Family life is not always easy, and when things go wrong, families often look to each other to help – just as they always have. Sometimes parents struggle to care for their children; illness, mental health, parental breakup, addiction to drugs, alcohol, and gambling, for example, can become overwhelming. Most of the time family and friends help out and get things back on track but sometimes that just doesn’t work and, as standards start to slip, children get caught up in the fall out. Sometimes parents hide their difficulties through shame and distress and inevitably school and social services become involved. Special guardianship can help.
Special guardianship is becoming increasingly common. Where long term care is needed, extended family members – grandparents, aunts and uncles etc. – can come forward to look after their relatives’ children permanently so that they can be brought them up within their family. Often the alternative would be foster care, or even adoption, so it is vital that relatives come forward as soon as possible to be assessed and to step in.
A special guardianship order can be made by the court to confirm that the children will live with the named carers permanently. They share parental responsibility with the parents, who should still be consulted and who will generally still have agreed levels of contact. The arrangements for contact must work for the family and meet the children’s needs. The guardians will have the final say. Special guardianship allowances are available to assist financially, subject to means, and the local authority offers support services if the children are assessed as having particular needs.
Kate Fitzpatrick, head of Graysons WE’s child protection legal team, says “These orders are so important now in allowing children to remain within their extended family. They can provide real stability and security when things have gone wrong.”
For further advice on special guardianship, or any matter relating to child protection law, please call our highly experienced team on 0114 272 9184 or email child-web-enquiries@graysons.co.uk
