the child's best interests.
- When it makes a Residence Order it can also make a supervision order to support the arrangement and other Section 8 Orders.
- The court can make a Supervision Order without any other orders.
- If the court accepts that it is in the best interests for the child to be adopted it will make a Care Order and a Placement Order. This allows the local authority to start making arrangements for the child's adoption. The Adoption Order is made after the child is settled in their new family.