Special Guardianship

The Adoption and Children Act 2002 came into force on 30 December 2005.

Special Guardianship is a legal order which is intended to offer legal permanence for children whom adoption is not appropriate. The order appoints one or more individuals to be a child's ‘special guardian'.

The Special Guardianship Order provides legal protection for children who cannot live with their birth parents. The order gives enhanced parental responsibility to the special guardian, but unlike adoption, parents retain parental responsibility.

The intention of the order is that the special guardian is responsible for the day to day decision making for the child, as well as making decisions about their upbringing, such as education.

Decision making by the special guardian will be without consultation with others who have parental responsibility.

The special guardian will not:

be able to change the child's name
be able to take the child out of the country for more than three months
give consent to the child being adopted

The special guardian can:

make day to day decisions about the child and the child's upbringing
provide a firm foundation on which to build a life long permanent relationship between the special guardian and the child
give permission for overnight stays or holidays abroad without consulting anyone else

Who can apply

Special guardians must be at least 18 years old. People can apply individually or jointly, including the below:

anyone who has consent of the council where the child is in care
local authority foster carer/s if the child has lived with them for at least one year immediately preceding the application
anyone who holds a residence order with respect to the child
anyone with whom the child has lived for three of the last five years
any person who has leave of the court to apply

Support plans for special guardians

Support plans are put together as part of the assessment process. The local authority can offer the following service as appropriate/necessary:

counselling, advice and information;
referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Salford Adoptive Families Support Service (SAFSS);
financial support;
assistance with contact arrangements;
therapeutic services;
respite care;
counselling, advice and information; and
help in accessing mainstream services.

The support plans are reviewed on an annual basis.

Financial assessment will also be completed

Financial support may be payable to facilitate arrangements for a person to become the child's special guardian, where this is considered to be beneficial to the child's welfare and to support the continuation of these arrangements after the order has been made.

Dependent on circumstances this may be means tested.

For more information about the process of Special Guardianship you can contact the Family Placement Team on 0161 779 7800 and ask to speak to Janette Toland, the Special Guardianship Co-ordinator or you can email Janette.