How to contact us for advice
We provide advice to parents, grandparents, relatives, friends and kinship carers who are involved with children’s services in England or need their help. We can help you understand processes and options when social workers or courts are making decisions about your child’s welfare.
Our advice service is free, independent and confidential.
To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). For Textphone dial 18001 followed by the advice line number. Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.
Our online advice forums are an anonymous space where parents and kinship carers (also known as family and friends carers) can get legal and practical advice, build a support network and learn from other people’s experiences.
Our get help and advice section describes the processes that you and your family are likely to go through, so that you know what to expect. Our webchat service can help you find the information and advice on our website which will help you understand the law and your rights.
No. Some looked after children in England enter or remain in the care system under a court order. This is because the Family Court has decided that is in their best interests. And that children’s services should have parental responsibility for them. These children are described as being ‘in care’.
But some children are looked after in the care system under a voluntary arrangement. A voluntary arrangement can be put in place without any court oversight. It is not a court order. Children’s services do not have parental responsibility for a child looked after under a voluntary arrangement. So, children in voluntary arrangements are not described as being ‘in care’. Instead, they are described as ‘accommodated’ by children’s services. See our Children looked after in the care system under voluntary arrangements (section 20) page for further information.
Children’s services departments are under a general legal duty to keep any child who is looked after in the care system safe and well cared for (see section 22(3) of the Children Act 1989). This duty applies to any child who is ‘in care’ under a court order. And it also applies to children looked after in the care system under voluntary arrangements. It is a duty that applies whatever the reason a child has become looked after.
There are a range of things children’s services must do to as part of keeping to this duty. Including making sure the views of parents (and other important family members) are gathered and are taken into account when any key decisions are being made about their child (see section 22(4)and(5) of the Children Act 1989).
Open or download this table to see the main duties children’s services have when any child is looked after in the care system. The table describes:
The two FAQs below look at What do children’s services have to do to understand the needs of child in care under a court order? And the duties and rules that apply when deciding where a child who is in care under a court order should live?
There are three types of plans that families will hear about when a child is in care under a court order. These plans must be prepared. The FAQs below explain more.
What is court ordered remand and how does it involve children’s services?
Court ordered remand is when a criminal court makes an order saying a young person under 18 is not to be released on bail whilst they are waiting for their trial.
A criminal court may remand a child to:
What happens if a child is remanded to youth detention accommodation?
When a child or young person is remanded to youth detention accommodation, children’s services do not have to provide them with somewhere to live and someone to care for them. Instead, they will be in custody and live in one of the three types of placement of accommodation:
When a child is remanded to local authority accommodation, children’s services are responsible for arranging suitable accommodation for them. They should give priority to placing the young person with their parents or wider family network, if suitable. See Where will a looked after child live? for more information about this.
For more information about looked after children and youth justice see government statutory guidance here.
What should be in the care plan for a child who is remanded by a criminal court and who must agree the plan?
Open or download this table which explains what should be in a care plan for a child who is remanded by a criminal court. And how this is different to what should be included in the care plan for other looked after children.
Children’s services must agree the care plans with the child’s parent, a person with parental responsibility. Or, if the young person is aged 16 or over the plan must be agreed with the young person themselves, provided this is practical (see regulation 4 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010). Parents as well as young people should be consulted about making and reviewing these plans. The only exception is that the court may have decided on the kind of accommodation the young people will be living in while on remand.
Once a child is looked after in the care system, children’s services must prepare a care plan for them. This is required by Regulation 4 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010.
The care plan must be kept under regular review. These reviews will happen at a looked after child review meeting. Sometimes this is shortened to just ‘LAC’ review. This process will happen when a child is in care under a court order. It will also happen where child is looked after under a voluntary arrangement.
The FAQs below explain more about the review process and how often reviews should take place.
How often should a social worker visit a child who is in care under a court order?
A child’s social worker must visit them during the first week in their new placement. After that, they should visit at least once every six weeks throughout the time the child is in care.
If it is a permanent placement the social worker will visit less often. But government regulations say this should still be at least every three months (see regulation 28 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010). A permanent placement is one that the child going to be living in long term. And until they are old enough to live independently.
The social worker must see the child alone. If they have concerns about the care being provided they must report this to their manager and the independent reviewing officer.
What is an independent visitor and will a child in care under a court order have one?
An independent visitor’s role is to:
If social workers think a looked after child will benefit from it, then they have a duty to appoint someone to become the child’s ‘independent visitor’. This person must have no connection with the local authority. The decision to appoint an independent visitor is looked at as part discussions about the child’s the care plan. It should be discussed during looked after child reviews.
Most independent visitors are likely to be local volunteers.
Examples of when an independent visitor might be appointed include where a child:
Is unable to go out independently.
When a child is looked after in the care system it is important for their wellbeing that they keep in touch with members of their family. If it is safe for that to happen. The term ‘contact’ is often used to describe who a child sees or stays in touch with. It also refers to the details of how often and in what way this happens.
Government statutory guidance makes clear that the ‘first weeks that a child is looked after in the care system are likely to be crucial to the success of the relationship between the parent, the social worker and the child’s carers, and to the level of successful future contact between the parents and the child’. It says early visits are essential, though parents may need help to cope with both their own and their child’s distress (see paragraph 2.82 in the guidance).
Open or download the table, which looks at the law and guidance about contact that applies when a child is looked after in the care system.
Our table of contact duties aims to show the duties children’s services have. And to help parents and carers see quickly see what they should be able to expect when social workers put together plans for contact for their child. The table explains:
Further information and advice about the contact duties children’s services have where a child is looked after in voluntary arrangement is available on our Children looked after under voluntary arrangements (section 20) page.
The next three FAQs may be helpful for parents and others wanting to discuss or propose contact arrangements.
Seeing or keeping in touch with brothers and sisters is often called ‘sibling contact’. Sibling contact includes contact between full and half-blood siblings.
The relevant government guidance is called the Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations volume 2: care planning, placement and case review.
Children’s services must include in a child’s care plan the arrangements for contact between brothers and sisters (see schedule 1, paragraph 3(1 ) of The Care Planning, Placement and Review (England) Regulations 2010).
These requirements help to make sure that everyone is clear what the plans for sibling contact are. And to help the arrangements to be carefully reviewed.
How should sibling contact arrangements be reviewed when a child is in care under a court order?
The arrangements for sibling contact should also be regularly reviewed. Government statutory guidance says the independent reviewing officer (IRO) should make sure review meetings consider contact between siblings. The guidance is called the Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations volume 2: care planning, placement and case review. Siblings who are looked after in the care system should share the same IRO (see paragraph 2.89).
Reviewing the sibling contact arrangements involves looking at whether sibling contact is taking place in line with the care plan (see paragraph 2.89). The IRO should make sure the child is happy with the contact they are having (see paragraph 2.85).
What if children’s services say a child in care under a court order should not see their siblings?
If a social worker has said the child should not see their siblings, the parent or carer can:
If there the difficulties with the plans for sibling contact don’t resolve, parents or carers may want to take some legal advice about their options.
Options for getting some advice include:
These key principles must be considered by local councils at all times when supporting young people leaving care.
Our advice sheet Children’s services duties to young people leaving care includes an easy to use chart explaining each different category and the related children’s services legal duties.
Some young people come to the United Kingdom as Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children. This is sometimes shortened to UASC. If they are under the age of 16, leaving care duties apply to them. This is the case whatever their immigration status is. But when they reach the age of 18 their situation is different. See our Children’s services duties to unaccompanied asylum seeking children advice sheet for information.
What help can parents or carers get from children’s services if a child in care is getting ready to leave the care system?
If a child is returning home to live with their parent, children’s services must:
Where a child has been looked after in care system for more than 20 days, children’s services must:
Parents whose children are returning home from care should also see our Children returning from the care system to parents or wider family advice sheet.
What is staying put?
Staying put is a duty on children’s services. It is about helping young people to stay with their foster carers after they reach 18 and are no longer looked after. It applies even if the young person has been looked after in the care system by a kinship carer.
The duty is in section 23CZA of the Children Act 1989. It says children’s services should:
The details of all these types of support can be found in our Children’s services duties to young people leaving care advice sheet.
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Social workers visiting children in care under court orders