Child protection proceedings
A difficult and complex area of family law
Legal, practical advice and emotional support
Child protection, which requires balancing the rights of parents but ensuring children are protected from significant harm, is one of the most difficult and complex areas of family law.
Where children are considered at risk of significant harm, a Local Authority can remove them from the home by obtaining a temporary order (known as an interim care order) on the grounds of concerns for their welfare. We understand how distressing the involvement of a Local Authority’s social services department can be and our objective is to help you resolve matters positively wherever possible, and ensure families have the support they need to care for their children.
What are care proceedings?
Care Proceedings are court proceedings issued by the children’s services department of the Local Authority where an application is made for a Care Order or Supervision Order relating to a child deemed to be at risk of significant harm.
We have seen time and again how upsetting and difficult such investigations can be and can help engage with social services to resolve them as effectively as possible.
Who can attend the court hearings?
The child’s parents and anyone else who holds Parental Responsibility for the child will be a ”party to proceedings”. If you are a party to proceedings this means that you have a right to attend each court hearing and to be privy to all reports and evidence which is pertinent to the court proceedings.
How Jones Myers can help
All of our children law specialists are members of the Law Society Children Panel, meaning they are able to represent children in care proceedings, either directly or through their court appointed guardians. As highly experienced court advocates, our family law experts can also represent you in court or work with specialist barristers.
We have dealt with a range of issues leading to care proceedings, including injuries to children, alcohol and substance abuse, sexual abuse, alleged factitious and induced illness, when care proceedings involve children who are nationals of other countries, proceedings involving parents with capacity issues, and proceedings where parents or children are experiencing mental illness.
We have a long standing reputation in this field and have built excellent professional relationships with the courts, judges, solicitors, barristers, experts and social workers. Much of our work is referred to us by professionals in the field, particularly solicitors and barristers.
As one of a small number of family law firms with a Legal Aid Contract, we can offer legal aid to fund your case in certain circumstances and providing you are eligible. We can quickly make an assessment at a first meeting. If you are a parent or somebody with Parental Responsibility for a named child(ren) in care proceedings, then you automatically qualify for non-means/non merits tested Legal Aid.