Child Care and Protection: Law and Practice

Safda has practised as a solicitor in both the private and the public sector. He is a solicitor, manager, and team leader in Advocacy with Coventry City Council, Legal Services Department. Safda runs training courses across England and Wales to members of the legal profession, and other professionals.  Julie recently retired as a senior lecturer in law at Cardiff University School. She has written widely on children’s rights; adoption; and open justice. She has practice experience as a former solicitor and with Cafcass

Preface


Acknowledgements


List of Abbreviations


List of Figures and Tables


1        Glossary and Legislative Framework


1.1     Glossary of basic definitions


1.2     Orders available under the Children Act 1989


1.3     Introduction to the Children Act 1989


1.4     Changes to the Children Act 1989 introduced with the Family Court in 2014


2        Principles Underlying the Children Act 1989


2.1     Paramountcy of the welfare of the child


2.1.1  Welfare checklist


2.2     Delay is deemed prejudicial to child’s interests (the impact of the Public Law Outline)


2.3     No order unless necessary in the interests of

the child


3        Parental Responsibility


3.1     Definition, powers and duties of parental responsibility


3.1.1  Duration


3.1.2  Parental responsibility and medical consent


3.1.3  What if there is no one with parental responsibility?


3.2     Legal position of child’s birth mother


3.3     Legal position of child’s father


3.3.1  Married fathers and those who are civil partners


3.3.2  Unmarried fathers


3.4     Acquisition and loss of parental responsibility by child’s birth father


3.4.1  Parental responsibility order


3.4.2  Parental responsibility agreement with the mother


3.4.3  Joint registration of the birth by father and mother


3.4.4  Child arrangements order, specifying living with, and parental responsibility


3.5     Acquisition of parental responsibility by others


3.5.1  Relatives


3.5.2  Step-parents


3.5.3  Non-relatives


3.5.4  Guardianship


3.5.5  Special guardianship order


3.5.6  Parental responsibility, surrogacy and

the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008


3.5.7  Parental orders under section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology

Act 2008


3.6     Public funding in children cases


3.6.1  Public funding changes


4        Every Child Matters: Child Protection Procedures in Health and Social Work


4.1     Safeguarding partners, child safeguarding practice reviews, child practice reviews and child death review partners


4.1.1  Safeguarding partners and child safeguarding practice reviews


4.1.2  Child death review partners


4.1.3  Child practice reviews


4.2     Hierarchy within social services departments


4.3     Referral procedures and preliminary investigations


4.3.1  Involving the child


4.3.2  Involving families and information sharing


4.4     Child protection conferences


4.4.1  Purpose


4.4.2  Who should be invited to a child protection conference?


4.4.3  Documents


4.4.4  Decisions to be made and actions to be taken


4.4.5  Categories of abuse


4.4.6  Criteria for discontinuance of the child protection plan


4.5     Assessment of risk


4.6     Child protection plan


4.7     Child and Family Court Advisory Support Service


4.8     Local authority duty to promote welfare of children in its area


4.8.1  Duty to investigate potential or actual harm to child


4.8.2  Local authority duty to children in need


4.8.3  Services for children and their families


4.8.4  Duty to children aged under 5


4.8.5  Compliance with court order to investigate child’s circumstances, section 37 of the Children Act 1989


4.8.6  Looked after children: responsibility of the local authority


5        Emergency Protection Orders


5.1     Effects of order


5.2     Duration


5.3     Grounds for application


5.4     Practice and procedure


5.4.1  Application


5.4.2  Respondents


5.4.3  Applications made without notice (previously referred to as ex parte applications)


5.4.4  Notice


5.4.5  Service


5.4.6  Attendance


5.5     Contact, accommodation and the rights of the child


5.5.1  Contact


5.5.2  Accommodation


5.5.3  Rights of the child


5.6     Variation and discharge


5.7     Exclusion requirement under emergency protection order


5.7.1  Two notes of caution


5.8     How do ‘without notice’ orders and Article 6 of the ECHR fit together?


5.9     Emergency applications and newborn children


5.9.1   Out of hours emergency protection order applications


6        Child Assessment Orders


6.1     Effects of order


6.2     Grounds for application


6.3     Practice and procedure


6.3.1  Application


6.3.2  Venue


6.3.3  Respondents


6.3.4  Notice


6.3.5  Service


6.3.6  Generally


6.3.7  Discharge of order


6.4     Contact, accommodation and the rights of the child


6.4.1  Contact


6.4.2  Accommodation


6.4.3  Rights of the child


6.5     Appeals, variation and discharge


7        Care and Supervision Proceedings


7.1     Care order – definitions


7.2     Grounds for application for a care or supervision order


7.3     Significant harm


7.3.1  Standard of proof


7.3.2  Linking harm or likelihood of harm to the facts and test for separation


7.4     Practice and procedure


7.4.1  Applicants and public funding


7.4.2  Venue


7.4.3  Form


7.4.4  Respondents


7.4.5  Notice and court actions on issue


7.4.6  Service


7.4.7  Attendance


7.5     Interim orders


7.6     Effects of care order


7.6.1  Duration


7.6.2  Parental responsibility and care plans


7.6.3  Proportionality, kinship care and local authority accommodation of the child


7.6.4  Planning transition to adulthood


7.6.5  Contact with a child in care


7.6.6  Rights of the child in care proceedings and under a care order


7.6.7  Rights of parents of a child in care


7.7     Public Law Outline – principles, ‘fact-finding hearings’, issues resolution, interim and final hearings


7.7.1  Main principles of the Public Law Outline (Practice Direction 12A)


7.7.2  Various parts of Practice Direction 12A


7.7.3  Fact-finding hearings/split hearings


7.7.4  Practice Direction 12A checklists


7.8     Assessments and care planning


7.9     Effects of supervision order


7.9.1  Interim orders


7.9.2  Duration of care and supervision


7.9.3  Directions in supervision orders


7.9.4  Enforcement


7.9.5  Designated local authority


7.10   Removal of child from care


7.11   Variation, discharge and appeals


7.11.1 Variation and discharge


7.11.2 Appeals


7.12   Effects of the Human Rights Act 1998 on care and supervision proceedings


8        Secure Accommodation and Deprivation of Liberty Orders


8.1     Restricting liberty with a secure accommodation order


8.1.1  Safeguards


8.1.2  Criminal cases (secure orders)


8.1.3  Use of secure accommodation in civil cases


8.2     How long can a child be kept in secure accommodation?


8.2.1  Where no court order made


8.2.2  Secure order (child on remand in a criminal case)


8.2.3  Civil cases and children not on criminal remand – secure accommodation orders


8.2.4  Adjournments


8.3     Grounds for application


8.3.1  Children detained in criminal cases


8.3.2  Children in civil cases


8.3.3  Deprivation of liberty and secure accommodation


8.3.4  Welfare of the child and secure accommodation


8.4     Practice and procedure


8.4.1  Application


8.4.2  Forms


8.4.3  Venue


8.4.4  Respondents


8.4.5  Notice


8.4.6  Service8.5     Role of the children’s guardian


8.6     Contact


8.7     Rights of the child


8.7.1  Reviews


8.7.2  Attendance at court


8.7.3  Public funding


8.7.4  Right to legal advice


8.7.5  Age of child


8.8     Appeals and the Human Rights Act 1998


8.9     Deprivation of liberty orders


8.9.1  What constitutes a deprivation of liberty?


8.9.2  Applications for a deprivation of liberty order and the National DoL List


8.9.3  Use of the inherent jurisdiction and position surrounding the child’s consent


8.9.4  Court of Protection and deprivation of liberty applications


8.9.5  Shortage of placements and ongoing difficulties


8.9.6  Deprivation of liberty orders and enforceability in Scotland


8.9.7  Unregistered placements and supported placements


9        Education Supervision Orders


9.1     Effects of an education supervision order


9.2     Duration


9.3     Grounds for application


9.4     Practice and procedure


9.4.1  Application


9.4.2  Venue


9.4.3  Notice


9.4.4  Respondents


9.4.5  Service


9.5     Rights of the child


9.6     Variation, discharge and appeals


9.6.1  Appeals


10      Police Powers under the Children Act 1989


10.1   Police powers and responsibilities


10.2   Contact with child


11      Instructions and Case Preparation in Family Proceedings


11.1   Action plan on receipt of instructions from an adult or local authority


11.2   Interviewing clients


11.2.1 Checklist for information from parents


11.2.2 Checklist for Public Law Outline requirements on information from local authorities and social workers


11.2.3 Checklist for basic initial information from medical witnesses


11.2.4 Working with parents with a learning disability and participation directions


11.3   Preparation of the case


11.4   Burden of proof and standard of proof in child law cases


11.5   Special evidence rules in child law cases


11.5.1 Character


11.5.2 Best evidence and hearsay


11.5.3 Opinion


11.5.4 Statements made by children’s guardians


11.5.5 No professional privilege for medical or psychiatric reports


11.5.6 Case management hearings – ordering the evidence


11.6   Court procedure at the hearing


11.6.1 Notes of evidence


11.6.2 Order of evidence


11.6.3 Extent of evidence


11.6.4 Case management hearing/issues resolution hearing: key checklist matters for advocate to consider


11.7   Courtroom skills


11.7.1 Court manners


11.8   Transparency


11.8.1 Media attendance and reporting hearings


11.8.2 Objections to attendance


12      Children’s Rights


12.1   To accept or refuse medical treatment


12.1.1 Children aged over 16 (but under 18)


12.1.2 Children aged under 16


12.1.3 Children who lack capacity to make a decision


12.1.4 Where no available person has parental responsibility


12.2   To accept or refuse medical or psychiatric assessment


12.2.1 Circumstances in which the court may direct medical or psychiatric examination or assessment which the child has a right to refuse


12.3   To make his or her own application to the court


12.4   To request confidentiality and, in the event of disagreement with the children’s guardian, to instruct a solicitor separately


12.5   Rights of a child in care


12.6   UN Convention on the Rights of the Child


13      Other Orders available to the Court in Family Proceedings


13.1   Orders in family proceedings


13.2   Section 8 orders


13.2.1 Leave to apply


13.2.2 Considerations on application for leave


13.2.3 Duration


13.2.4 When the court may not make an order under section 8 of the Children Act 1989


13.2.5 Welfare reports in applications under section 8 of the Children Act 1989


13.3   Contact (spending time with, or otherwise having contact with)


13.3.1 Contact disputes


13.3.2 Activity orders


13.4   Prohibited steps


13.5   Residence (living with)


13.5.1 Residence and parental responsibility


13.6   Specific issue


13.7   Supplementary provisions


13.8   Practice and procedure in applications under section 8 of the Children Act 1989


13.8.1 Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings and non-court dispute resolution


13.8.2 Applications


13.8.3 Venue


13.8.4 Notice of application for orders under section 8 of the Children Act 1989


13.8.5 Respondents


13.8.6 Service


13.8.7 Applications made without notice (formerly known as ex parte procedures)


13.8.8 Withdrawal, variation, discharge and appeals


13.9   Family assistance order


14      Commencement and Transfer of Proceedings


14.1   General rules


14.2   Applicants and allocation of family case


14.2.1 Proceedings which must be commenced in the Family Division of the High Court


14.2.2 Proceedings which must be commenced in the Family Court


14.3   Transfers


14.4   Urgent applications


15      Working with Children


15.1   Appointment and role of the children’s guardian


15.1.1 Official Solicitor


15.1.2 Public funding, access to information and disclosure


15.1.3 Specified proceedings


15.2   Conflict between children’s guardian and child


15.2.1 Confidentiality


15.3   Should I see my child client?


15.3.1 Meeting a child client


15.3.2 Decisions concerning a child’s competence


15.4   Taking instructions and communicating with children


15.4.1 Guidelines on effective meetings and communication with children


15.5   Child development


15.6   Understanding your child client – race, religion, culture and ethnicity


15.7   After the case is over


15.8   Judges seeing children in children law proceedings


16      Assessment of Children in Need and Care Planning


16.1   Developments and materials


16.1.2 Resources for professionals


16.2   Assessment Framework


16.3   Care planning


16.4   Adoption issues


16.4.1 Legislation and other materials


16.4.2 Independent Review Mechanism


16.4.3 Publications


17      Appeals and Enforcement


17.1   Appeals and judicial review


17.1.1 Appeal process and when permission is required


17.1.2 Time limits for notice and procedure


17.1.3 If permission is refused


17.1.4 When will permission be granted?


17.1.5 Judge sitting in Family Court appeals


17.1.6 Lay justices/magistrates appeals


17.1.7 Circuit judge or recorder appeals


17.1.8 Judge of High Court Judge level appeals


17.2   Complaints procedures


17.3   Enforcement


18      Expert Evidence


18.1   What is an expert witness?


18.2   Choosing and instructing expert witnesses


18.2.1 Funding issues and prior authority from the Legal Aid Agency to instruct expert witnesses


18.3   Expert witness evidence


18.3.1 Expert instruction checklist


18.4   Expert evidence in court


18.5   Finding the right expert


18.5.1 Registers and directories


18.5.2 Online resources


19      Improving Law, Skills and Practice


19.1   Professional and interdisciplinary associations


19.2   The Law Society’s Children Law Accreditation


19.3   Sources of useful information and contacts for children and families, and those who work with them