Children Proceedings and Dealing with Local Authorities
Safeguarding your parental rights and ensuring your child’s welfare
Clear legal advice to help you understand your options, act quickly, and feel confident in your next steps
Support and advice for parents, grandparents, foster parents, and other relatives
We fight to safeguard your parental rights and ensure your child’s welfare
Social services involvement with children: legal advice
When social services have concerns about a child’s welfare, they may step in and start a legal process called care proceedings. This is done to ensure the child is safe and well cared for. However, this process can be overwhelming and stressful for families.
We’re here to help. Our experienced child law team can guide and support you, whether you are a parent, grandparent, or another family member. If social services have contacted you, getting legal advice quickly is crucial, as their decisions can have a lasting impact on your family. We offer clear and straightforward advice to help you understand your rights and options.
Parental responsibility
Someone who holds parental responsibility can make important decisions about a child’s upbringing. For example. in relation to their education, religion and medical needs. Read more about parental responsibility.
Care and supervision orders
If the local authority believes a child is at risk, they have a duty to act. This can result in court proceedings, where different types of legal orders may be made. The most common include:
- Care orders – The local authority is granted parental responsibility for the child, but this does not remove parental responsibility from others, such as the child’s parents. However, the local authority can override their decisions if necessary to safeguard the child, including deciding where the child should live.
- Supervision orders – The local authority monitors the child’s wellbeing but does not take parental responsibility.
Legal advice is essential at this stage to ensure you understand your rights and can take action to protect your family.
Types of local authority orders
There are different types of legal orders and arrangements that can be made in care proceedings. Here’s what they mean:
Interim Care Order
This is a temporary order that gives the local authority shared parental responsibility for the child alongside the parents while the case is ongoing. They can make important decisions about where the child lives and who looks after them.
Supervision Order
The local authority does not take parental responsibility but must support and monitor the child’s wellbeing, offering help where needed.
Care Order
This is a long-term order where the local authority takes parental responsibility for the child, but the child’s parents also still have parental responsibility. The child may be placed in foster care, with another family member, or in a residential setting.
Special Guardianship Order (SGO)
This gives someone (often a relative or family friend) enhanced parental responsibility. This allows them to make important decisions about the child’s upbringing without needing the parents’ consent.
SGOs don’t always come from care proceedings – they can also be applied for separately.
Section 20 Voluntary Accommodation agreement
A Section 20 agreement is when a parent agrees to let their child stay somewhere else temporarily. This might be with a relative, family friend, or in foster care. This is because they’re not able to care for them currently, or because social services are worried about the child’s safety. Sometimes, parents ask for this kind of arrangement themselves. Other times, a social worker may ask the parent to agree to it.
The parent doesn’t have to say ‘yes’ to a Section 20 agreement. But before making a decision, it’s a good idea for the parent to seek legal advice so they understand their rights and what could happen next.
If a parent doesn’t agree to a Section 20 agreement, social services can’t just take the child without permission. They would have to go to court to get an order, or in emergency situations, they may involve the police.
Child Arrangements Order
A Child Arrangements Order is less common in care proceedings. It’s usually more common in divorce. But it can be made when the court decides that a child cannot live with their parents. Instead, the child may be placed with a family member who is able to care for them. In this case, the family member will share parental responsibility with the child’s biological parents.
This type of order is used when the local authority feels that they do not need to take on parental responsibility themselves.
No order
Sometimes, after looking at all the facts, the Court may decide that no legal order is necessary. This means the child stays where they are without any further intervention.
The court order process
For the Court to make a Care Order or a Supervision Order, they must be satisfied that:
- the child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, and
- the harm is due to the care they are receiving not being good enough, or the child being beyond parental control
This is called the Threshold Criteria, and it must be proven before an order is made.
How long do care proceedings take?
Care proceedings usually take six to twelve months, but they can take longer if expert assessments are needed. The court aims to resolve cases as quickly as possible to avoid unnecessary delays for the child.
Where we can help
We have significant experience representing parents and other family members in a range of situations, including:
- cases involving allegations of neglect
- situations where family members are accused of injuring or abusing children
- complex cases requiring detailed legal support and representation
Our expertise is valued by Children’s Guardians, so we’re instructed by them to represent children in care proceedings frequently. We’re members of the Law Society’s Children Law Accreditation Scheme (formerly the Children Panel).
Legal Aid
Legal aid is usually available for cases with social services involvement, but if not, we offer a fixed-fee initial consultation.
This allows us to take the time to understand your situation fully and provide meaningful advice. We’ll ensure that you receive full guidance and a clear legal strategy to go forward with.
We handle clients with sensitivity and understanding throughout
