Foster parent meaning

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BC v A Local Authority and others [2024] EWHC 1639 (Fam) What are the practical implications of this case? When an application to alter a name is brought not by the local authority or a parent, but by the child, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights is triggered. The child’s welfare remains the court’s overriding priority. In deciding whether a forename or surname should be changed, the court must consider the welfare checklist in sections 1(1) and 3(1) of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989). Outcomes depend heavily on the particular facts. What was the background? The child had been under a final care order since June 2022 and the local authority placed her in long‑term foster care. In 2021, her father was arrested and charged with sexual offences, including rape of his daughter (paras [7] to [18]). Within the care proceedings, His Honour Judge Shelton found the child’s allegations against her father proven. She had lived with her foster carers for more...

Original news Williams and another v London Borough of Hackney [2015] EWHC 2629 (QB), [2015] All ER (D) 99 (Sep). The Queen’s Bench Division ordered damages of £10,000 for each claimant parent. While the children’s initial removal from the family home was lawful and a proportionate step to protect them from harm, the defendant authority’s continued retention of the children after the police protection order expired was unlawful; accordingly, the resulting interference with the parents’ article 8 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) rights was also unlawful. What issues did the court have to decide in this claim? How rare or noteworthy is the decision? The background is that on 5 July 2007 Mr and Mrs Williams were arrested following allegations by one of their eight children that they would regularly use excessive corporal punishment to discipline the children. In light of those allegations, the parents were arrested and the children were placed in foster care under police protection. On 6 July 2007, before the 72 hours had elapsed....

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. What is the definition of a relinquished child? There is no formal legal definition of a relinquished child. In practical terms, the label generally describes circumstances in which a child’s parent or parents want their child to be adopted. The adoption agency An adoption agency is a local authority adoption agency or a registered adoption society. The agency’s role is to consider whether adoption is the most suitable overall option for a child. What should an adoption agency take into account when considering whether adoption is the best option for a child? The agency must have regard to the welfare checklist set out in section 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (ACA 2002) when deciding whether adoption is in a child’s best interests. This confirms the principle that a child’s welfare is the paramount consideration and that any delay in reaching the decision is likely to prejudice the child’s welfare. The...

Who can be the guardian of a Child Student? The Immigration Rules, Introduction, para 6.2 (Immigration Rules, Introduction, para 6.2(b)) sets out definitions for key terms such as ‘legal guardian’, ‘parent’ and ‘private foster care arrangement’. A ‘legal guardian’ is defined as ‘a person appointed according to local laws to take care of a child’. In the UK, questions of a child’s legal guardianship are typically decided by the family courts, or arise where parents have named a guardian to act if they die. That said, legal systems in other countries follow different procedures. Whether an individual has been duly appointed as a legal guardian ‘according to local laws’ in another jurisdiction is a matter of foreign law. Foreign law is treated as evidence and will usually need to be established by expert evidence (Hussein (Status of passports: foreign law) [2020] UKUT 00250 (IAC) (not reported by LexisNexis®UK)). Such expert evidence may include a letter from a lawyer qualified in the relevant jurisdiction, confirming the process by which the...