Children can be taken into care when there are serious safeguarding concerns such as they are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm from the way they are looked after, or if they are beyond the control of a parent or carer.
The local authority will provide evidence to the court setting out their concerns for the child and a plan that details safe arrangements for the child and any assessments that may need to be undertaken.
The court will consider all of the evidence available to make a decision that is safe for the child, this includes whether an order needs to be made to safeguard the child, where the child should live and the contact arrangement with family. The court will try to make a decision about what is going to happen to your child within 26 weeks of the application being made. During this time key professionals will be carrying out work to further understand your child’s situation and will make recommendations to help the court to make final decisions about the child.
We are an independent service, we do not work for the local authority or the court. In care cases the Cafcass Cymru Worker is called a Children’s Guardian. A Children’s Guardian is appointed by the court and their role is to make sure children are safe and that the decisions made about them are in their best interests.
Meeting with parents / family members as part of their assessment.
The Children’s Guardian’s role comes to an end at the conclusion of the care proceedings, when the court has made final decisions about the child.
The local authority have responsibility to carry out the decisions made by the court and will remain involved with the child.
Sometimes the 'parties' will represent themselves in court. These parties are called 'a litigant in person' and they have the right to address the court in person, just as a solicitor or barrister would do. There is more information for litigants in person (LiP) in the 'Help and Support' section below.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international agreement which protects the human rights of children under the age of 18. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was ratified by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1989.
There are 54 articles in the Convention.
Articles 1-42 set out how children should be treated.
Articles 43-45 are about how adults and governments should work together to make sure all children are entitled to their rights.
In 1991 the United Kingdom formally agreed to ensure that every child in the UK has all the rights listed in the convention.
The Welsh Government adopted the Convention as the basis for policy making for children and young people in Wales in 2004.
The 'Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure' 2011, was passed by the National Assembly for Wales in January 2011.
It placed a duty on all Welsh Ministers to have due regard to the substantive rights and obligations within the UNCRC and its optional protocols.
The duty to have due regard to the UNCRC was extended further from May 2014, whereby all Welsh Ministers now need to have due regard to the UNCRC when exercising any of their Ministerial functions.
Visit the Welsh Government’s United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) website for more information.
Sometimes the 'parties' will want to represent themselves in court. These parties are called 'a litigant in person' and they have the right to address the court in person, just as a solicitor or barrister would do. If you are a LiP you may be interested in this short film produced by The Family Justice Council. The film looks at how an individual without a lawyer should represent him or herself in court about a family problem. The film looks at the questions people who have represented themselves have said they worried about most and shows simple tips for presenting your case.