Care proceedings and contact – Can I see my child? A summary
Where a Local Authority has started care proceedings, one of the first things a Court must decide upon is what the arrangements for the child or children will be whilst the wider issues in the case are being sorted out. This may involve the child or children being made subject to an interim care order, which gives the Local Authority the ability to look after the child in foster care. In these circumstances, parents and carers immediately ask about what contact they will have with their child whilst placed in foster care.
When a child is looked after by a Local Authority, the law says that the Local Authority shall allow the child “reasonable contact” with parents, any guardian or special guardian, any step-parent with parental responsibility and any holder of a child arrangements order in force immediately before the interim care order was made, broadly speaking. The Local Authority’s proposals for interim contact will be set out in the interim care plan filed with the Court.
There are a number of factors that the Local Authority will take in to consideration when determining what reasonable contact would be in the circumstances. Children may have better relationships with one parent or carer than the other, which may result in more or less contact depending on the circumstances. There may also be more practical considerations impacting on what the Local Authority feels is reasonable contact, such as travel time and distance from placement to contact, other commitments that the child may have in terms of having contact with others and other demands on the child’s time. The availability of resources such as contact centre spaces may also be a factor.
The Local Authority will hold parental responsibility under an interim care order and is therefore able to make decisions about the child and the child’s welfare, including decisions around contact arrangements. The Local Authority is to keep contact under review. If contact is going well and it is in a child’s best interests then the Local Authority may increase the amount of time (frequency or duration) that a person can spend with the child. Conversely, if contact is clearly not in the child’s interests then the Local Authority can decide to reduce the amount of time that a person can spend with a child.
The Local Authority has the legal ability to refuse to allow contact for seven days if it considered that it is necessary to prevent that contact in order to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare. It does not need a Court Order to do this. If the Local Authority wishes to withhold contact for longer than seven days then it must make an application to the Court for an order authorising it to refuse to allow contact between a child and specific people. The Court will wish to hear from the Local Authority and the other parties involved before it makes a decision whether or not to grant the Local Authority’s application for permission to withhold contact.
If your child is looked after by the Local Authority and you are dissatisfied with the amount of contact being allowed by the Local Authority, it may be possible to negotiate more contact if contact has been going well. A lot will depend on whether it can be shown that the contact is clearly in the child’s best interests. If negotiation does not succeed, it is possible to apply to the Court for a Judge to make a decision about what level of contact would be reasonable whilst the child remains in Local Authority care.
In reaching a decision about the appropriate level of contact, the Court’s paramount consideration will be the child’s welfare interests. It is generally presumed that it is beneficial to a child’s welfare to have involvement with both parents unless the contrary can clearly be shown (e.g. there is a clear risk of harm presented to the child by having contact).
If you are dissatisfied with the contact arrangements with a child in the care of a Local Authority, please contact one of our care lawyers to discuss what we can do to assist.
