14yr old on a section 20

[Citshen]

I have voluntarily agreed to a section 20 for my 12 yr old daughter. I assumed she needed her space for some reason yet no one will tell me why. I have asked on a number of occasions what concerns there are but nobody can tell me anything. All I know of that I am being ignored by the social services and the school who originally raised "massive concerns" for my daughter.
I took her make-up from her in the morning along with a mini skirt before she left for school. The next thing I know is I'm bring asked to agree to a section 20. I have asked what these concerns are and I am being ignored and fobbed off. All I get is "let's see where we want to go moving forward" from the social services despite me continuously asking what these concerns are.

Whar happens if I revoke my permission on the section 20 and request my daughter be returned to the home? What happens if they don't bring her back?

Thank you in advance.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Citshen

Welcome to Family Rights Group’s parents’ forum and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear about the difficulties your family is currently experiencing.

Your daughter is currently in a section 20 voluntary foster placement. However, you have not been provided with a full explanation of why you have been asked to agree to this, for how long, what the concerns for your daughter are nor what your rights are.

The first thing to be aware of is that section 20 is a voluntary arrangement, you continue to have parental responsibility for your daughter and Children’s Services’ do not. The care plan for your daughter needs to be agreed with you and you have the right to end your agreement to the arrangement at any time. Please see this information on Section 20 voluntary arrangements which explains all of this is much greater detail.

It is really important that the social worker explains to you why they asked you to agree to your daughter going into temporary foster care. There must be a good reason for this and they must be concerned for her welfare in order to believe that this is necessary and to ask you to consent to this. So I would suggest that you contact the social worker urgently and ask for a specific meeting with them to discuss this.

You asked what happens if you ask for your daughter to be returned home and if children’s services don’t return her. If you can provide your daughter with a place to live, or can arrange a place for her to stay and be cared for and there is no one with a court order who objects to this then you can ask that your daughter comes home. However, if children’s services are concerned that it is not safe and not in your daughter’s best interests to come home they could make a court application to keep your daughter in foster care if you no longer consent. In an emergency they could ask the police to take your daughter into police protection. Therefore, it would be best if you understood what the social worker is worried about and why and what you are being asked to do in order to address this. And it is always best to discuss your plans with children’s services first so you can make an informed decision and get further advice if needed.

Please see this specific advice about ending your consent to section 20.

There are certain looked after child procedures that must happen when a child is in foster care including a Looked After Child review within one month of the placement. You can find out more about this here; it is important that you have a copy of all the paperwork that is completed when your child is in foster care.

I am not sure if your daughter is being cared for at the moment by an unrelated foster carer or a ‘connected’ foster carer. If she is not with a family or friend foster carer and you have someone in your network who would be willing to care for her (if you cannot) then you can ask children’s services to assess them. You might also want to consider asking for a family group conference to harness your support network. Please see here for more information about this.

I hope this helps.

If you would like to discuss your situation with an adviser please call our freephone advice line on 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri,, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm. You can also post again if you have a further query.

Best wishes

Suzie