Care and supervision orders — overview

The Children Act 1989's main concept of parental responsibility meant parents were assumed to have the duty of looking after their children, while providing for circumstances where this was not the case by making local authority social services departments responsible for ensuring that children are safe and appropriately cared for by their parents or the person(s) looking after them. Local authorities also have a general duty of care to promote the wellbeing of children in their areas.

Local authority social services departments are responsible for investigating any children in their areas where they have cause to suspect they are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.

Typically a local authority may start these investigations for any of the following reasons:

• when directed to do so by the court

• when the child has persistently failed to comply with an education supervision order

• when it suspects that a child in its area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm

• when a child is in police protection

• when a child assessment order has been made

• when an emergency protection order has been made; this is an order to protect the child from harm by removal from a place or the requirement to stay in a specific place

When a local authority becomes involved with a family in which the children are at risk, it will work with the family and involve relevant agencies and professionals.

Before a court application is made, a child protection case conference should be held, to which parents/ carers, relevant professionals, organisations and agencies are invited, to see if the child could properly be protected without a care order being made.

The Children Act 1989 created a single statutory route for taking children into care through a care or supervision order, requiring a statutory threshold to be satisfied. Once the threshold is satisfied the court will consider the welfare principle.

Where local authorities believe there exist, or find, obstructions preventing them from investigating a child, they may apply for a child assessment order to enable an assessment to be made. Courts may make a child assessment order during other family proceedings. Similarly, if urgent proceedings are required by the circumstances, an application for an emergency protection order can be made.

Once care proceedings have been started the court has options of making:

• no order

• a supervision order requiring a child to be supervised by a social worker for up to a year; the child usually resides with parents rather than in local authority care

• a residence order stating where the child should live

• a contact order detailing with whom the child has contact, with or without conditions

• a (interim) care order

The effect of a care order is that parental responsibility is shared between the local authority and parents. The care plan, accompanying any application, should be a detailed operational plan.