Kinship care policy
Glossary and definitions
- Child In Our Care - the child is 'in care' or 'accommodated' by the local authority.
- In care - a court has made an interim care order or care order, or an emergency protection order on the child which gives the local authority the power to remove the child from the care of their parents.
- Accommodated - the child is being looked after by the local authority with the agreement of the parents / others with parental responsibility under s20 Children Act 1989.
- Connected person (kinship carer) - the term used in regulations and guidance to include relatives, friends, and other persons connected to the child and who are approved as foster carers to look after the child.
- Parental Responsibility - the legal right to make decisions about a child's care and how they are raised.
- Child in Need - Under Section 17 (10) of the Children Act 1989, a child is a Child in Need if: he/she is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him/her of services by a local authority; his/her health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision for him/her of such services; or the child is a disabled child.
- Private Fostering - an arrangement where a child under 16 (or 18 if the child is disabled) who is cared for by an adult who is not a parent or close relative, where the child is to be cared for in that arrangement for 28 days or more.
- Close relative - is defined as: grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt or step-parent by marriage or civil partnership.
- Child Arrangements Order specifying with whom a child will live. It usually lasts until the child is 18. Parental responsibility is shared with the parents. Carers can apply after caring for the child for one year.
- Special Guardianship Order - Like a Child Arrangements Order specifying with whom the child will live, this court order states where a child should live and gives the carer parental responsibility. An SGO gives the carer more authority to make decisions than a residence order.
- Adoption Order - a court order made as part of the adoption process. All parental rights and responsibilities for a child are permanency transferred to the adoptive parent.
- Family Group Conference - a decision-making meeting in which a child's wider family network come together to make a plan about the future arrangements for the child