Placement Orders
In cases where a Local Authority’s plan for a child aged around 6 years or less, is for the child not to return or remain in a parent’s care nor be placed with a family member, the Local Authority will usually apply for a Placement Order. If the child is aged 6 years or more, then often the local authority’s plan will be for long-term fostering under a full care order. A Placement Order enables the Local Authority to place a child for adoption with suitably approved prospective adoptive carers. A Placement Order can only be made by the Court if it considers that there is no other safe alternative placement for a child. Before making a Placement Order, the Court must consider contact between the child and their birth parents and whether or not the parents’ consent to the adoption. If a parent does not consent to adoption then the Court must dispense with a parent’s consent and can only do that if it is in the best interests of the child throughout the remainder of their childhood.
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