Care order at 16

[Penmil]

Can someone tell me if childrens services can seek a court order of some sort even if the child is 16? I thought they could

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Penmil

Welcome to Family Rights Group Parents’ Forum.

My name is Suzie and I am an Adviser at Family Rights Group.

Your question as to whether children services can seek a court order if child is 16 can be answered in the following way:

1. The court can make a care order for a child who has not reached 17. It would therefore depend on the particular case, whether your son has special needs, and if he would already be 17 when the court hears the application. In such circumstances, children services are unlikely to make an application. A copy of our advice sheet relating to care proceedings is here for your information.

2. If you child is 16 and Children Services is involved then he or she will have the right to say where they want to live. So, for example, if child is accommodated (voluntary agreement under s.20 Children Act), children services will provide support for independent living as required for a child leaving care. Your child would not have to return home if he or she did not wish to do so.

3. Children Services could carry out an assessment for a 16 year old to ascertain if he or she is a child in need. If yes, then children services can provide support to the child and parent or person caring for child. This support could include providing accommodation. I have included a copy of our advice sheet relating to family support for you to read.

Should you wish to speak to an adviser, you can telephone our free advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30 a.m. to 3.00 Monday to Friday.

I hope you find this helpful

Best wishes,

Suzie

[Penmil]

Thank you for your reply, my 16 year old daughter moved out from the family home in september and into the home of a 39 year old male and his 42 year old brother. The 42 yr old has previously been on the sex offenders register and the 39 yr old my daughter is in a relationship with and he has also had allegations of rape and sexual offences against his daughter which he recieved a caution. Both males have risk markers with the police against their names for offences towards children. Currently my daughter is on child in need but we believe she is suffering significant harm and will continue to do so due to both males previous history, they are both drug users, my daughter has been isolated from friends and family, she is in no education or training, and she is also disabled and they have told us that childrens services can not get a care or protection order to remove her from the home as she is 16 and can choose but we were under the impression if significant harm is being suffered or likelythey can get a care or interim care order x

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Penmill

Your daughter is clearly in a very risky situation which must be extremely worrying and distressing for you.

As I said above, it is legally possible for the local authority to apply for a care order on your daughter if they assess she is at risk of immediate significant harm. The difficulty will be ensuring that the order is complied with as, given your daughter's age, she may simply refuse to go to or remain in an alternative placement.

It certainly seems that Children's Services should be doing more to safeguard and protect your daughter than they are doing. There is clear government guidance on Safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation and each local authority should also have their own policy and protocol regarding this issue. These should be being followed in safeguarding your daughter.

I would advise that you ask for your local policy and that you contact an organisation called PACE for further advice and support.

You might then consider making a complaint to Children's Services about their handling of your daughter's situation and their lack of appropriate support/ action.

I hope this helps. If you would like to discuss your concerns in more detail, please call our free and confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366 (open until 3pm today and then from 9.30am on Jan 4th)

Best Wishes

Suzie
FRG Adviser

[Penmil]

I have put a complaint in to childrens services as i believe they arent doing enough to safeguard by daughter, and also they have completed assessments on our home and family in the child in need assessment even though my daughter doesntlive here and they have done no assessments on the flat she is living in pr the people she lives with. I have a meeting on the 11th with childrens services regarding my complaint, could you explain the process for complaints please as the meeting is with the complaints lady and the line manager social worker of our social worker

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Penmil

I am pleased to see that children services are taking your complaint seriously and that you are now due to have a meeting with the social worker’s team manager and another person regarding your complaint.

This appears to be the first stage of your complaint which is to look at the complaint and see how it can be resolved. Please do read our advice sheet relating to making complaints. I am re-sending a copy here for you. Do read page 7 onwards which explains what happens at the different stages.

If you are not satisfied that your complaint is satisfactorily resolved at stage one, then you can ask to move to stage 2.
The advice sheet provides guidance about the procedures.

I hope you will find this helpful. However, should you wish to speak to an adviser, please do telephone our confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open Monday to Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

Best wishes,

Suzie