Care Orders

An Interim Care Order is a temporary Order made by the Court until a Final Care Order can be made.

Your local authority can apply for a Care Order if it is worried that your child is suffering or might be at risk of suffering significant harm. This can be done under the 1989 Children Act.

It is usually the social services department of your local authority who will apply for a Care Order, but on the rare occasion the NSPCC may apply.

A Care Order may be ‘final’, meaning it is made at the end of a Court case. Or, it might be an Interim Care Order, meaning it has been made while the Court case is ongoing.

If a Care Order is made, whether interim or final, your child will be placed under the care of the local authority, giving them parental rights over your child.

To do this, a judge will have to prove that your child is, or is at risk, of suffering significant harm. As the parent, you are given a chance to argue against this during a Court case.

If you or someone you know is dealing with a Care Order, interim or final, you should speak with an experienced Cartwright King child care solicitor as soon as possible. Remember that parents are entitled to free legal advice in these matters.

If made, a Care Order will give the local authority parental responsibility, which it will share with anyone who already has it, such as the child’s parents. This means the local authority will have the power to make decisions about your child’s life, such as who the child should live with, and may be able to override you in certain circumstances.

The Care Order will last until your child is 18 years old, unless it is cancelled sooner. This is known as ‘discharged’. Care Orders cannot be made if a child has reached the age of 17, or 16 if the child is married.

Whether a Care Order is interim or final, the local authority has to make sure you have reasonable contact with your child. This is a legal obligation that the local authority cannot ignore.

If the local authority wants to stop contact between you and your child for more than seven days, it needs a Court order to do so. The Court can authorise the local authority to refuse contact if there is evidence that this will improve the child’s welfare.

Any parent may ask the Court for an order if they think the local authority is not allowing them enough contact.

If a Care Order is granted, the local authority becomes responsible for making sure that the child receives appropriate care and that they are looked after by suitable carers.

Whether there is an interim or final Care Order, the local authority will regularly review the child’s arrangements, including the child’s contact with family members and the child’s health, medical and educational needs.

These are included in the child’s care plan. All local authorities have to appoint an independent reviewing officer who will ensure that the child’s care plan meets his or her needs and that the local authority complies.

It is important to remember that the local authority has a duty to try to keep your child within the family if it is safe and in the child’s best interests. This means it has to consider whether both parents can look after the child.

It also has to look at whether other family members (or other people connected to the child) can look after the child. It is only when these options have been considered and ruled out that the local authority will want the child to be placed in foster care, a residential home or ask for the child to be adopted.

Even if there is a Care Order, parents or family members can still look after children, it just means that the local authority will still be heavily involved in the family’s life.

Care proceedings are court proceedings that follow a Care Order or Supervision Order application to a court by the social services of your local authority (i.e the city council). 

The length of any court case is different depending on its complexity but on average, care proceedings related to child care orders take approximately 40 weeks to complete.

During child care order proceedings, a legal guardian is appointed to the child. Their role is to protect the best interests of the child, regardless of whether this aligns with the best interests of the parents or of the local authority. The guardian can be a family member, such as a grandparent, a family friend or another person that the court deems appropriate.

An interim care order is a temporary order made by the court until a final care order can be made at the conclusion of the proceedings.

When a final care order is made, it is in effect until the child turns 18 unless it is discharged prior to this

Yes, a care order can be appealed by either you or your child within 21 days of being made. 

You, your child and the local authority have the opportunity to apply to discharge (which means cancelling)  a care order at any time.  There is no time limitation on such applications. 

Yes, if it can be proven that doing so would protect the child from harm and that someone else who lives in the same household can take care of the child. 

The care order can be used to make the abuser leave the property and forbid them from reentering or even coming near the home where the child lives. 

If an arrest order is attached to the care order, then the police have the right to arrest the abuser on-site without the need for a warrant. 

If the child is removed from their home by the local authorities for more than 24 hours, the order is no longer applicable and the abuser can return. 

If the social services want to remove your child from your care, they must provide a detailed care plan to the court. This plan should detail the needs of the child and how the social services are planning to meet those needs. It should also set out a clear process for implementation and management of the care plan.

The care plan should be constantly reviewed and updated as the needs of the child change based on how they progress and adapt to their new environment. If you disagree with the care plan offered, speak to one of our child care solicitors and we will explore what steps you need to take to prevent it from being implemented.

If a care order has been made an Independent Reviewing Officer will be appointed to “look after” your child. They will be responsible for overseeing the care provided by the local authority and assisting in the care plan review procedures.

If the independent reviewing officer notices an issue and deems it necessary, they could escalate it to the Children & Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). 

A social worker may want to visit your home if someone has raised concerns about your child to the local authorities. The social worker’s goal is to protect the child’s best interests, so they will be willing to help you and advise you on how to improve your child’s living situation. Taking legal action to remove a child from their home is always a last resort. 

If you believe that your partner may violate a care order and take your child without permission, you should not allow them to have unsupervised contact with the child. 

If you worry that your child may be taken out of the country against their will, make sure to find their travel documents (passport) are kept safe and out of reach. 

You can also apply for a Prohibited Steps Order to keep your partner from seeing your child altogether. Speak to one of our child care solicitors for advice. 

If you think that your partner has already taken your child, please contact the police immediately.