Keeping you safe
Sometimes families have problems that
they can’t sort out by themselves and people like your family and
friends or social workers can become worried about your safety.
They want to make sure that you have somewhere to live where you’ll
be safe and looked after. Remember, none of this is your fault.
To help make things better, they may
ask a family court to help. A family court is very different to a
criminal court where people go when they might have done something
wrong. The judge in the family court listens to what everyone has
to say and it’s their job to make these big, important decisions
for you and your family.
Because children usually don’t go to
court, it’s important that there’s someone there to tell the judge
your views and how you feel. This is where your Cafcass worker
(sometimes called a 'Children's Guardian') can help. A Cafcass
worker is different to a social worker. You can talk to your
Cafcass worker about what you’d like to happen, and they’ll make
sure that the family court hears what you have to say.
They can help by:
- making sure you are kept safe and
well.
- talking with you to find out what you think and how you feel
about everything.
- speaking to other people who care about you like your parents,
family and sometimes your teachers and social worker.
- telling the judge what your wishes and feelings are and what
they think will be best for you.
The Cafcass worker will write a report
to explain what you, and the people who care about you, have said.
It will include everything about you – your needs, wishes, and
feelings, why the local authority is worried about you, and what
they think will be best for you. The report will be shown to other
people involved, including your family and anything you tell the
Cafcass worker may be included in the report. If you are
worried about this, make sure you tell your Cafcass worker so they
can help.
The judge will listen carefully to
what everyone has to say, including your views, and then make a
decision on what’s best for you. After the meeting at court, your
Cafcass worker will make sure someone explains what the court
decided and how it affects you. Through it all you can choose to
have your say but no one should put pressure on you. If you need
help and support, your Cafcass worker will make sure you get
this.
Find out more
What are care cases?
Sometimes people become very worried
that a child or young person is not being looked after properly or
may be at risk of harm. If this happens the local authority may
start care proceedings to make sure the young person is kept
safe. As part of this they will ask the court to
decide whether or not a young person should go into care.
Young people are only go into care
when people are really worried that they are not being looked after
properly or might be harmed.
What does ‘going into care’ mean?
If
the court decides that a young person is not safe at home it will
ask the local authority to make sure there is
somewhere they can stay that is safe and where they are
properly looked after.
Sometimes young people are allowed to
go on living at home. However it is more usual for young people who
are taken into care to have to leave their home at least for some
time.
If you have to live somewhere else,
your social worker will try to see if you can stay with someone you
already know. For example, this might be your grandparents, an
uncle or aunty, or some friends of your family. If that is not
possible you may have to go and live with people called ‘foster
carers’. All the people involved will try to make sure brothers and
sisters can stay together if at all possible. They know most
brothers and sisters want to stay together, even if they argue
sometimes!
Even if you are not living with your
parents you should still be able to see them unless the court
decides they are likely to hurt or upset you. The court can also
decide how often you should see your parents and where you should
see them. This might be where you are living, or it might be at
another place such as a family centre.
What
are social workers?
Social workers help to make sure young
people are safe and properly looked after. If they think young
people are not safe or properly looked after they must take action
and may ask a family court to decide whether they should go into
care. They will work with your family to help make it possible for
you to stay safely with them. If the court decides that is not
possible, they will help to make sure you there is somewhere safe
where you can live.
What are foster carers?
Foster carers are people
often chosen by the local authority to give a home to young
people who need a safe place to live. Foster-parents may have
children of their own, or other foster children living with them,
in which case you would all live in the same house together.
What does a solicitor
do?
Children and young people in care cases also
have a solicitor to help them. The solicitor is a
lawyer who works with the Cafcass worker to make sure the
best decisions are made for children.
How long will it take to decide what is going to
happen?
It normally takes about nine to twelve
months for a court to decide what is going to happen. During that
time a lot will be happening. Lots of people will be working with
the family to try to make it safe for children to stay with them.
This may mean trying to help families to look after their children
better and helping to put things right.
What will happen in the end?
Only the court can decide what will
happen in the end. Lots of different things are possible. Everyone
will try to make it possible for children to safely stay at home
but sometimes children go to live somewhere new. This could be
with other members of their family or with friends, or it may be
with a new family or foster carers.
If I want
to talk about something, who can I talk to?
There are a lot of people you can talk
to and you should choose whoever you feel most comfortable with.
You could speak to your social worker, your Cafcass worker or your
solicitor.
If you urgently
need help or to talk to someone, please call Childline free on 0800
111.