Going to court is a formal process but cases about taking children into care are not like criminal trials. Most of the people there will be directly involved in your case. Judges or magistrates make decisions on what will be best for your child. The only other people who might sometimes be there are reporters from the media. The media are allowed to attend most family court hearings now but there are limits on what they can report, for example, they may not always be able to publish details of what happened in court and what was said in evidence – especially in cases about children. Reporters are not allowed to publish any personal information that could reveal your identity. There is separate guidance produced to assist you. You will be able to have your say through your solicitor or barrister. Your child will be asked for their views before the court hearing by a children’s guardian – an independent person who will then tell the court what your child’s views and feelings are. You may have to go to court several times, so that the judge or magistrates can get all the facts about your case. The judge or magistrates might ask you and /or your child to come to other appointments (known as assessments) with people like child psychologists or adult psychiatrists to discuss your child’s care or needs. They will also ask for a written report. Your solicitor would receive a copy and discuss it with you. The decision about what happens to your child will be made by the judge or magistrates – not by your local authority.
Make sure you go to court. As soon as you are told when you have to go to court, make a note of it. Think about how you will get there and what you will need to bring. You should not take your child to court. Someone else will need to look after your child and it may be a long day. If you cannot find anyone to look after your child, tell your local authority as soon as possible. They may be able to find someone to help. On the day, make sure you get to court in plenty of time. If the judge or magistrates ask for assessments to be made, you must help the people making the assessment to get the information they ask for. Keep any appointments with your child’s social worker or other people (like health visitors or drug and alcohol workers) during the court process. Also, if your child lives at home, you are responsible for making sure they are able to meet the children’s guardian, whose solicitor or barrister will represent your child in court unless your child is of sufficient age and understanding to instruct their own solicitor. The court process can take several months before a decision is made. During that time, you may have to meet several different people or arrange for your child to do so and to engage in several assessments.
If you don’t agree with the local authority’s view on how you should change the way you look after your child, or don’t keep to an agreement you have made with them, or your local authority continues to have concerns about the way you look after your child, your local authority will almost certainly apply to the court about your child. They will ask the court for permission to take your child into care or to get legal rights to make decisions about your child’s life and what they do. If your local authority thinks your child is in serious danger of being harmed, they can apply to court at any time without making an agreement.
Your solicitor will tell you. The local authority may also send you a letter. You may not get much warning, but you must still attend.
At court, the judge or magistrates will ask your local authority to explain why they think your child should be taken into care. You will also be asked what you think. In general, you should let your solicitor answer the questions, because they know how to put your points across in the right way. But sometimes the judge or magistrate will speak to you. Because cases about taking children into care are very important, you will normally go to court more than once. After you go for the first time, the judge or magistrate will want to get more information. They may ask for some assessments to be made to help them decide.
The judge or magistrates decide what happens – not your local authority.
They can decide that:
In general, your child should not go to court with you but sometimes the judge may want to see your child. If your child expresses the wish to go and see the court or to see the Judge then you should inform your solicitor straight away so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
A children’s guardian is appointed by the court to help it work out what the best thing would be for your child. They do not work for your local authority. Their job involves meeting your child, meeting you and other members of your family. They may also meet your child’s teacher, social worker and doctor. By talking to all these people, they try to work out: what your child thinks about the way they are looked after and where your child would like to live. They then write a report for the court setting out your child’s views and also saying what they think would be best for your child. Their view may not be the same as what your child says they want.
To make sure your child’s views are heard by the judge or magistrates, your child should have their own solicitor. Normally, the children’s guardian will appoint a solicitor for your child and give the solicitor their report. The solicitor will then use this report to explain your child’s views. If your child is old enough, they will be allowed to speak to their solicitor directly.
A court can ask for lots of different assessments of you and your child but they must be necessary to help the court deal with your case justly. For example:
The court does this to try and find out all the facts about you and your child to help make the right decision. If the court asks you to go to an assessment, or allow your child to be assessed, you should do it. If you don’t, the court will want to know why and may have to make a decision about your child without this information.
It normally takes no more than 6 months for a court to decide what will happen to your child. Sometimes, if lots of assessments are needed by the Court, it can take longer.
Until the court makes a final decision, it will decide if, for the time-being, your child will either:
This depends on whether the court thinks your child is in such danger of being significantly harmed if they stay with you in the short term, that their safety demands that they be removed from your care during proceedings. If your child is taken into care, you will normally be allowed to see them. The local authority must agree with you reasonable arrangements for when you can see your child. This could be supervised at a contact centre or supported in the community depending on the risks in your case.
If your child stays with you, you are responsible for making sure your child goes to all the appointments arranged for them.
If you don’t agree with the local authority in respect of contact arrangements, then you can ask your solicitor to make an application to the court to define what contact should be taking place.
Abuse – The law says there are four types of child abuse: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. If a child is being abused in any of these ways, the local authority will take action and will think about taking the child into care.
Adoption – A child becomes adopted when a court makes an adoption order. The order can be made even if the child’s parents do not agree. The adoption order removes parental responsibility from the child’s parents and passes it to the adopters. They become the child’s parents and are responsible for all aspects of the child’s care and for making all the key decisions about them. The birth parents are no longer the child’s parents and cannot have him or her back.
Assessment – A court can order assessments to take place if they are necessary as part of making its decision about how a child should be looked after. These assessments involve professionals such as doctors, psychologists or counsellors meeting a child or the child’s parents and finding out information to report back to the court. Hair strand or blood testing for drug and alcohol use can also be sought. In some cases a residential assessment of a child with a parent in a special home may be necessary.
Care – Care normally refers to what happens when a court decides that the child should not live with their parents. The child goes into care and lives in either a foster home or a children’s home. It can be for a short while or for some years.
Court order – A court order is something a judge or magistrates can make. It can be about all sorts of subjects from where a child should live to who is allowed to have contact with a child in care. Examples include: a care order or a supervision order. If someone does not follow a court order, they can be taken back to court.
Harm – If a child has suffered significant harm (ill-treatment), or is thought to be at risk of significant harm, the local authority will get involved in the child’s life to try to protect them. This can be the start of care proceedings.
Letter before proceedings – A letter before proceedings is a formal letter. It invites you to come to a PLO meeting with your local authority because they are worried about your child.
Long-term fostering – This is when a looked-after child stays with a foster carer until they reach adulthood.
Neglect – Neglect is when a child does not get the care they need. That includes food, warmth, safety, education and general attention.
Parental responsibility – Parental responsibility is the legal right to make decisions about your child’s life.
It is better to take this as meaning: when do you have obligations to your child rather that what rights do you have in relation to your child.
Pre-proceedings (“PLO”) meeting – A pre-proceedings (“PLO”) meeting is a key part of the process the local authority uses to decide whether or not to go to court about your child. The aim is to agree how you will change the way you look after your child.
Child Arrangements Order “Lives With” – This used to be known as a Residence order. This is a legal document from a court which says who a child should live with. That person will have parental responsibility for the child. It will usually last until the child is 18.
Special guardianship – A family member, family friend or the child’s foster carer can ask the court to become the child’s Special Guardian. A Special Guardian has ‘over-riding’ parental responsibility for the child. They become responsible for everything to do with the child’s care and for taking decisions to do with their upbringing. However, they cannot consent to the child’s adoption, give them a new name or remove them from the UK for longer than 3 months. A Special Guardianship Order lasts until the child turns 18.
Children’s guardian – A children’s guardian is an independent person appointed by the court to work out what the best thing would be for your child. They do not work for your local authority. Their job involves meeting your child, meeting you and other members of your family. They may also meet your child’s teacher, social worker and doctor. They then write a report for the court saying what your child’s wishes and feelings are and what they think would be best for your child.
Children’s services – The part of your local authority that deals with all the local authority’s services for children. It used to be known as “social services.”
Judge– A judge is the person who makes decisions.
Magistrate – Magistrates make decisions in some family court cases. Normally there are two or three magistrates who work as a “bench”. This means they make decisions together.
Family Group Conference – A Family Group Conference is a meeting that brings together friends and extended family in a situation where there is a problem in a family, usually involving a child. An independent person called a coordinator brings the family and friends together to discuss and make a plan about what help they can provide to you.
Litigation Friend – Legal matters can be difficult to understand. If the court does not think that you can make decisions about your court case, that you lack capacity, the court may decide that you need a “litigation friend” who can tell your solicitor what to do. A litigation friend must ask you about what you want but must make decisions in your best interests. A litigation friend can only make decisions about what is happening in your court case. When there is nobody else able and willing, the official solicitor can act as your litigation friend if asked to by the court to do so.
Solicitor/barrister – A solicitor, solicitor-advocate, chartered legal executive or barrister is someone qualified in the law who helps people put their side of the story in court and in other situations where they need help. Solicitors, solicitor-advocates, chartered legal executives and barristers are sometimes called lawyers.
Legal aid helps people to get free legal advice when they cannot afford to pay for it themselves. Where a parent has received a letter before court proceedings from a local authority they are entitled to free legal advice.
Boyd Carter and Vikram Kumar are members of The Law Society Children Panel, and are specialists in Care Proceedings. HAB Law can provide Legal Aid to eligible clients country-wide.
There are lots of organisations that can help parents who are going through care proceedings. Here are some of them:
Civil Legal Advice – Free, confidential and independent legal advice online. You can also find a legal adviser in your area. Telephone: 0345 345 4345 (calls charged at local rate) Website: https://www.gov.uk/legal-aid/overview
Family Justice Council – You might find it helpful to go through the Family Justice Council’s booklet “The Court and your child: When social workers get involved” with your solicitor. Your solicitor can get a copy for you from the internet: www.judiciary.co.uk on the publications page.
Family Rights Group -A charity that advises parents and other family members whose children are involved with or require social care services. Confidential advice line: freephone 0808 801 0366 ( Lines open 10am-3:30pm Monday to Friday) Website: www.frg.org.uk
Parentline Plus – A national charity that works for, and with, parents. Telephone helpline: 0808 800 2222 (calls are free from BT landlines and most mobile networks. Lines open 24/7) Website: www.parentlineplus.org.uk
Refugee Council – Provides help and support for asylum seekers and refugees who are involved in care proceedings over the phone or through its offices across the country. Telephone: 020 7346 6700 (calls charged at national rate) Website: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
Samaritans – Confidential emotional support on any issue. Available 24 hours a day. Telephone: 116 123 (calls charged at local rate.) Website: www.samaritans.org
Women’s Aid – Support for women and children affected by domestic violence. 24 hour telephone helpline available and contact details of 500 local support services. Telephone: 0808 2000 247 (calls free from a BT landline) Website: www.womensaid.org.uk
Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) – Free face-to-face information and advice on legal, money and other problems. Find your local CAB at www.citizensadvice.org.uk or in the phone book. Or go to www.adviceguide.org.uk for reliable information.
Cafcass – The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, looks after the interests of children involved in family proceedings. They work with children and their families and then advise the courts on what they consider to be in the best interests of individual children. The Cafcass website contains lots of useful information and leaflets about parents separating, Contact and about Care proceedings. There are even some leaflets especially prepared for children to understand. http://www.cafcass.gov.uk/
Information in this document is adapted from that Published by the Care Proceedings Programme, Ministry of Justice. Version 0.1 © Crown copyright 2010.
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