Ruth Hawkins of Oxford law firmTurpin & miller answers your legal queries
Q: My child’s Social Worker is saying that I am not managing my daughter and that I should agree for her to go into voluntary accommodation. I do not want my daughter to go to foster care, but I feel pressurised to agree. Is there anything I can do?
A: Voluntary accommodation is a voluntary arrangement between the local authority and the parents or other people with parental responsibility for a child in question. The arrangement is governed by section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and therefore those arrangements are sometimes called section 20 accommodations.
The law says that the local authority (Social Services) is obliged to provide accommodation to children in certain circumstances, for example if the children are abandoned or where a parent is unable to provide their child with suitable accommodation or care.
However, a very important point to remember is that the parents retain parental responsibility for the child during the voluntary arrangement and Social Services do not gain parental responsibility for the child.
In addition, if anyone with parental responsibility is able to care for the child, and objects to the child being accommodated by the Local Authority, then the child cannot be accommodated. As a result, if you or your daughter’s father (if he has parental responsibility) object to voluntary accommodation, the Social Worker cannot accommodate your daughter. In addition, even if your daughter’s father agrees to voluntary accommodation and you object, the Social Worker cannot accommodate your child.
Even if you agree to your daughter being accommodated, you are able to end this agreement at any time. If you inform the social worker that you no longer agree for your daughter to be accommodated, the social worker should make arrangements to bring your daughter to your care as soon as possible. If the social worker is not abiding by your requests I would advise that you speak with a lawyer specialising in family public children law as soon as possible.
You should not feel backed into a corner to agree to voluntary accommodation for your daughter. If you do not agree to voluntary accommodation, it does not necessarily follow that the Social Worker will make an application to the Court and even if they do, it does not automatically follow that the Court will agree with the removal of your daughter from your care.
The Social Worker should not try and persuade you to agree to voluntary accommodation or threaten that he or she will call the police and remove your child under police protection if you do not agree to voluntary accommodation; go to court; get permission from the other parent, so there is no point in objecting. Most importantly, they should not try and persuade a parent with limited command of English, without the benefit of interpreter or, and should tread very carefully with parents who have learning disabilities or other issues which might affect their understanding.
If you are faced with this situation, I would advise that you seek urgent independent legal advice. You may even wish to ask the Social Worker to give you sometime to seek advice before you make a decision about your daughter’s accommodation. Even if you have already agreed to accommodation it may be worth speaking to a lawyer to consider your options and to ensure that any future decisions you make are fully informed. Legal Aid remains available for voluntary accommodation cases although it is subject to your financial means.
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