Care Order
Advice
What is an interim care order?
An interim care order enables a child to be placed under the care or supervision of the local authority temporarily whilst court proceedings are ongoing. If the criteria mentioned above are satisfied, the court can grant an interim care order which can last for up to 8 weeks and can be renewed up to 28 days. There is no limit on how many interim care orders can be made.
What is a Care order?
This order allows the local authority to officially share the parental responsibility with whoever held parental responsibility before the order was made. However, the local authority will be able to exercise their parental responsibility above the current parental responsibility holders.
Purpose of a care order
The local authority will make an application when they have concerns that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm. To grant a care order the court must be satisfied that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer harm because of the care they receive or is beyond parental control. Once these criteria are met, the court will consider whether to grant a care order or a supervision order. A care order cannot be made once the child reaches the age of 17 and expires after the child subject to the care order turns 18
What happens after a care order is made?
The local authority must act in respect of the child, those with parental responsibility and anyone relevant to the child when deciding for the child. After a care order is granted by the court, the local authority should do the following:
- Take the child into their care;
- Provide the child with satisfactory accusation and maintenance;
- Safeguard the child’s welfare;
- Keep under review whether to apply for a discharge;
- Appoint an independent visitor for the child;
- Arrange the care plan to be reviewed; and
- Advice and assist the child with promoting their welfare.
Where will a child subject to a care order live?
The local authority will decide where the child will live whilst subject to a care order, they may be placed with a relative, foster parents, a group home or an approved alternative provider.
Who is allowed to have contact with a child subject to a care order?
The local authority should provide certain individuals and those with parental responsibility a reasonable amount of contact with a child who is subject to a care order.
Discharge of a care order
An application to discharge a care order can be made by the child themselves, their parents, the local authority or anyone else with parental responsibility. The application must show there has been a significant change in circumstances.
How we can help
The process of obtaining a care order can be difficult for all involved, the governance of the children can be a serious sticking point as it is not uncommon not just for each parent to want full custody, but also guardians, grandparents and so on. We would ask both sides to meet with a third-party independent family advisor to fulfil the courts requirement for Advanced Dispute Resolution. The advisor will work with all parties and decide what is best for the children, including the type of “Order” required and complete all the court forms.
Please note the driver in this will be the children themselves, they will be asked privately what solution they would like. It is then hoped that each adult will agree to their wishes. As in every negotiation there needs to be some give and take. Ultimately if there is an impasse then the court will decide.
In regard to the third-party independent family advisor please note we make no commission from these referrals. To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.
Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our appointed financial advisor and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.