Family Rights Group | Kinship carers’ Forum

6 months ago, a Judge granted Care and Placement Orders for my nephew.

A month and a half ago, the permission to appeal application made to challenge the decision of a District Judge to not grant further assessment to address gaps within evidence was refused. It has been a significant amount of time and nothing has been heard about an appropriate adoption placement.

I have now found out that it is possible to revoke a placement order, if there has been a substantial change in circumstances - I realise time is likely very short and it may no longer be possible to make changes within my life within this timeframe. However, I wanted some information of if there is any possibility of revocation based on the issues/circumstances listed below.

The reasons the Judge did not grant further assessment/placement was -

1. He felt it would be a difficult task for me to manage the behavior and "volatile and unpredictable" nature of the parents (both of whom I have amicable relationships with). He said the parents would likely cause issues at contact, despite not evidence of any occurrence existing.

The Judge felt my calm disposition would mean that I would be pressured to give my brother free access to meeting his son, and that as a result of this - I'd not be able to safeguard my nephews interests, "nor was it tested how I'd manage contact" (as per the SG assessment)

1a. He said I would not be able to safeguard the child, nor protect him as I am close to my family and he described us as "close-knit". I would always priorities my nephew's safety, and in actuality the the safety of any child.


Are there any specific courses I could take to address this before I applied to the court for revocation and if it matters if the course is accredited? How can I address these concerns to demonstrate a change?

2. My support network was not fully established or clear - The social worker told me to have a limited number of individuals, and I articulated the people who would be able to provide this support in the final hearing but it was too late at that time.

Can my support network be expanded through the use of support groups and whatnot?

3. My availability - I am currently studying at university, in the final year of my degree. I do not attend university as frequently as we'd anticipated - only attending in person, fortnightly - So I have the time to manage coursework and assessments, whilst my nephew would theoretically be at nursery.

My partner would be around to help around the home. I was not with her at the time of the assessment, nor the final hearing and I think she would be a protective factor as she works in safeguarding of children within a school, conducting home visits and ensuring the well-being of kids in the school. I also now live with her within her home (which is owned by her).

She is fully supportive of my wishes to revoke the placement order and would be happy to apply with me.

PS - Does the six month mark mean anything in terms of the adoption plan for the child? And does it mean anything in terms of revocation?

Dear JCU25,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the kinship carers' forum.

You say that 6 months ago, a Judge granted Care and Placement Orders for your nephew. As far as you know, the children have not been placed with prospective adopters. You have since found out that it is possible to revoke a placement order and you would like some more information about this.
Some of the concerns about your capacity to care for your nephew centred around your closeness to his father/family, your lack of support network and your availability. You describe how there have been some changes in this regard and would like to know if you can apply to revoke the order and what chance you may have.

Firstly, I am sorry to hear about your family's situation and it is clear that you love and care for your nephew.

Unfortunately, the law says that only children’s services or the child who is subject of the placement order may apply to revoke a placement order. A child’s parent can apply to revoke a placement order but only if the Family Court has given them permission first and the child has not yet been placed for adoption with prospective adopters.

I would advise that you speak to the social worker about how, if possible, you may continue to have any ongoing contact with your nephew both now, and possible if he is placed with prospective adopters and beyond.

I hope you have found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Suzie.

Hi!

Thank you for your reply.

I'm very disappointed and upset to hear that. Could the parents not apply to revoke the placement order, on behalf?

I'm well over the time it takes to make the second appeal, but would it be potentially worth considering anyway?

“(1) The court may revoke a placement order on the application of any person.
(2) But an application may not be made by a person other than the child or the
local authority authorised by the order to place the child for adoption unless
(a) the court has given leave to apply, and
(b) the child is not placed for adoption by the authority."

Is it possible to request that contact is considered to be kept with myself, in terms of open adoption or so on?

Dear JCU25

Thank you for your further post. I am sorry that I was not able to reply to you sooner as the service was closed during the holiday period. I understand how committed you are to your nephew and your wish to care for or continue to have a relationship with him.

The child’s parent can apply to revoke a placement order if the court gives them permission to do so and if the child has not already been placed with prospective adopters. The court must apply the following test before giving permission to a parent to apply to revoke the order:

1) Has there been a change of circumstances since the order was made, and
2) Should the court exercise its discretion to give permission.

This is explained in fuller detail in advice sheet 3b: Adoption: challenging placement orders. If this is something the child’s parent/s are considering I would encourage them to read this advice sheet. They should then seek specific legal advice from a specialist solicitor.

Unfortunately, we are not able to advise on the merits of appeals. However, you may find the following information useful. Please see the advice at the end of the linked page about practical options for getting guidance and advice about bringing an appeal.

It is a good idea to formalise your request for ongoing contact now and post-adoption to be considered. The best thing to do may be to talk to your nephew’s social worker about this, as previously advised, and also to put this in writing to both the social worker and the Independent Reviewing Officer. This would be your starting point for discussing potential contact if you have not done so already.

We have specific advice materials about contact once a placement order is made for a child and if they are adopted which you can find here. This explains how the court has the power to make an order for post-adoption contact but that these are rare. In practice, post adoption contact is seldom imposed on adopters so whether this happens is usually dependent on the adopter/s’ discretion.

I am attaching a link to PAC UK’s post-adoption support services for birth families, for your information.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie