Children Placed Against the Wishes of the Birth Parents
The majority of children requiring permanent placements will be subject to a supervision requirement imposed by the Children’s Hearing. The supervision requirement will specify where the child should live and who they should have regular contact with. When the Local Authority decides that a child should be registered as requiring permanence, the Children’s Hearing will be asked to provide the court with their advice on the plan.
Subsequently, when the child is moving to prospective adopters or permanent carers the Children’s Hearing will be asked to agree to the move. In most cases the child will continue to be subject to a supervision requirement until the adoption order or permanence order is granted.
Birth parents have a right to attend Children’s Hearings, and also to know where and with whom their children are living. These details may be withheld if a strong case can be made that it is not in the child’s interest to share them, for example, if the child or their carers were thought to be at risk from the parent.