What may happen next
Following an EPO, if there are still concerns for your child’s safety, the court may make an Interim Care Order or Care Order, or a voluntary arrangement is made, which does not require a court order.
You can appeal against a Care Order, but you need to know that these are not often successful. There are limited reasons allowed for an appeal, disagreeing with the decision is not a sufficient reason. You need to move fast if you want to explore this, so it would be advisable to speak to a solicitor as soon as you can. Family Rights Group give details of the specific grounds for appeal.
The safety and security of your child will be paramount, but the social worker should try to do all they can to cause as little disruption to their life as possible and should listen to your and your child’s views and take them seriously. Factors such as being able to live with their siblings or continue to go to the same school should always be taken into consideration.
If you have concerns about where your child is living, speak to your social worker and explain why and discuss any possible alternative there may be. If you are still unhappy you could ask to speak to the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) who will be appointed as soon as the child starts to be looked after. They should be in touch with you in any case shortly after your child starts to be looked after and, after the initial two meetings, at least every six months. However, if you are unhappy about something in-between reviews and you don’t think the social worker is taking your concerns seriously, you can contact the IRO between reviews.
You should be given a copy of your child’s care plan (sometimes referred to as a ‘permanence plan’) and the placement plan that has more details about the actual placement, and you should be consulted about what is in it, and especially about contact arrangements for yourself, other relatives, and brothers and sisters who are not living in the same place. The permanence plan may propose that your child should leave care to be adopted or be placed permanently with a ’special guardians’- usually but not always a relative. These arrangements have to be approved by a court and you have a right to legal aid, so it is really important that you appoint and stay in touch with your own solicitor. The court will appoint a children’s guardian (also known as ‘Guardian ad Litem’), often via CAFCASS, to give an independent view about what should happen, and this person, as well as the child’s social worker, should make sure that the court is also aware of your views. The court must always put the child’s interest first, but you have a right for your views to be listened to and taken into consideration.