Children Looked After

On day one, the course will explore best practice in relation to private and public law, Children Act matters, adoption law and guidance including regulatory compliance and good practice with reference to recent case law and reviews.

Consideration will be given to:

• The legal framework – identifying the relevant statutory duties that surround children that are looked after
• The importance of human and equality rights, plus the duties to safeguard children

With reference to:

• The Children Act 1989
• The Children Act 2004
• The Children and Families Act 2014
• The Children and Social Work Act 2017
• Relevant case law and reviews

Delegates will examine the relevant legislation to include the following topics:

• Parental responsibility
• Private law
• Child in need
• The relaunched public law outline
• Care orders
• Child protection
• Placement orders
• Adoption

The course is designed for all professionals with responsibility for older children who are
looked after. The training will consider the relevant legal framework that protects older children who are looked after and the importance of their human and equality rights —regardless of whether the child is placed at home, in voluntary accommodation, in secure accommodation, is subject to care proceedings or being deprived of their liberty.

The training will explore the important distinctions between children in care by virtue of voluntary accommodation (s.20) and those in care under a care order (s.31). Consideration will also be given to roles and responsibilities around care leavers.

There will be a review of the recent decisions made by the High Court including Re T [2021] UKSC 35, Wigan BC v Y [2021] EWHC 1982 (Fam), Tameside MBC v L [2021] EWHC1814 and Re J (Deprivation of Liberty: Hospital) [2022] EWHC 2687 (Fam) which relate to children with extreme complex needs and behaviours being placed in unsuitable and unregulated placements.

We will also review the commitment of other partners and agencies to truly ‘working in partnership’ with the young person, their family, their carers and all other professionals.

• Identify how welfare decisions are made and how the relevant ‘workings out’ can be considered statute compliant
• Understand how to evidence proportionality and Article 8 considerations, recognising all realistic options, adoption being the most draconian
• Evaluate and examine the importance of parental responsibility, informed consent in decision making, including children who are Gillick competent and children that are aged 16/17
• Illustrate and understand the no delay principle and how the PLO process supports expeditious decision making for children within the Children and Families Act 2014
• Identify the ‘child in need’ provisions pursuant to s17 of The Children Act 1989
• Evaluate the key recommendations of the Review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo- Hughes and Star Hobson undertaken by the Child Safeguarding Review Panel

• Demonstrate enhanced legal literacy around relevant legal frameworks to support and drive best practice when engaged with older children
• Explore how legislation can provide an adequate safety net around children that are looked after, when it is properly understood and applied
• Ensure all welfare decisions are statute compliant
• Evaluate the consequences of inadequate responses to safeguarding older children who are looked after
• Identify the learning from recent case law when considering complex cases regarding older children
• Illustrate how that learning can promote better outcomes for children including those leaving care and transitional safeguarding