Adoption statistics are in the press again. Times are changing and it seems that there has been a fall in Adoptions with Special Guardianship Orders being made instead. Most people understand what adoption means – the child gains a new legal status with new parents. His/her original parents no longer have any rights or responsibilities towards the child they gave birth to. Special Guardianship, on the other hand, means that the natural parents can still have some involvement in the life of the child whilst the special guardians are responsible and have the last say in all decision making.
Special Guardians are usually family members or close friends of the family and so in most cases they already have a relationship with the child. The court order is simply a way of being clear about everyone’s rights and duties. But they still need the local authority to carry out a very comprehensive assessment of the caring abilities of anyone asking to be a special guardian for a particular child before any order can be made. That takes time and so it is important that the social services department is told as soon as possible of someone’s wish to look after someone else’s child on a long term basis. The local authority also has to assess whether the child or potential special guardians need any help, support or guidance and this includes looking at whether the local authority should pay an allowance to make sure that the placement is possible.
Further information can be obtained from our specialist team in Sheffield.
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