Can social services remove child without court order?
If social services believe that a child you are caring for is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, they will have to do something about it. They will have to remove the child from your care. This can include them going to court and seeking an order that your child be officially placed under protection : in Re H and Re R (Children) (Care Order : Future Harm), Hale LJ recalled the European Court of Human Rights case law on the possibility of a state helping role in the family and stated that the court should not abdicate its duty to make the child’s welfare its paramount concern.
However, the exclusion principle does not apply to social services appointed to protect children. The Court of Appeal in Re H and Re R held that the exclusion principle does not apply to social services appointed to protect children because they are not in a position to observe the full range of the child’s needs : no legal effect, no continuing involvement of the court in the family situation, and little if any prospect of securing redress for the harm done to the child.
The position has been criticised by some judges, notably by Lord Nicholls in the Care of Children case, for failing to take into account the significant harm to the child in the absence of evidence of that harm. This criticism is unwarranted, because the position of the Court of Appeal in Re H and Re R is that the harm is substantial enough to make the absence of the care a deprivation of liberty.
Can social services remove child without court order?
Social services will not remove a child without the parents consent. If they do believe the child is suffering or dangerous enough from harm that they need to be removed from the home, they will apply for an order from the court, which will stop them.
If parents are aware of social services plans and do not oppose them, they can be asked to sign a “shorter form of permission. This will allow the social services to carry out an assessment of the situation of the child and the parents before the social worker applies for a court order, and will enable the court to have a full view of the home before making any decision.
If parents are aware of social services plans and do not oppose them, the social worker may apply to court for an order that the child be removed from the home or placed into foster care, with or without assessment. Parents who are not in favour of testing should know that the evidence given by social services that the child is suffering or dangerous enough to be taken into care should be taken with a pinch of salt. The social worker may still recommend a placement outside the family.
Once an assessment is that the child is likely to suffer or to be likely to be dangerous in the future, a social worker may apply to court for an order that the child be placed under a protection order. This order will ensure that the child is safe and sound in his/her home environment.
