Care Proceedings Solicitors
“Amazing service from start to finish. Jennifer was brilliant, always kept me up to date with things I needed to know. Went above and beyond to help.”
Child Protection Solicitors for Care Proceedings
Our Care Proceedings Solicitors sympathise with how complicated life can become, especially with children. In most cases, a life-changing incident, or even a string of adverse events can unexpectedly attract the concerns of Children’s Social Services. We can help you with advice and a clear path to get back on track, so you and your children can move forward without the worry of child protection.
You will be pleased to know that you’ve come to the right place. Leonard Solicitors is accredited by the Law Society’s Children Law scheme, with one of our Solicitors being a member of the Children’s Panel. We have 30 years of experience in dealing with social services and helping those who have been issued with Care Proceedings. Anyone is entitled to Legal Aid if they have received a Letter Before Proceedings (Care Proceedings) or a Letter of Issue from a local authority, and we are one of the few law firms on the South Coast to hold a family law legal aid contract. That means that you won’t pay for our legal fees or any other costs.
What is Care Proceedings?
Care Proceedings is the term used when a Local Authority, usually Children’s Social Services, have concerns that a child is at risk of harm or has been subjected to abuse. Depending on the circumstances, the local authority will either outline their concerns in what is called a Public Law Outline (PLO) meeting, or they will immediately issue care proceedings. During PLO, they will aim to work with you to improve any conditions and eliminate concerns. Our Care Proceedings Solicitors can sit in on these meetings and provide you with advice and explain your rights throughout the process.
What happens if social services believe my children are in danger?
If social services believe that your children are in immediate danger or you have restricted access for them to make an assessment, they are likely to apply for an Emergency Protection Order (EPO).
An EPO can be applied for a maximum of 8 days, and if there is a risk of significant harm, can be extended for an additional 7 days. With an EPO in place, it will allow the local authority to temporarily remove the child from your care or prevent you from taking the child out of the area.
Alternatively, social services may apply for an Interim Care Order (ICO) if they believe there is significant neglect or risk of harm towards the children. An ICO allows the local authority shared parental responsibility for 26 days, or in some cases until a decision has been made in a Final Care Order.
A Care Order sets out what happens to the children going forward and will typically involve where the children will live, whether you are allowed contact and if so, for how long.
Who will look after my children if they are taken into care?
If your children are taken into care, social services will place them with a Local Authority Foster Parent. The foster parent will look after your children and be responsible for them during Care Proceedings. A Judge will decide in a final care order whether the children should remain with the foster parent or go back into your custody.
It’s worth knowing that you can nominate a willing Alternative Carer. An alternative carer cannot be anyone that you live with but can be a relative or friend. Our Care Proceedings Solicitors can provide you with advice on alternative carers, however, the person you nominate will have to go through an assessment and DBS check.
What can we do to help you?
We recommend that you get in contact with us as soon as social services have invited you to a PLO meeting. As previously mentioned, we can provide you with the advice you need and build a plan for you and your children to prevent any concerns from escalating.
If the situation is beyond this stage, and the evidence brought against you leads to Court proceedings, we can only bring your side of events to the Judge and present any mistakes that social services have made during the proceedings. In most cases it is best to comply with the local authority, take into consideration their concerns, and do exactly what they recommend, otherwise, this can go against you in Court. We can help you with assessments and parenting courses to show that you are taking steps to improve your ability to look after the children yourself, and better your chances for the future.
Should the outcome of the Final Care Order mean that your children are in the care of someone else, all is not lost. We can work with you to discharge the care order, but this requires a lot of work, on both sides. We understand that such an event will cause a lot of emotions, but you must stay on track in making a positive change.
To discharge a care order, we will need to prove that you have taken all reasonable steps to improve your lifestyle and attitude towards parenting. Our Care Proceedings Solicitors are experts at explaining exactly what it is that you need to do to regain full custody of your children again.
In addition to the advice from our Care Proceedings Solicitors, you may also find the following website useful:
Related pages
At your service
Who will look after my children if they are taken into care?
If your children are taken into care, social services will place them with a Local Authority Foster Parent. The foster parent will look after your children and be responsible for them during Care Proceedings. A Judge will decide in a final care order whether the children should remain with the foster parent or go back into your custody.
It’s worth knowing that you can nominate a willing Alternative Carer. An alternative carer cannot be anyone that you live with but can be a relative or friend. Our Care Proceedings Solicitors can provide you with advice on alternative carers, however, the person you nominate will have to go through an assessment and DBS check.
What can we do to help you?
We recommend that you get in contact with us as soon as social services have invited you to a PLO meeting. As previously mentioned, we can provide you with the advice you need and build a plan for you and your children to prevent any concerns from escalating.
If the situation is beyond this stage, and the evidence brought against you leads to Court proceedings, we can only bring your side of events to the Judge and present any mistakes that social services have made during the proceedings. In most cases it is best to comply with the local authority, take into consideration their concerns, and do exactly what they recommend, otherwise, this can go against you in Court. We can help you with assessments and parenting courses to show that you are taking steps to improve your ability to look after the children yourself, and better your chances for the future.
Should the outcome of the Final Care Order mean that your children are in the care of someone else, all is not lost. We can work with you to discharge the care order, but this requires a lot of work, on both sides. We understand that such an event will cause a lot of emotions, but you must stay on track in making a positive change.
To discharge a care order, we will need to prove that you have taken all reasonable steps to improve your lifestyle and attitude towards parenting. Our Care Proceedings Solicitors are experts at explaining exactly what it is that you need to do to regain full custody of your children again.
In addition to the advice from our Care Proceedings Solicitors, you may also find the following website useful:
