CAO or SGO?

[Westfield141]

Hi there,

I have a bit of a complex case but hoping someone can help, as the child’s school and social services have not been useful so far.

I have been raising my partner’s child since the child was 1 year old but they are not mine biologically. They have complex needs (autism, ADHD, incontinence) and are in a SEN school for this. The child is now 11 and the mother has left him in my care. We are separated but she agrees that he should stay with me permanently as she works long hours and cannot cater to his needs.

The school have now noted me down as his guardian but I want to ensure I have parental responsibility so I can make decisions on his behalf if needed and ensure he is safeguarded. His mother doesn’t live locally either so cannot easily sign anything medical or school related. I wrote to the local authority about applying for a special guardianship order and they advised it might be easier to apply for a child arrangements order.

My question is which would be best in my situation and how do I get the ball rolling? I have read I need to complete forms and either go through a mediator or apply to a court but I really don’t know where to start. The school referred me to citizen’s advice and apparently social services are aware of my case but I haven’t been able to speak with anyone in the LA that can help.

Thank you in advance.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Westfield141

Welcome to the kinship carers’ discussion forum and thak you for posting.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group. I am sorry you have not received a response to your post until now. I see that you are caring for a child who is not your biological child, and you are doing so with the mother’s agreement.

You now wish to have parental responsibility for the child living with you and anxious to know the best way to obtain this. As you are looking after the child with the mother’s agreement children’s services are likely to view this as a private arrangement but as you have been looking after the child for some time, they should have visited you to ensure that the child is safe in your care as this may be deemed a private fostering arrangement. Please see information HERE .

Regarding the orders that would give you parental responsibility namely, a live with child arrangement order or a special guardianship order (SGO). Both give parental responsibility, but the SGO would allow you to make decisions exclusive of the mother and the father if he has parental responsibility. They would retain parental responsibility, but you would not need their agreement to make decisions regarding the child as you would with a child arrangement order where parental responsibility would be shared equally.

As the mother agrees with the child living with you it appears any application would be with consent so mediation may not be necessary. Mediation is usually required before an application for either order is made to the court.

You might find it helpful to read the information on our website relating to child arrangement and special guardian and making an application to the court.

As the child has disabilities the local authority should also provide support as he is automatically a child in need. Please see information HERE

The organisation that advises on private family law cases is Child Law Advice and their telephone number is 0300 330 5480. It may be possible to obtain legal aid for legal representation should you apply for an SGO.

Hope this helpful but should you wish to speak to an adviser you can telephone our free confidential advice line which is open from 9.30am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

Best wishes

Suzie

[Westfield141]

Dear Suzie,

Many thanks for your response, it is much appreciated.

I have discussed an SGO or CAO with the child’s mother and they have agreed to this. My understanding is we would need a mediator to sign off to confirm we would not need mediation before a court application can be made? We have also been advised a private application can be made but we need to look into this a bit further.

Thank you for all of your help in explaining the other steps and points to think about

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Westfield141

Thank you for your further post and it is good that you found the response to your earlier post helpful.

Regarding an application for either a special guardianship or child arrangement order, it is a requirement that mediation must be attempted prior to an application being made to the court. As stated in your post the mediator will be able to confirm that mediation not required as there is agreement.

An application for either order would be private family law proceedings. In the previous response there was a suggestion that you could contact Child Law Advice who will be able to advise and there are guides on their website. You can also look again at the links in the post which covers making an application to the court.

Best wishes

Suzie