29 Care Proceedings
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2. Who can make decisions about my child´s care?
3. Why would social services get involved in my child´s care?
4. What happens when social services start care proceedings?
5. What happens at the first hearing?
6. What orders can the court make at the first hearing?
7. Who will represent my child during proceedings?
8. What happens after an interim order is made?
9. How do I prepare for the final hearing?
10. What happens at the final hearing?
11. How does the court make its decision?
The court can make a care or supervision order only if it believes that the ‘threshold criteria’ have been reached. The ‘threshold criteria’ mean that:
- your child has been seriously harmed or is at risk of being seriously harmed in the future; and
- this harm is because the care you have given your child has fallen below what would be reasonable to expect a parent to give, or because your child is out of your control.
Harm includes not just the child being ill-treated themselves, but also a child ‘seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another’.
If the court finds that the threshold criteria have been met, it will then decide what order to make after considering:
- the local authority’s care plan; and
- what you and the guardian say would be best for your child.
The court can make an order only if it believes that this will help your child. In most cases, the court will look at whether:
- it thinks that the harm or risk of harm is likely to happen again; and
- you are willing and able to take steps to deal with social services’ concerns about your child’s care.
If the court believes an order should be made, it will decide what is in your child’s best interests according to the ‘welfare principle’ and a list of factors known as the ‘welfare checklist’. The order should be the minimum needed to protect your child. The fact that the court feels that the threshold criteria have been reached does not necessarily mean you have done anything wrong. The court may accept that you have been trying your hardest but you still can’t provide the right care for your child.
12. What types of order can the court make?
13. How long does a care order last?
14. How can I apply to end a care order?
The leaflets are regularly updated but the law may have changed since they were printed so the information in them may be incorrect or out of date.
Leaflet Version: January 2006