Long-term guardianship
Most children and young people who come into the child protection system do go home again. The Child Protection Act 1999 states that, where possible, a child who has been removed from their family is to safely return home.
However, sometimes it is not always in the best interests of the child or young person to return to their parents.
The Act states that a child has a right to long-term out-of-home care (until the child is 18 years old) if they do not have a parent who can safely care for them in a permanent way.
The Act allows a long-term guardianship order to be made where it is unlikely that a child or young person will have a parent who is willing and able to protect them in the foreseeable future, or where their need for emotional security will be best met in the long-term by the making of a long-term guardianship order.
In this situation, we will no longer continue towards reuniting a child or young person with their parents if a long-term guardianship order may be made in favour of a relative or a carer who has been caring for the child or young person
- Last updated
- 3 August 2007