This is the last hearing in a court case, when the court makes the final decision or order about the application that has been made. But sometimes in care proceedings, courts make a final decision at [..]

There is no one definition of emotional abuse in the law and it can include many things like: continuing and severe ill treatment of a child so that the child’s confidence and self worth is badly hurt [..]

This may be a friend or someone in your community who you take with you to meetings with social workers (and other professionals) to help you remember what you want to say and to remind you of what wa [..]

Sometimes a court or a social worker thinks it is best for a child if someone else is present when a child’s has contact with someone (perhaps a parent they don’t live with). This is to make sure the [..]

A Special Guardianship Order is a legal order which says that a child will live with someone who is not their parent on a long-term basis. In theory, the order can be ended before the child is 18 but [..]

A child is looked after on a short break arrangement when: the child has a series of placements, no single placement lasts more than 17 days and the total time they are looked after in any 12 month pe [..]

See: Special Guardianship Order.

Sexual abuse can mean many different things. Broadly speaking, it means getting a child involved in sexual activities, whether or not violence is used and whether or not the child is aware of what is [..]

This is the part of the law (section 47 of the Children Act 1989) that says Children’s Services must  enquiries when they suspect a child may be at risk of harm. This is also sometimes called a Child [..]

The purpose of the child protection review conference is to look at whether or not there are still serious concerns about the safety of the child and how well the parents can care for and protect him [..]